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| Exquisite Corpse: Head by Changal Joffe, upper torso by Francesca di Matteo, lower torso by Matthew Ritchie, and legs by Nicholas Byrne |

On Tuesday night, October 12, The Exquisite Corpse Project opened at Gasser & Grunert Gallery. Curated by David Salle, the exhibition features over 200 well known artists ranging from Vito Acconcci to Will Cotton engaging in the 1920’s Surrealist parlor game favored by Andre Breton and Marcel Duchamp. The artists were unaware of who was participating in each composition and could not view the image or work provided by previous artist. Works were created over the past year at a number of drawing parties or were shipped from one artist to the next. Among the artists involved were Academy friends Ross Bleckner, Hillary Harkness, Eric Fischl, and Dana Schutz.
 
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| Alison Blickle, Augurs |

On Friday night, October 15, Zabriskie Point, new paintings by Alison Blickle, opens at Thierry Goldberg Projects in the Lower East Side. In this series Blickle’s heroines go on a vision quest in the California desert. Her vivid, almost psychedelic landscapes explore our longing for nature and desire for mystical experiences.
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| Mike Bayne: Untitled, from the series, “God, Shelter, Oil Paintings and Hockey” |

Already on view in Chelsea, check out the Mike Bayne show at Mulherin Pollard Projects. Oil Paintings by Robert Ayre is a series of of work depicting the banality of suburban strip malls and their signage. “Hyper-hyperrealist Canadiana” in the words of John Jacobsmeyer. Show runs through October 23, 2010.
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| Fred Tomaselli, Organism |
A mid-career survey of Fred Tomaselli’s work is now open at the Brooklyn Art Museum. His highly stylized collages are made up of paint, prescription pills, medicinal herbs, and cut out images of flowers, bids, hands, noses which are arranged in elaborate patterns encased in multiple layers of resin. Aside from their dazzling aesthetic sense, Tomaselli’s paintings are successful because of his earnest desire to transport the viewer into a surreal, hallucinatory universe that begs transcendence. Show runs through January 2, 2011

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| Antonio Donghi, Circus (Circo Equestre) |

Chaos and Classicism: Art in France, Italy, and Germany, 1918–1936 just opened at the Guggenheim. The show, curated by Kenneth E. Silver, examines the move toward figuration and the modeled form shortly after World War I. Among the artists included are Balthus,Otto Dix, Henri Matisse, Antonio Donghi, and Pablo Picasso. Show runs through January 9, 2011.
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| Francisco de Goya y Lucientes, A Nun Frightened by a Ghost |
Finally, The Spanish Manner: Drawings from Ribera to Goya is at the Frick. This exhibition is dedicated to the distinct tradition of Spanish draftsmanship. It includes both preliminary sketches and finished studies as well as twenty two late drawings by Goya from his ‘albums.’ Show runs through January 9, 2011.