‘American Vernacular: Art and Objects by Unknown Artists’ at Ricco/Maresca Gallery

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Ricco Maresca Gallery’s summer group show, ‘American Vernacular: Art and Objects by Unknown Artists’ ignites curiosity with a selection of folk-art objects and quirky functional forms by unknown makers. Dominating one wall, a Venetian blind from the late 50s – early ‘60s post-dates McCarthyism but nevertheless suggests patriotic peeping.  Nearby, a unique red, white and blue voting booth curtain documents the addition of a decorative touch to a polling station while a sample flag display featuring nesting flags predates Jasper Johns’ avant-garde flag paintings by c. forty years.  (On view in Chelsea through Sept 13th.  Note holiday hours and summer hours.)

Artist Unknown, Monumental Venetian Blind / Flag, Painted metal strips, canvas webbing, 86 x 116 in., ca. 1958-64.
Artist Unknown, Unique Voting Booth Curtain (Miller and Davis Co. Minneapolis, MN), Paint on canvas (in museum standard custom white frame), 43 1/2 x 29 1/4 in., ca. 1920-30.
Artist Unknown, Salesman Sample Flag Display, Printed cotton (professionally mounted), 58 x 36 in., 1912.

Philip Guston at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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In the late 60s, abstract artist Philip Guston stopped painting, then restarted his practice by building a new, figurative artistic vocabulary.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newly installed mezzanine gallery features solitary painted objects – a lightbulb, a shoe – on small canvases that demonstrate how the artist weighed up the meaning and import of everyday objects that he would later repeat. This untitled painting shows a partial view of the artist himself, apparently painted over and covering another image. Wide-eyed and looking straight at the viewer, Guston is only partially visible, but his wary stare speaks volumes about his desire to communicate.  (On view on the Upper East Side in the Met’s ‘Philip Guston: The Panel Paintings, 1968-72 which includes work from Musa Guston Mayer’s promised gift.)

Philip Guston, Untitled, acrylic on panel, 1968.

Matthew Fisher at Shrine Gallery

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Matthew Fisher’s graphically pared down beach scenes at Shrine Gallery are as carefully arranged as a store-front display, puffy clouds even resembling cut-out, stage-set backgrounds.  Although the paintings suggest precise arrangements by an unseen hand, Fisher’s perspective is shaped by the understanding that nature predates and will survive humanity.  Here, ‘The Subject of a Dream’ features a dark void, presumably representing the earth, in which a fish and shell have been extracted from their natural context and offered as symbols for place.  Floating in space and outlined in a white border that further sets them apart, Fisher’s apparition makes the beach and its inhabitants strange, forcing a reevaluation of their existence in time and place. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 4th).

Matthew Fisher, The Subject of a Dream, acrylic on canvas, 2023.

Kent O’Connor at Mendes Wood DM

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LA based artist Kent O’Connor’s paintings of carefully arranged objects are less still lives than just ‘objects on a table,’ explains Mendes Wood DM Gallery, where the artist is also showing portraits, landscapes from a residency in Alberta.  The fruit, animal head and bottle in ‘Zebra Between Two Objects’ are carefully chosen and arranged but difficult to connect or interpret; the painting is nevertheless eye-catching for its dramatic lighting and the sense that the zebra is in motion, rearing upward, despite being immobile. The head’s precarious balance– which we’d more likely encounter oriented vertically on a wall, not horizontally as here – along with a placid, almost peaceful expression and the bubblegum pink table frame are unexpected elements that keep the eye moving around this unusual and arresting interior scene.  (On view through Aug 5th in Tribeca).

Kent O’Connor, Zebra Between Two Objects, oil on linen, 2022-23.

Jesus Raphael Soto in ‘WAVE’ at Marlborough Gallery

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Experiencing one of late Venezuelan kinetic artist Jesus Raphael Soto’s signature sculptures of hanging plastic cord in 1969, critic Guy Brett remarked that the participant’s ‘physicality was diffused,’ suggesting that moving through the piece breaks down the barrier between bodies and environment.  With or without visitors mingling among the threads in this piece in Marlborough Gallery’s summer group show of abstract and kinetic art, Soto’s installation challenges perception as it morphs from solid to ephemeral, suggesting a work always in flux.   (On view in Chelsea through Sept 10th.)

Jesus Rafael Soto, Penetrable Azul de Valencia, wood and pigmented plastic, unique, 108 5/8 x 366 1/8 x 108 ¼ inches, 1999.

Peter Alexander at Pace Gallery

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After an over two-decade hiatus from sculpture-making, late west coast Light and Space artist Peter Alexander came back strong, creating cast forms that appear to glow.  Pace Gallery’s current show of these works from ’11 to ’20 features this eighteen-foot-long installation of urethane strips.  Varying in width and color, the parallel pieces create an irregular rhythm that excites the senses.  (On view through March 19th).

Peter Alexander, Heard it Through the Grapevine, urethane, 77 x 18’ 1” overall installed, 2019.

Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu at Jack Shainman Gallery

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Young Nigerian artist Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu amazes with her photo realist style and the pleasure she takes in painting elements of Igbo tradition.  In this piece titled ‘Umunne (Siblings)’ at Jack Shainman Gallery on 24th Street, Chiamonwu depicts two of her siblings in a moment of peaceful unity as they pose together with closed eyes.  A cowry shell bracelet symbolizing prosperity and snail shells signifying abundance speak to the family’s cultural wealth.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 19th.  Masks and social distancing required.)

Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu, Umunne (Siblings), charcoal, sepia, pastel and acrylic paints on canvas, 46 ½ x 46 inches, 2021.

Jaume Plensa, LUCIA (nest) at Galerie Lelong

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With eyes closed to suggest inner reflection and heads elongated to convey a sense of spirituality, Jaume Plensa’s contemplative sculptural figures express peace in public places worldwide.  In his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong, Plensa presents heads that only partly emerge from the alabaster rock from which they are carved.  Collectively titled ‘Nest,’ the new work represents Plensa’s feeling that the brain is like a nest, where dreams are born.  (On view through Dec 23rd).

Jaume Plensa, LUCIA (nest), alabaster, 57.5 x 40.1 x 20.5 inches, 2021.

Nathaniel Mary Quinn at Gagosian Gallery

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Divisions both stark and subtle dominate Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s drawing ‘Double-Barreled Shotgun,’ a standout in his current show at Gagosian Gallery’s uptown location.  Prompted by a bad experience with a family member, this piece unites two figures only to show their differences.  Created with a technique that appears to be collage, yet is entirely hand drawn in charcoal, gouache and soft pastel on Coventry vellum paper, the work manifests invisible hurt in disfigured faces. (On view through Oct 30th).

Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Double-Barreled Shotgun, charcoal, gouache and soft pastel on Coventry vellum paper, 48 x 45 inches, 2021.

Niko Luoma in ‘Brought to Light’ at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

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Experimental Finnish photographer Niko Luoma recreates a scene from an iconic 19th century woodblock print by Hokusai in this photographic image made from multiple exposures at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery.  Whereas Hokusai pictures travelers battling the wind – holding on to their hats or losing a stack of paper to a strong gust – Luoma’s version abstracts the scene, creating mood with strong color and foregrounding the escaping pieces of paper as they take flight.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 27th.

Niko Luoma, Self-titled Adaptation of Travelers Caught in a Sudden Breeze at Ejiri (1832), Archival pigment print, diasec, frame, 2019.

Jennifer J. Lee at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery

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Closeups of a yellow cable knit sweater, acne scars, popcorn and other objects with textured surfaces draw viewers into Jennifer J Lee’s tiny representational paintings at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery.  Colorful and complex, they engage the senses on multiple levels; painted on rough panels of jute, Lee accentuates the tactility of her subjects.  Here, cacti crowd the frame of this 13 x 12 inch piece offering a lively dynamic of sharp thorns and strong light.  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 26th.  Masks and social distancing required).

Jennifer J. Lee, Prickly Pear, oil on jute, 13 x 12 inches, 2021.

Niki de Saint Phalle at Salon94

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Titled ‘Joy Revolution,’ Salon94’s exhibition of late French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s painting, sculpture and work on paper celebrates color, pleasure and play.  Just inside Salon94’s stunning new 89th Street location, a 17,500 square foot former mansion built by philanthropist Archer Huntington, two lions originally intended as garden decoration greet visitors.  Intended to entice kids to climb them, they serve here as guardians and greeters.  (On view through April 24th).

Niki de Saint Phalle, Guardian Lions, polyurethane foam, resin, steel armature, ceramic tiles, glass, tumbled stone, and fused millefiori glass inserts, 88 x 132 x 112 inches, 2000.

Hung Liu in ‘Prayers to Urns’ at Nancy Hoffman Gallery

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As a new year approaches and many hope for better times ahead, west coast painter Hung Liu marks time in a personal and captivating way in two new paintings at Nancy Hoffman Gallery.  Every twelve years, at the start of the Chinese zodiac and in the Year of the Rat in which she was born, the artist creates a self-portrait paired with an important symbolic animal or object.  In 2020, the most recent year of the rat, the artist marks her 72nd year with an image of herself draped in and masked by the US flag, a contrast to the red scarf she wears in her 1972 portrait as she lived through China’s Cultural Revolution.  To the right, she repeats a five-stroke Chinese character to recall the prisoner’s act of marking time in strokes on the wall.  (On view through Jan 2nd in Chelsea.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Hung Liu, Ray Year I: Counting Down, oil on linen, mixed media on wood, 64 x 100 inches, 2020.

Sadie Laska at Canada New York

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Sadie Laska’s flags line the walls of Canada NYC’s Tribeca project room in a profusion of color and an abundance of possible messages. An evolving fish strides along with the message ‘go fund yourself,’ as if suggesting a fundraising campaign to finance future development.  Nearby, a quilted star hovers over the image of planet earth featured in the 1960s-designed Earth Flag, while a mysterious silhouette thoughtfully paces above it all.  With humor, Laska suggests more complex flag-flying.  (On view in Tribeca through Dec 5th).

Sadie Laska, Installation view of EREHWON at Canada Gallery, Nov 2020.

Magdalena Suarez Frimkess at kaufmannrepetto.com

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Though Minnie Mouse and other comic icons are a recurring subject for Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, they’re new every time she makes them.  This is apparent in this sculpture of Minnie holding a Prada bag and cocking her head thoughtfully to the side from Suarez Frimkess’ 2017 show at Kaufmann Repetto.  The gallery’s current on-line show of Suarez Frimkess’ features insights from the artist, more Minnies and diverse work that draws on art historical sources from Egyptian sculpture to pre-Columbian art.

Magdalena Suarez Frimkess, Untitled, ceramic, glaze, 8.25 x 4 x 3 inches, 2016.

Jim McDowell at Cavin Morris Gallery

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North Carolina potter Jim McDowell channels the ceramic styles of enslaved craftsmen from the mid-19th century in face jugs with a message.  ‘War Ends Nothing’ says the text written into the side of ‘War ‘n’ Peace’ on the left, while ‘Trayvon’ at center carries words that expresses anger at and healing after the death of Trayvon Martin.  (On view at Cavin Morris Gallery in Chelsea through April 20th).

Jim McDowell, War ‘n’ Peace, ceramic, fired in a wood burning kiln; made of high fire clay, glazed with Malcolm Davis shino and embellished with china teeth, 8.5 x 8.5 x 8 inches, 2014.

Michael Sailstorfer at Galerie Perrotin

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Berlin-based artist Michael Sailstorfer’s tear-themed show at Galerie Perrotin aims to convert sadness to fun.  Here, a rickety farm building is destroyed by wrecking balls in the shape of teardrops (cables were removed post-production). Elsewhere, the artist prepares tear-shaped lumps of coal for burning and morphed Bavarian beer bottles into tear-shapes with the help of a glass-blower.  (On view on the Lower East Side through April 13th).

Michael Sailstorfer, Tranen, video, 2015.

Sheila Hicks Installation at Sikkema Jenkins

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Known for large-scale installations of hanging, twisting and looping fibers, Sheila Hicks favors rich, 2-D color-fields in her latest solo show at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.  As seen in this detail, Hicks combined several panels wrapped in individual strands of linen floss to create harmonies that speak to a lifetime of absorbing and rethinking textiles from around the world.  (On view through July 6th).

Sheila Hicks, installation detail at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., June 2018.

Theo A. Rosenblum in ‘Clay Today’ at The Hole NYC

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Ceramics get comic and weird in The Hole NYC’s sprawling exhibition of art made from clay.  Theo A. Rosenblum’s ‘King Carrot’ grins enthusiastically in the main gallery, setting the tone for a show that includes Alice Mackler’s amorphous female figures, a delinquent Bart Simpson portrait by FriendsWithYou and much, much more.  (On view on the Lower East Side through May 6th).

Theo A. Rosenblum, King Carrot, epoxy clay over wood and foam, acrylic paint, 52 x 38 x 38 inches, 2010.

Ursula Morley Price at McKenzie Fine Art

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From her home in a small French town, British octogenarian artist Ursula Morley Price continues to invent unique ceramic forms that evoke the beauty and order of the natural world. This white twist form, on view at McKenzie Fine Art on the Lower East Side, suggests delicate petals, a flexible spinal column, coral, machinery and more. (On view through Dec 22nd).

Ursula Morley Price, White Twist Form, stoneware, 7 ¼ inches high, 9 inches diameter, 2017. Photograph courtesy of McKenzie Fine Art, Inc.

Annie Pootoogook at National Museum of the American Indian

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The late Canadian Inuk artist Annie Pootoogook’s domestic scenes are sometimes tranquil, sometimes violent, but this portrait drawing of her grandmother, the artist Pitseolak Ashoona, radiates calm. (On view at the National Museum of the American Indian through Jan 8th).

Annie Pootoogook, A Portrait of Pitseolak, colored pencil and ink on paper, ’03 – ’04.

Yann Gerstberger at Lyles & King

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Mounting material and hand-dyed mop head strands onto vinyl, French artist and Mexico City resident Yann Gerstberger makes bold, nearly abstract textiles that suggest tantalizing stories and histories. (At Lyles and King on the Lower East Side through July 28th).

Yann Gerstberger, Ataralla, cotton, natural dyes (grana cochinilla), synthetic dyes, vinyl banner, 113.375 x 94.5 inches, 2017.

Gehard Demetz at Jack Shainman Gallery

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A devotional sculpture of Mary melds with the body of an anonymous girl in this provocative sculpture by northern Italian artist Gehard Demetz. Though each figure looks fragmented, the merger seems neither violent nor ecstatic (along the lines of Bernini’s Saint Teresa.) Instead, the girl is absorbed by the inner life shared with the saint. (At Jack Shainman Gallery through June 3rd).

Gehard Demetz, Miraculous Breath, lindenwood, 52 ½ x 12 1/8 x 14 inches, 2016.

Sean Scully at Cheim & Read Gallery

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A stack of imposing, black steel frames by abstract painter Sean Scully fills the atrium-like space of Cheim & Read’s small side gallery – the first piece encountered when entering the show. By contrast, ‘Colored Stacked Frames,’ (seen here) in the furthest gallery radically alters the somber mood of the show, injecting vibrant color into Scully’s normally restrained palette. (In Chelsea through May 20th).

Sean Scully, Colored Stacked Frames, stainless steel with automotive paint, 10 x 8 x 8 feet, 2017.

Nathaniel de Large at 247365

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The chemical smell of ‘Stockpot’ – a Porta potty on rockers – hits immediately at Nathaniel de Large’s solo show at 247365 on the Lower East Side.   This surprising sculpture opens a show inspired by de Large’s time spent camping in a Brooklyn parking lot. Further in, the artist displays a puffer jacket the size of a camper (which serves as a screening room) and freshly poured concrete ‘sidewalks’ into which friends have carved their marks. (On view through March 10th).

Nathaniel de Large, Stockpot, Porta potty, steel, aluminum, motor, shirt, concrete, 42 x 82 x 99 inches, 2017.

Johannes VanDerBeek at Marinaro

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Johannes VanDerBeek’s thick aqua-resin paintings at new Lower East Side gallery Marinaro look like highly colored views from under the microscope. Looser than Joan Miro and freer and more abstract than Yves Tanguy, the work still channels Surrealism and early 20th century abstraction. (On view through March 19th).

Johannes VanDerBeek, Medieval Blossom, aqua-resin, fiberglass, steel, clay, silicone and paint, 65 x 45 inches, 2017.

John Finneran at 47 Canal

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Though he has focused on the female form in past, pared down representations, a large, pink-hued highlight of John Finneran’s latest solo show at 47 Canal features three kings. Resembling archaic designs and featuring universal geometries, they appear both ancient and contemporary. (On the Lower East Side through April 2nd).

John Finneran, Kings, oil and charcoal on linen, 66 x 74 inches, 2017.

Richard Mosse at Jack Shainman Gallery

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Richard Mosse pictures European refugee camps like you’ve never seen them in monumental new photos taken with a military grade telephoto camera. Normally used for combat and border surveillance, the camera detects thermal radiation, turning individuals into ghost-like presences. (At Jack Shainman Gallery’s 20th Street location in Chelsea through March 11th).

Richard Mosse, (detail of) Idomeni Camp, Greece, digital c-print on metallic paper, 40 x 120 inches, 2016.

Uta Barth at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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Inspired by the light in her adopted home-city of LA and by the still life arrangements of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, Uta Barth employs everyday glassware as lenses. Transparent objects in various shapes, colors and combinations shift light to harness the properties of nature in service of art. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through March 11th).

Uta Barth, In the Light and Shadow of Morandi (17.03), face mounted, raised, shaped, Archival Pigment print in artist’s frame, 48 ¾ x 52 ¾ inches, 2017.

Natalie Baxter in ‘Old Glory’ at Mulherin New York

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Brooklyn-based artist Natalie Baxter’s glitzy flag hangs from the ceiling of Mulherin New York’s compact space like a disco ball, adding humor to the flag-centric group show ‘Old Glory.’ (On the Lower East Side through March 5th).

Natalie Baxter, People will Think You’re Making a Trump Flag V, fabric and polyfill, 22 x 39 x 3 inches, 2017.

Jennifer Rubell at Sargent’s Daughters

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Jennifer Rubell continues to turn hospitality into art in this standout sculpture from her solo show at Sargent’s Daughters. A five-foot tall, resin pants suit doubles as a cookie jar holding treats baked from Hillary Clinton’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, offered to the public in 1992 after she’d commented on wanting to pursue her career rather than bake cookies.  Twenty-five years later, questions about women’s roles in society are a continued hot topic. (On the Lower East Side through March 5th).

Jennifer Rubell, Vessel, resin, food-safe paint, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (from Hillary Clinton’s recipe), 65 x 36 x 36 inches.

Elliott Hundley, Until the End at Andrea Rosen

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A woman calmly looks out from a storm of activity in this detail from a new collage by Elliott Hundley at Andrea Rosen Gallery, suggesting that she is uniquely adapted to life in an environment of overload.   Countless masks, eyes and assorted circular shapes – from lotus slices to flowers – are equal parts portal to another world and big brother. (In Chelsea through March 11th).

Elliott Hundley, (detail of )Until the end, paper, oil, pins, glass, lotus, plastic, foam and linen over panel, 96 ½ x 80 ¼ x 8 ½ inches, 2017.

Steve Wolfe at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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This well-worn tome isn’t a book at all but a meticulous painting by the artist Steve Wolfe. Not only does it memorialize a classic novel but serves as a tribute to Wolfe himself, who passed away last year.  Well-known for creating trompe l’oeil paintings of favorite books and records, Wolfe indirectly created a portrait of himself and his era. (At Luhring Augustine Gallery through March 11th).

Steve Wolfe, Untitled (Portrait of the Artist), oil, silkscreen, modeling paste, and linen on stretcher, 7 ¾ x 5 x ½ inches, 1991.

Joanna Malinowska at Canada New York

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Nestled next to a pile of discarded Christmas trees, a figure resembling early 20th century Dada artist Hugo Ball is partially encased in an icy-blue material in the centerpiece of Joanna Malinowska’s latest solo show at Canada New York. In the past, Malinowska has considered Ball and other iconic artists in relation to non-western art practice; here, he appears to be have collected as part of a beaver dam and paralyzed by a block of ice. (On the Lower East Side through March 12th).

Joanna Malinowska, Still Life, mixed media, dimensions variable, 2017.

Jaume Plensa, Silence at Galerie Lelong

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Jaume Plensa’s latest exhibition at Galerie Lelong continues his investigation of portraiture, featuring several of his signature, elongated heads with closed eyes that suggest unseen inner lives. In Chelsea, they are arranged on wooden beams and are joined by spectral faces on the wall that transform the gallery into a contemplative space. (On view through March 11th).

Jaume Plensa, Silence, melis wood, variable dimensions, 2016.

Elise Ansel at Danese Corey Gallery

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Comparing Elise Ansel’s remake of Northern Renaissance master Hugo van der Goes’ Portinari altarpiece with the original isn’t the point. Ansel distills the main characters from the 15th century Adoration and enlivens them with a dynamic quality that doesn’t exist in the still and measured quality of the original, positing that color, not extreme detail carries the emotion of the scene. (At Danese Corey Gallery through March 11th).

Elise Ansel, Portinari Triptych, oil on linen, 60 x 144 (overall), 2016.

Vija Celmins at Matthew Marks Gallery

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One stone is real, the other is a replica. Vija Celmins entices viewers to ponder which one came from the earth and which from the artist’s hand in this pairing at Matthew Marks Gallery’s 22nd Street space in Chelsea. In other works, Celmins turns her hand to the skies and the seas with meticulous realist paintings that celebrate the creative powers of the artist. (On view through April 15th).

Vija Celmins, Two Stones, one found stone and one made stone: bronze and alkyd oil, 2 ¼ x 8 x 5 ½ inches, 1977/2014-16.

Jordan Kasey at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

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Young Brooklyn-based artist Jordan Kasey channels Picasso’s monumental females, Botero’s swollen figures and a sense of the surreal in her huge paintings, now on view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery. With faces mostly cropped out, ‘Poolside’ foregrounds log-like stacks of limbs belonging to a brand new breed of weighty Titans. (On the Lower East Side through March 12th).

Jordan Kasey, Poolside, oil on canvas, 77 ½ x 108 inches, 2017.

Pieter Hugo, Portrait #9 at Yossi Milo Gallery

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Are children born in Rwanda after the genocide freer, having not had their lives disrupted by that violence? How will their understanding of history impact their lives? South African photographer Pieter Hugo asked these questions while also questioning the post-Apartheid legacy of his own children and their generation in a series of photos at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery. Here, the landscape and its histories act as backdrop to a portrait of a self-possessed young person. (On view through March 4th).

Pieter Hugo, Portrait #9, Rwanda, digital C-Print, 47 ¼ inches x 63 inches, 2015.

Kader Attia at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

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In an eighteen-screen installation set in a warren of cubicles at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, French-Algerian artist Kader Attia explores western vs non-western approaches to mental health in a series of monologues by European and African health professionals. The dehumanizing office environment contrasts the intimacy of each screening space, resulting in an unsettling experience that invites new discoveries. (At Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location through March 4th).

Kader Attia, Reason’s Oxymorons, 18 films and installation of cubicles, duration variable, 13-25 minutes, 2015.
Kader Attia, Reason’s Oxymorons, 18 films and installation of cubicles, duration variable, 13-25 minutes, 2015.

Rudolf Bauer at Leila Heller Gallery

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Leila Heller Gallery compliments the Guggenheim’s current ‘Visionaries’ exhibition with a show featuring artworks by early 20th century ‘non-objective’ painters, including mature works by German avant-gardist Rudolf Bauer. Though this painting from the ‘30s brings to mind a planet on the left and the built environment to the right, Bauer’s focus was art as expression of the spirit. (In Chelsea through March 4th).

Rudolf Bauer, Green Form, oil on canvas, 51 ¼ x 66 7/8 inches, 1936.
Rudolf Bauer, Green Form, oil on canvas, 51 ¼ x 66 7/8 inches, 1936.

Warren MacKenzie at Driscoll Babcock Galleries

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Minnesota-based nonagenarian ceramic artist Warren MacKenzie means for his creations to be used. A selection of work at Driscoll Babcock Galleries, including this attractive arrangement of cups and bowls, holds out the idea of living with beautiful things. (In Chelsea through Feb 25th).

Warren MacKenzie, installation view of ‘A Master’s Hand’ at Driscoll Babcock Galleries, Jan 2017.
Warren MacKenzie, installation view of ‘A Master’s Hand’ at Driscoll Babcock Galleries, Jan 2017.

Rafael Gomezbarros in ‘Naturalia’ at Paul Kasmin Gallery

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Paul Kasmin Gallery and Sotheby’s Gallery team up this month to bring the vanitas still life and memento mori up to date in an impressive exhibition of Dutch genre painting and contemporary art touching on the theme of life’s brevity. Columbian artist Rafael Gomezbarros’ smarm of ants – constructed with cast human skulls – opens the show with a bang. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea through March 4th).

Foreground: Rafael Gomezbarros, Casa Tomada (Taken House), five parts: resin, fiber glass, screen cotton, ropes, wood, sand and Cerrejon coal, each 37 3/8 x 17 ¾ inches x 6 ¼ inches, 2016.
Foreground: Rafael Gomezbarros, Casa Tomada (Taken House), five parts: resin, fiber glass, screen cotton, ropes, wood, sand and Cerrejon coal, each 37 3/8 x 17 ¾ inches x 6 ¼ inches, 2016.

Paul Sharits in ‘Infected Foot’ at Greene Naftali Gallery

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Paul Sharits’ painting ‘Infected Foot III’ doesn’t regard the pain of others; we’re looking down at the purple, throbbing mass as if it’s our own. Beads and glistening cords of paint look as if they’d be part of a cheerier composition; instead, they add to the surprise of a rogue body part that threatens to bring down the whole. (At Greene Naftali Gallery through Feb 25th).

Paul Sharits, Foot Infection III, acrylic on purple Mylar, mixed media, foamcore attachment, 69 x 53 inches, 1982.
Paul Sharits, Foot Infection III, acrylic on purple Mylar, mixed media, foamcore attachment, 69 x 53 inches, 1982.

Sohei Nishino at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

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Sohei Nishino’s charmingly idiosyncratic maps of cities around the world track the Japanese globetrotter’s exploration of metropolitan architecture and populations. Each bricolage results from hundreds of images shot at various vantage points around a given city. In this detail from Nishino’s New Delhi diorama map, the crowds and traffic encroach on the India Gate war memorial, though it retains a space and aura of its own. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea through March 4th).

Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map New Delhi, light jet print on Kodak Endura, 70.87 x 79.53 inches, 2013.
Sohei Nishino, Diorama Map New Delhi, light jet print on Kodak Endura, 70.87 x 79.53 inches, 2013.

Diedrick Brackens in ‘Los Angeles Bound’ at Thomas Erben Gallery

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Maybe it’s the descending pattern of dots or the black rainbow shape in Diedrick Brackens’ tapestry but the text, ‘everything is lovely now’ isn’t quite believable. Instead, this shaggy banner seems to announce a still transitory state. (At Thomas Erben Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 18th).

Diedrick Brackens, get in where you fit in, woven cotton and polyester yarn, 71 x 67 inches, 2016.
Diedrick Brackens, get in where you fit in, woven cotton and polyester yarn, 71 x 67 inches, 2016.

Katharina Grosse at Gagosian Gallery

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From the depths of Katharina Grosse’s huge abstractions, shapes materialize and invite interpretation. The Berlin-based artist describes her new works as “portals to a small room, where all the color has been crammed into a tiny space.” Peering into these openings is an intense optical experience. (At Gagosian Gallery’s 24th Street Chelsea location through March 11th).

Katharina Grosse, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 117 11/16 x 79 ½ inches, 2016.
Katharina Grosse, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 117 11/16 x 79 ½ inches, 2016.

Anh Thuy Nguyen in ‘Surface Unrest’ at Miyako Yoshinaga

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Female hands, eyes, mouths and other body parts transferred onto stones by Anh Thuy Nguyen resemble a smashed frieze, carefully reassembled on the floor. Titled ‘Burden,’ the sculpture grapples with the difficulties of representation and with the pressures placed on the female body. (At Miyako Yoshinaga Gallery through Feb 18th).

Anh Thuy Nguyen, Burden, laser inkjet prints transferred on stones, 84 x 72 inches, 2015.
Anh Thuy Nguyen, Burden, laser inkjet prints transferred on stones, 84 x 72 inches, 2015.

Adrian Ghenie at Pace Gallery

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‘Rest During The Flight Into Egypt’ broaches the subject of migration in Romanian artist Adrian Ghenie’s latest solo show at Pace Gallery in Chelsea. Here, two kids wait on a railroad track in front of a heaving, blood-red landscape wearing masks that disguise their faces but not the damage inflicted upon them. (On view through Feb 18th).

Adrian Ghenie, Rest During the Flight Into Egypt, oil on canvas, 7’ 10 ½ inches x 9’ 6 ¼ inches x 2 inches, 2016.
Adrian Ghenie, Rest During the Flight Into Egypt, oil on canvas, 7’ 10 ½ inches x 9’ 6 ¼ inches x 2 inches, 2016.

Portia Munson at PPOW Gallery

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From the pervasive musty scent of perfume to the claustrophobic, tented ceiling of PPOW’s transformed back gallery, Portia Munson’s installation ‘The Garden’ assaults the senses and may induce panic in the clutter-adverse. The overload of frilly and feminine things is oppressive – calculated to send visitors gasping for more gender-neutral territory. (In Chelsea through Feb 11th).

Portia Munson, installation view of The Garden, mixed media installation, 1996-98 at PPOW Gallery, Jan ’17.
Portia Munson, installation view of The Garden, mixed media installation, 1996-98 at PPOW Gallery, Jan ’17.

Channing Hansen at CRG Gallery

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Using fiber from sheep selectively bred to increase genetic diversity, Channing Hansen creates abstract knit works that derive their patterns from an algorithm that makes use of his own DNA. Complicated back story aside, the artworks entice by evoking the body and the landscapes in vivid color and a wealth of texture. (At CRG Gallery on the Lower East Side through Feb 25th).

Channing Hansen, RFLP:6:29840382:CT, Bluefaced Leicester, California Variegated Mutant (Latham), California Variegated Mutant (Myth), Cashmere, Corriedale, hybrid California Variegated Mutant/Rambou/Cotswold/Border Leicester (Cessna), hybrid Cotswold/Border/Leicester/California Variegated Mu, 54 ¼ x 55 ¼ x 1 ¼ inches, 2016.
Channing Hansen, RFLP:6:29840382:CT, Bluefaced Leicester, California Variegated Mutant (Latham), California Variegated Mutant (Myth), Cashmere, Corriedale, hybrid California Variegated Mutant/Rambou/Cotswold/Border Leicester (Cessna), hybrid Cotswold/Border/Leicester/California Variegated Mu, 54 ¼ x 55 ¼ x 1 ¼ inches, 2016.

Matt Johnson Sculpture at 303 Gallery

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The text on this box – ‘Enjoy your delicious moments!’ – is supposed to be an encouragement to appreciate pizza, but it’s also a good way to describe the feeling of realizing that this realistic food box is actually a meticulously crafted, hand painted wooden sculpture by trompe l’oeil master Matt Johnson. (At 303 Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 25th).

Matt Johnson, Untitled (Small Pizza Box), carved wood and paint, 17 ½ x 14 ½ x 7 inches, 2016.
Matt Johnson, Untitled (Small Pizza Box), carved wood and paint, 17 ½ x 14 ½ x 7 inches, 2016.

James Wines/SITE in ‘The Stand’ at P!

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In 1977, James Wines partially buried twenty cars in a strip mall parking lot in Hamden, CT then covered them with asphalt to create an eerie auto graveyard. This maquette for that project, part of a group show at P! gallery on the Lower East Side, conveys a sense of quiet and disbelief upon discovering what looks like remains buried by ash. (Through Feb 26th).

James Wines/SITE, Ghost Parking Lot model, mixed media, 23 ½ x 33 ½ x 7 ¼ inches, 1977.
James Wines/SITE, Ghost Parking Lot model, mixed media, 23 ½ x 33 ½ x 7 ¼ inches, 1977.

Mark Dion in ‘We Need to Talk’ at Petzel Gallery

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Petzel Gallery’s current must-see show, ‘We Need to Talk,’ is a tour de force of heart-felt political statement, from a video shot at Standing Rock to a neon sign reading, ‘What if Women Ruled the World?’ In between, Mark Dion’s 1991 ‘FBI Tool Bag of Dirty Tricks’ is a standout that’s turning into a classic. (In Chelsea through Feb 11th).

Mark Dion, F.B.I. Tool Bag of Dirty Tricks, fabric bag, nine tools covered in liquid rubber with enamel, extra item: plunger, 1991.
Mark Dion, F.B.I. Tool Bag of Dirty Tricks, fabric bag, nine tools covered in liquid rubber with enamel, extra item: plunger, 1991.

Lee Bul, Souterrain at Lehmann Maupin

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The mirrored, cave-like entrance to Lee Bul’s latest solo show at Lehmann Maupin Gallery dazzles. Once inside, however, the ceiling height diminishes rapidly and visitors emerge into the main gallery at an uncomfortable crouch. Failed promises are a recurring theme in Lee Bul’s oeuvre; here she sends a strong message from the beginning of the exhibition. (Through Feb 11th).

Lee Bul, Souterrain, plywood on wooden frame, acrylic mirror, acrylic paint, LED lighting and electronic wiring, 107.87 x 141.73 x 188.98 inches, 2012/16
Lee Bul, Souterrain, plywood on wooden frame, acrylic mirror, acrylic paint, LED lighting and electronic wiring, 107.87 x 141.73 x 188.98 inches, 2012/16

Emil Lukas, Liquid Lens at Sperone Westwater

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At over eight feet tall, this structure of welded aluminum tubes by Emil Lukas not only dominates Sperone Westwater’s small back gallery, it commandeers our vision. By leading our gaze toward a single point on the wall behind, it melds sculpture with the role of painting and drawing by creating one-point perspective. (On the Lower East Side through Feb 11th).

Emil Lukas, Liquid Lens, aluminum, 107 x 136 x 40 inches, 2016.
Emil Lukas, Liquid Lens, aluminum, 107 x 136 x 40 inches, 2016.

Gladys Nilsson, Not Easily Pared at Garth Greenan

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In the early 90s, an LA Times critic commented on the ‘silly sort of dignity’ possessed by the eccentric characters in Gladys Nilsson’s large watercolors. The phrase perfectly characterizes these figures from the ‘80s, whose exaggerated physical characteristics and twisting bodies are equal parts grotesque and intriguing. (At Garth Greenan Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 18th).

Gladys Nilsson, Not Easily Pared, watercolor on paper, 40 x 60 inches, 1987.
Gladys Nilsson, Not Easily Pared, watercolor on paper, 40 x 60 inches, 1987.

Daniel Heidkamp at Derek Eller Gallery

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The huge portal dominating Daniel Heidkamp’s hotel room painting leads us into more than we might expect. From what looks to be one of the Maritime Hotel’s distinctive windows, Heidkamp shuffles the New York skyline and offers glimpses of a ballet rehearsal in a building that only exists in this painting. It feels surprisingly daring to rearrange New York’s built environment and particularly appropriate as construction booms in the city. (At Derek Eller Gallery through Feb 5th).

Daniel Heidkamp, Dreams, oil on linen, 96 x 72 inches, 2016.
Daniel Heidkamp, Dreams, oil on linen, 96 x 72 inches, 2016.

Lino Lago in ‘Flat Earth Conspiracy’ at George Adams Gallery

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Spanish artist Lino Lago’s recent ‘Reality (Show)’ series jumbles art and artifacts from pop culture and art history together on the flat surface of a canvas. This shaped artwork in the form of a chair, part of the same series, allows collectors to make their own groupings. (At George Adams Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 11th.)

Lino Lago, Point of View, oil on wood, 14 x 10 ½ x 1 inches, 2016.
Lino Lago, Point of View, oil on wood, 14 x 10 ½ x 1 inches, 2016.

Roger White at Rachel Uffner Gallery

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Roger White’s new oil paintings at Rachel Uffner Gallery approach the wondrous in the everyday – a mirror reflects light, an array of mushrooms grows from a bag – but the artist amps up the drama in this picture of fire on a river. Has there been a chemical spill? Is this a miracle? A sci-fi scene? This small, intriguingly moody canvas asks good questions. (On the Lower East Side through Feb 19th).

Roger White, Touristic Scene with Burning River, oil on canvas, 10 x 17 inches, 2017.
Roger White, Touristic Scene with Burning River, oil on canvas, 10 x 17 inches, 2017.

James Siena at Pace Gallery

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James Siena continues to produce mesmerizing patterned images with his latest show of drawings at Pace Gallery. However, instead of repeating an initial mark that establishes a rule system, Siena’s new work glories in interlocking patterns that boggle the mind with their detail and their complex consideration of space. (At Pace Gallery’s 25th Street location through Feb 11th).

James Siena, Manifold X, ink and watercolor on paper, 11 5/8 x 9 ¼ inches, 2015.
James Siena, Manifold X, ink and watercolor on paper, 11 5/8 x 9 ¼ inches, 2015.

Karen Heagle at On Stellar Rays

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Karen Heagle’s sumptuous, gold leaved paintings of scavengers, predators and fallen prey are irresistible, even at their goriest moments. On a solitary drawing, the text ‘The Unwashed Masses’ hints that Heagle’s interests stray beyond the lifecycle of animals to reflect on humanity’s ‘natural’ inclination to violence. (At On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side through Feb 19th).

Karen Heagle, Untitled Scene (three vultures and a carcass), acrylic, ink, collage, gold and copper leaf on paper, 22 ½ x 29 ½ inches, 2016.
Karen Heagle, Untitled Scene (three vultures and a carcass), acrylic, ink, collage, gold and copper leaf on paper, 22 ½ x 29 ½ inches, 2016.

Henry Gunderson at 247365 Gallery

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Fit for a student or a teacher, this monumental painted shoe not only holds scissors, pens and other school supplies, it’s a history lesson all on its own, from the cave paintings to a digitally rendered portrait in green lines. Titled after Magritte’s Le Modele Rouge (a painting of boots that take on the appearance of bare feet), Henry Gunderson’s update is more practical than surreal, but no less fun to ponder. (At 247365 Gallery on the Lower East Side through Feb 5th).

Henry Gunderson, Le Modele Rouge, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96 inches, 2016.
Henry Gunderson, Le Modele Rouge, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 96 inches, 2016.

Hannah van Bart at Marianne Boesky Gallery

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Despite her assertive pose, Dutch painter Hannah van Bart’s enigmatic young lady appears to literally blend into the background as a shape-shifting wall the color of her dress manifests over her chest. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery through Feb 4th.)

Hannah van Bart, Untitled, oil on linen, 39 3/8 x 25 5/8 inches, 2016.
Hannah van Bart, Untitled, oil on linen, 39 3/8 x 25 5/8 inches, 2016.

Jim Torok at Pierogi

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Sandwiched on the wall between two roughly lettered signs reading, ‘The End is Here’ and the enigmatic ‘You Are Pretty Good,’ Jim Torok’s photo-realist renderings of friends and acquaintances like ‘Jennifer’ bring the artist’s thoughts and his community together in the quiet of the gallery. (At Pierogi through Feb 12th).

Jim Torok, Jennifer, oil on panel, 9 x 7 inches, 2015.
Jim Torok, Jennifer, oil on panel, 9 x 7 inches, 2015.

Michele Grabner at James Cohan Gallery

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Handmade blankets rendered in bronze and boldly colored paintings based on the blankets’ patterns orient Michele Grabner’s latest body of work toward the domestic, the personal and the tactile. Each blanket’s form looks ghostly, harkening back to the bodies that used it to stay warm. As 2-D images on the wall, the cozy factor is replaced by a reference to the grid, the ubiquitous underlying principle to much mid-20th century art. Grabner suggests that context is key. (At James Cohan Gallery’s Chelsea location, through Jan 28th).

Michele Grabner, Untitled, bronze, 43 ½ x 20 x 12 ½ inches, unique, 2016. Background painting: Untitled, oil on burlap and canvas, 86 ½ x 120 inches, 2016.
Michele Grabner, Untitled, bronze, 43 ½ x 20 x 12 ½ inches, unique, 2016. Background painting: Untitled, oil on burlap and canvas, 86 ½ x 120 inches, 2016.

Nell Blaine at Tibor de Nagy

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The vibrant colors and domestic setting rich with decorative details in this gorgeous still life by late New York painter Nell Blaine betray her captivation by 19th/20th century European painters like Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. (On view in midtown at Tibor de Nagy Gallery through Jan 28th).

Nell Blaine, White Lilies, Pink Cloth, oil on canvas, 24 x 27 inches, 1990.
Nell Blaine, White Lilies, Pink Cloth, oil on canvas, 24 x 27 inches, 1990.

Samuel Levi Jones at Galerie Lelong

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Using the covers of old encyclopedias, law books and African American reference books, Samuel Levi Jones makes collages on canvas that question what changes as time passes. Jones employs books as symbols of obsolescence to further represent how the ideas expressed therein can also run their course. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through Jan 28th).

Samuel Levi Jones, 101, deconstructed encyclopedias, law books and African American reference books on canvas, 49 x 60 inches, 2016.
Samuel Levi Jones, 101, deconstructed encyclopedias, law books and African American reference books on canvas, 49 x 60 inches, 2016.

Rebecca Morris at Mary Boone Gallery

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Abstract painter Rebecca Morris shows canvases controlled by a grid and, by contrast, images in which forms float freely in a selection of work at Mary Boone Gallery’s 57th Street location. In pieces like this untitled oil on canvas, Morris’ organizational strategy occupies a middle ground as recurring scallop-edged shapes nestle into each other, appearing to both advance towards us and recede. A white border flecked with black recalling ermine fur and a center that brings Dalmatians to mind create associations that drive contemplation. (On view through Feb 25th).

Rebecca Morris, Untitled (#12 – 13), 87 x 80 inches, oil/canvas, 2013.
Rebecca Morris, Untitled (#12 – 13), 87 x 80 inches, oil/canvas, 2013.

Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower at Tyler Rollins Fine Art

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Silhouetted against natural light, the translucent petals of a blossoming flower from the cannonball tree contrast tightly shut pods in the foreground, but each indulges our pleasure in organic forms. Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich’s largest flowering plant sculpture to date sprawls across Tyler Rollins Gallery’s floor in Chelsea, recalling trees planted near Buddhist temples. Though they resemble the sal tree associated with Buddha’s birth, the plants arrived in Southeast Asia from the Americas via Sri Lanka, a reminder of complicated histories. (Through Feb 4th).

Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower, bamboo, rattan, metal wire, plywood, steel, metal bolts, 325 x 180 x 65 inches, 2015.
Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower, bamboo, rattan, metal wire, plywood, steel, metal bolts, 325 x 180 x 65 inches, 2015.

Christine & Margaret Wertheim at the Museum of Art & Design

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In one of the most visually stunning shows in New York this season, sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim and a team of collaborating makers have created crocheted segments of coral reefs as sculptures, now on view at the Museum of Art and Design. Using geometry to crochet forms that correspond to the shapes of the reefs, the sisters combine yarn and plastic trash in glittering, colorful sculptures that gratify the senses as they warn against our ongoing destruction of the world’s coral reefs. (On view through Jan 22nd).

Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim with Sarah Simons, Clare O’Callaghan, Kathleen Greco, Evelyn Hardin, Matthew Adnams, Christina Simons, and Jemima Wyman, (detail) Coral Forest – Ea, Plastic shopping bags, The New York Times wrappers, Hula-Hoop, plastic spades, found objects, yarn, felt, Sonotube, chicken wire, 2009 – 14.
Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim with Sarah Simons, Clare O’Callaghan, Kathleen Greco, Evelyn Hardin, Matthew Adnams, Christina Simons, and Jemima Wyman, (detail) Coral Forest – Ea, Plastic shopping bags, The New York Times wrappers, Hula-Hoop, plastic spades, found objects, yarn, felt, Sonotube, chicken wire, 2009 – 14.

Charles Long at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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The human body meets cold hard metal in LA sculptor Charles Long’s eerie new sculptures that pair geometric forms covered in flesh-like platinum silicon rubber with mirror polished stainless steel forms. Here, RealSenseSapient2 includes the appearance of moles, veins and wrinkles, suggesting a quasi-human futuristic living being. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 4th).

Charles Long, RealSenseSapient2, platinum silicon with pigment, stainless steel and pedestal, sculpture (without pedestal): 20 x 14 x 13 inches, 2016.
Charles Long, RealSenseSapient2, platinum silicon with pigment, stainless steel and pedestal, sculpture (without pedestal): 20 x 14 x 13 inches, 2016.

Titus Kaphar, Destiny IV at Jack Shainman

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After typing ‘Destiny’ (the name of an incarcerated woman he’d met long ago) into a prison database, Titus Kaphar began painting portraits of women with this name in layered works that elide their faces and stories. (At Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 28th).

Titus Kaphar, Destiny IV, 60 x 48 inches, oil on canvas, 2016.
Titus Kaphar, Destiny IV, 60 x 48 inches, oil on canvas, 2016.

Liz Glynn Scupture at Paula Cooper Gallery

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Dramatic and monumental, Rodin’s 1890s sculpture of Balzac is a figure set apart. LA sculptor Liz Glynn changed the character’s remote quality during a 2-day performance/workshop at LACMA, during which she cast several of the museum’s Rodin bronzes and recombined them to striking effect. Here, a face from Rodin’s Burghers of Calais joins Balzac’s in a dual portrait that suggests strong emotion. (At Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through Feb 11th).

Liz Glynn, (detail) Untitled (after Balzac, with Burgher), bronze, 2014.
Liz Glynn, (detail) Untitled (after Balzac, with Burgher), bronze, 2014.

Davina Semo Sculpture at Marlborough Gallery

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While a single glove evokes Michael Jackson in the glitter of stage lights, this lone accessory – a stainless steel mesh glove encased in concrete – conveys something sinister. Semo’s other minimalist sculptures co-opt possible residue of violence, including chains, broken glass and shell casings as art materials, asking how fine art and conflict connect. (At Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 14th).

Davina Semo, SHE LOOKED THROUGH HIS THINGS, CAREFUL TO LEAVE EACH AS IT HAD BEEN, pigmented, reinforced concrete; mica, stainless steel mesh glove, 9 x 6 x 1 7/8 inches, 2016.
Davina Semo, SHE LOOKED THROUGH HIS THINGS, CAREFUL TO LEAVE EACH AS IT HAD BEEN, pigmented, reinforced concrete; mica, stainless steel mesh glove, 9 x 6 x 1 7/8 inches, 2016.

Hai-Hsin Huang in ‘Ref-er-enced’ at Danese Corey Gallery

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Phones, cameras and iPads outnumber art objects in Hai-Hsin Huang’s mash-up of Metropolitan Museum of Art treasures, ogled by visitors jockeying for snapshots and selfies. In this detail, a massive, 2,300 year old marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis fails to attract much attention, begging the question of a museum’s purpose in today’s photo obsessed culture. (At Danese Corey Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 4th).

Hai-Hsin Huang, (detail) The MET #1, pencil on paper, 53 x 117 inches, 2014.
Hai-Hsin Huang, (detail) The MET #1, pencil on paper, 53 x 117 inches, 2014.

Edie Nadelhaft at Lyons Wier Gallery

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Motorcycle road trips all over the U.S. inspire New Yorker Edie Nadelhaft’s new paintings framed by vintage BMW mirror housings. Nadelhaft opts to travel on local roads for a more characterful portrait of the landscape. Looking back through the bike mirrors reveals what is receding in American culture, as evidenced by this classic car and a non-chain restaurant. (At Lyons Wier Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 28th).

Edie Nadelhaft, Mindy’s (Modena, IL), oil on panel, vintage BMW mirror housing, 4.25 inches diameter, 2017.
Edie Nadelhaft, Mindy’s (Modena, IL), oil on panel, vintage BMW mirror housing, 4.25 inches diameter, 2017.

Judith Simonian in ‘Regrouping’ at Edward Thorp Gallery

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New York painter Judith Simonian charts a course through the mist on a curiously empty, fabulously colored ferry in this standout painting in the group exhibition ‘Regrouping’ at Edward Thorp Gallery’s new Chelsea location. It’s unclear what the immediate future holds on Simonian’s vessel, but the journey looks amazing. (On view through Jan 28th).

Judith Simonian, Ferry Boat, acrylic on canvas, 58 x 72 inches, 2016.
Judith Simonian, Ferry Boat, acrylic on canvas, 58 x 72 inches, 2016.

Anthony Caro at Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery

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Mid-20th century American minimalist sculptors rebelled against the relationship of parts in Anthony Caro’s abstract sculptures; later in life, Caro was the one to break out, introducing Perspex into his sculptures when he was in his mid-80s. Here, a thick sheet of clear Perspex turns two pieces of rusted steel into characters in an untold story –a customer and a bank teller, or a prisoner and her visitor? (At Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery in Chelsea on the Upper East Side through Feb 4th).

Anthony Caro, Sackbut, steel and clear Perspex, steel rusted and waxed, 48 x 70 x 46 inches, 2011/2012.
Anthony Caro, Sackbut, steel and clear Perspex, steel rusted and waxed, 48 x 70 x 46 inches, 2011/2012.

Philip Guston at Hauser & Wirth

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In 1971 and 1975, Philip Guston created a powerful series of drawings as protest to then-president Richard Nixon’s policies, in particular his decision to visit China after years of anti-Communist rhetoric. Now on view at Hauser & Wirth’s new Chelsea location, this drawing shows the former president scrapping with his advisor Henry Kissinger at his Florida retreat as an empty speech bubble rises with the clouds. (At Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Chelsea through January 14th).

Philip Guston, from the show ‘Laughter in the Dark, Drawings from 1971 & 1975,’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, through Jan 28th, 2017.
Philip Guston, from the show ‘Laughter in the Dark, Drawings from 1971 & 1975,’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, through Jan 28th, 2017.

Anna Glantz at 11R

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Young New York painter Anna Glantz enters an odd-dreamlike world in all of her new paintings at 11R, none more so than in ‘Britney’s Season,’ in which we follow a blond figure down a mysterious staircase amid tiny, floating pumpkins and golf tees. (On the Lower East Side through Jan 15th).

Anna Glantz, Britney’s Season, oil on canvas, 70 x 47 inches, 2016.
Anna Glantz, Britney’s Season, oil on canvas, 70 x 47 inches, 2016.

Mierle Laderman Ukeles at the Queens Museum of Art

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Since the 70s, conceptual and performance art pioneer Mierle Laderman Ukeles mopped museum steps, shook the hand of every sanitation worker in New York and devised plans for the public to engage with the Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, all in an effort to revalue the labor involved in maintaining our city, offices and homes. At the entrance to her 40+ year retrospective at the Queens Museum of Art, Laderman Ukeles plants this arch – made of donated work gloves and other items from local and federal agencies – as celebration of and homage to the work of keeping things running. (Through Feb 19th).

Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Ceremonial Arch IV, 5,000 + gloves donated from 10 urban organizations, in steel cages and on steel rods, situated over six columns wrought from materials donated from local and federal agencies, 1988/1993/1994/2016.
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Ceremonial Arch IV, 5,000 + gloves donated from 10 urban organizations, in steel cages and on steel rods, situated over six columns wrought from materials donated from local and federal agencies, 1988/1993/1994/2016.

Velazquez at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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This 1651-54 portrait by Velazquez of the presumptive heir to the Spanish throne, Maria Teresa, as a fresh-faced young teen is a standout in the Met’s current seven-painting show of work the famed Spanish court painter. Framed by an elaborate wig with butterfly ribbons, Maria Teresa’s round features glow with an innocence that would vanish with her future marriage to French King Louis XIV. (At the Metropolitan Museum of Art through March 12th).

Velazquez, Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, oil on canvas, 1651-54.
Velazquez, Maria Teresa, Infanta of Spain, oil on canvas, 1651-54.

Curtis Talwst Santiago at Rachel Uffner Gallery

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A tiny, parched figure gasps for water, a protesting crowd descends to a pool of water and here, an overloaded boat of migrants braves choppy waters in dramatic ring box dioramas by Canadian artist Curtis Talwst Santiago. Seen in Lilliputian scale, Santiago’s characters seem to be at the mercy of the elements and other forces beyond their control as they struggle onward. (At Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side through Jan 8th).

Curtis Talwst Santiago, Deluge VII, mixed media diorama in reclaimed jewelry box, 6 x 4 x 4 ½ inches, 2016.
Curtis Talwst Santiago, Deluge VII, mixed media diorama in reclaimed jewelry box, 6 x 4 x 4 ½ inches, 2016.

Eleanor Ray, Isafjordur at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects

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In her typically understated manner, Eleanor Ray treats the dramatic Icelandic landscape of Isafjordur as almost secondary to its town’s orderly buildings. Long shadows suggest a day drawing to a close or just beginning yet Ray’s painting argues for the importance of this solitary moment. (At Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects on the Lower East Side through Jan 8th).

Eleanor Ray, Isafjordur, oil on masonite, 7 ¼ x 8 3/8 inches, 2016.
Eleanor Ray, Isafjordur, oil on masonite, 7 ¼ x 8 3/8 inches, 2016.

Zaha Hadid at Leila Heller Gallery

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While architect Zaha Hadid’s firm worked on the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul, Hadid created a collection of related furnishings, including this stunningly sleek desk, currently on view with a selection of Hadid’s other design projects at Chelsea’s Leila Heller Gallery. How could your career fail to take flight, seated behind this desk? (On view through January 21st).

Zaha Hadid, Seoul Desk, fiberglass with high gloss lacquer paint finish, 49.2 x 166.14 x 28.35 inches, 2008.
Zaha Hadid, Seoul Desk, fiberglass with high gloss lacquer paint finish, 49.2 x 166.14 x 28.35 inches, 2008.

Roy Lichtenstein at Castelli Gallery

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Like finding shapes in the clouds or interpreting a Rorschach inkblot, Roy Lichtenstein’s brushstroke head sculptures from 1987 build a portrait from a few well-placed marks. Though she’s derived from Pop Art and Abstract Expressionist painting techniques, this blond muse rejects painting altogether, manifesting as a 3-D bronze sculpture. (At Castelli Gallery through Jan 28th).

Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke Head II, painted and patinated bronze, 28 7/8 x 13 ¼ inches, 1987.
Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke Head II, painted and patinated bronze, 28 7/8 x 13 ¼ inches, 1987.

Hurvin Anderson at Michael Werner Gallery

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A tree acts as a pedestal for a climbing figure and as a screen to stop us from seeing him or her in this painting by British artist Hurvin Anderson. To continue the theme of seeing and not seeing, the painting mimics the effect of both a photographic positive and negative, offering an ethereal image that considers the limits of perception. (At Michael Werner Gallery on the Upper East Side through Jan 14th).

Hurvin Anderson, Rootstock, acrylic, oil on canvas, 110 ¼ x 84 ¾ inches, 2016.
Hurvin Anderson, Rootstock, acrylic, oil on canvas, 110 ¼ x 84 ¾ inches, 2016.

David Shrigley at Doris C. Freedman Plaza

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David Shrigley explores a new side of the banal with his monumental stone ‘Memorial,’ a tongue-in-cheek celebration of the short-lived usefulness of the shipping list. (Presented by the Public Art Fund at the entrance to Central Park at 60th Street and Fifth Ave, through Feb 12th).

David Shrigley, installation view of ‘Memorial’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, Nov 2016.
David Shrigley, installation view of ‘Memorial’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, Nov 2016.

Matthew Brandt Prints at Yossi Milo Gallery

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Soon after the scandal over tainted drinking water in Flint, Michigan broke in spring 2016, Matthew Brandt visited the beleaguered General Motors town, creating beautiful images using toxic water. Brandt collected river water and used it to wash over and degrade cyan, magenta and yellow sheets bearing an image of the river’s dam. Recombined in a lightbox, a damaged image represents a devastated landscape. (At Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 21st.)

Matthew Brandt, From the series Waterfalls, Stepping Stone Falls 8 C3M1Y1, multi-layered Duraclear prints processed with Flint River, Michigan water in LED lightbox frame, 20 x 14 inches, unique, 2016.
Matthew Brandt, From the series Waterfalls, Stepping Stone Falls 8 C3M1Y1, multi-layered Duraclear prints processed with Flint River, Michigan water in LED lightbox frame, 20 x 14 inches, unique, 2016.

Tomas Van Houtryve at Anastasia Photo

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Paris-based Belgian photographer Tomas Van Houtryve captured this eerie scene – dominated by long human shadows and strange white grids – by flying a drone over a school in California as kids played below. Bold geometries and stark tonal contrasts make each picture look strange, playing to Van Houtryve’s point that drones are increasingly prevalent, yet we see little of them and what they see. (At Anastasia Photo on the Lower East Side through Dec 31st).

Tomas Van Houtryve, Schoolyard, gelatin silver print on Baryta paper, 26 x 40 inches, 2013.
Tomas Van Houtryve, Schoolyard, gelatin silver print on Baryta paper, 26 x 40 inches, 2013.

Pipilotti Rist at the New Museum

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Swiss video artist Pipilotti Rist shouts for help in several languages, adding, ‘I am a worm and you are a flower!’ as she reaches up from a burning pit of lava in this 1994 video at the New Museum.  Part of Rist’s retrospective exhibition, it’s a tiny but powerful appeal to our empathic natures. (On the Lower East Side through Jan 15th).

Pipilotti Rist, Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in The Bath of Lava)(Bastard Version), single-channel video and sound installation, color, on mobile phone; 6:20 min, 1994.
Pipilotti Rist, Selbstlos im Lavabad (Selfless in The Bath of Lava)(Bastard Version), single-channel video and sound installation, color, on mobile phone; 6:20 min, 1994.

Mike Kelly at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

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Mike Kelly makes a tongue-in-cheek jab at determining value in art by bringing two forms into a kind of balance in this pairing at Hauser & Wirth’s Upper East Side space. Part of Kelly’s Memory Ware series, for which he replicated a popular folk art form by covering objects and flat surfaces with beads, shells and other small keepsake items, this sculpture suggests that the force of personality on the right balances the abundance of work on the left. (Through Dec 23rd).

Mike Kelly, Balanced by Mass and Personification, mixed media, 60 ½ x 25 x 15 inches, 2001.
Mike Kelly, Balanced by Mass and Personification, mixed media, 60 ½ x 25 x 15 inches, 2001.

Augustus Sherman at Steven Kasher Gallery

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An Ellis Island clerk from 1892 to 1925, Augustus Sherman was uniquely positioned to document immigration in all its diversity. Among his photographic portraits of Scottish boys in kilts and Romanian shepherds, this shot of a Russian German family is a standout as each family member stoically waits first for the camera and later, for a new life in North Dakota. (At Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Augustus Sherman, Jakob Mittelstadt and Family, Russian German, ex SS ‘Pretoria.’ Admitted to go to Kullen, ND, May 9, 1905, vintage gelatin silver print, printed ca. 1905, 4 ¾ x 6 ½ inches, typed inscription “German family.”
Augustus Sherman, Jakob Mittelstadt and Family, Russian German, ex SS ‘Pretoria.’ Admitted to go to Kullen, ND, May 9, 1905, vintage gelatin silver print, printed ca. 1905, 4 ¾ x 6 ½ inches, typed inscription “German family.”

Richard Hughes, Some Werds at Anton Kern

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British artist Richard Hughes makes his own t-shirts…out of paper pulp in the case of this low-key garment. Deliberate misspellings on the shirts, and here, a disregard for even including a message, take a whatever attitude to a new level. (At Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 22nd).

Richard Hughes, Some Werds, paper pulp, 13 x 12 inches, 2016.
Richard Hughes, Some Werds, paper pulp, 13 x 12 inches, 2016.

Rob Pruitt at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise

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Energized by the inauguration of President Obama in 2008, New York artist-provocateur Rob Pruitt started painting a picture of the president daily, sourcing his images from the news. All paintings completed up to the start of the show are included at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, where this unusual monument to the nation’s leader and to Pruitt’s endurance will be on view through the end of the week. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 18th).

Rob Pruitt, installation view of ‘The Obama Paintings,’ at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise on the Lower East Side, November 2016.
Rob Pruitt, installation view of ‘The Obama Paintings,’ at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise on the Lower East Side, November 2016.

Kacper Kowalski at The Curator

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Several years ago, Polish photographer Kacper Kowalski turned his back on his career in architecture and began a new pursuit taking photographs from a paraglider or a gyrocopter at around 500 feet above the central European landscape. This beautiful observation of nature’s seasonal transformations is part of a series documenting the onset and experience of winter from above. (At The Curator in Chelsea, through Dec 17th).

Kacper Kowalski, Seasons/Autumn #29, archival pigment print, 27 x 41 inches, 2015.
Kacper Kowalski, Seasons/Autumn #29, archival pigment print, 27 x 41 inches, 2015.

Vanessa Maltese at Nicelle Beauchene

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Young Toronto-based painter Vanessa Maltese has a different take on the shoe as object d’art. In a show titled, ‘Company,’ it appears that she has invited guests who have removed their shoes in an empty gallery, then disappeared. In fact, each piece of footware is cast aluminum, painted in oil. Too clean to compare to Van Gogh’s famous paintings of heavily used shoes, these sneakers have some travels yet to complete. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd).

Vanessa Maltese, in the foreground: Ari (company), oil on cast aluminum and socks, 4 x 4 x 12 inches, 2016.
Vanessa Maltese, in the foreground: Ari (company), oil on cast aluminum and socks, 4 x 4 x 12 inches, 2016.

Katharina Wulff at Greene Naftali Gallery

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German painter Katharina Wulff depicts the dusty byways of her adopted city of Marrakech in paintings that harness the strong sun to illuminate bodies and the landscape. Inside the peeling façade of this gym, bodybuilders strive for perfection while feral dogs rove outside.  (At Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Katharina Wulff, Untitled, tempera on canvas, 15 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches, 2016.
Katharina Wulff, Untitled, tempera on canvas, 15 3/8 x 11 3/8 inches, 2016.

Edward Burtynsky, Salinas #2 at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

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This stunning aerial view of irrigation systems in Cadiz, Spain is part of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky’s Water series, which examines human use of the planet’s most valuable resource, specifically as it is harnessed for aquaculture. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Edward Burtynsky, Salinas #2, Cadiz, Spain, chromogenic color print, 2013.
Edward Burtynsky, Salinas #2, Cadiz, Spain, chromogenic color print, 2013.