ILYA KABAKOV PAINTINGS

I was really knocked out by a show in the Sean Kelly Galley at 528W 29th street. It was by Ilya Kabakov. The series of paintings are invented histories (supposedly created between 1970 and 1975) and conjures an alternative history of 20th-century Russian art, with paintings characterised by real-life Russian imagery (scenes of peasants,faactory landscapes) juxtaposed with geometric abstractions.
I also saw my first exhibition of sculptures by Mathew Barney- breathtakingly confident work and a rather beautiful show on memory by Lena Liv at Mike Weiss Gallery. Andrew Grassie who does some teaching at NSAD in painting also had an opening at Sperone Westwater on 415 W13th St. His paintings are imaculately rendered depictions of the gallery space. Small paintings made with egg tempera on board. He showed at East International a few years back. The gallery is fantastically situated next to a fish market with cobbled streets and low buildings used for all kinds of trade. It reminds me a bit of parts of London.