Jade Townsend in New York

NEW YORK—Jade Townsend’s second solo exhibition at Priska C. Juschka Gallery, “YARDSALE,” presents what the gallery refers to as “a comic tragedy:” a quintessential American house torn apart and reconfigured inside-out, attic and all. The interior, which is now the exterior, is constructed almost entirely of plywood: You’ll find everything from cabinets, tables, and chairs to couches, electronic equipment, a piano, and potted plants, all rendered in styles ranging from minimalist to whimsical. The construction is crude—the pieces are held together with staples, and the white paint jobs vary from opaque to transparent; one kitchen cabinet still bears a lumberyard sticker.

With its jagged floor, tipped-over furniture, scattered debris, and washed-out palette, the work recalls post-Hurricane Katrina images, with houses torn apart, their once-private contents suddenly exposed and either waterlogged or sun-bleached. Indeed, “YARDSALE” is meant as a meditation on the American dream, its material trappings and the contrast between what you see and what you get.

Inside the construction, where furnishings and appliances would normally reside, the shingled exterior walls of a middle-class home now encase a prototypical American yard turned in on itself and divided by a picket fence. Stars hang in the sky, and it’s as dark and silent and peaceful as a summer evening in the suburbs. In one corner, an American flag protrudes, half-buried, from the dirt.

Born in Iowa and trained as painter, Townsend initially concentrated on abstract canvases but turned to sculpture, installations, and mixed-media works after moving to New York in 2000, in order to express “socioeconomic narratives” he felt were “no longer compatible with the formal confines of abstract painting.” His recent projects include a solo exhibition at Art of This Gallery in Minneapolis last fall and a commissioned project for Scope Miami 2007. He’s currently working on an installation for the Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens, New York, scheduled for May 4 to August 3.

Townsend recently endeavored to recommend and describe noteworthy shows in New York despite what he says is the worst flu he’s ever had:


The folks at ARTINFO asked me to pick out five shows here in New York that I would recommend to people and to explain why. This is actually fairly difficult for me, seeing as I haven’t quite decided if I even enjoy looking at art or not. In all actuality, I tend to avoid it. Regardless, my partner Araby and I set out last Thursday to see some awesome art and take some awesome notes. Alas, we came back pretty empty-handed. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot going on in Chelsea in the middle of February, and we only found four shows that were of interest to us: Of those, one is now closed, two aren’t open yet, and two aren't in Chelsea. We did find some hot cider and empanadas, though, and that pretty much made the day.

“Caucus” at Schroeder Romero, closed February 16
“Though this show will be down by the time this article is posted, it would be a shame to leave it out. It really was the best thing in Chelsea that day [February 14]; I mean, it put the crepe-and-empanada man at a distant second. It’s very rare to see a group show that is actually cohesive and intelligent, and the way in which dark humor was used displayed greater complexity and honesty than outright political criticism does.”  

Mark Dion at Tanya Bonakdar, through March 15
“This show wasn’t open yet when we were in Chelsea, so we smashed our faces against the window trying to get a better look at what was being installed, and ended up watching the art handlers run around pretending to ignore us and wishing that paper had been hung in the window. From what I know of Mark Dion’s work, this show will probably be great. I intend to go see it as soon as my fever breaks.”

“Narrations” at Nancy Margolis Gallery, through March 1
“Simple, beautiful drawings that are somehow like reading Haruki Murakami. Edward del Rosario and Abdelkader Benchamma bring magic back into drawing.”  

Cai Guo-Qiang at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, through May 28
“Really the only way to make sure that your head is still connected to your shoulders is to see a visually spectacular hemorrhaging of money. Not that Cai’s work isn’t stirring or intelligent, but at some point the homogenous slickness becomes overwhelming, and all you can think is ‘Wow, that must have cost a ton of money,’ and ‘Damn, I bet he didn’t even touch it.’”

The Milstein Hall of Ocean Life at the American Museum of Natural History, permanent display
“The blue whale at the Natural History Museum is always worthwhile to check out.”