The vibrant colors and domestic setting rich with decorative details in this gorgeous still life by late New York painter Nell Blaine betray her captivation by 19th/20th century European painters like Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. (On view in midtown at Tibor de Nagy Gallery through Jan 28th).
Peter Coolidge’s photos of coal seams in Germany’s industrial Ruhr region glint seductively, appealing to some as abstract compositions formed by nature. Yet not far from the surface is the understanding of coal’s powerful role in pollution and climate change, turning this coalface sinister. (At Peter Blum Gallery on 57th Street through Feb 4th).
Abstract painter Rebecca Morris shows canvases controlled by a grid and, by contrast, images in which forms float freely in a selection of work at Mary Boone Gallery’s 57th Street location. In pieces like this untitled oil on canvas, Morris’ organizational strategy occupies a middle ground as recurring scallop-edged shapes nestle into each other, appearing to both advance towards us and recede. A white border flecked with black recalling ermine fur and a center that brings Dalmatians to mind create associations that drive contemplation. (On view through Feb 25th).
While much of the art world slumbered through August, some galleries remained open, including 57th St area Gering Lopez Gallery, which features this subtly energetic 10 x 40 foot wall painting in which swirling lines resemble but belie the intimacy of fingerprints. (Through Sept 7th)
Linn Meyers, This Familiar Place, ink and acrylic paint on wall, 2013.
Since the 70s, James Turrell has been converting the Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona, into a series of chambers for viewing earth’s atmosphere and celestial phenomena beyond. At Pace Gallery’s 57th St space, he’s exhibiting models of structures based on light phenomena explored at Roden, including this one, which suggests a merger of a UFO and a pyramid. (Through April 20th).
James Turrell, Missed Approach, cast, plaster and wood, 1990.
Peter Blum Gallery marks its first show at its new 57th Street gallery (as it says goodbye to its Chelsea and SoHo locations), with Rosy Keyser’s adventurous ‘paintings,’ assembled from materials as diverse as bamboo and rusty, corrugated steel. (Through April 20th).
Rosy Keyser, ‘Hungry Shepherd, Honeypot,’ left panel: enamel, spray paint and rope on steel. Right panel: dye enamel, bamboo, and polycarbonate on aluminum and wood on canvas. 2013.
Monika Sosnowska’s ‘Fir Tree,’ a 40 foot tall steel sculpture currently located at the southeast entrance to Central Park is just a step beyond the park’s trees but is more in keeping with the solid, man-made structures surrounding the park. It belongs to neither world, however, and its lack of cheer and melted, post-disaster appearance lend it an ominous intrigue. (Through Feb 17th).
Conceptual artist John Baldessari pairs song lyrics with images abstracted from canonical paintings in his latest series of paintings. The odd angle of this deer’s head gives its source away as an 1867 hunting scene by Gustave Courbet. The hunt looks more comical than gruesome in Baldessari’s version, though on reflection maybe both deer and fly should be spared. (At Marian Goodman Gallery, 57th Street, through Nov 21).
Today, Joel Meyerowitz chatted with visitors to Howard Greenberg Gallery on the occasion of a show of his street photographs from the 60s and 70s, which include iconic shots like his couple in camel colored coats walking through NYC steam, the odd spectacle of a fallen man on a Paris sidewalk, and this eccentric human/cat threesome from New York’s 1964 Easter Parade. (On 57th Street through December 1st).
As Sally Mann recovered from an accident in which she was thrown from and pummeled by her dying horse in ’06, she turned to self-portraiture to create haunting ambrotypes like this one. Streaking, blurring, over and underexposures mar the images, speaking movingly to the damage inflicted on their subject. (At Edwynn Houk Gallery on Fifth Ave & 57th Street through Nov 3rd.)
Gordon Parks’ iconic photographs spanned the worlds of fashion, celebrity and social documentary from this 1949 photo of Ingrid Bergman on location for the filming of Roberto Rossellini’s ‘Stromboli’ to a photo from the ’56 Segregation Series that demonstrates the respectable normality of Mr & Mrs Albert Thornton in their living room in Mobile Alabama. Both are on view at Howard Greenberg Gallery on 57th Street through Oct 27th.
