Erwin Wurm at Tang Contemporary Art

Beijing gallery Tang Contemporary Art recently reopened (after closing in January to prevent the spread of COVID-19) with a showcase of work by artists represented by Konig Galerie in Berlin.  The exhibition includes Austrian artist Erwin Wurm’s deliberately absurd ‘abstract sculpture’ (formed from variously sized cast bronze frankfurters) which brings to mind recent work at New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery which involved food treated as an object rather than something to eat.  Made entirely of concrete, this sculpture is a permanent version of Wurm’s One Minute Sculptures, in which participants interact with everyday objects. (Photo from New York Art Tours’ archive, Jan ’20).

Erwin Wurm, One Minute forever (hands/fruits), concrete, 15.35 x 7.87 x 5.91 inches, 2019.

Kathrin Sonntag in ‘First Responders’ at Thomas Erben Gallery

Berlin-based artist Kathrin Sonntag is no stranger to quiet moments in the studio; past photos of seemingly banal environments allude to the paranormal or time travel.  As part of Thomas Erben Gallery’s ‘First Responders’ series – an ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic by gallery artists – Sonntag presents a series of images made in the solitude of her workspace in 2004.  The photos turn the everyday moment into magic; here, nail scissors come to life and mince across the floor.  To see more from Sonntag’s unique POV, visit the gallery’s Instagram or Facebook page.

Kathrin Sonntag, from Thomas Erben Gallery’s Instagram @thomaserbengallery, posted April 6th, 2020.

‘Taking Stock of Power’ at the Walther Collection

After encountering a box of photos of the Berlin Wall taken by East German border guards in the mid-60s shortly after the wall was erected, photographer Arwed Messmer and writer Annett Groschner turned their research toward the topography of the 140km long structure, resulting in the sobering images now on view at Chelsea’s Walther Collection.  Thirty years after the fall of the Wall, the photos speak to a failed effort at social control.  This grid of ladders left behind in successful escape attempts, are an uplifting element in a show that otherwise expresses the grim realities of the wall. (On view through April 25th).

Detail from ‘Ladders,’ selection from 20 archival pigment prints, 1966/2016.

Michael Sailstorfer at Galerie Perrotin

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.

Isabelle Fein at Jack Hanley Gallery

A figure reclines in front of a baguette, friends walk in the woods and here, a young woman chats on the phone while resting on a huge container of an oversized art supply in ceramic sculpture and plates by Berlin-based artist Isabelle Fein. These diminutively sized snippets of life are an essay on the charms of the everyday. (At Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side through August 18th).

Isabelle Fein, Sunrise Glossy, ceramic, 7 x 4.7 x 2.7 inches, 2017.