Chen Fei at Galerie Perrotin

Beijing-based artist Chen Fei channels Dutch still life in his painting of tempting foodstuffs but substitutes dumplings for bread and banana leaf wraps for grapes.  He cites Renaissance historian Vasari to question whether still life can be as engaging as portraiture, forcing the issue by presenting figurative painting in the downstairs gallery and still life upstairs.  While the large-scale nude characters downstairs steal the show with their unconventional personalities, the still lifes still wow with their sheer abundance.  (On view at Perrotin on the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).

Chen Fei, detail from Painting of Harmony, acrylic, gold and silver foil on linen mounted on board, 39 3/8 x 78 ¾ inches.

Marjan Teeuwen at Bruce Silverstein Gallery

Working with materials salvaged from destroyed buildings, Dutch artist Marjan Teeuwen creates abstract arrangements of forms that suggest paintings.  Here, she worked in an abandoned school in Johannesburg, South Africa during a 2015 residency to create an installation that speaks to a key theme – the inevitability of destruction and but also the hope of renewal.  (On view through April 14th at Bruce Silverstein Gallery in Chelsea.)

Marjan Teeuwen, Archive Johannesburg, archival pigment print, 38 x 43 inches, 2015.

Mairead O’hEocha at Callicoon Fine Arts

Mairead O’hEocha’s floral still life evokes paintings by 17th/18th century painter Rachel Ruysch while offering a more abstracted take on the genre. Flowers from around the world which may have bloomed at different times combined in the Netherlands to testify to Dutch trade power. Here, the rose at center signals waning strength as it begins to lose its petals. (At Callicoon Fine Arts hosting mothers tankstation limited, Dublin, for Condo New York on the Lower East Side through July 28th).

Mairead O’hEocha, Bouquet with Rose after Rachel Ruysch, oil on board, 31 ½ x 24 ½ inches, 2017.

Rafael Gomezbarros in ‘Naturalia’ at Paul Kasmin Gallery

Paul Kasmin Gallery and Sotheby’s Gallery team up this month to bring the vanitas still life and memento mori up to date in an impressive exhibition of Dutch genre painting and contemporary art touching on the theme of life’s brevity. Columbian artist Rafael Gomezbarros’ smarm of ants – constructed with cast human skulls – opens the show with a bang. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea through March 4th).

Foreground:  Rafael Gomezbarros, Casa Tomada (Taken House), five parts:  resin, fiber glass, screen cotton, ropes, wood, sand and Cerrejon coal, each 37 3/8 x 17 ¾ inches x 6 ¼ inches, 2016.
Foreground: Rafael Gomezbarros, Casa Tomada (Taken House), five parts: resin, fiber glass, screen cotton, ropes, wood, sand and Cerrejon coal, each 37 3/8 x 17 ¾ inches x 6 ¼ inches, 2016.

Hannah van Bart at Marianne Boesky Gallery

Despite her assertive pose, Dutch painter Hannah van Bart’s enigmatic young lady appears to literally blend into the background as a shape-shifting wall the color of her dress manifests over her chest. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery through Feb 4th.)

Hannah van Bart, Untitled, oil on linen, 39 3/8 x 25 5/8 inches, 2016.
Hannah van Bart, Untitled, oil on linen, 39 3/8 x 25 5/8 inches, 2016.