Ksawery Komputery in ‘LFG’ at The Hole NYC

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Polish art/tech studio Ksawery Komputery’s interactive light installation in the form of an Atolla jellyfish is a highlight of The Hole’s lively video-game inspired show ‘LFG’ in Tribeca.  Pointing out both that the cultural influence of contemporary art is tiny in comparison with that of digital games and that such games don’t appear often in art world settings, this group show argues for more digital artwork in galleries.  Though not all pieces make use of digital technology, the standouts do and include a pickax-wielding dragon projected on a 3-D printed sculpture by Kevin Bray, Luke Murphy’s light installation on a slumping, fragmented screen and Ksawery Komputery’s dazzling, sound-responsive deep-sea creature.  (On view in Tribeca through May 24th).

Ksawery Komputery, Bios, oil paint on wood panels in 3 pieces, interactive light installation / led, 3d print, custom hardware and software, 28 x 12 inches (main structure) + 196 inches (long LED strips), 2025.

Tatsuo Miyajima, ‘Many Lives’ at Lisson Gallery

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Everything changes, everything interacts and everything goes on forever.  Japanese conceptual artist and sculptor Tatsuo Miyajima embeds these concepts in his new work at Chelsea’s Lisson Gallery, presenting sculpture in which countdowns of LED numbers speak to Buddhist concepts of transformation.  Here, however, a circular panel is part of a series inspired by ancient Babylonian star maps that recorded observations of the cosmos on clay tablets.  Intended to point to constantly changing life beyond earthly boundaries, the series takes the mind both back in human time and far beyond human experience and understanding.  (On view through April 19th).

Tatsuo Miyajima, MUL.APIN – no 3, LED, IC, electric wire, painted wood panel, switching power supply, 35 3/8 x 35 3/8 x 3 inch, 2024.

Roy Nachum at Mercer Labs

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Billed as a ‘museum of art and technology,’ Mercer Labs has generated buzz since opening in Spring ’24 across the street from the Oculus Transportation Hub in lower Manhattan.  The 15-room immersive experience is a partnership between Roy Nachum, an NYC-based multi-media artist whose work has ranged from cover art for Rihanna’s 2015 ‘Anti’ album to photorealist portraiture collaborations with blind individuals, and developer Michael Cayre.  In its current iteration, all rooms have been programmed with Nachum’s work, offering essentially a museum-sized solo show designed to overwhelm the senses with projected images in mirrored rooms. Signage in braille, an audio installation and a display of portraits previously shown at Chelsea gallery ‘A Hug From the Art World,’ nod to Nachum’s interest in creating accessibility for people who are sight-impaired, though the overall experience is designed to impress visually.  Here, in a room titled ‘The Dragon,’ 507,000 LED lights powered by Dragon02 technology developed by Ledpulse create images via vertically-hung strings of LED lights.  Mirrored walls, floor and ceiling amplify the effect, which Mercer Labs describes as like ‘passing through a hologram.’ (On view at 21 Dey Street. Tickets at https://www.mercerlabs.com).

Installation view of ‘New Nature’ at Mercer Labs, August 2024.
Installation view (detail) of ‘New Nature’ at Mercer Labs, August 2024.

Daniel Gordon at Kasmin Gallery

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Unlike classic Dutch still life, Daniel Gordon’s ‘Philodendron with Sardines and Lobster’ at Kasmin Gallery lacks the typical superabundance of a table piled high with fruit, meats and other delicacies, allowing for a more focused appreciation of the artist’s detailed, hands-on production of each item on display. After finding or taking a photograph of each object he intends to depict, Gordon prints images of the object, cutting and gluing them over forms that are placed into an arrangement of similarly crafted objects and then photographed to produce the final image.   Because they’ve originated in photographic images, lobster, fish, plant and vase on the one hand look believable as a flat image and yet are obviously 3-D renderings.  The space of the image is temporarily unclear, the medium blurred, creating pleasurable moments of uncertainty. (On view through June 3rd).

Daniel Gordon, Philodendron with Sardines and Lobster, pigment print with UV lamination, 49 7/8 x 40 inches, 2023.

Vickie Vainionpää at The Hole NYC

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Citing the “mysterious and utterly sensual paintability of CGI,” Montreal-based artist Vickie Vainionpää combines digital and traditional art-making with her hand-painted renderings of alluring, digitally-generated forms.  A new body of oil on canvas paintings and an immersive video at The Hole in Tribeca from her continuing ‘Soft Body Dynamics’ series feature thick, undulating tubes of color winding through space.  Like reflective mylar party balloons, the upper squiggle feels celebratory while the lower, intestine-like duct is slightly visceral though the palette brings cotton candy to mind.  (On view through June 18th).

Vickie Vainionpää, Soft Body Dynamics 73, oil on canvas, 58 x 48 inches, 2022.

Summer Group Exhibition at Marian Goodman Gallery

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Summer stripes dominate at Marian Goodman Gallery this summer where Gerhard Richter uses software to create patterns of thousands of lines in an eleven meter long digital artwork that runs perpendicular to richly colored wood columns by Anne Truitt. Beyond, Sol LeWitt’s 1985 ‘Wall Drawing #459 adds more bold color to the room with a shape-shifting asymmetrical pyramid. (On 57th Street through July 31st).

Installation view at Marian Goodman Gallery, June 2015.

James Hoff at Callicoon Fine Arts

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Using the same skywiper virus that damaged Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, New York artist James Hoff creates gorgeous abstract images that hover between abstraction and representation, hinting at below-the-surface activities. (At Callicoon Fine Arts on the Lower East Side.)

James Hoff, Skywiper No. 3, chromaluxe transfer on aluminum, 20 x 16 inches, 2014.

Wade Guyton at Petzel Gallery

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For his first solo gallery show in New York since his retrospective at the Whitney Museum in fall ’12, New York based artist Wade Guyton returns to his signature style with digitally created, minimalist ‘paintings’ printed in an epic battle with his Epson printer. (At Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery through Feb 22nd).  

Wade Guyton, Untitled, Epson UltraChrome K3 inkjet on linen, 2014 (one painting on each wall, both with the same title, materials and date.)

Leslie Thornton at Winkleman Gallery

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‘You get to have your cake and eat it, too,’ explains experimental film and video artist Leslie Thornton in respect to her three-channel video, ‘Luna.’  Digital effects morph her subject, Coney Island’s historic Parachute Jump, into vibrant, kaleidoscopic forms that evoke different 20th century time periods, prompting us to question what it is that conjures the mood of a particular era.  (At Chelsea’s Winkleman Gallery through June 22nd).  

Leslie Thornton, Luna, three-channel HD video, 12 minutes, 2013.

Benjamin Edwards at Kravets Wehby Gallery

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Does greater technology result in greater progress?  Machines and giant-sized virtual humans tower over futuristic cities in Washington D.C.-based painter Benjamin Edwards’ provocative new series ‘System,’ ominously answering in the negative and suggesting that chaos will overtake us. (At Kravets/Wehby Gallery through May 11th).

Benjamin Edwards, Toy, acrylic on canvas, 2012.

Guy Ben-Ari at Scaramouche Gallery

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Israel-born, New York based artist Guy Ben-Ari makes his New York exhibition debut with a show that speaks to our access and remove from contemporary events.  Here, hands hold a tablet showing an act of self-immolation caught on camera and witnessed by mostly passive spectators which include the tablet owner and finally, us. (At Scaramouche Gallery through April 28th)

Guy Ben-Ari, An Act of Protest Viewed Through a Tablet Device, oil on panel, 2013.

Ashley Bickerton at Lehmann Maupin

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This gruesome, one-eyed, blue cigarette bedecked creature with perfect teeth could be the patron deity of Bali-based Ashley Bickerton’s portraits of crazed hedonists.  At over seven feet high, the sheer profusion of color and ornament – from her bottle cap necklace to paint-smeared coral – is impressive.  (At Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location through April 20th)  

Ashley Bickerton, White Head I, acrylic, digital print and plastic laminate on wood, 2012.

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.

Wade Guyton at the Whitney Museum of American Art

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Wade Guyton, Untitled, 2006 (on right) and Untitled, 2008 (left of couple)
Wade Guyton, Untitled, 2006 (on right) and Untitled, 2008 (left of couple)

Ever struggle to print something from the computer?  Wade Guyton heroizes the process, creating his artwork by devising images on his computer, then battling to run his linen supports through large printers.  The untitled piece on the left started as an x typed on his screen; the multi-panel piece on the right as the word ‘us.’ (At the Whitney Museum through 1/13.)