Damien Hirst, detail from Judgment Day, 2009, Gold plated, glass, manufactured diamonds

“End of an Era” is a show of works by Damien Hirst at Gagosian Gallery on Madison Avenue (on view through March 6th); it highlights recent paintings of jewels done by Hirst as well as a “blinged out” gold-plated shelf lined with fake diamonds entitled Judgment Day (a la his Pharmacy series in which did the same thing with pills). In the center of the main gallery is a severed cow’s head with gold horns and a golden disc. A smaller gallery has four works from “The Golden Jubilee” series on view with gems in four colors (white, green, red, and blue). In some ways these look like works you could get at a bad art fair, yet there is also something pretty about them. The surface that the gems rest on remind me a bit of Ben Weiner’s hair gel and pearl works (no offense Ben, your surfaces are much richer and sumptuous). That surface is what interests me about these works. However, I prefer the simpler paintings of multi-faceted diamonds against a stark black background on view in the main gallery to “The Golden Jubilee” works.

De Beers, 2007, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches

In fact, The Centenary and De Beers are actually quite beautiful. It is interesting that Hirst picks diamonds, a universal symbol of wealth and excess, to showcase at a time when the world, and America in particualr is still reeling from economic turmoil.

Damien Hirst, End of an Era, 2009, Bull’s head, gold, glass and formaldehyde solution with a Carrara marble plinth

End of an Era is the piece de resistance in the center of the room. With its gold horns and circular disc upon its head the work is decadent. If you walk around the work, however, you can see the innards of the cow’s head. The fur is so soft looking you wan tto reach out and touch it. Looking closely, the cow’s tongue sticks out of the side of its mouth almost in jest as if to make fun of art and the people who buy into the fame, glitz, and glamor so often associated with it.

Don’t neglect to head down to the fifth floor to see a bright blue and glossy red triangular butterfly works by Hirst; a Lichtenstein frieze painting; a Richard Prince car hood and a Walter de Maria work from the “Large Rod Series” of 1986.

Wolfgang Tillmans at Andrea Rosen Gallery is on view through March 13th. This is a terrific show that captures basic moments of human existence and everyday objects as subject matter, but somehow Tillmans manages to transform the banal into the magnificent. As the press release states pictures are all around us but we are so inundated with imagery that we do not often take the time to really look at anything. “Art suggests that when we do that we deny ourselves both knowledge and pleasure.” So true. And it is this careful looking that Tillmans wants to renew in us. There is an immediacy to the works due to the fact that they are printed in three different sizes, unframed– hung on binder clips all over the gallery walls. Unlike Hirst, Tillmans is not showing a glamorous world but a world of truth that some of us never bother to see, to stop and notice. The art critic Jerry Saltz was there when I went to see the show. It will be interesting to hear his take on the work.

CLC1100, 2007, c-print

Highlights for me are: CLC1100, a photograph of a copy machine in the process of copying. The light has a majestic presence which is most likely enhanced by the fact that the work is hung quite high on the wall. It is simple and true and doesn’t pretend to be anything else other than a copy machine. still life (Moscow/Berlin), a small 12 x 16 inch work that captures a bright red color which captivates, and Yunxiu Nunnery which demonstrates that Tillmans is not just a wonderful photographer of people and scenes but also nature–one of the only black and white images in the show–it is a simple leaf with a drop of water but at 77 x 53 inches, it packs a punch.

Yunxiu Nunnery, 2009, c-print

Met Blue, 2010, inkjet print mounted on aluminum, 30 x 30 inches

A small show of photographs by Joe Pflieger at Monya Rowe Gallery is a treasure. I continue to be impressed by the works shown here; they have consistently solid shows. The jpegs do not do the works justice at all; they must be seen in person in my opinion.

Philly Grid, 2010, 18 x 27 inches

The photos are of rooms of historically accurate reconstructions of interiors taken in museums in St. Petersburg, New York, Venice, etc. and are very reasonably priced.

Philly Candle, 2010, 18 x 27 inches

Each photo, taken digitally but not at all altered, has a matte surface which gives the work a painterly quality. As the press release explains, he references the period of Romanticism in his work. “The composition and dark hues suggest a quiet, reflective and mysterious tone.” He utilizes light, mirrors, windows and doors to create his effects.

Leonardo Drew, Number 127, wood and mixed media

Leonardo Drew at Sikkema Jenkins was an exhibition I had not heard any hype about. So, as I was making my way through Chelsea on a frigid Saturday afternoon, I was pleased to step into his world. I was familiar with his smaller works most often encased in acrylic boxes that I have seen at art fairs over the years, but this show is filled with enormous works spanning the length and height of the gallery walls. In Number 127 the wood reaches out to the viewer, exploding into our space but also reaching up and away towards the ceiling. Flat panels of burned board are carefully arranged in patterns juxtaposed with twigs and limbs that appear freshly plucked from trees creating a dynamic composition.

Number 134, 2009, wood and mixed media

There are elements of Louise Nevelson’s influence in some works such as Number 134 which appears to be a mixture of burned wood and found wooden scraps. The striking ebony color grabs the viewer immediately upon entering the gallery space.

Number 136, wood and mixed media

Number 136 is reminiscent of an Allan McCollum work with the repetition of black abstract shapes set in uniformly-sized white frames. This show is a nice break from the same old same old of Chelsea.