Tag: andrew kreps gallery

Raymond Saunders at Andrew Kreps Gallery and David Zwirner Gallery

Thought-provoking and pleasurable as it was, Andrew Kreps Gallery’s 2022 exhibition of iconic west coast painter Raymond Saunders’ work turns out to have been just a taster for the artist’s tour de force three-gallery show now on view at Kreps and David Zwirner Gallery, curated by Ebony L. Haynes.  Known for poetic compilations of text, signage, drawing, and materials from everyday life, Saunders’ paintings – mostly from the 80s and 90s – show him making layered allusions to the act of art making.  In this untitled piece from the mid ‘90s, faint drips, frost-like paint marks and a huge white brushstroke bring to mind an artist’s stylistic options.  A monumental fruit at center seems to nod to still life tradition while a page from a text on how to build a flat human figure drawing model, positioned near a text giving instruction on how to play a game, slyly suggests a calculation of artistic success.  (On view through April 5th/6th).

Raymond Saunders, Untitled, acrylic, spray paint, chalk, collage, and mixed media on canvas, 23 ¼ x 20 5/8 inches, 1995.

Sonia Gechtoff at 55 Walker

Wholly abstract yet suggesting recognizable forms, late painter Sonia Gechtoff’s canvases invite and resist interpretation simultaneously.  Successful from a young age with shows at the San Francisco Museum of Art (now SFMoMA) and the De Young Museum, Gechtoff’s move to New York’s male-oriented abstract expressionist art scene in the late 1950s slowed her career and recognition.  Her current retrospective at 55 Walker (run by Bortolami, kaufmann Repetto and Andrew Kreps Gallery) contributes to correcting the record of her importance, showcasing work from the ‘50s to 2017, the year before her death at age 91.  It includes ‘Celestial Red,’ a composition dominated by circular forms evoking the planets and moons of a solar system, and behind them all, a powerful, glowing celestial body not fully known or seen. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 26th).

Sonia Gechtoff, Celestial Red, acrylic on canvas, 77 ¾ x 78 in, 1994.

Robert Overby at Andrew Kreps Gallery

This washed out figure is a faded but haunting recurring image in Andrew Kreps Gallery’s retrospective of work by San Francisco-based artist and graphic designer Robert Overby. Based on a 16th century Madonna by Albrecht Durer, Mary’s imposing, weirdly angled eye suggests an oddly provocative madness. (In Chelsea through Oct 31st).

Robert Overby, detail of ONE EYED-GRID, offset lithograph on paper on plywood, 18 ½ x 14 ¾ inches, 1975.

Giuseppe Gabellone at Andrew Kreps Gallery

Like a giant emptied beanbag chair, Italian artist Giuseppe Gabellone’s ‘Acid Green’ fabric installation flops in the corner of Andrew Kreps’ Chelsea gallery, transforming the space and color of the room. Part of a show of work by artists who push their materials, the piece boldly occupies its space while suggesting future uses for the fabric. (Through Dec 20th).

Giuseppe Gabellone, Verde Acido, velvet fabric, acrylic padding, 590 ½ x 452 ¾ inches, 2012.

Christian Holstad at Andrew Kreps Gallery

Andrew Kreps inaugurates its new space at 537 West 22nd (Petzel Gallery’s old spot) with a show by new gallery artist Christian Holstad, whose handcrafted objects (including trashcans, an abandoned stroller, a flock of chickens and bees like this one) invite mediation on the contemporary urban environment. (Through June 22nd).  

Christian Holstad, installation view of ‘Christian Holstad:  The Book of Hours,’ at Andrew Kreps Gallery, May 2013.