Tobias Putrih Anthology/Courthouse 2005 monofilament and rear projection screen, dimensions variable [detail of installation]
Every time I go back to Max Protetch Gallery after having missed a show or two I have to wonder how I could have so deprived myself. Always imaginative, usually totally new, invariably very smart, sometimes complicated, often very minimal, Max's shows are generally pretty idiosyncratic, but they're never dull and they're often totally breathtaking.
The current show of scupture and video by Tobias Putrih covers most of this ground at once. The image above shows part of one of two pieces in the space which use reconfigured movie screens sized to match those in New York's famous Anthology Film Archives. From the press release:
The sculptures soar through the gallery space, formal meditations on the dual nature of cinema as both a physical and ephemeral experience.. . .
[The screens] are no longer sites for projection, but projections themselves, free to define physical space.
You're really that big on Protech? It seems to me that every time I visit they're showing big dopey ceramics, or some version of giant blown glass plates. I had to crane my head over the counter in back to glimpse any paintings the last few times I was there. All I could see were two David Reeds from at least a decade ago.