Yoan Capote, Requiem (vault) at Jack Shainman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Evoking light from heaven as well as the rising sun, Cuban artist Yoan Capote’s use of gold in a show of new seascapes at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Chelsea locations offers immediate uplift. After a 2019 visit to Italy, where Capote had access to abundant medieval and early Renaissance art, the artist adopted gold backgrounds and the circular format of this painting to create images that are optimistic yet also anxious.  Connecting the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean with many Cubans’ struggle to cross the Caribbean, Capote embeds fishing hooks in recent work, picturing the sea as a barrier.  (On view through Aug 5th).

Yoan Capote, Requiem (vault), 24kt gold leaf, nails and fishhooks on panel of linen mounted over plywood, 53 (diameter) x 5 (depth) inches, 2021.

Stuart Davis in Havana at Kasmin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

While recovering from the Spanish flu in 1920, iconic American modernist painter Stuart Davis made a short trip to Cuba, recording its people and places in a series of alluring watercolors now on view at Chelsea’s Kasmin Gallery.  Often pictured in silhouette, Davis’ figures appear to be glimpsed in passing.  Suffused with light-infused, warm tones, the paintings evidence the intrigue of an unfamiliar environment.  (On view through Aug 13th.)

Stuart Davis, La Casa Rosa, watercolor on paper, 24 7/8 x 19 inches, 1920.

Enrique Martinez Celaya at Jack Shainman Gallery

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A rosebush and clusters of rebar suggest beauty and a nascent building project in Cuban-born artist Enrique Martinez Celaya’s ‘The Brave.’ The text at top reads, ‘…a dream that can keep us asleep all night,’ compounding the surreal quality of this simultaneously barren and lush scenario. (At Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea through April 22nd.)

Enrique Martinez Celaya, The Brave, oil and wax on canvas, 60 x 72 inches, 2016.

Yoan Capote, Isla (Tierra Prometida) at Jack Shainman

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Green Caribbean waters turn menacing under steely grey skies, their currents outlined in rows of fishhooks in this meditation on isolation by Cuban artist Yoan Capote. (At Jack Shainman Gallery’s 24th Street location in Chelsea through March 11th).

Yoan Capote, detail of Isla (Tierra Prometida), oil, nails, and fish hooks on linen mounted on panel, 75 3/16 x 115 3/8 x 5 1/8 inches, 2016.

Roberto Diago at Magnan Metz

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Celebrated Cuban artist Roberto Diago presents wall-mounted works in corrugated sheet metal that look like weather-beaten modernist abstractions with a distinctly Cuban twist revealed in the title, ‘Variaciones de Oggun,’ a nod to the Latin American deity Oggun, who is associated with metal work. (At Magnan Metz in Chelsea through April 9th).

Roberto Diago, installation view of work from the series, ‘Variaciones de Oggun,’ (Variations of Ogun), 2010, March 2016 at Magnan Metz Gallery.
Roberto Diago, installation view of work from the series, ‘Variaciones de Oggun,’ (Variations of Ogun), 2010, March 2016 at Magnan Metz Gallery.

Luis Martinez Pedro in ‘Concrete Cuba’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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The rhythmic concentric rings in calming cool colors in this painting by Cuban artist Luis Martinez Pedro might bring to mind drops of water falling on the surface of the water, but don’t be too sure.   The work features in a group show of art by ‘The Ten,’ a group formed in the late 50s of concrete artists in Cuba who resisted depicting forms from nature. (At David Zwirner Gallery through Feb 20th).

Luis Martinez Pedro, Aguas territorials (Territorial Waters), oil on canvas, 39 9/16 x 30 ½ inches, 1964.


Yoan Capote at Jack Shainman Gallery

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Self-identity and national identity are tightly bound in Cuban artist Yoan Capote’s politically inflected artworks. Here, Capote peeks out from behind his sculpture of Castro, made from door hinges gathered from Havana households, suggesting either an open or closed door. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through July 10th).

Yoan Capote, Immanence, mixed media including hinges, wood doors, metal armature, 120 x 180 x 180 inches, 2015.

Kcho in ‘Against the Grain’ at the Museum of Art & Design

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Cuban artist Kcho grew up traveling between his home on an island off the coast of Cuba and the mainland, and boats – ‘keys’ to unlocking the ‘door’ of the sea – are a frequently recurring subject.  This one is a standout in the Museum of Art & Design’s ‘Against the Grain’ group exhibition of cutting edge art & design made from wood.  (Through Sept 15th).

Kcho (Alexis Leyva Machado), R.E.C. (Rectifying the Course), wood, 2006.

JR and Jose Parla outside Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

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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).