Lance Esplund reviews a few different New York gallery exhibitions today in the Wall Street Journal. Commenting on the show of California Minimalism from 1960-70 up at David Zwirner in Chelsea, Esplund makes this troubling observation:

Art is a product of its environment. Northern European artists make work different from that of Mediterranean artists; and the art of the provinces is not like that of the city. But globalization is leveling the playing field. A walk through Chelsea will confirm that contemporary art from Manchuria and Manhattan is alike.

Maybe that is why this elegant exhibition of West Coast Minimalism, mostly from the late 1960s, freshens like a blast of sea air. Comprising nearly 30 works by 10 artists, including Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman and John McCracken, it is less an artistic time capsule than a pristine slice of Southern California light, space and culture.

California Gleaming (Wall Street Journal)