Top 10 New York Gallery Shows of 2009

Installation view of "Looking Back: The White Columns Annual" at White Columns, New York. Left: Reena Spaulings, Untitled, 2009; right: Dorothy Iannone, I Am Whoever You Want Me To Be, 1970-71. Photo: 16 Miles [more]

On this first day of 2010, here are the 10 New York gallery shows I most enjoyed this year. In the interest of variety, I've limited each gallery to one spot, leading to dubious and glaring omissions, such as the absence of David Zwirner's Dan Flavin show in favor of its marginally more revelatory 1000-Polaroid Philip-Lorca diCorcia exhibition. For all those interested, here is last year's list.

10. "The Living and the Dead" at Gavin Brown's enterprise
9. "Nathalie Djurberg" with music by Hans Berg at Zach Feuer Gallery
8. Tauba Auerbach, "HERE AND NOW/AND NOWHERE," at Deitch Projects
7. Xylor Jane, "N.D.E.," at CANADA
6. Charles Ray, "Ink Line, Moving Wire, Spinning Spot," at Matthew Marks Gallery
5. Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, "30 Years of Being Cut Up," at Invisible-Exports
4. Philip-Lorca diCorcia, "Thousand," at David Zwirner Gallery
3. R. H. Quaytman, "Chapter 12: iamb," at Miguel Abreu Gallery
2. Jim Hodges and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, "Floating a Boulder," at FLAG Foundation
1. "Piero Manzoni: A Retrospective" at Gagosian Gallery

[Ending this Week] diCorcia, Borremans, Xylor Jane, Artist as Troublemaker

Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Untitled (Thousand) [selections from Thousand], 1980's-2007. Photo: 16 Miles [enlarged]

Here are ten of my favorite Polaroids from Philip-Lorca diCorcia's show, Thousand, at David Zwirner. There are 990 more sitting on a metal shelf that spirals in a continuous line around the gallery walls. They range from the mysterious to the bizarre, combining personal shots with preparatory work for some of diCorcia's most famous work. The results are strong enough to make you wonder why he even bothers with the elaborate sets and gigantic prints. It was packed with people this past Saturday and closes this Saturday, March 28.

Also closing in the next seven days: Xylor Jane's artisanal mathematics at Canada (March 29) [mentioned here last week], Michaël Borremans's thoroughly creepy show of Dogville-esque portraits and a sixty-seven second film (March 25), also at Zwirner, and the quirky, wonderful The Artist as Troublemaker at the Austrian Cultural Forum (March 28), perfect for those needing a bit more Kippenberger after a visit to MoMA.