El Anatsui at The Brooklyn Museum

El Anatsui’s shimmering, undulating wall sculptures made of repurposed bottle caps are uniformly stunning, but previous experience of individual pieces won’t prepare you for the Ghana-based artist’s huge installation in the Brooklyn Museum’s fifth floor galleries.  Titled ‘Gli’ (Wall), sheets of aluminum and copper wire materials were inspired by visits to walled cities of Berlin, Jerusalem and Notsie (in Togo) but offer a delicate and diaphanous take on the idea of barriers.  (Through August 4th).  

El Anatsui, ‘Gli (Wall),’ aluminum and copper wire, 2010.

Wang Xieda at James Cohan Gallery

Wang Xieda, Sages’ Sayings 026, bronze, edition of 7, 2006.
Wang Xieda, Sages’ Sayings 026, bronze, edition of 7, 2006.

‘Drawing in space’ is a familiar term used to describe abstract sculpture, but it turns literal in Wang Xieda’s new bronze sculpture at James Cohan Gallery, which brings Chinese calligraphy into three-dimensions.  (In Chelsea through Feb 9th).

Matthias Merkel Hess at Louis B. James

Matthias Merkel Hess, Eagle 1 Gallon, moon blue, ceramic with glaze, 2012.
Matthias Merkel Hess, Eagle 1 Gallon, moon blue, ceramic with glaze, 2012.

On the subject of ceramics (see yesterday’s post about Takuro Kuwata), Matthias Merkel Hess takes an amusing position on aesthetics vs use value in contemporary ceramics with these beautiful gas cans.  (At Louis B. James, Lower East Side through Feb 22nd. )

Dieter Roth/Bjorn Roth at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

Bjorn Roth/Oddur Roth/Einar Roth, New York Kitchen, mixed media installation, 2013.
Bjorn Roth/Oddur Roth/Einar Roth, New York Kitchen, mixed media installation, 2013.

German-Swiss-Icelandic artist Dieter Roth (1930 – 1998) used natural materials like chocolate, cheese, bananas, sausages and rabbit dung to make sculptures and images that would blossom with new life as they aged.  Here, assistants create chocolate casts of Roth’s famous chocolate or sugar self-portrait busts, as seen on the pallet.  (At Chelsea’s Hauser & Wirth through April 13th).

Meg Webster at Paula Cooper Gallery

Meg Webster, Polished Stainless Steel for Reflecting Outstretched Arms, mirror-polished stainless steel, 2012.
Meg Webster, Polished Stainless Steel for Reflecting Outstretched Arms, mirror-polished stainless steel, 2012.

Meg Webster’s aesthetic is minimal but rife with references to the natural world.  Her current show at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery includes paper covered with egg of free-range chickens and a sand bed from 1982/2012, which she originally brought into her studio from the beach.  Both are reflected in this cross-shaped sculpture designed to reflect outstretched arms. (Through Feb 9th).