Cheyenne Julien at Chapter NY

Young Bronx-based painter Cheyenne Julien’s portrait of her father speaks powerfully to his love of music and his comfort in his own space.  Surrounded and transported by music, he appears to both meet his viewer’s gaze and look beyond and upwards.  A huge pink-toned foot at the painting’s foreground is boldly positioned, the rest of his body relaxed suggesting confident comfort.  (On view at Chapter NY on the Lower East Side through Oct 10th.  Masks and social distancing required and appointments recommended.)

Cheyenne Julien, Master of House, oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches, 2020.

The Haas Brothers in ‘Cells’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery

Tree fungus and corals inspired the Haas Brothers’ signature accretion vases; joined by the LA duo’s silver plated lamps (at rear), walnut furniture and paintings, they open Marianne Boesky Gallery’s summer group exhibition with an appreciation for the strange and lighthearted. (In Chelsea through August 11th).

Haas Brothers, installation view of ‘Cells’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery featuring Unique, hand-thrown Father Vase with Matte White Porcelain Accretion and Erbium Neck, 20 ½ x 10 ½ inches, 2017.

Entang Wiharso at Marc Straus

As far as family portraits go, this one is by far one of the strangest I’ve seen, as a matron with a knife in her hair touches a carp’s tongue and father stands by cradling a skull while two boys look on. Wiharso has explained that in his work, tables are meant as meeting places and sites for negotiation; as such, this family has a lot to work through. (At Marc Straus on the Lower East Side through Feb 8th).

Entang Wiharso, Inheritance, graphite, resin, color pigment, thread, steel, life-size installation, 2014.

Johannes VanDerBeek at Zach Feuer Gallery

How do babies see the world without benefit (or burden) of language and experience in interpreting forms? This question inspired Brooklyn artist and new father Johannes VanDerBeek’s more or less obviously human figures, including this flattened, rabbit-like form and a striding figure at Chelsea’s Zach Feuer Gallery (through Oct 4th).

Johannes VanDerBeek, to the left: Running in Grass, aqua-resin, fiberglass, steel, clay, silicon, paint, 65 x 45 inches, 2014. To the right: Early Outline with Leaning Features, Celluclay, Aqua-Resin, paint, steel, including base: 87 x 24 x ¼ inches, 2014.