Elizabeth Peyton, mountains in my heart (the death of Sarpedon) at David Zwirner Gallery

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Known for washy, intensely colored close-up portraits of celebrity musicians and creatives, Elizabeth Peyton’s paintings and prints from the last three years at David Zwirner Gallery atomize her subjects, building their forms up from stark white backgrounds via individual brushstrokes.  In the show’s best works, a face takes up all or most of the picture’s space as if the subject is leaning in to take a look at us.  Rendered indistinctly in soft tones and floating marks, faces like Bob Dylan’s (pictured here) suggest impermanence and a wistfulness conveyed by this painting’s title, ‘I Was Young When I Left Home.’ (On view through May 2nd).

A painting of the left part of Bob Dylan's face.
Elizabeth Peyton, I Was Young When I Left Home (Bob Dylan), oil on board, 12 x 9 inches, 2024.

Giorgio Morandi at David Zwirner Gallery

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Sixty years after his death, Italian artist Giorgio Morandi’s enigmatic still life paintings continue to exert remarkable influence. Coming on the heels of a much-talked-about show of the artist’s work on the Upper East Side by Rome-based Galleria Mattia De Luca last fall, David Zwirner Gallery’s current Morandi survey features work from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation (located near Parma, Italy) collected by musicologist and friend of Morandi, Luigi Magnani. The gallery’s first two rooms show how Morandi rejected organic still life, portraiture and metaphysical interests (akin to Giorgio deChirco and Carlo Carra) to arrive at the still life paintings of everyday objects that would occupy him for over forty years. Here, a cluster of vessels placed precariously close to the edge of a table testify to the artist’s constant experimentations with spatial arrangements and shifting tones. (On view through Feb 22nd).

Giorgio Morandi, Natura morta (Still Life), oil on canvas, 17 3/8 x 18 7/8 inches, 1948.

Richard Serra, Every Which Way at David Zwirner

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Installed at a diagonal in David Zwirner Gallery’s huge ground floor 20th Street space, late artist Richard Serra’s 2015 sculpture ‘Every Which Way’ forces a decision from entering visitors who must opt to turn right, left or wind their way between the 16 steel panels.  Regardless of how it is approached, the piece invites interaction and a physical comparison between a visitor’s body and the giant, weighty slabs of metal seven, nine or eleven feet tall that Serra likened to architecture.  Unlike Serra’s rolled steel sculptures with their curving walls and warm, brown patina, this piece’s abrupt flatness and grey steel surfaces convey austerity.  Their arrangement in shorter segments, however, gives visitors agency to explore this minimal but engaging arrangement of form.  (On view through Dec 14th).

Richard Serra, Every Which Way, steel, 2015.

Lucas Arruda Paintings at David Zwirner Gallery

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Though the skies directly ahead are dark in this small painting by Brazilian painter Lucas Arruda at David Zwirner Gallery, light shines out from behind the clouds, ready to transform the scene.  Light conditions and colors vary greatly in Arruda’s signature seascapes and jungle-scenes in response to time of day and atmospheric conditions yet each painting draws viewers in to appreciate the particular, fleeting circumstances presented.  Titled ‘Assum Preto’ after a Brazilian bird whose song alters in response to light, this show’s sensitivity to time and place is so subtle and calming as to be therapeutic.  (On view through June 15th in Chelsea).

Lucas Arruda, Untitled (from the Deserto-Modelo series), oil on canvas, 9 5/8 x 11 ¾ inches, 2022.

Raymond Saunders at Andrew Kreps Gallery and David Zwirner Gallery

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Thought-provoking and pleasurable as it was, Andrew Kreps Gallery’s 2022 exhibition of iconic west coast painter Raymond Saunders’ work turns out to have been just a taster for the artist’s tour de force three-gallery show now on view at Kreps and David Zwirner Gallery, curated by Ebony L. Haynes.  Known for poetic compilations of text, signage, drawing, and materials from everyday life, Saunders’ paintings – mostly from the 80s and 90s – show him making layered allusions to the act of art making.  In this untitled piece from the mid ‘90s, faint drips, frost-like paint marks and a huge white brushstroke bring to mind an artist’s stylistic options.  A monumental fruit at center seems to nod to still life tradition while a page from a text on how to build a flat human figure drawing model, positioned near a text giving instruction on how to play a game, slyly suggests a calculation of artistic success.  (On view through April 5th/6th).

Raymond Saunders, Untitled, acrylic, spray paint, chalk, collage, and mixed media on canvas, 23 ¼ x 20 5/8 inches, 1995.

James Welling Photographs at David Zwirner Gallery

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Double-takes are the norm at James Welling’s show of recent photographs at David Zwirner Gallery as the iconic West coast artist continues to make images that take time to understand.  In this photograph of rocks and the sea in Prouts Neck, Maine, printed in UV curable ink that adds to the images’ rich color, Welling recalls Winslow Homer’s and subsequently, John Marin’s paintings in this historic spot.  The ocean is placid in Welling’s rendering but the overlaid patches of color that he adds create a visual disturbance that mimics the crashing waves and stormy surf that Homer captured.  Interested in the patterning created as he cleaned off paint rollers on newspaper for another project, Welling started adding these ‘prints’ to his photos, altering areas of color to create complex images that emphasize the malleability of photography (On view in Chelsea through Feb 10th).

James Welling, Prouts Neck near Winslow Homer’s Studio, UV-curable ink on Dibond aluminum, 42 x 63 inches, 2015/2023.

Dana Schutz at David Zwirner Gallery

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The Face, one of the first works in Dana Schutz’s absorbing show of recent paintings and bronzes at David Zwirner Gallery, pictures a surreal scene of figures supporting and hiding under a huge mask.  Barely able to control the giant visage, one character bends over to pick up a rock, perhaps intending to fire it in anonymity at a foe (us?) from behind the face.  Rife with allegory, Schutz’ new work configures various groupings of individuals in unclear yet meaningful interactions – gathering to paint together, sitting on a couch as if on a talk show or clustered together in a circle, arms on shoulders.  Crowded into the picture plane, dynamic and rendered in vibrant colors, the figures recall not only the exaggerated features of Italian Commedia dell’arte masks but theatrical storylines that foreground human folly.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 16th).

Dana Schutz, The Face, 108 x 138 inches, oil on canvas, 2023.

Joan Mitchell at David Zwirner Gallery

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David Zwirner Gallery’s current exhibition of work from museum and private collections by Joan Mitchell celebrates the late second generation abstract expressionist painter’s ability to suggest emotive landscapes through unique consideration of figure-ground relationships and bold color choices.  ‘Before, Again I’ from 1985 includes both orange tones that dominated her paintings in the early 80s and the cooler colors that evolved as a result of health challenges later in the decade.  Both palettes point to the inspiration she found in her gardens in Vetheuil, a town once home to Impressionist painter Claude Monet.  (On view through Dec 17th).

Joan Mitchell, Before, Again I, oil on canvas, 109 ½ x 78 inches, 1985.

Barbara Kruger – MoMA and David Zwirner Gallery

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Have you seen this eye-grabbing new installation by Barbara Kruger in the Museum of Modern Art’s atrium?  Don’t miss the rest of the show at David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea, where the gallery’s three adjoining spaces on 19th Street showcase work from a recent exhibition of Kruger’s work at the Art Institute of Chicago and the LA County Museum of Art.  Join me on a Chelsea gallery tour to see the show before it closes on Aug 12th.

Barbara Kruger, installation view of Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You at The Museum of Modern Art, July 2022.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby in ‘Side by Side’

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Known for portrait-like works created with a range of materials and techniques from paint to photo transfer (like the image pictured here from a ’19 exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery), Njideka Akunyili Crosby recently simplified her procedure in paintings presented at last summer’s Venice Biennial.  Two of these are highlights of ‘Side By Side,’ a new on-line collaboration between David Zwirner Gallery and Victoria Miro Gallery for which the two galleries are presenting works via 3-D renderings by VortecXR.  Specifically addressing how to see artwork without being present in front of it, Side By Side showcases technology as much as the art, both of which are worth a look.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Nyado: The Thing Around Her Neck, acrylic, photographic transfers, color pencil, charcoal and collage on paper, 81 ½ x 81 ¾ inches, 2011.

Anni Albers at David Zwirner Gallery

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Commissioned for the art-filled Camino Real Hotel in Palanco, Mexico, this vibrant felt hanging by Anni Albers epitomizes the energy expressed by her repeated use of triangles in asymmetrical compositions.  Recently rediscovered, it’s a standout in a collaborative exhibition with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and David Zwirner Gallery, a show that asserts Albers’ importance not just to 20th century weaving and textile-based work but to experimentation within the modernist idiom.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 19th).

Anni Albers, Camino Real, felt, 116 x 105 ¾ inches, 1968.

Yayoi Kusama, Festival of Life at David Zwirner Gallery

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As lines to visit Yayoi Kusama’s infinity rooms at David Zwirner Gallery stretch around the block, the octogenarian art star’s paintings and flower sculptures are ready to wow the eye without the wait. Both engulf the senses with exuberantly patterned, wildly colorful design. (On view through Dec 16th at David Zwirner Gallery’s 533 West 19th Street location.)

Yayoi Kusama, Installation view of ‘Festival of Life,’ David Zwirner Gallery, 533 West 19th Street, November 2017.

Carol Bove at David Zwirner Gallery

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Scrap metal, vividly colored steel tubing and shiny, black cylindrical disks compete for attention in Carol Bove’s ‘Polka Dots,’ now on view at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. Here, the show’s titular sculpture brings to mind the powerful forces required to bend steel while reveling in a burst of yellow and the smooth perfection of black ‘polka dots.’  (On view through Dec 17th).

Carol Bove, Polka Dots, found steel, stainless steel, and urethane paint, 91 x 81 x 87 inches, 2016.
Carol Bove, Polka Dots, found steel, stainless steel, and urethane paint, 91 x 81 x 87 inches, 2016.

 

William Eggleston at David Zwirner Gallery

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It’s easy to recognize this scene by legendary photographer William Eggleston, without even knowing where it was shot. Typically Eggleston, its bright, saturated colors and subject matter featuring an everyday American landscape and vernacular architecture are deeply familiar. (At David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 17th).

William Eggleston, Untitled, pigment print, 64 7/8 x 45 x 2 ¼ inches, c. 1983-1986.
William Eggleston, Untitled, pigment print, 64 7/8 x 45 x 2 ¼ inches, c. 1983-1986.

Jay Pluck in ‘People Who Work Here’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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The folks behind-the-scenes have taken over the scene at David Zwirner Gallery’s 533 West 19th Street, location in Chelsea, where some forty artists who work at the gallery are showing their own work. Here, Jay Pluck’s hand painted wallpaper pattern is a welcome sliver of Matisse-like color and pattern installed unexpectedly between galleries. (Through Aug 5th).

Jay Pluck, Untitled, acrylic paint on paper and wheat paste, dimensions variable, as installed, 190 x 10 inches, 2016.
Jay Pluck, Untitled, acrylic paint on paper and wheat paste, dimensions variable, as installed, 190 x 10 inches, 2016.

Sigmar Polke at David Zwirner Gallery

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Iconic German artist Sigmar Polke created this painting the year after a trip that took him around Asia, from Papua New Guinea to Thailand and beyond. Painted on checked fabric, Polke’s hovering, calligraphic mountains compete with a rectangular pattern of curving black splashes, creating an almost mythical realm at center. (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street location through June 25th).

Sigmar Polke, Magnetische Landschaft (Magnetic Landscape), acrylic and iron mica on fabric, 116 5/8 x114 ½ inches, 1982.
Sigmar Polke, Magnetische Landschaft (Magnetic Landscape), acrylic and iron mica on fabric, 116 5/8 x114 ½ inches, 1982.

Sherrie Levine at David Zwirner Gallery

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Iconic appropriation artist Sherrie Levine pairs monochrome paintings replicating colors found in Renoir’s nudes with colorful SMEG refrigerators in groupings that might serve to remind or warn snacking art collectors of Renoir’s voluptuous figures. (At David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea through April 2nd).

Installation view of ‘Sherrie Levine’ at David Zwirner Gallery, March 2016.
Installation view of ‘Sherrie Levine’ at David Zwirner Gallery, March 2016.

Michael Riedel Prints at David Zwirner Gallery

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David Zwirner Gallery’s normally pristine white walls look as though they’ve been damaged by scraping; a closer look reveals that black markings are text fragments, printed onto posters that cover the walls of Michael Riedel’s latest solo show. Known for recycling text and image from his previous shows, Riedel takes the metaphor a step further by picturing animated dinosaur skeletons, creatures whose lives have been extended, in a sense, by being exhumed and put into the public realm again. (In Chelsea through March 25th).

Michael Riedel, Untitled (Art Material_Oviraptor), archival inkjet print mounted to aluminum honeycomb, vinyl, 99 1/8 x 113 1/8 x 1 5/8 inches (framed), 2015.
Michael Riedel, Untitled (Art Material_Oviraptor), archival inkjet print mounted to aluminum honeycomb, vinyl, 99 1/8 x 113 1/8 x 1 5/8 inches (framed), 2015.

Karla Black at David Zwirner Gallery

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Inventive use of materials is everything in Karla Black’s huge installation, ‘Includes Use’ at David Zwirner Gallery. Mixing powder paint and plaster, Black covers the gallery floor with a beach of cocoa-like powder separated into curving organic shapes by frilly tucks of toilet paper. The artist resists the term ‘feminine’ to describe her work, but with glitter as the finishing touch, the effect is decidedly pretty. (In Chelsea through March 26th).

Karla Black, Includes Use, powder paint, plaster powder, toilet paper, and glitter, 330 ¾ x 366 1/8 x 7 inches, 2016.
Karla Black, Includes Use, powder paint, plaster powder, toilet paper, and glitter, 330 ¾ x 366 1/8 x 7 inches, 2016.

Yutaka Sone at David Zwirner Gallery

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Palm tree paintings made in LA artist Yutaka Sone’s garden and rattan palm trees created by craftspeople in Mexico point to the artist’s exploration of Aztec history in Michoacan, Mexico, the subject of Sone’s upcoming film. (At David Zwirner Gallery through Feb 20th).

Yutaka Sone, Sky and Palm Tree Head #5, (on the wall), acrylic on canvas, 85 x 102 ½ inches, 2013. In foreground, two ‘Tropical Compositions’ in rattan, metal and paint, 2011 and 2012.


De Wain Valentine at David Zwirner Gallery

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California Light and Space artist De Wain Valentine pushed his chosen medium of polyester resin by finding a way to make larger pours and bigger pieces in the ‘60s; with their huge size, pieces like ‘Circle Gold-Rose’ from 1970 become actors in the room, changing the environment with shifting color. (At David Zwirner Gallery through August 7th).

De Wain Valentine, Circle Gold-Rose, cast polyester resin, 70 3/8 x 70 x 4 7/8 in, 1970.

Richard Serra at David Zwirner Gallery

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Eight blocks of forged steel weighing 35 tons each are a solid totemic presence in David Zwirner Gallery’s ground floor 20th Street space. As the title, ‘Equal,’ conveys, each is the same but stacked to suggest different sizes and astounding weight. (Through July 24th).

Richard Serra, Equal, forged weatherproof steel, eight identical blocks, each: 60 x 66 x 72 inches, 2015.

Yayoi Kusama, The Obliteration Room at David Zwirner Gallery

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When Japanese pop art icon Yayoi Kusama last showed at David Zwirner Gallery, audiences waited on line for hours to enter a mirrored chamber. Two years later, the octogenarian artist is reviving another crowd pleaser, a version of her 2002 ‘obliteration room,’ in the form of a mini-suburban home that viewers will cover with stickers supplied by the gallery. (In Chelsea through June 13th).

Yayoi Kusama, installation view of ‘The obliteration room,’ furniture, white paint, dot stickers, dimensions variable, 2002 – present.

Diana Thater at David Zwirner Gallery

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Inspired by James Turrell sculptures, in which the audience looks upward through a ceiling aperture to view the sky as art, LA artist Diana Thater devised this projection on the ceiling of David Zwirner Gallery as an homage to the dung beetle, a creature which looks to the stars to guide its ecologically critical activity. (In Chelsea through Feb 21st).

Diana Thater, Science, Fiction, installation for two video projectors, media player, and lights, overall dimensions vary with installation, 2014.

Al Taylor Sculpture at David Zwirner

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Using telephone cable and pipes from local construction sites, Al Taylor created this sculpture on site for an exhibition in Denmark in 1997. Here, the cables read like colorful and jittery lines connecting solid objects whose shapes suggest the entire piece might literally begin to move. (At David Zwirner Gallery, 20th Street location through Feb 14th.)

Al Taylor, Full Gospel Neckless (Dog Act), P.E. plastic tubes, rubber wheel chocks and plastic-coated copper telephone cable, 27 ½ x 206 x 64 inches, 1997.

Mamma Andersson at David Zwirner Gallery

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Dolls, puppets, and dancers populate Swedish artist Mamma Andersson’s new, theatrically lit show at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. This towering character has a bonnet and a complexion to match the porcelain on her side cabinet. (Through Feb 14th).

Mamma Andersson, installation view of ‘Behind the Curtain,’ at David Zwirner Gallery, January, 2015.

Neo Rauch at David Zwirner Gallery

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As surreal as ever, Leipzig-based painter Neo Rauch’s latest canvases intrigue with their somnambulant cast of characters and dream-like scenarios. In ‘Guardians of the Night,’ pictured here, a crab-clawed woman who approaches a sleeping man seems more like a healer more than a menace; meanwhile, a drummer and a custodian linger near. (At Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery through Dec 20th).

Neo Rauch, Hueter der Nacht (Guardians of the Night), oil on canvas, 118 3/8 x 98 ¾ inches, 2014.

Tomma Abts at David Zwirner Gallery

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Though German artist Tomma Abts makes no use of source material, preferring to conjure shapes and forms from an intuitive trial and error process, the shapes in ‘Fenke’ brings to mind origami forms, unwrapped packaging and more. Playing with our perception of depth, she even slices a corner from this soothingly green canvas. (At David Zwirner Gallery through Oct 25th).

Tomma Abts, Fenke, acrylic and oil on canvas, 18 7/8 x 15 inches, 2014.

Mary Heilmann in ‘Paintings on Paper’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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Mary Heilmann’s two acrylic on paper pieces, both titled ‘Negative Space,’ in David Zwirner Gallery’s summer ‘Paintings on Paper’ group exhibition look like sections of the gallery wall coming forward into the viewer’s space and casting impossibly dark shadows behind, a clever illusion created with simple means. (In Chelsea through August 15th).

Mary Heilmann, Negative Space One, 11 ½ x 11 ½ inches (left) and Negative Space Two, 12 x 15 inches, both are acrylic on handmade paper, 2014.

Charles Harlan in ‘To Do As One Would’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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Young Brooklyn artist Charles Harlan runs a chain link fence from David Zwirner Gallery’s ceiling to the floor, creating the suggestion of elegant modern design using industrial materials. (In Chelsea through July 25th).

Charles Harlan, Fence, chain link fence and vinyl slats, dimensions vary upon installation, 2014.

Jenny Holzer in ‘No Problem’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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David Zwirner Gallery revisits the 1980s in ‘No Problem,’ a group show that tracks the mutual influence of the Cologne and New York art scenes during this era. It includes Jenny Holzer’s inflammatory essays – in-your-face rants once plastered around New York and included in a show at Monika Spruth Galerie in Cologne in 1985. (In Chelsea through June 14th).

Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays, 1979-1982, offset posters on colored paper, 17 x 17 inches (each).

Oscar Murillo at David Zwirner Gallery

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If making abundant free chocolate to give to gallery visitors seems like a blatant ploy to get people talking about your artwork, you’d be reading Oscar Murillo’s latest show at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery correctly. The young, London-based Columbian artist intends visitors to his candy factory – operated by visiting Columbian staffers – to take some to share, spreading the conversation about migration and commerce. (Through June 14th).

Oscar Murillo, installation view of ‘A Merchantile Novel’ at David Zwirner Gallery, April 2014.

Dan Flavin Sculptures at David Zwirner

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Though Minimalist artist Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light tubing sculputres are well-known, his editioned work on paper is less often exhibited.  At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street Chelsea location, this scrolled handmade paper is a cylinder on a different scale but one whose color is as electric as his signature works.  (Through March 1st).  

Dan Flavin, untitled, double-sided color aquatint printed in violet and yellow on Twinrocker handmade paper, rolled and stitched, 7 3/8 x 30 x 8 1/8 inches, 1994.

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.

Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner Gallery

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Yayoi Kusama’s star is still shining in New York, where her Whitney Museum show in 2012 attracted throngs, and now an exhibition including two more trademark ‘infinity rooms’ is drawing thousands of visitors a day to Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery.  In this room, mirrors, low lights and polka-dotted tentacles coming from floor and ceiling create a hallucinatory effect.  (Through Dec 21st).  

Yayoi Kusama, Love is Calling, wood, metal, glass mirrors, tile, acrylic panel, rubber, blowers, lighting element, speakers, and sound, 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.

Brian Griffith in ‘Folk Devil’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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British artist Brian Griffith’s teddy bear tent is hands down one of the most fun sculptures on view in Chelsea right now.  You can’t go inside the tent and weenie roasts aren’t allowed, but the piece does suggest a very imaginative band of travelers.  (At David Zwirner Gallery‘s 525 W. 19th Street location through Aug 9th).  

Brian Griffiths, The Body and Ground (Or Your Brittle Smile), canvas, scenic acrylic paint, rope, webbing, fiberglass pole, metal poles, vintage travel souvenir patches, net fabric, tarpaulin, duct tape, tread, string, sand, and fixings, 2010.

Suzan Frecon at David Zwirner Gallery

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What does it take for a minimal painting to stand on its own strengths, with no explanation or apparent associations to build a context for understanding?  New York-based Suzan Frecon’s abstractions ask this question, offering pure color, shape and surface to absorbing effect.   (At David Zwirner’s 525 West 19th St location through March 23rd).

Suzan Frecon, composition in four colors, trial 3, oil on panel, 2009.

Dan Flavin at David Zwirner Gallery

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David Zwirner Gallery opened its new five-story, 30,000 square foot gallery with the perfect artwork to highlight architecture by Annabelle Selldorf.  Eight-foot square pieces from Dan Flavin’s 1966-71 ‘European Couples’ series (titled after Europeans he considered influential) turn light into an artistic medium, washing every white wall in color.  (At David Zwirner’s 537 West 20th Street location through March 16).  

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Janet and Allen), pink fluorescent light, 1966-71.

Michael Riedel at David Zwirner Gallery

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In past work, German artist Michael Riedel has drawn his materials from texts on the web written about his own work, which he turned into exhibition wallpaper.  For his current show at David Zwirner Gallery, he puts those images into PowerPoint and causes a ‘freezing’ between slides to create a new merger of information.  (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 533 West 19th Street location through March 23rd).  

Michael Riedel at David Zwirner Gallery, installation view, Feb 2013.

Luc Tuymans at David Zwirner Gallery

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Luc Tuymans, Jacket, oil on canvas, 2011.
Luc Tuymans, Jacket, oil on canvas, 2011.

From Belgium’s colonial past to The Disney Company’s practices, Luc Tuymans’s past paintings have obliquely referenced the exercise of power and control.  By contrast, his latest body of work presents fragments from his own life, including this ominous image of a zoo building and a jacket, which looks like a modernist abstraction plus or minus a body.  (At David Zwirner Gallery, 519 West 19th Street through Feb 9th).

Luc Tuymans, Zoo, oil on canvas, 2011.
Luc Tuymans, Zoo, oil on canvas, 2011.

Al Taylor at David Zwirner Gallery

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Al Taylor, Cans & Hoops, plastic hula hoops, tin cans, wire, 1993.
Al Taylor, Cans & Hoops, plastic hula hoops, tin cans, wire, 1993.

Strapped for cash to buy art supplies after a trip to Africa in the early 80s, Al Taylor started fashioning sculptures from material found on the street, transferring his usual work on paper and canvas to three dimensions.  Cans & Hoops – fashioned from plastic hula hoops, tin cans & wire – allows his 2-D drawings to come alive in real space. (At David Zwirner Gallery, through Oct 27th).

Toba Khedoori at David Zwirner Gallery

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Toba Khedoori, Untitled (mountains 2), oil on linen, 27 1/2 x 40 7/8 inches, 2011-12.
Toba Khedoori, Untitled (mountains 2), oil on linen, 27 1/2 x 40 7/8 inches, 2011-12.

Toba Khedoori is known for her monumental paintings on paper devoid of human subjects, but in her latest show at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery, she makes a major shift to small-scale oils on canvas.  The size change lessens the works’ dramatic impact but a mood of still isolation remains, prompting writer Julian Bismuth to compare each new work to, “…a puzzle piece removed from its set and held up to the light.” (Through October 27th).