Tag: design

Kay WalkingStick at the New York Historical Society

Known for its outstanding collection of paintings from the Hudson River School, an early-to-mid 19th century movement that pictured the sublime in the landscape north of New York City, the New York Historical Society’s current exhibition ‘Kay WalkingStick / Hudson River School’ invites new perspectives on what is considered the first ‘American’ school of art.  Kay WalkingStick, an artist of Cherokee descent, has for decades researched Native American histories in locations around the country, picturing specific landscapes overlaid with designs from local indigenous communities.  Here, a Haudenosaunee pattern from the New York region indicates Native American presence in the landscape despite an absence of pictured people.  The museum pairs WalkingStick’s depiction of Niagara with one foregrounding the power of the Falls by Louisa David Minot, one of the few female Hudson River artists, who referred to the scene as representative of conflict between Britain, the US and Native Americans around the War of 1812.  (On view on the Upper West Side though April 14th).

Kay WalkingStick, Niagara, oil on panel in two parts, 2022.
Louisa David Minot, Niagara Falls, oil on canvas, 1818.

Robert Lugo at R and Company

Philadelphia-based self-styled ‘village potter,’ artist, poet and activist Robert Lugo makes his NY solo show debut at R and Company with an exhibition inspired by art history and his own life experiences.  Known for his ceramic vessels that feature renowned African Americans (many grace the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s vibrant Afro-Futurist period room), this show includes portraits of Lugo’s community members modeled after relief sculptures by Renaissance artist Andrea della Robbia and vessels that resemble Greek amphora but feature scenes from the artist’s childhood neighborhood.  Painted in the orange and black colors of prison uniforms, this striking vessel depicts mass tire theft in the neighborhood.  (On view through Oct 27th).

Robert Lugo, The Day We Had Church and Tires Were Stolen, from the Orange and Black series, glazed stoneware, 2023.

Alvar Aalto in “Community: The Architecture of Civic Space and Private Domains” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

International style architecture and Bauhaus design strongly influenced late Finnish architect Alvar Aalto’s influential bent plywood furniture, sourced from his country’s birch and pine forests.  His famous ‘Paimio chair,’ designed for a tuberculosis hospital in Paimio, Finland, and now on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the fascinating group exhibition, “Community: The Architecture of Civic Space and Private Domains,” was angled to allow patients to better breathe and cough.  Material choices along with color and other considerations were essential elements in Aalto’s and his wife Aino’s designs, aimed at meeting the needs of individuals.  (Ongoing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the Upper East Side).

Alvar Aalto, ‘Model No. 41’ Lounge Chair for the Paimio Sanatorium, laminated birch, 1931-32.

Takako Yamaguchi at Ortuzar Projects

Situated between landscape painting and pattern-driven abstraction, Takako Yamaguchi’s new paintings at Ortuzar Projects in Tribeca are a beautiful and dynamic stylization of nature.  This coastal scene features two swirls of clouds or waves, rising up to form an Ionic column over a tranquil sea.  Below, the painting’s sense of space is complicated by a band of crisp wave forms while a glowing metal leaf triangle at top right further disrupts a realistic, 3-D rendering of space.  Titled ‘Pivot,’ the painting’s constant perspectival shift rewards continued looking.  (On view through June 13th).

Takako Yamaguchi, Pivot, oil and metal leaf on canvas, 60 x 40 inches, 2022.

Studio Job at R & Company

Too large even for the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, this hanging sculpture by Dutch design company Studio Job at R & Company in Tribeca pushes the scale of ornament to the max.  Inspired by the car that designer Job Smeets of Studio Job and his partner Rebecca Sharkey drove across the United States in 2019, the hanging bronze Cadillac Eldorado is one of several sculptures, including a huge light in the form of an Elvis jumpsuit and a breathtakingly dynamic Statue of Liberty set of drawers, that delight as they turn American pop icons into useful design objects. (On view through Jan 27th).

Eldorado, polished, hand-painted bronze, hand-formed glass, and silver and gold leaf, edition of 5 + 2 Aps and prototype, 2020-2022.