Claes Oldenburg at Pace Gallery

Claes Oldenburg’s new sculptures remix objects familiar from his and parter Coosje van Bruggen’s career (a pencil once proposed as a New York monument, a banana skin flapping in the wind, yellow and brown potato chips). Collectively titled ‘Shelf Life,’ Oldenberg’s relatively small-scale assemblages beg the question of an idea’s staying power and continued relevance. (At Pace Gallery’s 24th Street location through Nov 11th).

Claes Oldenburg, Shelf Life Number 2, mixed media, 19 15/16 x 28 ¾ x 12 3/16 inches, 2016-17.

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe at Marlborough Gallery Chelsea

Known for fantastical, druggy, sci-fi environments created temporarily in art venues, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s current show at Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery continues their practice of “…using the room as the vehicle for an ethno-fictional display of the remnants of the built world.” This claustrophobic space – one of several distinctly different rooms in the installation – combines store display with tacky domestic furnishings and dated technology (on the floor) to question what might transpire here. (Through Nov 29th).

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, installation view of ‘Floating Chain (High-Res Toni) at Marlborough Chelsea, November 2014.