Paula Scher, principle at renowned design firm Pentagram, invites us to understand the country through its airline routes, geography, climate and here, its weather. Her painted maps of the USA emphasize how we see places through frameworks of information. (At Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery through March 26th).
Some books electrify the reader, some illuminate our understanding; few do so as literally as in South Korean artist Airan Kang’s glowing volumes now on show at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea. (Through June 13th).
Airan Kang, installation view of ‘The Luminous Poem,’ May 2015.
French artist Anita Molinero is known for destroying vibrantly colored, plastic consumer goods by melting them. Here, pale green Styrofoam trays remain intact but pierced, supported by cradling metal arms and a backed by a chunk of concrete. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery through Feb 14th).
Anita Molinero, Untitled, 16 ½ x 12 ½ x 15 inches, 2014.
Does it matter if artists make their own work or act as managers in a studio? Arkansas-based artist Shea Hembrey not only makes a point of hand-making his own work, he’s invented five fictional artist/makers for a solo show at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. Here, ‘Pawnee Calhoun’ explores physics with a ‘super collider anomaly’ made from altered hornets nests. (Through Dec 13th).
Pawnee Calhoun, untitled (supercollider anomaly), altered hornet nests, 28 x 35 x 21 inches, 2014.
Elaborate patterns made from stretched monofilament are the highlight of British artist Robert Currie’s New York solo debut at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. Seeming to shift as visitors move, they embody an unexpected dynamism and astound at their intricate construction. (Through June 14th.)
Robert Currie, (detail view of) 40, 031 inches of black, red and yellow nylon monofilament, nylon monofilament, 27 1/8 x 51 ¼ x 11 inches, 2014.
San Francisco-based artist Jim Campbell works with sophisticated technology to make low-res images that offer a fragment of the information we’re used to in the HD age; yet images like this one of a yellow cab whizzing by hold viewers’ attention by capturing the recognizable action of the street. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery through April 19th. Also at the Museum of the Moving Image in Long Island City through June 15th.)
Jim Campbell, Untitled (Commuters), LEDs, metal, wire, custom electronics, 43 x 63 x 18 ½ inches, 2014.
Mariano Sardon not only gives us portraits, he tells us how we look at them. The Buenos Aires-based Argentinian artist shows a picture of a face to viewers while a camera records their eye movements. The information from many viewers is then mapped onto the face, which is drawn before our eyes following the sequences of the gazes. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 21st).
Mariano Sardon, from the series ‘150 Gazes looking around them,’ digital video, 2012.
Cartagena, Spain, Shanghai, LA and Havana have hosted globe-trotting street artist JR and his ‘The Wrinkles of the City’ project, for which he interviews and photographs senior citizens, then blows up their images and applies them with glue to the city’s walls. Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery showcases the monumental Havana photos and an entertaining video through July 12th.
JR and José Parlá, The Wrinkles of the City, Havana, Cuba, Man with a Jerry Can, color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminum, 2012.
I’ve been looking forward to globe-trotting street artist JR’s opening at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery next Tuesday, so spotting the artist and Jose Parla as they created this wall mural last Saturday on the gallery exterior was a treat. For their collaborative project, JR and Parla photographed and interviewed seniors including this stately woman. (‘The Wrinkles of the City’ opens May 7 and runs through July 12).
