Weekend report: Studio pop-in with Leslie Wayne and Don Porcaro, Doppler, Crystal Fairy

Despite the heat, humidity, and overall stink, I love summer in New York City. For everyone who has decamped for more temperate climes, here are a few highlights from the past weekend.

At Parallel Art Space, I stopped by the jammed opening for  Doppler,
a handsome and eye-popping show organized by artist Mel Prest featuring
Minimalist work by 22 artists who play with optical illusion.

Originally conceived
as part of a stop-motion animation festival, the show, in various
iterations, traveled through Europe and Croatia in 2012. Artists include Steven Baris, Richard Bottwin, Edgar Diehl, Kevin
Finklea, Brent Hallard, Jos� Heerkens, Gilbert Hsiao, Gracia Khouw,
Sarah Klein, Stephen Maine, Gay Outlaw, Mel Prest, Debra Ramsay, Albert
Roskam, Karen Schifano, Iemke van Dijk, Henri�tte van ‘t Hoog, Ruth van
Veenen, Don Voisine, Nancy White, Guido Winkler, Patricia Zarate. A beautifully produced exhibition catalog (with a full preview) for an earlier version of the show is available here.  (Image via the PAS Facebook)

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Unexpectedly I found myself at Leslie Wayne and Don Porcaro‘s Hell’s Kitchen studios on Saturday morning. Porcaro is preparing work for “Sentinels and Nomads,” a solo exhibition at the Michele and Donald D�Amour Museum, in Springfield, MA, that opens in August, and Wayne, too, is working toward several shows, including a solo at Jack Shainman, scheduled for 2014. One of Wayne’s paintings, made of scraped and folded paint, is pictured above. A corner of Porcaro’s studio is pictured below.

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Film Pick: Crystal Fairy 

Written and directed by Sebasti�n Silva, Crystal Fairy was filmed on a shoestring budget in Chile. Superficially about an American illegal-drug afficionado (played by Michael Cera) on a hallucinogen-sampling trip through Chile, the film works as a terrific allegory about American swagger and hamfisted international relations. And the eponymous main character (played by Gaby Hoffmann, former Chelsea Hotel resident and daughter of Viva) keeps a corny leather-bound sketchbook, which plays a pivotal role in the plot.