In his latest New York solo show, British artist Richard Hughes turns drabness into whimsy by appearing to transform light posts into a pair of jauntily high-stepping legs. They’re actually meticulously created to look like the real thing, but that fact’s almost irrelevant to their enjoyment. (At Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery through May 18th).
Richard Hughes, Pedestrian (Hot Ste P), architectural grey board, fiberglass, stone resin, steel and paint, 2013.
Painting gets the last laugh in Polish artist Wilhelm Sasnal’s new body of work which focuses on Kodak, its products, logos and marketing of the ‘Kodak moment.’ Now, the former photographic giant’s film products are reduced to memories and arresting color contrasts rendered in oils. (At Anton Kern Gallery through April 6th.)
Wilhelm Sasnal, Kodak Black, oil on canvas, 2012.
Eberhardt Havekost, ‘Ocean,’ oil on canvas, 2012.
Eberhard Havekost’s painting ‘Ocean’ is once again on display as Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery reopened today, post-Sandy. It’s a standout in a show about Havekost as artist and consumer, who transforms an enviable body (sourced from a German ad) into a mottled obstacle to the paradisiacal scene behind. (Through Dec 15th).
Alessandro Pessoli, Sancho Panza & Don Chiscotte, maiolica ceramics, wire & steel base, 2012.
Alessandro Pessoli’s painted figures usually look like they’ve emerged from a dream or hallucination; these absurdly phallic Maiolica ceramic sculptures, fittingly titled Sancho Panza & Don Chiscotte, lack the typical atmospheric surroundings of Pessoli’s paintings, but their lighthearted vibrant colors and mobile-like hanging lend them an amusing whimsy. (At Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery through Oct 20th.)
Kiki Smith, Milky Way, murrini with push pin, glass and plastic glitter, gold leaf and ink on Nepalese paper mounted on canvas, 2011.
Kiki Smith’s ‘Milky Way’ brings to mind a more benevolent Edenic serpent hovering over a field of pointed breasts (a fertile Eve? multi-breasted Greek goddess Artemis?). Murrini glass, plastic glitter, and gold leaf amongst other materials create a dazzling backdrop and light up the snake from beneath. The piece could read as an exhuberant celebration of fertility or its opposite, as sharp breasts threaten. (In ‘It’s Always Summer on the Inside’ at Anton Kern Gallery, Chelsea, through August 24th).