Lawrence Weiner, AS OFTEN AS NOT at Gladstone Gallery

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Late conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner realized in 1968 that he could favor the idea of an artwork more than an actual physical object and went on to make hundreds of text-based artworks.  Around thirty are on display at Gladstone Gallery through Saturday, a mini-retrospective that starts with his iconic ‘Declaration of Intent’ to physically create – or not – an artwork.  Appearing on the wall just inside the gallery entrance in pale pink text, Weiner’s foundational principle is present but subordinate to bold statements in the main gallery, such as ‘SET AT THE POINT JUST BEFORE THE POINT OF NO RETURN’ or here, ‘AS OFTEN AS NOT,’ phrases that can take the mind to a place that an image cannot.  (On view at Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location in Chelsea through Oct 25th).

Text on the wall in black bold font reading 'As Often as Not'.
Lawrence Weiner, AS OFTEN AS NOT, language and the materials referred to, dimensions variable, 2017.

Sonia Boyce, ‘Improvise with What We Have’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

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What is music when you can’t hear it?  ‘Silent Disco,’ a new video work by British artist Sonia Boyce at Hauser and Wirth Gallery in Chelsea, features headphone-wearing people dancing to music that the audience can’t hear.  In an added twist, the dancers are listening to two separate channels, dancing near others who may or may not be hearing what they are.  The dancers’ interactions, movements and obvious enjoyment become subject matter, positioning dance in a new light and maybe even tempting gallery visitors to join in with their own moves. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18th).

A wall featuring three videos of people dancing and a patterned background.
Sonia Boyce, Silent Disco, 3-channel colour video with sound, duration 9:42 min, 2025.

 

Oliver Beer at Almine Rech Gallery

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Inspired by 17th century German scholar Athanasius Kircher’s cat organ, which elicited sounds made by cats, British artist Oliver Beer created ‘Cat Orchestra,’ a musical instrument crafted from 37 found objects in the form of hollow cat vessels.  Now on view at Almine Rech Gallery’s Tribeca space, the piece’s sound is activated by a keyboard that turns on microphones in each vessel to produce resonances that together form an ethereal musical performance.   Motivated to find music where it’s least expected, Beer awakens viewers to possibilities everywhere.  (On view through April 27th).

Oliver Beer, installation view of Cat Orchestra, 37 hollow cat vessels and sculptures, plinths, microphones, speakers, audio equipment, dimensions variable, 2024.

Nina Canell at 303 Gallery

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Swedish artist Nina Canell has explained that sculpture is ‘an encounter,’ meaning that the atmosphere created by a piece and its materials will drive interest.  In the artist’s first solo show at 303 Gallery in Chelsea, unusual works involving fossils and conveyors achieve this goal, prompting curiosity via strange juxtapositions.  In this piece titled ‘Mother of Dust,’ a moving conveyor belt dominates the gallery; positioned just above the belt, a broom pushes along a handful of pearls.  As large as the sculpture is, the interest is in the point at which broom and pearls meet and the constantly moving, changing pattern of pearls generated by the device.  Canell’s interest is in geology, time and the interventions of humans in nature; although humans are absent here, their presence is indicated by the broom’s work – a process that has been set in motion and left to play out as it will.  (On view through Oct 28th).

Nina Canell, Mother of Dust, pearls, broom, modified conveyor belt, 280 x 35 x 23 inches, 2023.

Naotaka Hiro at Bortolami Gallery

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Framing an artwork is normally a secondary consideration to making it, but in Naotaka Hiro’s new works at Bortolami Gallery, the frame includes a wood panel onto which Hiro works directly.  After securing the panel a foot above the ground, Hiro lies underneath and records the position and movements of his body in acrylic, graphite, grease pencil and crayon.  The resulting abstraction continues the artist’s exploration of the body, specifically what can and cannot be seen except through camera or mirror.  Represented as gouges at center, striped and scale-like patterns and asterisk-like marks, the physical and spiritual aspects of the body merge in a unique self-portrait.  (On view in Tribeca through Aug 26th).

Naotaka Hiro, Untitled (3 Rings), acrylic, graphite, grease pencil, and crayon on wood, 58 1/8 x 42 x 2 in, 2022.

Dieter Roth at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

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Six hundred binders hold plastic sleeves filled with studio waste in a huge installation of books and other material created by Dieter Roth and his son and collaborator, Bjorn Roth currently at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Chelsea. Every piece of trash less than 5mm thick found its way into a binder in the years 1975-76, resulting in a portrait of the artist told through postcards, cigarette butts, packaging and more. ‘The worse it looks, the better,’ Roth noted on one binder. (On view through July 29th).

Installation view of ‘Books. Dieter Roth. Bjorn Roth. Studio,’ Hauser and Wirth Gallery, April 27 – July 28, 2017.

Sol LeWitt Wall Drawings at Paula Cooper

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Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #368 appears to pulse and move as it surrounds visitors to Paula Cooper Gallery. In addition to the physical impact, there’s also appeal in imagining the various ways LeWitt’s instructions (as enumerated in the drawing’s title) could be interpreted. (In Chelsea through Oct 22nd).

Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #368: The wall is divided vertically into five equal parts. The center part is divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts. Within each part are three-inch (7.5 cm) wide parallel bands of lines in four directions in four colors. In each of the other parts, three-inch (7.5 cm) bands of lines in one of the four directions. The bands are drawn in color and India ink washes. Red, yellow, blue, ink, India ink 3” (7.5 cm) bands. First drawn by: Jo Watanabe and others. First installation: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, January 1982. India ink. dimensions variable.
Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #368: The wall is divided vertically into five equal parts. The center part is divided horizontally and vertically into four equal parts. Within each part are three-inch (7.5 cm) wide parallel bands of lines in four directions in four colors. In each of the other parts, three-inch (7.5 cm) bands of lines in one of the four directions. The bands are drawn in color and India ink washes. Red, yellow, blue, ink, India ink 3” (7.5 cm) bands. First drawn by: Jo Watanabe and others. First installation: Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, January 1982. India ink. dimensions variable.

Regina Silveira at Alexander Gray Associates

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A flood of frogs (vinyl silhouttes adhered to walls and floor) escape down a fake drain in Brazilian artist Regina Silveira’s space-bending installation at Alexander Gray Associates. Referencing Biblical plagues and unexpected, underground activity, the frogs suggest that above-ground life is only half of the story. (In Chelsea through March 26th.)

Regina Silveira, Amphibia, vinyl and metal grate, dimensions variable, 2013. Installation view at Alexander Gray Associates, Feb ’16.
Regina Silveira, Amphibia, vinyl and metal grate, dimensions variable, 2013. Installation view at Alexander Gray Associates, Feb ’16.

Lisa Oppenheim at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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It’s important to know but hard to guess how New York artist Lisa Oppenheim sources the materials she uses to make her images – in this case, swirling clouds or monstrous faces that emerge from book matched wood. Using a thin sheet of veneer from Eastern Red Cedar, the artist created a camera-less photogram, which she then framed in Eastern Red Cedar and in birch, a wood used to imitate cedar. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 20th).

Lisa Oppenheim, Landscape Portraits (Eastern Red Cedar)(Version I), set of four silver gelatin photograms in Eastern Red Cedar and Birch frames, 51 5/8 x 55 inches, 2015.


Pierre Huyghe at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The most understated Met Museum Roof Garden commission in recent memory, French artist Pierre Huyghe’s installation features a chunk of bedrock set on the museum’s stone tile roof within site of a tank populated with primordial-looking tadpole shrimp. In contrast to the spectacle of luxury condo growth seen just south of the park, the low-key intervention on the Met’s roof is almost disorienting. Weeds sprouting from removed floor tiles suggest a dereliction far from the norm, a crack in the Met’s perfect public face. (At the Metropolitan Museum of Art through Nov 11th).

Pierre Huyghe, Roof Garden commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.

Cildo Meireles at Galerie Lelong

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Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles creates an awkward space for viewers, who are invited to climb onto a platform of wooden eggs under a canopy of bullets. Titled ‘Amerikkka,’ the piece’s extra consonants suggest racial discord in a loaded and fragile environment. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through June 27th).

Cildo Meireles, Amerikkka, 20,050 painted wooden eggs and 31,695 bullets, 158 x 236 x 118 inches, 1991/2013.

Tatiana Trouve at the SE corner of Central Park

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Before she even set foot in Central Park to create a site-specific artwork commissioned by the Public Art Fund, Paris-based artist Tatiana Trouve poured over maps of the park’s utilities. Inspired by the many unseen arteries connecting the park’s lights, water supply and more, she measured all 212 pathways in the park, designating each with a separate spool on towering racks. (Through Aug 30th).

Tatiana Trouve, installation view of ‘Desire Lines,’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, through Aug 30th.

Thiago Rocha Pitta at Marianne Boesky Gallery

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Brazilian artist Thiago Rocha Pitta’s new videos track minute, artist-introduced changes to tiny segments of the landscape in Argentina. Here, a cascade of sand runs like a never-ending hourglass. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 22nd.)

Thiago Rocha Pitta, Temporal maps of a non sedimented land #1, video, 2.33 min, 2015.

Dylan Stone at Josee Bienvenu Gallery

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What does your bookcase say about you? London-based artist Dylan Stone memorializes his film producer parents’ collection of books, LPs and video-cassettes in a huge painting at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery (seen here in detail). So much pre-digital media rendered in the ageless media of watercolor makes a poignant comment on longevity. (Through Dec 13th.)

Dylan Stone, detail from Barbara and David Stone’s Videos, LPs and Books, watercolor on paper, 110 x 150 inches, 2014.

Geoffrey Farmer at Casey Kaplan Gallery

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Canonical works of western art from throughout the ages – cut from the pages of art books – rub shoulders in Vancouver artist Geoffrey Farmer’s ‘Boneyard’ installation at Casey Kaplan Gallery in Chelsea. The effect is surprisingly odd as it seems to warp space and time via the simple device of propping paper cutouts on a white tabletop. (Through Dec 20th).

Geoffrey Farmer, Boneyard, paper cutouts, wood, glue, dimensions variable, 2013.

Valeska Soares at Eleven Rivington

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A selection of 365 dust jackets mounted to linen supports by Brooklyn-based Brazilian artist Valeska Soares at Eleven Rivington muses on the passing of time. Not only do the titles refer to temporality, but dated fonts and designs act as a measure of change over a few decades. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 23rd).

Valeska Soares, installation view of ‘Any Moment Now,’ at Eleven Rivington, 195 Chrystie Street, November 2014.

Agniszka Kurant at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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‘The End of Signature’ by New York based Polish artist Agnieszka Kurant compiles hundreds of signatures into one long scrawl, appearing on the gallery wall in black coloring on a long, tube and replicated by this machine. Kurant’s piece bears witness, neither critically nor enthusiastically, to the increase of typed communication and digital signatures. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Oct 18th).

Agnieszka Kurant, detail of The End of Signature, glass tubing, water pump, black coloring and water, installed with autopen machine, pillar of paper and ink pens, 2014.

Jonathan Monk at Casey Kaplan Gallery

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In a move bound to irk art-lovers who want to see hands-on art making, British conceptual artist Jonathan Monk riffed on Jeff Koons’ fabricated rabbit sculpture by copying it, slightly deflated in 2009. Now, he’s presenting a remake of that piece, but he worked from photos rather than actual measurements of the original, suggesting a tiny measure of creativity or freedom from exactitude. (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through October 18th).

Jonathan Monk, A Copy of Deflated Sculpture No. 1, stainless steel, 40.5 x 23 x 15”, 2014.

Paul Villinski at Morgan Lehman Gallery

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Butterflies inspire and energize New York City artist Paul Villinski’s sculptural practice, which includes a self-portrait sculpture that doubles as a butterfly habitat, butterflies crafted from cans, and a purpose-built containment area designed to breed butterflies (pictured here in detail). His latest show at Morgan Lehman in Chelsea features all three projects, collectively showcasing the wonder of this insect. (Through Oct 11th).

Paul Villinski, (detail) Butterfly Machine, mixed media, electric and hydroponic components, plants, butterflies, 2014.

Sol LeWitt’s ‘Wall Drawing #370’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art has installed another winner in its long, narrow 1st floor hallway gallery (extraordinary Peruvian feathered panels lined the walls for the last show). Painted directly on the gallery walls, Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #370 commands the space with its simple and perfectly executed geometric shapes. (Through September 7th).

Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #370, installation view in Gallery 399 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, August, 2014.

Carissa Rodriguez in ‘Displayed’ at Anton Kern Gallery

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Traditional Japanese Ikebana becomes art in the hands of New York artist Carissa Rodriguez (who memorably showed a Cartier clock owned by FDR at the Whitney Biennial this spring). In Anton Kern Gallery’s treasure-chest of a summer group exhibition, she saddles this gorgeous arrangement with the title ‘I Will Cook Myself Tomorrow,’ making it a kind of pre-memorial. (In Chelsea through August 22nd).

Center: Carissa Rodriquez, I Will Cook Myself Tomorrow,’ unique seasonal Ikebana arrangement, Sogetsu suiban vessel and custom pedestal, variable dimensions, 2012. To the left: ‘Blue Shelf’ by David Korty. To the right: ‘Vase (prototype) and paper bouquet,’ Marc Camille Chaimowicz.

Jonathan Monk in ‘Never Look Back When Leaving’ at Casey Kaplan Gallery

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Working on the model of conceptual artists like On Kawara who famously used the mail to deliver art content, Berlin-based British artist Jonathan Monk devised this weekly letter as an art work in which he tries to guess the name of the mother-in-law of the work’s owner. (At Casey Kaplan Gallery in Chelsea through August 1st).

Jonathan Monk, Guessing your mother-in-law’s name, letter from the artist every Friday until he guesses correctly, 2003.

DAS INSTITUT in ‘No Drink No Talk Just Beautiful’ at On Stellar Rays

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This arrestingly odd triptych by artist collaborators DAS INSTITUT presents a caricatured woman’s face in one image while giving the subterfuge away in the other two photos. Holding a donut decorated in the same pattern as her shirt, the model fixes us with an unnerving stare as if to question what part we play in making meaning from images. (At the Lower East Side’s On Stellar Rays through August 1st.)

DAS INSTITUT, When You See Me Again It Won’t Be Me (Green), 3 pigment prints, 19 ¼ x 42 ½ inches, 2014.

Louise Lawler at Metro Pictures

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Iconic appropriation artist Louise Lawler appropriates her own appropriations in her latest show at Chelsea’s Metro Pictures gallery with this black and white tracing of an earlier work, printed on vinyl and hung on an entire gallery wall. Drained of color and magnified, the Pollock above and tureen below seem less dissimilar. (Through July 25th).

Louise Lawler, Pollock and Tureen (traced), signed certificate, installation instructions, and PDF formatted file, dimensions variable, 1984/2013.

Meyer Vaisman at Eleven Rivington

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Though gestural strokes dominate new ‘paintings’ by Barcelona-based artist Meyer Vaisman, all have been created with inkjet on industrial plywood with stretcher bars made to look like the back of a canvas. Though the work is abstract, the imagery is based on Vaisman’s signature. (At Eleven Rivington on the Lower East Side through July 3rd).

Meyer Vaisman, Artist’s Signature: llehctiM naoJ, 5773, AFGA UVI ink on popular plywood, 2014.

Jaya Howey at Bureau Inc

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Under a stunning sunrise, time runs out, nature takes its course and a masked figure keeps up appearances in this attractively simple yet hard-to-interpret painting by Brooklyn artist Jaya Howey. How it all fits together seems to be less important than noting how it’s all happening at once. (At Bureau on the Lower East Side through June 15th).

Jaya Howey, Opening Narrative with Frame Work 3, oil and acrylic on canvas, ceramic, epoxy, 119 x 94cm, 2014.

Lucas Ajemian at Marlborough Gallery

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If you’re an artist who thinks your work might be improved by being destroyed, you might want to talk to New York based artist Lucas Ajemian. Ajemian has created this work – reminiscent of a reclining figure in a weathered fresco from a Roman villa – and the others in his latest solo show at Marlborough Gallery’s Lower East Side location by treating, then machine washing other artists’ paintings. (Through June 8th).

Lucas Ajemian, Laundered Painting (20 x 16) I, painting on canvas, 2014.

Anicka Yi at 47 Canal

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As part of her latest solo show titled ‘Divorce,’ New York artist Anicka Yi has installed two driers in the gallery. Open the doors, and a diffuser sprays a strong scent of fried foods blended with other odors to convey the repulsion of a foreign yet familiar smell left behind. (At 47 Canal through June 8th).

Anicka Yi, Washing Away of Wrongs, 2 stainless steel dryer doors, 2 fragrances, diffusers, plexiglass, 120 x 131 x 26.5 inches, 2014.

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster at 303 Gallery

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French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster has long included clothing in her conceptual artworks; for her first show at Chelsea’s 303 Gallery, she displays items from her own wardrobe along with other ephemera (here, her drawing from 1981) as autobiography. (Through May 31st).

Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, detail of the installation ‘euqinimod & costumes’ at 303 Gallery, May 2014.

Adrian Piper at Elizabeth Dee Gallery

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Would you be willing to promise that you’ll always do what you say you’re going to do? How about signing a contract to that effect? At three stations in conceptual artist Adrian Piper’s latest solo show at Elizabeth Dee Gallery in Chelsea, the artist asks visitors to do just that. Here, you can agree to ‘always be too expensive to buy.’ (Through May 31st).

Adrian Piper, installation view of ‘The Probable Trust Registry’ at Elizabeth Dee Gallery, May 2014.

Robert Longo at Petzel Gallery

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There’s little subtlety in Robert Longo’s massive, 17 ft tall U.S. flag that appears to sink into Petzel Gallery’s floor and is subtitled ‘The Pequod’ after the ship destroyed by Ahab’s mad quest for vengeance on Moby Dick. (In Chelsea through May 10th).

Robert Longo, Untitled (The Pequod), steel, wood, wax and pigment, 207 x 192 x 12 inches, 2014.

Hans Schabus at Simon Preston Gallery

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When hundreds of dealers from around the world converge at an art fair, how do they set themselves apart? At Art Basel Miami, Simon Preston Gallery brought their gallery doors with them per Vienna-based artist Hans Schabus’s instructions. Back in New York, with new doors installed outside, Schabus displayed the earlier versions, along with a rendering of the temporary plywood exterior and a drawing that questioned the importance of a gallery’s local setting. (On the Lower East Side through April 14, 2014).

Hans Schabus, installation view of ‘Lower East Side,’ at Simon Preston Gallery, March, 2014.

Friedrich Kunath at Andrea Rosen Gallery

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The rainbow and landscape paintings, blue carpet and cat towers bedecked with fake fruit in LA-based artist Friedrich Kunath’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery are an invitation to ponder what meaning can emerge from such disparate if colorful trappings. A gallery statement suggests Kunath is offering, ‘An invitation into a perpetual joke.’ (Through April 26th.)

Friedrich Kunath, installation view of at Andrea Rosen Gallery, March 2014 including ‘Meloncholy Towers’ and work from the series, ‘I was thinking about what a friend had said, I was hoping it was a lie,’ 2013-14.

Mika Tajima at Eleven Rivington

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As part of a residency at Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop and Museum, New York artist Mika Tajima created textiles with a fascinating back story. Taking recordings from factories using Jacquard looms (a precursor to digital) and from server co-location sites (representing new technologies), she translated the sound waves into patterns woven on fabric which was then mounted on acoustic panels to create an object that simultaneously is cutting edge and historical. (At Eleven Rivington on the Lower East Side through April 13th).

Mika Tajima, Negative Entropy (Caledonia Dye Works, quad), cotton, wood, acoustic baffling felt; made in collaboration with the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, 78 x 54 inches, 2014.

Kelly Walker at Paula Cooper Gallery

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Using Volkswagen Beetle ads from the ‘50s to ‘70s and the 3D modeling program Rhino, New York-based conceptual artist Kelly Walker brings flat images of a real life object into the 3D world in literal sculptural shapes like this one in the foreground, which whimsically recalls a different mode of transportation – the paper airplane. (At Paula Cooper Gallery’s 521 West 21st Street space through March 29th).

Kelly Walker, Bug_156S, four-color process silkscreen on aluminum, 2013-14 (foreground).

Roe Ethridge at Andrew Kreps Gallery

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For his latest series, ‘Sacrifice Your Body,’ New York based photographer Roe Ethridge took a trip to his mom’s hometown in Belgrade, Florida, gathering images that loosely suggest a relationship between mother and son. Here, a phone off the hook suggests a receiver dropped in surprise. (At Chelsea’s Andrew Kreps Gallery through March 29th).

Roe Ethridge, Yellow Phone, c-print, 34 ¾ x 45 7/8, 2013.

Park McArthur at Essex Street

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New York based artist Park McArthur’s installation of ramps she’s recently used – from a splintered board to a sturdy new ramp – to access art spaces and her residential building in downtown Manhattan tell a succinct and eye-opening tale of unintentional discrimination.  (At Essex Street Gallery through Feb 23rd).  

Park McArthur, installation view of ‘Ramps,’ at Essex Street Gallery, Jan 2014.

Wade Guyton at Petzel Gallery

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For his first solo gallery show in New York since his retrospective at the Whitney Museum in fall ’12, New York based artist Wade Guyton returns to his signature style with digitally created, minimalist ‘paintings’ printed in an epic battle with his Epson printer. (At Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery through Feb 22nd).  

Wade Guyton, Untitled, Epson UltraChrome K3 inkjet on linen, 2014 (one painting on each wall, both with the same title, materials and date.)

Mathilde Ter Heijne at Jack Hanley Gallery

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Photos of anonymous women, taken from the early days of photography to the 1920s, line the walls of Jack Hanley Gallery as part of Dutch artist Mathilde Ter Heijne’s testament to the gradually improving status of women.  On the back of each is a biography of a woman well-known in her time for advancing women’s causes.  Visitors can take one away for inspiration.  (On the Lower East Side through Feb 2nd).  

Mathilde Ter Heijne, installation view of ‘Woman to Go,’ at Jack Hanley Gallery, January 2014.

Haim Steinbach in ‘Between the Lines,’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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Known for his careful arrangements of consumer objects on shelves, New York artist Haim Steinbach samples readymades of a different kind in this text piece.  Though the size of the greeting suggests it’s being offered at high volume, its punctuation implies a curtness lacking warmth.  (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 8th).  

Haim Steinbach, ‘hello. again.’, text in matte black vinyl letters, dimensions variable, 2013.

Stan Douglas at David Zwirner Gallery

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Vancouver photographer and filmmaker Stan Douglas continues a theme from his last show – the influence of Afrobeat on the NY music scene of the 70s – with his latest film ‘Luanda-Kinshasa,’ on view at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery.  Watching the video in its entirety – and music lovers may want to – could take six hours as the scenes run in non-sequential loops. (Through Feb 22nd).  

Stan Douglas, still from Luanda-Kinshasa, Jan 2013, David Zwirner Gallery.

Duke Riley at Magnan Metz Gallery

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Built from materials reclaimed from shipwrecks off Florida’s Key West, this pigeon coop houses birds trained by New York artist Duke Riley to fly from Havana to Key West bearing cigars in carefully crafted slings.  Grids of painted bird portraits detail the fates of the participants, who were named after filmmakers who had brushes with the law, or historical smugglers.  (At Chelsea’s Magnan Metz Gallery through Jan 11th).  

Duke Riley, installation view of ‘See You At the Finish Line,’ at Magnan Metz Gallery, Dec, 2013.


Sylvia Plimack Mangold in ‘1965 – 1977’ at Alexander and Bonin Gallery

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How could an avant-garde mid-century painter keep up with the trends in abstract minimalism while still making representational work?  This clever 1967 canvas by Sylvia Plimack Mangold has the artist looking down for an answer and finding a ready-made grid of wood – a Minimalist-approved material – that has an inherently physical relationship to the viewer.  (At Alexander and Bonin Gallery through Jan 4th.)

Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Floor 1, acrylic on canvas, 1967.

K8 Hardy at Reena Spaulings Gallery

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In her latest show at LES gallery Reena Spaulings, Brooklyn-based artist K8 Hardy moves away from her signature subversive fashion photos toward sculpture made from found and scavenged materials.  Her sense of fun remains, however, as seen with this intentionally (?) narcissistic mirror and a twerking stick figure.  (Through Dec 22nd).  

K8 Hardy, Twerk Team (foreground sculpture), wood liquid latex, acrylic paint, plastic tubing, synthetic fabric and (against wall) Kate, tinted glass mirror, 2013.

Rosemarie Trockel at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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Placed end to end and titled ‘Copy Me,’ two identical cast steel sofas by German conceptual artist Rosemarie Trockel are oddly and improbably long.  Their oxidized patina creates a homey color but their material makes them uninviting, a fact that seems to be acknowledged by a protective plastic cover only casually placed over the sofas. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery through Dec 21st).  

Rosemarie Trockel, Copy Me, cast steel and plastic, 31 ½ x 165 3/8 x 28 inches, 2013.

Scott Reeder at Lisa Cooley Gallery

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By spray painting over and removing pasta shapes on canvas, Scott Reeder creates tongue-in-cheek paintings that resemble austere abstraction, or in the case of this painting (seen in detail) a constellation composed of alphabet soup letters.  (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd.)  

Scott Reeder, detail from ‘Untitled (Pasta Painting),’ oil and enamel on canvas, 96 x 108 inches, 2013.

Sarah Morris at Petzel Gallery

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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.

Eileen Quinlan at Miguel Abreu Gallery

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For Brooklyn-based artist Eileen Quinlan, photography is not about passive recording.  In a series of 24 images pinned directly to the wall, she degrades the surface of her negatives by both allowing the developing process to go awry and scratching with steel wool to create abstractions that emphasize the medium as a process. (At Miguel Abreu Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 8th).  

Eileen Quinlan, installation view of ‘Curtains’ at Miguel Abreu Gallery, Nov 2013.

Gabriel Orozco at Marian Goodman Gallery

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Circular forms – a seemingly simple conceptual starting point with endless variations – dominate Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco’s latest solo show at Marian Goodman Gallery.  The most compelling are these river cobblestones, sold roadside in Mexico as a building material, but here carved with abstract patterns to conjure tactile ancient artifacts.   (On 57th Street through Dec 21st).  

Gabriel Orozco, (foreground) Untitled, carved river cobblestone from the Guerrero coast, Mexico, 2013.

Elaine Reichek at Zach Feuer Gallery

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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, Work No. 1782 at Hauser & Wirth

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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).

Kristin Calabrese at Brennan and Griffin Gallery

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LA-based artist Kristin Calabrese’s exhibition at Lower East Side gallery Brennan and Griffin aims to consider our mortality; here, the beauty of the flowers has faded but a gorgeous sunset in the distance offers succor.  (Through Dec 8th).  

Kristin Calabrese, Depth of Field, oil on canvas, 78 x 66 inches, 2013.

Terry Adkins at Salon 94 Bowery & Freemans

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Known for making artwork relating to lesser-known facts about historically important figures, Brooklyn & Philadelphia artist Terry Adkins turns his sights to George Washington Carver & Yves Klein in his Lower East Side show.  Using apple pickers to refer to Carver’s efforts to move away from the ubiquity of cotton, and blown glass to recall Yves Klein’s fiery, transformative performances, Adkins invites us to read meaning into his subtly reworked histories.   (At Salon94 Bowery and Salon 94 Freemans on the Lower East Side through Jan 11th).

Terry Adkins, installation view of Nenuphar at Salon94 Bowery, November, 2013.  Sculpture in foreground: Terry Adkins, Harvest Montgomery, blown glass, apple picker, fiberglass and aluminum pole, 2013.

Sophie Calle, Absence at Paula Cooper Gallery

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‘Souci’ (worry) was French conceptual artist Sophie Calle’s mother’s last word, uttered several years ago on her deathbed as she told her daughter not to worry about her.  Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery is now showing a selection of Calle’s projects directly or indirectly relating to her mother, including one for which she traveled to the North Pole to bury her mother’s jewelry.  While not as powerful as Calle’s last show, it’s a must-see for fans.  (Through Nov 16th).  

Sophie Calle, installation view of ‘Absence’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, Oct 2013.

Claudia Wieser at Marianne Boesky Gallery

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Black and white photos of art historical objects, delicately crafted works on paper, minimal sculptures with metallic accents and ubiquitous mirrors lend Berlin-based artist Claudia Wieser’s first solo show at Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery a feeling of belonging to both a centuries old craft tradition and an elegant modernism.  (At Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery through Oct 19th).  

Claudia Wieser, installation view of ‘The Mirror,’ a solo exhibition with sculpture made in acrylic and/or ink on wood sculptures placed on digital prints in the foreground, all work 2013.

Joanna Malinowska at Canada Gallery

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Six tons of dirt from the Yukon and a giant papier-mache bear – part of a solo show by Polish-American artist Joanna Malinowska – launch Canada Gallery’s much-awaited new LES space.  Known to source objects from around the world (e.g. a liter of water from the Bering Straight and a sweater from Bolivian president Evo Morales in a previous piece), Malinowska gathers far flung references – intriguing if obscure – to the North American land.   (At Canada through Oct 20th).

Joanna Malinowska and Michael Crockford, Falsely Humble (background), wood, papier-mache, 2013.  Joanna Malinowska, 6 Tons of Yukon Dirt (foreground), soil from Yukon Territory, miner’s pan & bucket, 2013.

John McCracken: Works from 1963 – 2011 at David Zwirner Gallery

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Southern Californian minimalist John McCracken’s retrospective exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery is better seen in person – where sleek objects like this one (hand-crafted from plywood covered in polyester resin & fiberglass) reflect the people, objects and light conditions surrounding them.  But the color contrasts alone between the richly green ‘Minnesota’ in the foreground and the sky blue of ‘On Stream’ in this photo set the mind thinking of nature.   (At the gallery’s 20th Street location through Oct 19th.)

John McCracken, Minnesota (in the foreground), polyester resin, fiberglass and plywood, 1989.  On Stream (background left), polyester resin, fiberglass and plywood, 1998.

Allan McCollum & Andrea Zittel at Petzel Gallery

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In the latest iteration of a project started in the early 80s, Allan McCollum has invited Joshua Tree, California based artist Andrea Zittel to collaborate on a show of his ‘plaster surrogates,’ or plaster casts that stand in for paintings.  Here, Zittel sketches out a rough landscape of hills and desert colors in an avant-garde twist on landscape painting.   (At Pezel Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 5th).  

Allan McCollum, installation view of ‘Plaster Surrogates Colored and Organized by Andrea Zittel,’ at Petzel Gallery, Sept 2013.

Catherine Ahearn in ‘Pizza Time!’ at Marlborough Gallery, LES

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Chelsea and 57th Street gallery Marlborough Gallery has now put an anchor down in the Lower East Side, launching a new space at 331 Broome with the lightheartedly delicious ‘Pizza Time,’ a show dedicated to the slice.  It includes this collage by Catherine Ahearn that marries painting and photo as serendipitously as olives and mushrooms.  (Through Oct 6th)  

Catherine Ahearn, Untitled (pizza 3), multi-media, 2011.

Leslie Hewitt at Sikkema, Jenkins & Co

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To some, Leslie Hewitt’s conceptual photography will be maddeningly vague, to others, enticingly elusive.  Propped against the wall as if it were an object or sculpture, it displays one book with its spine facing us – James Baldwin’s essays on race, ‘The Fire Next Time.’  This incendiary text rests next to a cooling lemon, an art historical symbol of mortality and moderation.  (At Sikkema Jenkins & Co in Chelsea, through Oct 5th).  

Leslie Hewitt, Untitled (Perception), Still Life Series, digital c-print in custom maple frame, 2013.

Adam Marnie at Derek Eller Gallery

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New York artist Adam Marnie presents a mediated flash-back with his solo show at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery by removing the bottom two feet of drywall from the gallery’s walls, recalling the scene after Hurricane Sandy last October. Nearby interlocking cubes recall 60s minimalist ideas about art being a physical experience; but what happens to interpretation if the physical space of the gallery is altered by disaster?  (Through Oct 5th).  

Adam Marnie, Inward Object I, maple, wood putty spray paint, 2013.

Andra Ursuta in ‘Busted’ on The High Line

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Andra Ursuta’s giant marble nose begs the question of what Ozymandias-like character would deserve such a large portrait sculpture and what went wrong, leaving only the nose behind.  It’s a highlight of the High Line’s group exhibition ‘Busted,’ which reimagines public portrait sculpture. (Through April 2014).  

Andra Ursuta, Nose Job, white marble, wheelbarrow, variable dimensions, 2013.

Sarah Lucas in ‘Lightness of Being’ at City Hall Park

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Anyone ready to harvest squash from their garden in the coming weeks will appreciate British artist Sarah Lucas’ mother of all zucchini at City Hall Park, one of two gigantic cast concrete sculptures titled ‘Florian’ and ‘Kevin’ that summarize excess in vegetable form.  (Through December 13th).  

Sarah Lucas, Florian and Kevin, cast concrete, 2013.

Alicja Kwade in ‘Lightness of Being,’ at City Hall Park

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New Yorkers used to seeing abandoned and decrepit bikes are likely to get a kick out of Polish artist Alicja Kwade’s twisted racer in City Hall Park.  Like her curving wooden door that we saw on Lower East Side tours last Feb/March, she took the original apart, reformed it and pieced it back together to create an object of whimsy and wonder.  (Through December 13th).  

Alicja Kwade, Journey without Arrival (Raleigh), stainless steel, aluminum, rubber, plastic components, 2012/13.

Ugo Rondinone in ‘Lightness of Being,’ at City Hall Park

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In a more intimately-scaled followup to Swiss-American artist Ugo Rondinone’s powerful installation of stone characters at Paula Cooper Gallery this spring, the artist revives his recurring clown figure as a performer at City Hall Park.   Even asleep, this character is imposing and mysterious with his colorful nylon costume, collar of feathers and thick shawl.  (Through December 13th).   

Ugo Rondinone, dog days are over, performance, 1996/2013.

Daniel Buren in ‘Lightness of Being’ at City Hall Park

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It’s going to be hard to appreciate major late 20th century minimalist Daniel Buren’s characteristic indoor painted installations after seeing his gorgeous pavilion in City Hall Park, which allows visitors to literally walk into fields of color and interact with spaces projected by the sun onto the ground and pavilion floor.  (Through December 13th).  

Daniel Buren, Suncatcher, powder-coated steel, glass, vinyl, 2013.

Evan Holloway in ‘Lightness of Being,’ at City Hall Park

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LA sculptor Evan Holloway uses one of art history’s most iconic artworks, a 4.5 inch high fertility goddess from approximately 22-24,000 BC, as decorative inspiration for a huge, slender bronze ring in City Hall Park.  The shifts between a tiny but fulsome female on a huge but slim ring are provocative and amusing; you’ll also get a rare glimpse of the sculpture’s back view. (Through December 13th).   

Evan Holloway, ‘Willendorf Wheel,’ bronze, 2013.

Jennifer Cohen in ‘Desire’ at Yancey Richardson Gallery

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Jennifer Cohen’s ‘White Line’ is as poised as a ballerina en pointe, but its meaning is given an extra charge by being included in Yancey Richardson Gallery’s  summer group show titled, ‘Desire,’ which showcases work by female artists adopting a female gaze. (In Chelsea through August 23rd).  

Jennifer Cohen, White Line, bronze, copper tubing, plaster and paper pulp, 2013.

Imran Qureshi at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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The sobriety and simplicity of Imran Qureshi’s Roof Garden installation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a sharp contrast to previous Met roof projects (like the Starn brothers’ climbable bamboo labyrinth in 2010).  Partly in response to deadly bombings in Lahore, Qureshi paints the roof’s floor and walls with blood-red paint splatters and beautifully rendered floral motifs.  (At the Met through Nov 3rd.)  

Imran Qureshi, installation view of ‘The Roof Garden Commission:  Imran Qureshi,’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2013.

Bruce High Quality Foundation at The Brooklyn Museum

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Bruce High Quality Foundation (an anonymous collective of Brooklyn artists) show off their light-hearted but ambitious practice at the Brooklyn Museum, including these vitrines housing crudely recreated selections from the Met’s Greek and Roman galleries.  The installation recalls the age-old student practice of perfecting one’s art by copying in museums though these renditions of the Met’s ancient masterpieces are decidedly folksy and imperfect.  (Through Sept 22nd).

‘The Greek and Roman Collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,’ Play dough, cardboard, wood, acrylic, polystyrene foam, 2013.

David Jelinek at Andrew Edlin Gallery

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For many artists, being offered an exhibition in a Chelsea gallery would feel like winning the lottery.  For his first show at Andrew Edlin’s Chelsea gallery, New York artist David Jelinek takes the daring step of filling the space not with his own creations but with a symbol of hope aroused and then dashed – a scattering of discarded losing lottery tickets strewn on the gallery floor. (Through Aug 17th).  

David Jelinek, installation view of ‘Money Down,’ at Andrew Edlin Gallery, July 2013.

Charlotte Posenenske in ‘Conspicuous Unusable’ at Miguel Abreu Gallery

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Charlotte Posenenske permanently gave up art making for sociology in 1968, just a year after creating the plans for this modular sheet metal sculpture that could be configured in a variety of ways.  Here, the piece resembles a ventilation shaft that questions the necessity of use value in art while fetishising industrial design.  (At Miguel Abreu Gallery on the Lower East Side through Aug 17th).  

Charlotte Posenenske, Series D Vierkantrohre (Square Tubes), sheet steel, dimensions and configuration variable, 1967/2009.

Rachel Harrison in ‘Roving Signs’ at Matthew Marks Gallery

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American folk tradition inspired Matthew Marks Gallery’s summer group show ‘Roving Signs,’ which includes this editioned sculpture by Rachel Harrison that conjures apple picking over Apple Macs and can-do crafting over mass consumption.  (At Matthew Marks Gallery’s 522 W. 22nd St space through Aug 16th).  

Rachel Harrison, Apple Multiple, artificial fruit and sewing pins, 2008.

Simon Fujiwara at Andrea Rosen Gallery

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Berlin-based artist Simon Fujiwara created this gender-reversing picture as part of a meandering investigation into a now-lost photo of his globe trotting, show-girl mother in the arms of a stranger on a beach in Beirut.  With very little information to go on, Fujiwara goes on, casting actors to reconstruct the old photo while musing on family history.  (At Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery through Aug 9th).  

Detail from Simon Fujiwara’s exhibition ‘Studio Pieta (King Kong Komplex),’ at Andrea Rosen Gallery, July 2013.

William Daniels at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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In his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine Gallery, British artist William Daniels continues to walk the line between abstraction and representation in new paintings for which he constructed, photographed, then painted arches made of aluminum foil.  (Through Aug 16th).  

William Daniels, Untitled, 42 3/8 x 41 ¾ inches, oil on board, 2013.

Virginia Overton, High Line Art Commission at 20th Street Edison ParkFast

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Brooklyn-based artist Virginia Overton combines the city and country in her untitled project next to Chelsea’s High Line park by parking a pickup truck with a bricked in bed and a scene of flying ducks in the back window on the top of an Edison ParkFast stack.  (Next to the High Line at West 20th Street through Aug 8).  

Virginia Overton, Untitled, pickup truck, bricks, 2012.

Ricky Swallow in ‘Mind is Outer Space,’ at Casey Kaplan Gallery

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Used archery targets, repaired flea market antiques, still life paintings and more inform LA-based artist Ricky Swallow’s practice of putting everyday objects through a series of transformations.  Here, bronze vessels cast from cardboard and applied with what looks like a ceramic glaze conjure lily pads and Aladdin’s lamp.  (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through Aug 2nd).  

Ricky Swallow, Staggered Vessel with Rings, patinated bronze, 2013.

Simryn Gill in ‘CHICK LIT: Revised Summer Reading’ at Tracy Williams, Ltd.

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Australia-based artist Simryn Gill found a nine-volume set of books by Mahatma Gandhi in a library sale and transformed them into spheres.  But like a book, the sculptures are intended to be held, prompting their audience to consider their subject in a new way. (At Tracy Williams, Ltd. through Aug 9th).  

Simryn Gill, 9 Volumes from The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, paper, glue, 2008.

Sam Falls in ‘Noa Noa’ at Metro Pictures Gallery

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Sam Falls has a different take on beauty and the urban environment with his two huge (15 feet long) hangings created by putting abandoned tires on colored canvases and leaving them outside to age for several months. (At Chelsea’s Metro Pictures through Aug 2nd).  

Sam Falls, Untitled (Large Blue, Glassel Park Los Angeles, CA), & Untitled (Large Orange, Glassell Park, Los Angeles, CA), both pre-dyed canvas and metal grommets, 2013.

Matt Hoyt in ‘Mind is Outer Space’ at Casey Kaplan Gallery

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New York artist Matt Hoyt was a star of the last Whitney Biennial with his tiny, meticulously crafted sculptures that resemble archeological finds or rare natural specimens but which remain a pleasing puzzle.  This assortment (‘group 93’) appears in Casey Kaplan Gallery’s summer group show ‘Mind is Outer Space.’ (In Chelsea through Aug 2nd).  

Matt Hoyt, Untitled (Group 93), two wooden shelves with polyurethane supports containing 11 component objects comprised of all or some of the following:  various putties, plastic, metal, clay, krazy glue, pastel, oil, tempera, acrylic, and spray paint, 2010-2013.

Show Me the JPEG at Winkleman Gallery

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Can you really shop for art online?  Artnet.com, the VIP art fair and other web-based art businesses question of how necessary it is to see art in person before buying.  In a daring tongue-in-cheek gesture, Winkleman Gallery devotes its summer group show to a huge exhibition in every media by its gallery artists…with all work displayed online on a bank of monitors lining the gallery walls.  (In Chelsea through August 2nd).  

Installation view of ‘Show Me the JPEG’ at Winkleman Gallery, June 2013.

‘No Name’ at On Stellar Rays

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Bayard’s mohair sculpture, hanging from the ceiling of the Lower East Side’s ‘On Stellar Rays,’ may look uncomfortably warm for this weather but it’s the most tactile object in a show that includes a flag painted in bacon fat and pigment by Michael Mahalchick, a meticulously constructed faux pile of twigs by Nathaniel Robinson and a sculpture painstakingly crafted by Susan Collis to look like an old discarded plank.  (Through July 26th)  

Installation view of ‘No Name’ at On Stellar Rays, June 2013.

Alex Israel in ‘Noa, Noa,’ at Metro Pictures

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At seven feet tall, Alex Israel’s shades are impressive.  One coldly reflective lens propped against the wall in Metro Pictures’ summer group show ‘Noa, Noa’ seems designed less as sun protection than as proof of its wearer’s extreme fashionability.  (In Chelsea through August 2nd).   

Alex Israel, Lens, UV protective plastic, 2012-13.

Anne-Lise Coste at Eleven Rivington

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Taking Picasso’s 1937 anti-war masterpiece Guernica as inspiration, New York based French artist Anne-Lise Coste sets out in her recent freehand spray-paint paintings to question how to make an anti-war painting today.  (At Eleven Rivington through August 9th).

Simon Denny at Petzel Gallery

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One of Chelsea’s more unusual looking shows of the moment involves innovative display of old information.  Berlin-based artist Simon Denny’s latest solo show at Petzel Gallery takes the 2012 version of the annual DLD tech conference as its subject matter, displaying posters that summarize event highlights (last year’s news) in analogue (obsolete?) style.  

Simon Denny, installation view of ‘All you need is data:  the DLD Conference REDUX rerun,’ at Petzel Gallery, June, 2013.

Richard Dupont at Tracy Williams, Ltd.

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Known for digitally distorted, 3-D self-portraits, New York based artist Richard Dupont takes his artwork a step closer to painting by mounting this cast of an enlarged head and creating a ghostly portrait with disarming presence.  (At Tracy Williams, Ltd. through June 28th.)  

Richard Dupont, Untitled, cast pigmented resin and marble dust, 2013.

Paul McCarthy at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

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Paul McCarthy continues to subvert classic fairy-tales with his ‘White Snow’ sculpture in black walnut at Chelsea’s Hauser & Wirth Gallery.  Here, McCarthy explodes a kitschy figurine into a mirrored display of gaiety ten feet high. (Through June 1st).  

Paul McCarthy, White Snow, Flower Girl, black walnut, 2012-13.

Jorge Macchi at Alexander & Bonin Gallery

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Jorge Macchi’s percussive sculpture ‘fan’ entices visitors into Chelsea’s Alexander & Bonin’s main gallery space, but once inside conveys danger as wobbling ceiling fan blades chip into the gallery walls.  In a show devoted to mediations on time, it’s an ominous portent. (Through June 15th).

Jorge Macchi, ‘fan,’ metal ceiling fan, 2013.

Ugo Rondinone at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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Swiss conceptual artist Ugo Rondinone has converted Barbara Gladstone’s gallery into an elegant cave featuring plaster-covered walls and stacked stone anthropomorphs.  Rondinone channels his own family’s past as cave dwellers to create this clan of simple bluestone characters whose titles (‘glad,’ ‘blessed,’ ‘shocked’) add to their surprising charm.  (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street Chelsea space through July 3rd.  See their larger cousins at Rockefeller Center through July 4th).

Ugo Rondinone, ‘soul,’ installation view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, May 2013.

Wolfgang Tillmans at Andrea Rosen Gallery

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For a recent four year project titled ‘Neue Welt,’ Berlin and London-based photographer Wolfgang Tillmans traveled off the beaten track in what he called an ‘aimless’ journey to “…find subject matter that in some way or other speaks about the time I’m in.”  A sampling from the resulting book is at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, offering disorientingly diverse glimpses of people and places around the planet.  (through June 22nd).  

Wolfgang Tillmans, ‘young man, Jeddah, b,’ inkjet print on paper, clips, 2012.

Eve Fowler at Feature, Inc.

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By lifting phrases like ‘This is it with it as it is,’ from Gertrude Stein’s 1914 book ‘Tender Buttons,’ LA-based artist Eve Fowler moves Stein’s creative language play into a more public realm, as seen here on the windows of Feature, Inc. on the Lower East Side. (Through June 2nd.)  

Eve Fowler, from ‘A Spectacle and Nothing Strange,’ letterpress posters with texts from Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons (1914), 28 x 22 each, set of 21, 2011-12.

Josh Tonsfeld at Simon Preston Gallery

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When his grandparents’ Missouri farmhouse burned, Josh Tonsfeld’s family salvaged some things and left the rest.  In a creative act of excavation, the New York based artist returned to remove more objects from the debris, including this book, ruined furniture and correspondence, which he arranges in the gallery in a kind of provocative but inconclusive personal archeology of a past American life.   (At Simon Preston Gallery through June 2nd).

Josh Tonsfeld, Untitled, book, 2013.

Aiko Hachisuka at Eleven Rivington

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When Aiko Hachisuka doesn’t want a piece of clothing any more, she doesn’t just bag it for the thrift shop.  The LA-based artist’s bulging cloth sculptures are made from clothing she’s folded, screenprinted, stuffed and stitched together in large, exuberant forms.   (At Eleven Rivington on the Lower East Side through June 14th)

Aiko Hachisuka, Pro Weight, silkscreen on clothing and foam, 2011.

Spencer Finch at James Cohan Gallery

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In 1846, Henry David Thoreau took soundings to measure the depth of Walden Pond, disproving local legends that claimed it was bottomless.  A century and a half later, Spencer Finch’s soundings recorded location, depth and surface color at hundreds of different points on Walden Pond, creating a visual record of both surface and depths.   (At Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery through June 15th)

Spencer Finch, Walden Pond (surface/depth), rope, cloth, twine, 298 watercolors on watercolor paper, 120 feet long, 2013.

Rodney Graham, Old Punk On Pay Phone at 303 Gallery

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Rodney Graham’s ‘Old Punk On Pay Phone’ may not be part of the Met’s much anticipated punk couture exhibition opening today; instead seen downtown at Chelsea’s 303 Gallery it begs the question of what punk counterculture means to this aging character, played by the 64 year old artist. (Through June 15th)  

Rodney Graham, Old Punk on Pay Phone, painted aluminum light box with transmounted chromogenic transparency, 2012.

Rachel Whiteread at Luhring Augustine

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Austerely minimal and elegantly, Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Pair) from 1999 is based on the shape of a mortuary slab.  One part is curved to allow bodily fluids to drain.  The other is an upside down cast of the first part.  Standing quietly side by side, they suggest partnership through eternity. (At Luhring Augustine through 6/16).  

Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (Pair), bronze and cellulose paint, 1999.

Yael Bartana at Petzel Gallery

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“We cannot live alone.”  “We need you.” “We are sick of our own similar faces.”  These pleas and more come from the central actor in Yael Bartana’s riveting trilogy about a Polish leader who implores the over 3 million Jews who lived in Poland prior to WWII to return and transform 40 million Poles.  Here, returnees establish a Kibbutz-like compound that looks uncomfortably like a concentration camp as they sit to learn Polish words like ‘Freedom.’  (At Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery through May 4th).  

Yael Bartana, Mary Koszmary (Nightmares), one channel video and sound-installation, 16mm transferred to DVD color/sound, 10:50 min, 2007.

Andrew Kuo at Marlborough Gallery

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Andrew Kuo makes geometric abstraction emote in a series of paintings that map his feelings and experiences as blocks of color.  This painting documents the breakup of a seven year relationship; the key to the large yellow patch reads ‘Everything has changed! (Except everything actually worth changing.)” It’s bookmatched with the thought in grey, “All I want is to be like how I was before.”  (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through May 4th).  

Andrew Kuo, I Forget (on 12/12/12), acrylic and carbon transfer on panel and laminated paper, 2012.

Amanda Ross-Ho at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

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At over four feet tall, this huge earring may be designed for a giant…but what kind of giant would wear it, or the enormous black t-shirts sliced to ribbons and hung from the gallery walls?  Amanda Ross-Ho blows up cheap fashions to attention-grabbing size, but her intention seems founded less criticism of the merchandise than in curiosity at what happens when banal products were presented as monumental.   (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes & Nash through May 18th).

Amanda Ross-Ho, Gone Tomorrow, aluminum and steel plated in gold and brass, 2013.

Marisa Merz at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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“When the eyes are shut, the eyes are extraordinarily open,” said iconic Italian Arte Povera artist Marisa Merz in 1974.  Since the 80s, she’s made loosely formed sculptures of heads like this duo, whose gold covered eyes speak to a vision beyond the purely literal.  (At Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery through May 18th).  

Marisa Merz, Untitled, two painted unfired heads and iron tripod, 1994.