Even if you’re tired of Zoom meetings, you’ll be tempted to join Mongolian artist Uuriintuya Dagvasambuu’s online gathering in this painting at Sapar Contemporary, part of her New York solo show debut. Featuring a woman in traditional dress, flower stalks composed of tiny humans an undersea woman with her pet dog and more, each painted video frame is an introduction to a fascinating earthly or mystical world. (On view in Tribeca through April 30th.)
Though she lives in New York, Lisa Sanditz’ attention is on the country, with a new series of paintings that consider food production and sculptures inspired by Arizona cactus farms. Here, fanciful rainbow cacti in muted colors face off through Styrofoam cups like those that farmers use to protect cactus branches from cold. (At Chelsea’s CRG Gallery through March 15th).
Lisa Sanditz, Rainbow, glazed ceramic, planters, cinderblocks, plywood, rocks, 20 x 22 ½ x 8 inches, 2014.
This portrait of Marillyn A. Hewson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation by Scottish artist Michael Fullerton comes with a wall text briefly summarizing positions she’s held at the company. Political commentary seems inevitable but apart from a hint in the title of this conventional-looking portrait, ‘The Mistress,’ is up to our interpretation. (At Greene Naftali Gallery through Feb 8th).
Michael Fullerton, The Mistress, oil on linen, 2014.
Part of an exhibition by British artist Sarah Morris inspired by Rio de Janeiro, this graphically slick painting evokes the iPhone’s sliding on/off switches, an active game board or abstracted commuters moving rapidly through the city grid, all of which make for an urban landscape painting that evokes a city on the move. (At Petzel Gallery through Dec 21st).
Sarah Morris, Hybrid Solar Eclipse (Rio), household gloss paint on canvas, 2013.
In this conceptual artwork from 1990, New York artist Elaine Reichek pairs a source photo of a Native American teepee with her own knitted version of it, picturing a marginalized culture with a marginalized craft. Does the homey feel of knitted objects connect with the feelings conjured by this home? Reichek’s unassuming objects ask complicated questions. (At Zach Feuer Gallery through Dec 21st).
Elaine Reichek, Painted Blackfoot, knitted wool yarn and oil on gelatin silver print, 1990.
Martin Creed’s exhibition at Hauser & Wirth’s 69th Street location includes portraits painted by leaping high in the air with a paintbrush, stacking sculptures based on mathematical ratios and room-altering minimal, monumental wall paintings. None seem to involve much effort on Creed’s part to create – this being his signature style – yet each will definitely create a reaction. (Through Dec 21st ).
Martin Creed, work no. 1782, toilet roll, unique, 2013 (foreground). Martin Creed, work no. 905, emulsion on wall, 2008 (background).
New York based-Scandinavian artist Simen Johan’s latest photos from his ongoing series, ‘Until the Kingdom Comes’ are stronger than even, offering seamless images of animals inserted into landscapes that would be alien to them, as with these giraffes (shot in a U.S. zoo), whose heads are lost in the fog of landscapes from Turkey, Bali & Iceland. (At Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery through Dec 7th).
Simen Johan, Untitled #172, digital c-print, 2013.
Chicago-based conceptual artist William Pope. L continues to consider how people separate themselves by race; in this wall of drawings, potentially offensive generalizations are neutralized by their opaqueness. (At Mitchell-Innes & Nash in Chelsea through Oct 26th).
William Pope. L, detail view of ‘Wall of Skin Set drawings,’ 2010 – 2013.
A New York Observer critic recently likened Caetano de Almeida’s vividly colored geometric abstractions to an open window, adding that viewing them was ‘like flying.’ Come check out their physical effect on the Oct 12th open group tour. (At Eleven Rivington Gallery on the Lower East Side through October 13th).
Caetano de Almeida, Agudos, acrylic on canvas, 2013.
A dark geometric shape appears to do battle with two biomorphic entities in Elizabeth Murray’s 1982 canvas at Chelsea’s Cheim & Read Gallery. Part of an exhibition showcasing abstract painting in the 80s, its attention-grabbing drama and size (over ten feet tall) excite the imagination. (Through Aug 30th).
Elizabeth Murray, Sentimental Education, oil on canvas, 127 x 96 inches, 1982.
Brooklyn-based Daniel Gordon presents one of his signature photo collages at Untitled Gallery on the Lower East Side, a selection of apples and pears that update Cezanne’s twisted perspectives on fruit by adding multiple digital perspectives against contemporary but dated background textiles. (Through July 26th).
Daniel Gordon, Pink Ladies and Pears, chromogenic print, 2012.
Disembodied hands snap photos at all angles from long tripods in ‘Truck Baby’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side. LA-based Samara Golden, known for disorderly installations of fantastical worlds, presents a more straightforward tableau here, in which anonymous hands record everything. (Through July 20th).
Samara Golden, installation view of ‘A Convocation of,’ foam, wood, acrylic, 2012 in ‘Truck Baby’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery.
In one of the Lower East Side’s standout shows of the moment, Margaret Weber meticulously deconstructs large sections of commercial carpeting to create two monumental wall hangings and a floor piece, changing a drab, industrial product into an airy, handcrafted textile. (At Ramiken Crucible, through June 23rd).
Margaret Weber, Trading Comfort for Freedom, industrial carpet, 2012.
British artist Marc Quinn has referred to his gargantuan bronze seashell sculptures as Venus’ pedestal (from Botticelli’s famous painting), a spiraling symbol of the world in motion, and a ‘symbol of a woman’s sex.’ Towering at over eight feet high, what they most symbolize (along with Jeff Koons’ and Paul McCarthy’s current Chelsea shows) is enormous production values. (At Mary Boone Gallery through June 29th).
Marc Quinn, Map of the Space-Time Continuum, bronze, 2013.
It comes as no surprise that Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ is a favorite of New York artist Rona Pondick, whose new sculptures at Chelsea’s Sonnabend Gallery continue her trademark combination of her own head and other cast body parts with plant or animal bodies. Here, a wallaby’s stylized, beautiful form merges with a drooping hand and hanging head, suggesting a dragging weight. (Through April 27th).
Rona Pondick, Wallaby, stainless steel, 2007-12.
‘Festone’ (festoon) feels like the perfect title for this festive, beautifully colored acrylic painting by Turin-based painter Giorgio Griffa. Hurricane Sandy damaged the delicate-appearing work in his first New York solo show since 1970 in October; now the prolific Griffa, who folds and shelves his paintings upon completion, is back with a new selection of pleasingly minimal abstractions worth celebrating. (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through March 2nd).
