The New York Times-20080125-Luis Gispert- -El Mundo Es Tuyo -the World Is Yours--- -Schedule-

Return to: The_New_York_Times-20080125

Luis Gispert: 'El Mundo Es Tuyo (the World Is Yours)'; [Schedule]

Full Text (271  words)

LUIS GISPERT: 'EL MUNDO ES TUYO (THE WORLD IS YOURS)' A boy lies on a trampoline, clutching a boombox to his chest. Gradually the blue tarpaulin turns a sickly green as he empties his bladder. Smother, a riveting new 26-minute film at Mary Boone Gallery by the New York artist Luis Gispert, explores the relationship between this 11-year-old chronic bed-wetter, also depicted in the photograph at right, and his domineering mother. Like Stereomongrel, Mr. Gispert's 2005 film collaboration with Jeffrey Reed, it follows a precocious preadolescent's odyssey through a perilous adult landscape -- in this case 1980s Miami (where Mr. Gispert was raised).

Smother, which has a script by Mr. Gispert and the artist Orly Genger and a soundtrack by the experimental duo Phoenicia, is the throbbing, flamingo-pink heart of Mr. Gispert's two-gallery show, at Mary Boone and Zach Feuer. With its tropical palette and episodic magical realism (which might be too real for some animal lovers), it can seem less like a film than a tenuously linked series of Mr. Gispert's stills. Dialogue is sparse, and as melodramatic as a telenovela's. The camera lingers over the spectacular stucco-mansion setting, which Mr. Gispert has aptly described as narco-nouveau-riche.

At Zach Feuer Gallery, a sculptural installation echoes the film's lurid scenery. Photographs of truck interiors, racing-striped walls and high-gloss, heart-shaped speakers put forth a Miami version of the hot-rod-inspired art that emerged in 1960s Southern California. (Through Feb. 16, Zach Feuer, 530 West 24th Street, Chelsea, 212-989-7700, lflgallery.com. Through March 1, Mary Boone, 541 West 24th Street, Chelsea, 212-752-2929, maryboonegallery.com.) KAREN ROSENBERG

[Illustration]PHOTO (PHOTOGRAPH BY ZACH FEUER GALLERY AND MARY BOONE GALLERY)