On view at Salon 94 Freemans until June 13 is Marilyn Minter’s exhibition entitled, Green Pink Caviar. Minter is known for her interest in exploring the boundaries between high and low art. Not only does the work itself express this dichotomy, so does her method of exhibition, choosing to display her photographs on billboards and commercials, as well as in the gallery. Evident through her extensive use of erogenous zones as subject matter, Minter considers the body to be steeped in yearning and desire. Green Pink Caviar is a collection of photorealistic paintings and graphic photographs. Salon 94 describes the process, in which “[Minter] directed her models to lick brightly colored candy on a sheet of glass and then photographed them from the other side.”The glass sheet can be compared to a canvas, the candy as paint, and the body as brush.

Minter was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. She received her BFA from University of Florida and MFA from Syracuse University. Recently, her work has been exhibited at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She has upcoming shows at the Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati, Regen Projects, Santa Monica, and La Conservera, Spain.

Last Thursday marked the opening of Adriana Varejao‘s new exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, Two Paintings and Ten Drawings, which will run through July 10. The works in the show appear more subdued than many of her previous works, but don’t be fooled. After more consideration, the viewer is confronted with an exhibition full of art historical references and cultural histories. The lines and forms are reductive and analytical, recalling aspects of both minimalism and cubism. Her dynamism is reflected by her skill in many disciplines, focusing for this exhibition on painting and drawing. The works range in size from small graphite on paper pieces to the largest work, O Iluminado (The Shining), which is oil on linen. The architectural drawings of an otherwise sterile sauna are imbued with an emotion through color and light.

Varejao is one of the most significant contemporary artists to come out of Brazil. Born and raised in Rio di Janeiro, her work continues to be influenced by her experience growing up in South America. Her accomplishments include pieces in collections at the Tate Modern, London, Guggenheim, NYC, Hara Museum, Tokyo, and Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego.

Caleb Weintraub

Opening Saturday, May 23rd will be the exhibition 1000 DAYS, presented by DailyServing.com and Scion. The exhibition will take place at the Scion Installation L.A. Gallery in Culver City, California. 1000 DAYS celebrates a milestone for DailyServing.com as the online contemporary art publication approaches 1000 daily features. Since the fall of 2006, DailyServing.com has highlighted a cross section of contemporary visual art from around the world. Honoring this commitment, 1000 DAYS delivers an exciting mix of emerging talent, focusing for this exhibition on artists in the United States.

Christina Seely

1000 DAYS also marks the first curated exhibition for DailyServing.com, bringing together eight emerging artists. The exhibition will feature recent works by Caleb Weintraub, Chris Scarborough, Christina Seely, Julie Henson, Michael Rea, Mark Mulroney, Matt Phillips and Tivon Rice. These artists, all of whom have been previously featured on the site, work in a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography and new media. The diversity of the artwork in 1000 DAYS celebrates the myriad of influences utilized by visual artists today. Collectively, these artists address many of the major issues found in contemporary art, combining a range of conceptual and aesthetic elements while highlighting topics such as pop culture, technology, and current social issues, often through the lens of art history.

Throughout next week, DailyServing.com will highlight each artist featured in the exhibition and will present rare photos of the installation and images of the artist’s work. A full color catalog will accompany the exhibition.

1000 DAYS will be on view from May 23rd until June 13th, 2009.

Tivon Rice

Currently on view at Greg Kucera Gallery in Seattle is a solo exhibition of new and past work by Victoria Haven, entitled HIGHER… HIGHER. For Haven’s first solo show at the renown Seattle space, the artist expanded her practice of creating works on paper and sculptural pieces to explore additional media, including photography and wall painting. This exhibition incorporates works in all of these disparate mediums, but with a cohesive aesthetic of geometric shape, delicate lines and text. With this work, it’s as much about what the artist created as it is about what she didn’t touch. The negative space that lingers inside the pointed angles of Haven’s paintings and amid the matrix of shapes illustrated in works of ink on fragile varieties of paper, consorts with the work to create a full, yet ethereal image of her investigation of shape and space. Shadows on the wall below the lifted steel sculptures become as important to the pieces as their polished nickel or powder coated finishes. HIGHER… HIGHER is on view through May 16th.

Victoria Haven lives and works in Seattle. She received her BFA from the University of Washington and her MFA from Goldsmiths College/University of London. She was the 2004 recipient of ‘The Stranger‘ Genius Award as well as the Betty Bowen Award from the Seattle Art Museum. She also received a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship in 1996 and in 2000. Her work has been exhibited at the Frye Art Museum, Seattle; PDX Contemporary Art, Portland; the Austin Museum of Art, Texas; the Drawing Center, New York; and RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, Australia, among many others.

Londoner Bob Matthews’ latest exhibition entitled, Garden Ruin, is on view at the Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, from May 7 though June 27. Garden Ruin addresses the familiar issue of humans in nature, or in this case, superimposed on nature. Matthews’ landscapes have a certain untamed quality, likely resulting from exposure to the English style of landscape design. Although highly stylized, the English garden is known to be less formal than its strictly symmetrical French counterpart, appearing as if it occurred naturally.

There is a striking visual dichotomy present his work, especially in the oil and acrylic on wood piece Human don’t be angry. The natural wood panel contrasts with the perspectival, geometric image and shiny varnish to raise viewers’ awareness of these contributing elements. Prints like, Garden Ruin 1, broach the subject differently, by superimposing shapes over nature scenes. Without being overbearing, these shapes suggest the presence of humans in the landscape, creating a visually and psychologically unique composition.

Bob Matthews currently lives in London. He teaches at his alma mater, the Royal College of Art, where he received his MA in Printmaking. His recent curatorial endeavors include shows at Cell Project Space, London, and Aspen Museum of Contemporary Art. He has exhibited in London at the Collyer Bristow Gallery, Monika Bobinska, and the Keith Talent Gallery.

AMBACH & RICE in Seattle is currently presenting Supramundane, a group exhibition guest curated by Elizabeth Burke. On view until May 31st are works in various media by Tomoo Gokita, Robyn O’Neil, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Alison Elizabeth Taylor, and Whiting Tennis.

Surpamundane is a Buddhist term that means “being situated above the world or above our system; celestial.” This enlightened state is achieved through intense and committed training. Often when artists address notions of supramundane, their work implies they have already achieved such enlightenment. Burke suggests an alternative approach, stressing the artist’s struggle leading up to this point. The show is intentionally open for interpretation, which is merely a reflection of the nature and process of supramundane. The organization of Supramundane suggests and encourages thought in the viewer, while restraining from shaping those thoughts specifically. The artists explore elements of the unknown through their preferred media, ranging from Rafferty’s high contrast black and white prints on Plexiglas to Whiting Tennis’ plywood creations.

Burke attended Guilford College in North Carolina where she received her BA. Years later she was a founder of the late Clementine Gallery, in NYC, and currently teaches Graduate courses at the School of Visual Arts, NYC.

Courtesy of the Artist and Metro Pictures

Metro Pictures in New York is currently presenting several recent charcoal drawings by artist Robert Longo. Longo achieved critical acclaim in the 1980s with Men in the Cities, a dynamic drawing series depicting modern businessmen in contorted positions, a commentary on our contemporary afflictions and anxieties. The exhibition at Metro Pictures, Surrendering the Absolutes, opened on April 23rd and contains Longo’s signature large scale works that “represent a departure from his recent serial approach to a subject and instead are linked by atmospheric sensations of light and abstracted imagery,” as stated in the press release.

Untitled (Cathedral of Light), seen above, consists of five panels and illustrates rays of light beaming through the windows of a cathedral, cascading diagonally across the panels. The distinct contrast between the black and white is tempered by the celestial and atmospheric treatment of light. Other works include an aerial night view of Tokyo taken from a satellite, with roadways radiating from the center; the exterior hull of an airplane, with a line of oval windows mysteriously glowing from within; and a 12-foot tall tower of four black charcoal drawings framed behind glass.

Courtesy of the Artist and Metro Pictures

Longo has had solo exhibitions across the world and is represented in several major museum collections such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and the Ludwig Museum in Cologne.

Surrendering the Absolutes will remain at Metro Pictures until May 30, 2009.