Tag: abstraction

Barbara Takenaga at DC Moore Gallery

Abstract painter Barbara Takenaga stakes out new territory in recent works at DC Moore Gallery in Chelsea, introducing compositions dominated by curvy organic shapes (recalling bodies by Gladys Nilsson) and bordered by bright red contour lines.  The 12 foot long ‘Two for Bontecou’ features a fragmented circular object with a void at center a la sculptor Lee Bontecou, and appears to combine deliberately rendered forms with Takenaga’s signature change-driven mark-making.  Here, in ‘Red Turnout,’ a multi-colored form snakes up from below while a signature explosion of white marks covers the canvas, contributing to this painting’s dynamic impact.  (On view through April 27th in Chelsea).

Barbara Takenaga, Red Turnout, acrylic on linen, 70 x 60 inches, 2024.

Sarah Crowner at Luhring Augustine Gallery

Barbara Hepworth’s pierced organic abstractions, Henry Moore’s curvilinear reclining figures and the undulating forms of Chinese scholar stones come to mind when viewing Sarah Crowner’s attractive new bronze sculptures at Luhring Augustine Gallery’s Tribeca space.  Reflecting Crowner’s vibrant paintings, which have fittingly vivid titles like ‘Red Oranges Over Orange with Curve,’ or ‘Violets Over Reds,’ the sculptures are enhanced by and enhance their environment.  (On view through May 4th).

Sarah Crowner, installation view of ‘Hot Light, Hard Light,’ at Luhring Augustine Gallery, Tribeca, March 2024.

Mika Tajima at Pace Gallery

Known for turning sound into image, Mika Tajima has gathered aural data from brain activity and turned it into visual information in her latest ‘textile paintings,’ now on view at Pace Gallery.  Produced by an experimental textile lab in the Netherlands, the monumental artworks juxtapose minute readings with expansive artworks, a nod to an individual human’s relative insignificance in the face of geological time and in relation to big data. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 24th).

Mika Tajima, Negative Entropy (Deep Brain Stimulation, Yellow, Full Width, Exa), cotton, polyester, nylon, and wood, 135 x 204 3/8 x 2 ¾ inches, 2024.

Whitney Oldenburg at Chart Gallery

A sculpture titled ‘Feeding Frenzy’ – three giant chrysalis forms studded with red paper admission tickets – announces Whitney Oldenburg’s first New York solo at Chart Gallery as an energetic and ambitious debut.  In addition to suggestive titles, unusual materials hint at storylines – Feeding Frenzy mixes in ear plugs, helmets to bring to mind a raucous concert. Composed of molds of ‘Feeding Frenzy’ along with row after row of generic acetaminophen, ‘High Tide,’ pictured here, alludes to medicated states.  Also resembling a shell big enough for Venus to arrive on, the sculpture remakes the natural world through human materials as eclectic as lollipop sticks and tiki wall, one of Oldenburg’s idiosyncratic works that beg a closer look. (Gallery opening hours change during the holidays. Check opening hours before visiting.  On view in Tribeca through Jan 6th).

Whitney Oldenburg, High Tide, molds of Feeding Frenzy, metal, clay, lollipop sticks, tiki wall, generic acetaminophen, leather, linen, resin, 60 x 51 x 28 inches, 2023.
Whitney Oldenburg, (detail) High Tide, molds of Feeding Frenzy, metal, clay, lollipop sticks, tiki wall, generic acetaminophen, leather, linen, resin, 60 x 51 x 28 inches, 2023.

 

Minako Iwamura in ‘Transcendence’ at JDJ Gallery

Work by sixteen artists in JDJ Gallery’s light-filled new Tribeca gallery space argues for the vitality and variety of abstract and near-abstract 2-D work by harnessing form, color and light to create alternative places and states.  Minako Iwamura’s selection of several small paintings on wood panel and larger works including Plexus (pictured here) speak to the New York-based artist’s interest in duality which she expresses by combining linear geometry and swelling, organic forms.  Alluding to the human form in their curving shapes yet transcending the corporeal with a network of thin, white lines that take the mind beyond the painting’s boundaries, Iwamura suggests a mind-expanding awakening. (On view through Jan 13th).

Minako Iwamura, Plexus, oil and white charcoal on cradled wood panel, 40 x 30 x 1.5 inches, 2023.