Granted access to Nation of Islam leadership and communities in 1963, Life photographer Gordon Parks shot remarkable images including this portrait of women’s leader Ethel Sharrieff. Now on view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s 24th Street location, the arresting show overviews selections from Parks’ lesser-known yet powerful series. (On view through Feb 10th).
Levittown – a post WWII house development of 17,500 homes on Long Island seen from an aerial view on the gallery wall – has become synonymous with the crushing conformity of the suburbs. Brian Tolle’s carefully researched replica of the Levittown Cape Cod style house is realized in platinum silicon rubber and rests on a beanbag, armchair, kids toys and other typical items from American homes. In the gallery, Tolle’s deflated forms suggesting the melting away of past attitudes and lifestyles. (On view at C24 Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 27th).
The weeks turn to years in Byron Kim’s diaristic notes, jotted on his paintings of the sky on successive Sundays since 2001. The towers fall, Obama is elected president, Kim worries over his kids, ponders his work and enjoys an active social life – all set against the backdrop of shifting weather. (On view at James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 17th).
“And yet it moves” is the translated titled of this new monumental steel sculpture by Mark di Suvero, referring to Galileo’s 17th century assertion (despite pressure from the Inquisition) that the earth is not stable. Likewise, this formidably weighty sculpture looks fixed but will rock on its axis if set in motion. (On view at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 3rd.)
From papier-mâché to paintings on panel, Barry McGee’s exhibition of recent work at Cheim & Read is packed with a superabundance of objects bearing McGee’s signature patterns and logos. In the back, a stack of surfboards is typical of the show’s visual overload, speaking to McGee’s boundless creative impulse. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 17th.)
