Mernet Larsen at James Cohan Gallery

Fascinated for decades by Post-Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne, painter Mernet Larsen applies her own delightfully eccentric perspectival distortions to her French forebear’s iconic imagery in new work at James Cohan Gallery.  Larsen diversifies the cast of characters in ‘The Bathers (after Cezanne)’ adding bikinis to figures more robotic than robust and emphasizing artificiality in the human figures that replace Cezanne’s stabilizing triangle of trees in the original. A diving figure heading into flat waves akin to the slats in Japanese Bunraku puppet theater (which allow figures to move through water) and a woman to the left literally holding up the top of the painting add dynamism and complexity.  By alluding to Cezanne but shifting away from his focus and results, Larsen emphasizes the choices behind a painting’s design and nods to the many iconic painters who have moved beyond inspiration to find their own unique results.  (On view in Tribeca through March 16th).

Mernet Larsen, The Bathers (after Cezanne), acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 59 ¼ x 39 ½ inches, 2023.

Yasumasa Morimura at Luring Augustine Gallery

From Marilyn Monroe to Marlene Dietrich, Yasumasa Morimura mimics the iconic looks of famous figures in the series ‘100 M’s Self-Portraits,’ now on view at Luhring Augustine’s Tribeca gallery space.  Having made a name for himself in the ‘80s through to the present day via vividly colored photos that depict his reenactments of famous artworks with himself dressed as the main character (he started as Van Gogh with a bandaged ear), the now 72-year-old photographer opted for smaller format black and white images to create his 100 piece portrait series from the 1993-2000.  Here, he takes his version of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s into the subway, having his audience watch a passerby react as we also consider the implications of his race and gender transgressing role play. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 21st).

Yasumasa Morimura, one image from ‘Once Hundred M’s self-portraits, 100 gelatin silver photographs, each 13 ¾ x 11 inches, 1993-2000.

Bob Thompson at 52 Walker and Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

Bob Thompson’s 1965 painting ‘The Swing’ at 52 Walker resembles Jean-Honore Fragonard’s famous 18th century rendering of a finely dressed young woman on a swing and her lover gazing up at her from below but radically shifts the focus and intent.  In Thompson’s characteristic style, the figures are monochromatic and nude, the eroticism of the female character emphasized by the outline of a breast and the complicity of the two men suggested by their common red color.  The man who controls the swing is no longer hidden by foliage, instead playing a clearer role in the flirtation going on between the other two characters. Likewise, Fragonard’s barely noticeable lake in the background turns into a waterfall, two pink putti are locked in a more ambiguous embrace and the swing’s rope more clearly and menacingly encircles the branches above.  In exhibitions of work from Thompson’s brief career (he died just shy of his 29th birthday in 1966) at 52 Walker and at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, the artist delves into European art history, clarifying some elements of iconic works and making others ambiguous to provocative effect. (On view in Tribeca at 52 Walker through July 8th and in Chelsea at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery through July 7th).

Bob Thompson, The Swing, oil on canvas, 49 x 36 inches, 1965.

Glenn Brown at Gagosian Gallery

Against a hazy, apocalyptic landscape, two conjoined heads rise from a spindly stalk of a neck in this painting by Glenn Brown at Chelsea’s Gagosian Gallery, their downward facing gazes suggesting the demure demeanor of women meant to be looked at.  The noir-romantic landscape and the women’s postures and youthful European features are recognizable from western art history.  But self-consciously constructed in individual brushstrokes of multicolored paint, they forgo the illusion of reality.  Positioned half in shadow, half in light, one with a halo, one without, Brown both withholds and illuminates their identities in a way that suggests constant morphing.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Glenn Brown, We’ll Keep on Dancing Till We Pay the Rent, oil on panel, 78 ¾ x 55 ½ inches, 2022.

Jesse Mockrin at Nathalie Karg Gallery

Inspired by art history and contemporary fashion, LA-based oil painter Jesse Mockrin offers glimpses of androgynous creatures with long necks, doll-like features and strangely bone-less fingers. (At Nathalie Karg Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 6th).

Jesse Mockrin, One Summer Day, oil on linen, 37 x 25 inches, 2016.
Jesse Mockrin, One Summer Day, oil on linen, 37 x 25 inches, 2016.