Robert Irwin

Busy with other projects for a while kept me away from the gallery show openings in Chelsea. I went last night. Some things don't change much; a parade of posers of all ages still crawl the streets, dressed to the nines and weaving their way through Beuys's steeles. They sinewing past the art, pretending either to know one another, or not.

The Pace was showing Robert Irwin's Unlit, a series of gel-covered fluorescent tubes covered with gels, with a grey stripe painted intermittently between the fixtures. I'd seen his scrim work at the Whitney a few years ago, fascinating how his elegant control of the space alters distance perception. And, while disappointed that this work wasn't lit, stepping up close to analyze the subtle "bar codes" is sweet.

There was a lot written about Mr. Irwin in his 91 years of working, and I'll report on it in the coming days. The images are courtesy of Pace Gallery and ArtNEt.