Madeline Hollander at Bortolami Gallery

Initially trained as a ballet dancer, Madeline Hollander incorporates movement into her artistic practice in surprising and delightful ways.  Her current solo show at Bortolami Gallery in Tribeca titled ‘Entanglement Choreography’ presents a grid of six mirrored pods on round pedestals which at first glance belie the magic of peering inside.  Each sculpture houses a tiny rotating dancing figure, abstracted like a Matisse nude, which at a certain angle appears to both float above the pod and be contained within it.  Nodding in the title to the notion in physics of quantum entanglement, when two separate particles demonstrate a connection with each other as if moving as if in a dance, Hollander’s partners manifest what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance.’ (On view in Tribeca through March 2nd).

Madeline Hollander, Entanglement Choreography VI (figs. 6, 12, 18, 24), 24 x 24 x 32 ½ inches, 2023.

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

At just smaller than 30 x 23 inches, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’ new lithographs in the entry space of Nicelle Beauchene Gallery are smaller than the artist’s vibrant, pattern-driven paintings in the main space, but more intense and rewarding.  Powered by the motion of the curving, androgynous bodies that contort to fit into the picture’s confined space, each print conveys the energy and rhythms of dance.  (On view in Tribeca through Nov 23rd).

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Midnight Voices #2, two-color lithograph on paper, 29 7/8 x 22 3/8 inches, 2022.

Etel Adnan at Galerie Lelong

Etel Adnan’s ‘Danse Nocturne’ is a standout in her current show of painting and tapestry at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong, its bold lines and saturated color communicating a vibrant energy that reaches right across the gallery space.  Abstracted landscapes, starting with an image of an olive tree at the gallery’s entrance, suggest a joyful experience of nature rendered in a rich material – wool tapestry.  Adnan has explained that that an artist’s materials are like a co-author, conveying meaning in a unique way; here, tapestry mediates the work’s expressionistic immediacy and conveying a considered appreciation of natural beauty. (On view through Dec 19th.  Masks and social distancing are required).

Etel Adnan, Danse Nocturne, wool tapestry, 67.5 x 99.8 inches, 2019.

Jesper Just at Perrotin Gallery

Emotion and vulnerability continue to be strong themes in Jesper Just’s latest body of work at Perrotin Gallery on the Lower East Side.   American Ballet Theater dancers lie and sit on the floor while receiving muscle therapy via patches applied to their skin. Though nearly motionless, this individual’s alert state and a single tear suggest powerful goings on beneath a calm exterior.  Panels separated from the main display join blocks of concrete on the gallery floor in order to engage viewers more personally by forcing us to consider our own bodies in the gallery space and our own efforts at constructing meaning.  (On view through Feb 15th).

Jesper Just, Corporealities – 1, LED panels, multi-channel video, sound, steel, and cement, 98 7/16 x 137 13/16 x 143 inches, 2020.

Y. G. Srimati at Jack Shainman Gallery

Late Indian artist Y. G. Srimati’s traditional Bharatanatyam dancer captivatingly demonstrates control and dynamism in this large-scale watercolor from 1963.  Trained in dance and other arts, Srimati once led devotional singing for Mahatma Gandhi and participated in India’s struggle for independence.  Adapting British-led art instruction to Indian painting tradition, Srimati pictured rural life and spiritual figures, developing her own uniquely Indian idiom.  (On view through August 9th at Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea).

Y. G. Srimati, Bartha Natyam Dancer, watercolor, 76 x 47 inches, 1963.