Cardi B at the Met Gala by Marc Jacobs.
This morning the director of Nunu Fine Art sent me a text asking if I knew Cardi B. and sent me a photo. I am reading on line that “her look was about form, structure, and pushing the boundaries of the body as a canvas. As noted by sources, it drew inspiration from the Hans Bellmer 1933 artwork’The Doll’.”
“Bellmer Nauman Pondick: Material Desire”, is currently on view at Nunu Fine Art, until May 30th. There are 9 vintage photos of Hans Bellmer from his doll series in the ‘30s. It’s amazing how much Cardi B’s costume not only reminds me of Bellmer, but of my sculpture “Back to Back”, 1991-1992, on view now at the show “Material Desire.” #Cardi B. #nunufineart #hansbellmer #themacjacobs #contemporaryart
May 20th - 6:30PM at Nunu Fine Art, 381 Broome Street
Albert Godetzky will be in conversation with Rona Pondick about the exhibition Bellmer Nauman Pondick: Material Desire.
Albert Godetzky wrote the essay titled “Fleshing Out” in the catalogue for Material Desire.
We are thrilled that Albert is flying from France to have this conversation at the gallery, and we hope you will join us for this public exchange between Albert and Rona, delving into the reasons this exhibition came to fruition.
Slide 1: Rona Pondick and Albert Godetzky in Rona’s studio, 2019
Slide 3: Hans Bellmer, ‘La Poupée’, 1934, Ubu Gallery
Slide 4: Bruce Nauman, ’Studies for Holograms’, 1970, Private Collection
Slide 5: Rona Pondick, ‘Small Pink Treats’, 1992, Nunu Fine Art
#albertgodetzky #nunufineart #sonnabendcollection #ubugallery #inconversation
Today’s New York Times
"Bellmer Nauman Pondick: Material Desire" is @nytimes “Shows to See in April,” reviewed by Jillian Steinhauer on page C7. On view through May 30.
"Bellmer Nauman Pondick: Material Desire" is presented in collaboration with Sonnabend, NY and Ubu Gallery, NY and examines three artists' engagement with the human body as material, and subject, and as a tool for experimentation.
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今日《紐約時報》報導：
「貝爾默、諾曼、龐迪克：物質慾望」入選《紐約時報》「四月必看展覽」（Shows to See in April），由評論家Jillian Steinhauer撰寫評論，刊登於 C7 版，展覽將展出至 5 月 30 日。
「貝爾默、諾曼、龐迪克：物質慾望」由路由藝術 紐約與Sonnabend及Ubu 藝廊共同合作呈現，探討三位藝術家如何將人體作為材料、主題，以及實驗的工具進行創作。
Rona Pondick, Pink Balls and Brown Pump, 1991
rubber teeth, shoe, epoxy modeling compound and wire
Wire variable for ceiling height
Sculpture: 23 1/2 × 11 × 18 in
Bruce Nauman, Studies for Holograms (a-e), 1970
screenprinted in yellow-green
26 x 26 in. (66 x 66 cm)
Private collection
LINK FOR INTERVIEW IN BIO
Thank you Beyond Noise, Sarah Richardson, Morgan Becker and Megan Liu.
Thank you Leigh Arnold (curator at the Nasher Sculpture Center) for working with me on this engaging interview which was a lot of fun to do with you.
And thank you Martin Seck for the fabulous installation photos!
#beyondnoise #nunufineart #ubugallery #sonnabendmantova #leigharnold
Thank you @brooklynrail@phong.h.bui and Charles Schultz, and especially @barbaramacadam999 for the thoughtful interview!
Barbara MacAdam stated, “Rona Pondick and I have spent many hours pondering the complexity of her work and the bravery of her approach with her often shocking relationship to nature, in particular with the human, animal, and material body. What stands out as especially uncomfortable are her forthright expressions of sex and private emotions. In the process of assembling her work, she has said she has learned to live in the past, the present, and even the future, materially and mentally.“
Read full interview in link in bio.
#brooklynrail #nunufineart #sonnabendmantova #ubugallery #thaddaeusropacgallery
Antonio Homem was elegant, smart, generous and empathetic. We feel extremely lucky to have known and worked so closely with him.
Traveling with Antonio most summers was life-changing. We would start at the crack of dawn and travel until late in the evening looking at art he had chosen, nonstop. He taught us so much and enriched our lives.
We both feel utterly blessed to have had a 26 year relationship with Antonio and will miss him eternally. #sonnabendmantova #sonnabendgallery #sonnabendcollection
There’s an amazing show on view at Nunu Fine Art in SoHo / Nolita, “Bellmer, Nauman, Pondick: Material Desire”, through May 30th! I don’t want to share too much yet as I want to pen a full-length review, but all I’ll say is this: there are gallery shows, and then there are gallery shows of museum quality. This show falls into the latter category!
The show opened earlier in the month, but last night there was a live performance in which a violinist, Cleek Schrey, gave three performances at each hour between 5 and 8pm as a sonic and movement-based response to the works on view, which deals extensively with the body across the three generations of artists mentioned in the title.
I arrived a little late and caught the tail-end of his 6pm performance, but was able to experience his final one for the night. Schrey did not remain in place, but slowly moved around and shifted the height of where he held his violin in accord with the sculptures - some of which were on plinths and others more floor-based. I am not a trained violinist nor do I know much about music theory, but what I do know is that Schrey’s performance disrupts conventionality through his “fractured bow strokes, unstable tones, and emergent resonances” along with periods of silence. I nearly lost my mind when he brought the violin to floor level and proceeded to drag the top edge of the violin along the floor, thereby producing a scratchy sound! Such an amazing show of avant-garde music making!
An experimental music performance of this caliber is about on the same level as John Cage or David Tudor!
#experimentalmusic #avantgardemusic #nycart
Cleek Schrey responds sonically to the works of Hans Bellmer, Bruce Nauman, and Rona Pondick, engaging the body as both material and metaphor. Through fractured bow strokes, unstable tones, and emergent resonances, the performance traces hidden structures that echo the artists’ fragmented and resonstituted forms. Subconscious threads surface in the interplay between sound and object, where intimacy, disturbance, and transformation unfold in real time. As Bellmer, Nauman, and Pondick’s work moves between bodily and remanents and unlikely wholes, the music inhabits a similar terrain: oscillating between sensuality and rupture, surface and interior, presence and dissolution. As an extension of the body, Schrey’s violin emanates breath, pressure, and vibration in the space where sculpture and sound converge.
Wednesday, 3/18
5, 6, 7pm
Nunu Fine Art
381 Broome St
NYC
Outfitted by @lrcnyc.online
📷: Nate Lavey
Michael Brenson is an art historian who recently wrote a two volume biography on David Smith. For those of us that are more senior in age will remember him from his days at the New York Times.
Michael just sent me an email, and I was so moved and touched by it, that I asked him if I can share it:
“Congratulations on the show! The grouping is powerful. Didn’t know those Nauman videos. Your sculptures — with the hanging elongated legs near the entrance and the encaged yet uncontainable head in the center of the gallery — look good. The show has an underground feel that spans decades and hits against the present. So does the vexed relationship between private and public. Trust and betrayal. For me Bellmers’ word “scandal” hovers over the show. The show raises the question of transformation in a way that is as troubled as it is hopeful. Evolving/devolving. What do we feel about our bodies? What are we, what is this society, doing to our bodies? What is our relation to the body in which we live? I wonder about words like “desperation” and “trauma,” which seem inevitable but insufficient. Wonder about language. I hope the show receives critical attention.”
#michaelbrenson #nunufineart #ubugallery #sonnabendmantova #sonnabendgallery
ArtDaily, Saturday, March 7th, 2026
Bellmer Nauman Pondick: Material Desire at Nunu Fine Art, New York, in collaboration with Sonnabend and Ubu Galleries, New York
The exhibition is open till May 30th, 2026.
Nunu Fine Art is located at 381 Broome Street, New York
Tuesday-Saturday, 11-6PM
#nunufineart #sonnabendcollection #sonnabendmantova #ubu #artdaily
“Bellmer Nauman Pondick: Material Desire,” opening March 6, from 6-8 pm. Nunu Fine Art in collaboration with Sonnabend Gallery and Ubu Gallery in New York.
Images from the catalogue:
Hans Bellmer: “La Poupee,” 1983, ICP.
Bruce Nauman: “Hanging Heads #2 (Blue Andrew with Plug/ White Julie, Mouth Closed”) (detail), 1989, MOMA.
Rona Pondick: “Red Pump and Teeth”, (detail), 1991, Collection of the artist.
#nunufineart #ubugallery #sonnabendgallery #sonnabendfoundationcollection
L’arte di Rona Pondick ruota attorno ai concetti di metamorfosi e ibridazione tra umano e animale, dando forma a sculture in cui la materia diventa luogo di tensione e trasformazione.
Nei primi anni Duemila, Ileana Sonnabend riconobbe la forza di questa ricerca e scelse di accogliere il suo lavoro nella propria collezione.
📽️ Nel reel, l’artista condivide il ricordo del primo incontro con Ileana Sonnabend e Antonio Homem e il significato di quel momento nel suo percorso.
Scopri l’opera alla Sonnabend Collection Mantova!
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Rona Pondick’s work revolves around the concepts of metamorphosis and hybridization between human and animal, giving form to sculptures in which matter becomes a site of tension and transformation.
In the early 2000s, Ileana Sonnabend recognized the strength of this research and chose to include her work in her collection.
📽️ In the reel, the artist shares her memory of the first encounter with Ileana Sonnabend and Antonio Homem, and the significance of that moment in her career.
Discover the work on view at the Sonnabend Collection Mantova!
#SonnabendCollectionMantova #SonnabendCollection #Art #Museum #RonaPondick
