Tony Oursler at Metro Pictures

I am not usually one for the new media in art, but some of it stands out, and Tony Oursler has been doing video installations now for years, and is the master of the genre. His new show at Metro Pictures, up until April 11, is well worth a look. The illusions he conjures are very compelling and are as much a testament to the rapid evolution of video technology as Oursler's incredibly imaginative use of it. Below are photos I took on my iphone, the simplest camera in the world, and if they are compelling on these, you know they are in person.

A forest of burning cigarettes greets you as you enter the gallery. As they are video projections, the tips appear to burn with a moving red glow of embers, and smoke rise. Pretty great, very compelling.

On the floor are projected scratch of lottery tickets with a hand vigorously scratching off the numbers. Again, pretty great illusion, it reads really well.

I have not been writing as much about contemporary art in my blog lately, partly because I have not been doing the Chelsea galleries as much in the winter months, but I will post when something moves me to. I will be interested to see how the galleries weather our current economic storm.