The Thousands

Fair warning: I am about to launch into a half-baked Grand Theory of Art. But it’s too late to run away now; I think you’ll find that all exits are locked. Alright, so it basically boils down to this: there are two types of art; 1) art that wants you to ruminate and ponder, and 2) art that makes immediate sense. Think tree in a glass of water versus one of those paintings Ed Harris did. Which form is ultimately the ‘best’ use of art I will leave in the bain-marie of stimulating art-talk, but the point is, those general categories exist. Which is all a roundabout way of getting to the point that Kate Gagliardi’s work makes so much immediate sense it’s like a weekend with the Maharishi.

This is Kate’s second solo show at Magazine Gallery and it’s your classic Gagliardi affair – a bunch of gazing ladies done up in drips, splatters, slight brushstrokes – and, although her work can often be quite delicate, there’s also a natural flow and looseness inherent in the form that keeps it from slipping off the page. Also, my other crackpot art theory (this one’s probably more solid) is that shinier=better, and fortunately that’s covered too, in a series of intricately hand-cut rice paper designs, mounted slightly above sheets of shiny, shiny gold foil. It’s all real purdy.