In vivid color or stark black and white, self-taught Nigerian artist Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu’s new paintings and drawings at Jack Shainman Gallery continue to dazzle with their hyper-realism. Dedicated to celebrating Igbo tradition through her work, Chiamonwu includes foods, architecture and symbolic items from her culture in joyful portraits. In this graphite and charcoal drawing titled ‘Mgbeorie (Woman born in Orie Market Day),’ she refers to the Igbo tradition of naming children after the market day on which they were born, while the shell earring nods to objects passed down in families over time. (On view in Tribeca in Jack Shainman Gallery’s 346 Broadway location through March 28th).
Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu, Mgbeorie (Woman born in Orie Market Day), graphite and charcoal on paper, 36 x 31 ½ inches, 2025.
Faced in the early ‘90s with racist neighbors who tried to stop her from building a studio on her Jones Road property in Englewood, NJ, Faith Ringgold responded with ‘Coming to Jones Road,’ a series of fabric artworks that celebrated the history of Black people moving to New Jersey. A mini survey of work by Ringgold at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Tribeca space includes, among several pieces from the series, ‘Aunt Emmy and Baby Freedom’ a work featuring a baby who has arrived in the North via the Underground Railroad. Based on Ringgold’s great grandmother, an anchor of the family, the character Aunt Emmy beams down on Baby Freedom, a child embodying the notion expressed in the work’s text that ‘Every last one was born to be free.’ (On view through Jan 24th in Tribeca.)
Faith Ringgold, Coming to Jones Road Part II #3 Aunt Emmy and Baby Freedom, signed and dated lower right, Faith Ringgold May 2010, acrylic on quilted fabric, 47 x 35 inches, 2010.Faith Ringgold, (detail) Coming to Jones Road Part II #3 Aunt Emmy and Baby Freedom, signed and dated lower right, Faith Ringgold May 2010, acrylic on quilted fabric, 47 x 35 inches, 2010.
Historical European parade armor can be so fancifully decorated, it’s sometimes hard to take it seriously as a byproduct of military activity. New York artist Susan Hamburger picks up on the disconnect and runs with it, producing a series of wildly creative helmets at Asya Geisberg Gallery that push ornate design into the deliciously absurd. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 20th).
Susan Hamburger, Helmet (Feathers), papier mache, celluclay, paperclay, wood stand, 21” h x 13” w x 13” d, 2023.
Recent work in Berlin-based Romanian artist Hortensia Mi Kafchin’s second solo show at PPOW Gallery, ‘Paintings Made for Aliens Above,’ supposes that human interaction with aliens is only a matter of time, though by the point of contact, humanity might not look as it does today. After undergoing gender transition surgery, Mi Kafchin confesses in a booklet accompanying the show that she’s tempted by a transhumanist urge toward further modifications. Here, her avatar poses in a Romanian folk costume, a cyborg in a barnyard. Recalling the happiness of childhood moments spent playing outdoors while longing for escape into the vast worlds pictured in the night sky beyond, Mi Kafchin recalls the past while looking with hopeful uncertainty to the future. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 20th).
Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Dobrogean National Costume, oil on canvas, 47 ¼ x 39 3/8 inches, 2024-25.
Inspired by natural forms from skin to plants and animals, Chilean artist Josefina Concha’s sculptural textiles pull away from the wall with lively dynamism. Each thick, textured surface is created from machine-sewn lines of thread that cause the surface to buckle, resembling fungi, growth rings of trees or the patterns of geodes. Featured in Praxis Gallery’s group exhibition ‘Walking Lines,’ this piece – titled ‘Charco’ (pool) – is a standout in an excellent show of work by Latin American artists who are expanding textile traditions. (On view in Chelsea through June 3rd).
Josefina Concha E., Charco, sewing on canvas, 66 1/8 x 54 3/8 inches, 2025.
Complex and colorful, Jiha Moon’s ceramic vessels at Derek Eller Gallery entice with their cheeky updates to historic forms and their contemporary subject matter. Dumplings and succulent fruits allude to pleasure while forming the two eyes on this pot dominated by a fake grin. Moon explains that this work is autobiographical, the dark clouds representing the impact on her life of the weather (specifically hurricanes) in Tallahassee, where she lives. The pagoda, boat and two birds refer to Blue Willow Pattern, an English take on blue and white Chinese porcelain with an accompanying love story that alternates between tragedy and happy ending. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 21st).
Jiha Moon, Banana Thunderhead, porcelain, underglaze, glaze, 16.5 x 11 x 9 inches, 2024.
Known for adopting materials that resemble urban infrastructure (streetlamps, signage) and manipulating them with apparently Herculean effort into whimsical sculpture, Mark Handforth scales down the size but delivers on delight in a show of new work at Luhring Augustine Gallery in Tribeca. Tall burnt matchstick sculptures and deliciously candy-colored aluminum columns accompany ‘Harlequin Star,’ a sculpture that appears to be a guardrail casually folded into a star shape with a neon accent. Handforth has commented on the recurring stars in his work, identifying the shape as something “so recognizable that [it] cease[s] to exist.” Though its ubiquity may make it mundane, Handforth harnesses unexpected materials and light to make this star a standout. (On view through July 28th).
Mark Handforth, Harlequin Star, aluminum, prismatic foils and LED light, 80 x 68 x 28 inches, 2023.
After moving to Hale County, Alabama several years ago, writer, filmmaker, photographer and professor RaMell Ross has become known for creating contemplative portraits of the area’s Black residents in film and photography. A selection of these images are a highlight of Pace Gallery’s dual show (curated by Ross) of Ross’s own work alongside artwork by the late photographer William Christenberry. In this show, Ross’ focus is on place as much as people; inspired by Christenberry’s use of red-toned Alabama earth, Ross employs the material in flag boxes and picture frames and photographs dirt manipulated by man and machine. Titled ‘Typeface,’ this piece suggests that earth can be used as a language or means of communication as it is developed to tell a new story. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 25th).
RaMell Ross, Typeface, pigment print mounted to Dibond, 59 x 73 ¾, 2021.
Flowers, hair and a voluminous white dress obscure the features of the figure reclining across this densely patterned painting by Firelei Baez at James Cohan Gallery. The title refers to Olamina, the highly empathic fictional character imagined by sci-fi novelist Octavia Butler, but here, the figure seems unburdened by her gift or our gaze. Printed below the paint, on the canvas itself are numbers, a grid and a timeline that suggest the maps and documents that Baez frequently adopts and obscures as she brilliantly and flamboyantly asserts her own imagery over outmoded Euro-centric presentations of information. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 21st).
Firelei Baez, Olamina (How do we learn to love each other while we are embattled), oil and acrylic on archival printed canvas), 86 3/8 x 114 ½, 1 ½ inches, 2022.
From toddler fight clubs to flat earth theories, colorful sculptures by Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens at Jane Lombard Gallery symbolize rumors and conspiracies of the 21st century with seriousness tempered by humor. The purple head in the foreground of this installation view represents the notion that climate activist Greta Thunberg is actually an actor in thrall to nefarious powers. Other pieces suggest that the US government can control the weather or that patterns of holes in ripped jeans have been used to communicate secret messages. Lighthearted in appearance but representing harmful misunderstandings, the installation emphasizes the absurdity and ubiquity of widespread falsehoods. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 17th).
Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, installation view of ‘Alternative Facts of the 21st Century,’ at Jane Lombard Gallery, Nov 2022.
Amusingly excessive, Lindsay Lou Howard’s new ceramics at Launch F18 speak to overconsumption with a sense of humor and a lot of imagination. Here, ‘Plant Based’ offers nutrition to the worms still wriggling in the dirt (?) or fake meat (?) of this giant, 2-foot-tall sandwich. Other pieces in the show, including a lamp made of thick spaghetti in red sauce (interspersed with chocolate, veggies and a can of Sprite) and a sandwich holding a giant ‘Faberge’ egg between pieces of white bread, ask if we really ‘want it all.’ (On view in Tribeca through Oct 15th).
Lindsey Lou Howard, Plant Based, stoneware, glaze, 30 x 15 x 15 inches, 2022.
Tribeca has quickly become one of the best places to see contemporary art in New York. Over the past few years, some of the city’s most established galleries have opened locations here, joining mid-sized spaces and younger dealers to create a diverse and lively new art scene. Check out the neighborhood in this video, and join me soon in Tribeca!
Dozens of brightly colored creatures, cobbled-together from everyday objects and other found materials by Scooter LaForge form a fun menagerie at Theodore Art in Tribeca. Those featuring LaForge’s expressive faces, familiar from his expressionist painting practice, are immediately engaging with their lively aura and quirky expressions. LaForge tells AM New York that making them brought him joy, a feeling that he extends to his audience. (On view through June 18th).
Scooter LaForge, Red Dog, mixed media, 14 x 8 x 6 inches.
Inspired by the Pope’s mitre, Chumash tradition, California car culture and much more, young west coast designer Ryan Preciado presents furniture at Canada Gallery that conveys comfort, pleasure and sturdiness. Like Matt Conners’ abstract paintings in the adjoining gallery, color and structure dominate our sensory experience. Practical and welcoming, Preciado’s approach to design was impacted by watching his sister squirm to get comfortable on the family couch. (On view in Tribeca through March 5th).
Ryan Preciado, Pope Cabinet, plywood, MDF, urethane enamel, 70 x 48 x 20 inches, 2021.
As a teen, Michelle Rawlings used to cut out and rearrange fashion spreads from magazines; her untitled oil on linen canvases at Chapter NY in Tribeca operate on a similar scale (this painting is a mere 12 ½ inches high) and also channel the cool, distanced mood of fashion photography. Here, she captures a different feeling of isolation as a softly sunlit young woman engages in a solitary activity. Set against an intensely green gallery wall that emphasizes the glimpses of nature seen outside the window and accompanied by minimal collages of ribbon and ephemeral plant-related imagery, the paintings are mediations on how meaning is constructed. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 5th. Masks and social distancing required.)
Michelle Rawlings, Untitled, oil on linen, 12 ½ x 10 x 1 ¼ inches, 2021.
Visiting Gettysburg National Military Park can amount to moving from one memorial to another, but Cynthia Daignault’s new series of paintings at Kasmin Gallery, inspired by the Civil War battlefield, focus not on the built environment but the natural world. Called ‘a rumination on the meaning of site and time’ by the gallery, Daignault’s work features ‘witness trees,’ which were alive in the 1860s and are still in place today. Surrounded by graves, the trees operate outside of a human timeframe and offer an alternative perspective on historic events. Painting titles include terms like ‘synecdoche’ or ‘chiaroscuro,’ suggesting that parts of an image can tell a larger story or that events exist in shades of light and dark. Here, ‘Gettysburg (Stereoscopic)’ nods to the popular 19th century photographic technique that creates depth by presenting two near identical images side-by-side. (On view through Jan 8th. Note holiday hours and closures.)
Cynthia Daignault, Gettysburg (Stereoscopic), oil on linen, 30 x 60 inches, 2021.
Titled ‘The Painter, Fig. 1,’ this lacquered bronze sculpture by Berlin-based duo Elmgreen and Dragset appears to be offered as an illustration of an artist in action and is prominently displayed in the window of Pace Gallery’s Chelsea building. In the adjoining gallery, other sculptures hint at themes of regret, loneliness and the will to dominate; nearby, this artist responds. It’s unclear if he’s laying down black paint or scraping off white paint to reveal the darkness beneath; either way, he appears to be putting a dramatic end to his monochrome existence. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 18th).
Elmgreen and Dragset, The Painter, Fig. 1, bronze, lacquer, linen, paint, 98 7/16 x 100 3/8 x 23 5/8 inches, 2021.
Often painted from memory and incisively capturing aspects of a sitter’s emotional life, Beauford Delaney’s portraits at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery feel strikingly immediate. Showcasing 25 portraits and 7 abstractions from the artist’s Greenwich Village days to his decades in Paris, the exhibition’s highlights demonstrate how (as the gallery puts it in a handout), “the physical description of the sitter is secondary to their psychological essence.” Here, in a portrait titled ‘Untitled (Young English Lieutenant),’ the tones of Delaney’s multi-colored background direct our eyes towards a vivid encounter with a young Englishman. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 13th. Masks and proof of vaccination are required.)
Beauford Delaney, Untitled (Young English Lieutenant), oil on canvas, 36 x 30 inches, 1943.
Martine Syms fans expect a stream-of-conscious outpouring of text and image (as in her recent diaristic book, ‘Shame Space’) and her latest solo at Bridget Donahue will not disappoint. Videos housed in custom, laser-cut cardboard boxes covered in fragments of commercial imagery or even inserted into a corner of a hanging dry cleaning bag run counter to typical sleek gallery video presentations. Positioned in front of one video wall, this chair titled ‘Bonnet Core’ sports frilly lace at the edges, abundant text and a high heeled pink boot next to one chair leg. Accompanied by a press release written by Alissa Bennett detailing enthusiastic engagement with an auction of Janet Jackson’s belongings earlier this year, the show speaks to our deeply personal yet shared experience of pop culture. (On view through Sept 25th on the Lower East Side).
Brazilian artist Marepe’s socially conscious practice thrives on contrasts between city and country, rich and poor, etc.; each of these five assemblages in Anton Kern Gallery’s 25-year anniversary show is collectively titled ‘caipira’ or ‘bumpkins’ and features a prominent heart drawn in pastel. Set up like pins waiting to be bowled down, these unsuspecting folk appear to be especially vulnerable. (On view at 16 East 55th Street through Aug 20th).
JoAnn Verburg’s recent photos at Pace Gallery of olive groves were taken in California, Israel and Italy, but it’s not always easy to guess which location is which. Calling the images a ‘contemplative respite’ from the demands of everyday city life, Verburg steps outside of the specifics of place and time to present a meditation on time and beauty in nature. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 20th).
JoAnn Verburg, BETWEEN, pigment print mounted to Dibond, 57 1/8 x 40 1/8,” 2021.
The unlikely combination of a snake and carrots and the media of painting and ceramics in Stephanie Temma Hier’s sculpture/painting at Kasmin Gallery both attracts and puzzles. Hier’s diverse combinations of imagery have included ceramic greyhounds with painted blueberries and sculptural lips enclosing a 2-D image of tulips; generally her juxtapositions prompt consideration of how the natural world has been mediated by human consumption. Titled ‘At the Root of the Curve,’ this painting links root vegetables to sinuous forms via algebra terminology. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 13th).
Stephanie Temma Hier, At the Root of the Curve, oil on linen with glazed stoneware sculpture, 67 x 57 inches, 2021.
Jingze Du’s distorted figures recall staticky interference on an old black and white tv monitor, prompting viewers to consider what mediates the images we consume. Though painting in oil on canvas, Du’s animals, famous actors and sports stars reference digital manipulation. Du cites Kayne West’s vocal distortions and the shifting skull in Hans Holbein’s famous 16th century painting ‘The Ambassadors’ as further sources of inspiration. In this painting at The Hole’s new Tribeca location, Du does strange and captivating things with Brad Pitt’s classic squint. (On view through Aug 8th).
Jingze Du, Brad, oil on canvas, 23.5 x 20 inches, 2021.
Two fabulously colored fighting cockerels by London-based painter Allison Katz dominate Luhring Augustine’s summer group show. Titled ‘Noli Me Tangere!’ or ‘don’t touch me’ after Christ’s post-resurrection instruction to Mary Magdalene, the birds seem less about divine mystery than hysterical escalation of conflict. Flowing feathers create dynamic patterns, echoing the clouds in the sky and lending beauty and urgency to a scene both captivating and absurd. (On view in Chelsea through August 6th.)
Allison Katz, Noli Me Tangere!, oil, acrylic and rice on canvas, 78 ¾ x 86 5/8 inches, 2021.
In Albertz Benda’s summer group exhibition, ‘Fragmented Bodies II: Fluidity in Form,’ fluidity defines identity. Chloe Chiasson’s Target Practice, a shaped painting that is part of the wall and leaps off of it, features a group of young men who defy stereotypes of masculine rural behavior. Perched on a wooden fence with beer cans used for target practice, one man’s ‘Daddy’ tattoo, another’s earring and scattered daisies upend expectations. (On view in Chelsea through July 31st).
Chloe Chiasson, Target Practice, oil, acrylic, resin, wool, denim, aluminum, lantern, wood, nails, hot glue, graphite, glitter, neopixels, cigarette butts, matches, bobby pin, sticky note, page from book, washers, ink on shaped canvas, 104 x 130 x 60 inches, 2021.
Mirrors, lights and long lines of visitors usually accompany Yayoi Kusama’s Chelsea exhibitions; Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s selection of the artist’s smaller scale 2-D and 3-D work from the 50s and 80s is a quieter affair but a gem for Kusama fans. Here, two box-shaped sculptures feature the artist’s signature nets, polka dots and phallic forms, bringing together pattern and texture in abundance. Despite this work’s title, ‘Ruins (Haikyo),’ clustered protrusions resembling eggs in a nest appear to embody life and movement. (On view through July 30th. Masks and social distancing required.)
Yayoi Kusama, Ruins (Haikyo), mixed media box assemblage with sewn and painted fabric, faux fur and paint, 11 ¾ x 11 ¾ x 4 inches, 1984.
Known for his surreal canvases, Columbian artist Miguel Cardenas adds a mysterious element to Jack Hanley Gallery’s current dog-themed group exhibition. At just under 1’ x 1,’ this small panel painting has a strong presence with its bold blue background and a hybrid man/dog creature’s penetrating eyes. The title, ‘Heart of a Dog,’ suggests a human following animal passions. (On view through June 12th Masks and social distancing required.)
Miguel Cardenas, Heart of a Dog, oil on panel, 11.8 x 11.8 inches, 2017.
Iranian-born New Yorker Kamrooz Aram’s abstract paintings are a standout in Peter Blum Gallery’s handsome summer group show ‘Field of Vision,’ enticing with their heavy texture and abundant organic forms. Known for riffing on arabesque decoration, Aram sends our eyes fluttering around this verdant canvas, briefly settling on forms that resemble insect wings or clouds. Two panels suggest shutters opening on an intimate garden or the dark of night. (On view on Grand Street through July 30th. Masks and social distancing required.)
Kamrooz Aram, Maghreb Drapery, oil, oil crayon, wax pencil and pencil on linen, 85 x 82 inches, 2020.
Paused in mid-action and wearing tattered clothing, this cowboy may look worse for wear, but he appears to have come out on top. What he’s literally on top of – a platform hiding three individuals with huge eyes – suggests the drama isn’t quite over. Alexander Harrison’s cowboy – backlit by a fiery red sky and composed of dynamic, bending limbs – is a highlight of Kasmin Gallery’s group show ‘New Old Histories;’ in one action-packed moment, Harrison frustrates the typical Western good guy vs bad guy dichotomy (is he the law or is the law after him?) and leaves us wanting more. (On view in Chelsea through June 26th. Masks and social distancing required.)
Alexander Harrison, Beyond the Horizon, acrylic on panel, 47 ½ x 47 ½ inches.
Striking in her streamlined beauty, ‘Tlali’ greets visitors to Chelsea’s Lisson Gallery, where Mexico City based artist Pedro Reyes’ latest solo show draws inspiration from pre-Columbian aesthetics. Translated as ‘earth,’ Tlali has been created in volcanic stone, a material that Reyes links not just to the land but to sustenance (as it is used to create mortar and pestles). In this photo, behind Tlali, a scribe represents the preservation of knowledge while an abstract tower of reddish tezontle stone was inspired by temple supports resembling Toltec warriors. (On view through June 18th. Masks and social distancing required.)
Pedro Reyes, Tlali, volcanic stone, 32 ¼ x 26 ¾ x 39 ¼ inches, 2020.
Crushed tubular steel in an electric orange color provocatively juxtaposes and compliments salvaged sheets of rolled steel in Carol Bove’s dramatic sculptural installation at David Zwirner Gallery. Titled ‘Chimes at Midnight’ after a 1965 Orson Wells film in which two characters speak of mortality, the sculptures’ industrial materials summons the past while soft, malleable-looking orange segments speak to a future in formation. In its reckoning between past and present, the sculptures continue Bove’s engagement with history in her current sculptural commission on the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (On view at David Zwirner Gallery).
Carol Bove, installation view of Chimes at Midnight at David Zwirner Gallery
Beautiful women and lush gardens contrast oppressive symbols like balls and chains or large metal keys in Arghavan Khosravi’s latest paintings at Rachel Uffner Gallery. Here, ‘Patiently Waiting,’ features an explosive device with ambiguous consequences if used – will freedom or destruction result? Similarly, Khosravi’s gardens can be read in contradictory terms as commentary on life in her home country, Iran. The gallery explains, they “…represent the possibilities for respite afforded by private life or the image of utopian paradise promised by religious fundamentalism.” (On view on the Lower East Side through June 5th).
Arghavan Khosravi, Patiently Waiting, 2021, signed and dated verso, acrylic and cement on cotton canvas wrapped over shaped wood panel, wood cutout, polyester rope, 53 1/2 x 58 1/8 x 12 inches.
The US flag is shelter and garment for the individual depicted in this 1969 body print/screenprint by David Hammons, now on view in a powerful show of Hammons’ meticulous body prints at the Drawing Center. Made by applying oil to his skin, pressing his body to paper and applying powdered pigments, the print is one of many that incorporate the US flag to question its meaning for Black communities. (On view in SoHo through May 23rd. Appointments, masks and social distancing required. Admission charges waived).
David Hammons, Pray for America, screenprint and pigment on paper, 1969.
Katherine Bradford’s new ‘Mother Paintings’ at Canada New York depict women caring for sick family members, offering the comfort of a lap and waiting for a school bus, but her signature abstract style upends traditional representations of moms. By avoiding identifying details, she creates symbolic characters and instead directs our focus to the vivid fields of color that make up what might otherwise be mundane scenes. Here, in ‘Mother Joins the Circus – Second Version,’ a mom is taken away, inducted into a new aspect of life by mysterious characters who literally turn things upside down. (On view at Canada Gallery through May 15th).
Katherine Bradford, Mother Joins the Circus – Second Version, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches, 2021.
Even in moments of tenderness and connection, Aaron Gilbert’s dead-eyed characters are shaped by the difficulty of their circumstances. In this painting titled ‘Conspirators,’ currently on view at PPOW Gallery, these men’s tired expressions suggest they’re not just sharing a story or chatting but hatching a desperate plan. The scene recalls Charles White’s 1942 painting of two working men in close conversation that was recently on view in the Whitney’s Mexican muralist show. But while White’s men engage with feeling about the news or activism; Gilbert’s operate with little conviction and less hope. (On view through May 1st with work by Martin Wong in Tribeca. Masks and social distancing required.)
Aaron Gilbert, Conspirators, oil on canvas, 38 x 40 inches, 2020.
Are vintage game boards art? Ricco/Maresca’s current exhibition of American game boards from the late 19th century to 1940 aims to show that the boards are more than functional objects and are in fact ‘cousins of modern art.’ Having dealt in the boards for years but never dedicated a show to them, the gallery is now exhibiting parcheesi, backgammon, halma, checkers, Chinese checkers, mills, and solitaire boards that resemble mystical diagrams or architectural renderings. This well-used checkers board comes alive with a combination of color and geometry that will keep the eyes moving along with the game pieces. (On view through May 1st. Masks and social distancing required).
American Unidentified, 5-color Checkers Game Board, enamel paint on wood, 18 x 18 inches, late 19th century.
Right after the giant fork holding spaghetti and a meatball, the monumental sculpture ‘Dropped Bouquet’ is an immediate draw in Pace Gallery’s new show of collaborative work by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen from the 80s onward. Surrounded by lighthearted works evoking music (including canvas violas, lutes and a trumpet) and flying neckties and pieces of pie, the flowers elicit delight with their cheery color and disorienting scale. (On view in Chelsea through May 1st. Masks, social distancing and appointments are required.)
Oldenburg/van Bruggen, Dropped Bouquet, painted aluminum, 12’ 3” x 9’ 3” x 14’ 10”, 2021.
In her impressive New York solo show debut, Karon Davis transforms Deitch Projects’ cavernous SoHo space into the 1969 Chicago courtroom in which Bobby Seale stood trial bound and gagged. Before a plaster cast of the Black Panther leader, a towering bench houses a replica of Judge Julius Hoffman, who Davis describes in the trial as ‘brutal and monstrous.’ Here, on the gallery’s elevated platform, a row of jurors looks on impassively, isolated in red and blue cases that disengage them with the scene unfolding before them. (On view in SoHo through April 24th).
Karon Davis, Jury Member #3, plaster bandages, plaster, glass-eyes, steel, acrylic, plywood, white paint, 70 x 22 x 22 inches.
It’s not unusual to consider where and how our everyday consumer goods were manufactured, but Amsterdam-based design team Studio Drift goes deeper. Via their ‘Materialism’ project – samples of which are now on view in Pace Gallery’s current tech-friendly group show – Drift practices a kind of reverse engineering by breaking down light bulbs, cell phones and water bottles, as well as historic weapons and this bicycle, into component parts which are then displayed as pleasingly tidy arrangements of colorful cubes. Guessing what each piece represents is an engaging game that ultimately prompts viewers to question how much we know about the goods we consume. (On view on 25th Street in Chelsea through April 24th).
After debuting its new Chelsea gallery space with a tantalizing series of two-week long exhibitions, Brazilian gallery Nara Roesler continues to impress with a career-survey exhibition of gorgeous work by the late Amelia Toledo. Inspired by the participatory nature of Neo-Concrete art and a devotion to nature and the possibilities of color, Toledo’s multifarious career included installations consisting of hanging jute panels like this ‘Path of color.’ (On view through April 17th. Masks and social distancing required).
Amelia Toledo, Paths of color, 38 pieces of painted jute, c. 100 x 177 x 177 inches, 1999-2000.
Brilliant yellow flowers dematerialize in the hazy afternoon light in Jane Freilicher’s vibrant still life from 1967, now on view at Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea. Fifteen paintings from the ‘50s to the ‘00s, demonstrate an “…air of just coming into being, of tentativeness that is the lifeblood of art,” as John Ashberry, Freilicher’s long-time friend, put it. (On view through March 13th).
Jane Freilcher, Goldenrod and Landscape, oil on canvas, 40 x 60 inches, 1967.
Both chance paint pours and deliberate, meticulous mark-making comprise Barbara Takenaga’s otherworldly abstractions at DC Moore Gallery. New, profuse forms suggest fireworks displays or the wonders of unseen life under a microscope. This small detail of a larger canvas sets paint swirls against hanging strings of beaded forms, two elements that would seem incompatible but which instead offer unexpected depth and an apparent glimpse into a mysterious world. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 23rd. Masks and social distancing required).
Barbara Takenaga, (detail of) Pearly, acrylic on linen, 20 x 16 inches, 2020.
Inspired by a multitude of sources from Dali to Disney, Inka Essenhigh continues to craft fantastical scenarios as intriguing as they are bizarre. Here, a curvy female figure (seemingly crafted from a single orange/green material from her hair to her off-kilter shoes) primps in front of a shattered mirror that reflects a monster-like apparition. Are we seeing reality? Will she continue to transform before our eyes? Essenhigh’s rich stories leave us wanting more. (On view at Miles McEnery Gallery on 22nd Street in Chelsea through Nov 14th).
Inka Essenhigh, Forever Young, enamel on canvas, 60 x 42 inches, 2020.
The long-armed embrace offered by the central figure says it all in this acrylic on canvas painting by Emma Kohlmann at Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side. Kohlmann explains that viewers who venture out to galleries during the pandemic should encounter an oasis, or a place to be distracted from turbulent times. Caring couples, harmonious relationships between humans and nature, and references to Matisse’s colorful painting abound in a show that will take the mind to happy places. (On view through Nov 14th).
Emma Kohlmann, When I Found My People, Acrylic on raw canvas, 60 x 60 inches, 2020.
One ambiguous figure appears to break into multiple forms in Amy Sillman’s irresistible ‘Split 3,’ shifting to the side as if to walk off the canvas. Dominant yellow, green and red colors draw the eye back into the painting’s depths but thick, dark horizontal lines of paint block the viewer’s journey. Coming and going, inviting and refusing, in motion yet static, the contradictions in the canvas reward pondering. (On view in Chelsea at Gladstone Gallery through Nov 14th.)
Amy Sillman, Split 3, acrylic and oil on linen, 72 x 60 inches, 2020.
Amid vibrantly colored décor from an earlier time period, two sisters hold children who have disappeared in Titus Kaphar’s ‘Not My Burden’ at Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street space in Chelsea. A much-anticipated follow-up to select paintings shown online when TIME commissioned a cover from Kaphar after George Floyd’s murder, the exhibition features work in which children have literally been cut out of the canvas, representing the anxiety and fear experienced by Black mothers. (On view through Dec 19th. Appointments, masks, social distancing, contact info and a health questionnaire are required).
Titus Kaphar, Not My Burden, oil on canvas, 66 x 60 ¼ inches, 2019.
In every roll of film Luchita Hurtado shot, there’d be an image in shadow, explains her son, the artist Matt Mullican. Shadows dominate two walls of drawings featuring the artist’s own silhouette in a show now on view at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, conveying a rich, inner life that the artist didn’t care to display to the public. Yet elements like a feather or these bands of vibrant color offer clues to emotions and mental states that belie Hurtado’s apparent withdrawal. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 31st. Visits can be arranged by timed reservation.)
Luchita Hurtado, charcoal and watercolor on paper, 17 x 13 ¾ inches, c. 1970s.
Inspired by the sunlight flashing through the trees on a road trip in France, New York based Belgian painter Harold Ancart embarked on a series of paintings now attracting attention at David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea. This fiery abstracted mass brings to mind not just autumn foliage but a giant flaming match or burning bush. Tranquil blue sky behind the tree sets off the intense energy of this living organism. (On view through Oct 17th. Masks and social distancing required and appointments recommended).
Harold Ancart, Untitled, oil stick and graphite on canvas in artist’s frame, 80 1/8 x 96 1/8 inches, 2020.
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.
Known for adding paint, tile or other materials to the surface of her photographs, Michele Abeles shifts gears in her current show at 47 Canal, offering a surprisingly unmanipulated selection of images reflecting on macabre Halloween traditions. Most of the show’s pictures of ghoulish lawn decorations come across as straightforward documentation of bizarre but unsurprising phenomenon. A few images break through to another level, however, making an inflatable demon or a casually placed, dismembered body part freshly strange. Here, natural materials on the ground contrast sharply with the glowing white paper skeleton, creating a jarring contrast that illuminates the artificiality of the bones. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 3rd. Appointments are encouraged and masks and social distancing are required.)
Michele Abeles, 11/1/19, 2:20PM, dye sublimation on aluminum, 31 x 21 ½ inches, 2020.
New York photographer Erin O’Keefe’s beguiling photographs in Paul Kasmin Gallery’s summer group show are an immediate knockout for their bold color contrasts and rich, saturated hues. They get more complex on close viewing – when viewers look at the top portion of this image, it’s unclear if we’re looking at a painting or a photo. Lower down, where the sculpted wooden block meets the surface on which it’s resting, the dimensions of this photographed space become clear. That this is a photo and not a painting or sculpture allows a delayed legibility that creates a provocative open-endedness to this image. (On view by appointment, Tues – Fri, through August 21st. Masks and social distancing required.)
Erin O’Keefe, Red Twist, archival pigment print, 25 x 20 inches, 2020.
Strong, capable and key to the nation’s economy, this female figure was a highlight of Charles White’s 2018-19 MoMA retrospective. Now, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery is spotlighting a mural study by White, created for the International Workers Order interracial, co-ed kids summer camp in NJ where White oversaw the art program in the summer of 1945. An accompanying text highlights this White’s politics and digs into the mural’s complex iconography, which melds west African and Buddhist references with influence from Mexican mural painting tradition.
Charles White, Our Land, egg tempera on panel, 1951.
Aimed at an artist, the phrase ‘Love Your Work’ can be sincere or suspect. This unforgettable 1999 fresco by Rochelle Feinstein brilliantly isolates the phrase below an envy-green field of paint. Color takes center stage in Feinstein’s latest body of work, now on view online in Sperone Westwater’s viewing room. Inspired by a photo she took in Rome of a double rainbow, the recent work foregrounds the color spectrum and the mutability of art. (Online through June 25th).
Rochelle Feinstein, Love Your Work (detail), fresco, 1999.
Figures emerge and recede in Cecily Brown’s energetic gestural expressionism; this Nov ’17 photo from New York Art Tour’s archives features a face so subtle it seems to have emerged by chance from the drips and lines of paints surrounding it. It’s a great moment to catch up with Brown’s latest work on Instagram @dellyrose – where she’s been posting paintings featuring far more direct characters – and via The Brooklyn Rail’s daily live lunchtime conversation tomorrow, April 1st with Jason Rosenfeld, Editor-at-large. (Access is free and by Zoom. Visit Eventbrite to book).
Cecily Brown, detail from Sirens and Shipwrecks and Bathers and the Band, oil on linen, 97 x 151 x 1.5 inches, 2016.
Late California-based sculptor Viola Frey’s huge standing man is a highpoint of the Whitney’s current exhibition rethinking the presence of craft in fine art; three tondos by the iconic artist at Nancy Hoffman Gallery are a more human-scaled exploration of humanity. This strikingly colorful, theatrical character whose face resembles a tragedy mask, holds a circular form that appears to be a plate or similar artwork, suggesting a tongue-in-cheek portrait of an artist. (On view in ‘The Circle’ through Jan 30th).
Viola Frey, Untitled (Mask with Pink and Orange Arms), ceramic, 26 inch diameter, 2001-02.
What color is the moon? Astronauts disagreed on the answer, and their conversations sparked artist and son of the founders of the Italian fashion company Missoni to reorient his long-term photographic study of the moon to portray the celestial body in brilliant color. In an installation in Benrubi Gallery’s dark side gallery, Missoni presents an installation of back-lit transparencies that give the orb a stunning presence. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 21st).
Luca Missoni, Il Connocchiale, archival pigment prints, transparencies, LED back-lit, unique installation, 2019.
Hannah Wilke’s two drawings of herself as an angel after Renaissance artist Albrecht Durer, now on view at Ronald Feldman Gallery in SoHo, stand out among photo, video and sculpture from the 70s to the early 90s by the feminist art icon. Although known for having defied feminist conventions by displaying her own body in provocative ways; here, Wilke’s audience gazes on her profile not her figure as she manifests as a celestial being. Recalling Durer’s engraving ‘Melancholia,’ in which a female angel represents the artist’s melancholy, Wilke expressionist version offers a more freeing vision. (On view in SoHo through Nov 30th).
Hannah Wilke, (detail of) Self-Portrait as Angel with Durer Wing, Nov 1, 1976.
The experience of curling up with a good book in a comfy chair isn’t what you might expect in Meredith James’ ‘Library,’ a standout in her show of delightfully strange sculpture at Jack Hanley Gallery. Stocked with blandly-colored, identical volumes, the miniature library set in a chair, feels more ominous than wonderful. A gallery handout suggests that James’ new work explores ‘things in various stages of disappearance or obsolescence,’ offering an uncertain future for the written word. (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).
Meredith James, Library, armchair, wood, acrylic paint, paper, 44 x 31.5 x 30 inches, 2019.
Mexican born, Harlem-based activist and artist Aliza Nisenbaum’s new paintings at Anton Kern Gallery’s midtown gallery celebrate group activities in kaleidoscopic form and brilliant color. From teaching English to immigrants in Queens in 2012 to various residences and projects, Nisenbaum has engaged individuals who become subjects for paintings that celebrate togetherness and diversity. (On view through Nov 2nd).
Aliza Nisenbaum, Jenna and Moises, oil on linen, 64 x 57 inches, 2018.
Inspired by women’s lives in her parent’s native Nigeria, US born artist Wuru-Natasha Ogunji’s considers the daily task of carrying water in her video, ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?’ Featuring several masked women walking the residential streets of Lagos dragging gold-colored water containers, viewers witness the toll exacted on the bodies of the exhausted and drenched participants. (On view at Fridman Gallery through Oct 12th).
Wuru-Natasha Ogunji, still from ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?, single-channel digital video, 11 min, 57sec, 2013.
Though Berlin-based Danish artist Jeppe Hein has installed his trademark polished stainless steel panels in large outdoor spaces (notably at Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2015), 303 Gallery’s tiny back space seems uniquely suited to host an intense experience of reality for visitors who see themselves and Hein’s striped paintings cut together in thin strips. Hein has explained that his stripe paintings represent breathing in and out which sounds meditative, but in this installation is geared to quicken the senses. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 19th).
Jeppe Hein, Intersecting Circles, high polished stainless steel, 87 3/8 x 85 x 70 inches, 2019.
Commissioned for the art-filled Camino Real Hotel in Palanco, Mexico, this vibrant felt hanging by Anni Albers epitomizes the energy expressed by her repeated use of triangles in asymmetrical compositions. Recently rediscovered, it’s a standout in a collaborative exhibition with the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and David Zwirner Gallery, a show that asserts Albers’ importance not just to 20th century weaving and textile-based work but to experimentation within the modernist idiom. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 19th).
Anni Albers, Camino Real, felt, 116 x 105 ¾ inches, 1968.
Japanese-Italian artist Ritsue Mishima describes glass as ‘a form of light.’ In her stunning show of twenty-five glass sculptures at Luhring Augustine Gallery – her first in New York – Mishima creates dynamic and still forms that bring to mind sea life and other natural wonders. (On view through Oct 26th in Chelsea).
Ritsue Mishima, INCONSCIO, blown glass, 17 ½ x 16 ½ x 11 7/8 inches, 2019.
New York Studio School dean Graham Nickson’s beach paintings have been described as “extreme, impenetrable, and haunting” for their isolated figures inhabiting landscapes pared down to horizontal bands of color. Here, a lone figure’s ambiguous activity (Is she shielding her face from the sun? Reading a giant book?) lends mystery and import to a leisure activity that might otherwise be overlooked. (On view in ‘Summer!’ at Betty Cuningham Gallery on the Lower East Side through August 2nd).
Graham Nickson, Untitled from Bather Series, acrylic on canvas in artist’s frame, 48 x 48 inches, c. 1980.
Gina Beavers’ acrylic and foam constructions feel delightfully excessive, their high relief suggesting an eagerness to be noticed. Inspired by glossy social media images of food, makeup and more, the work both revels in and critiques consumption, a point Beavers emphasizes by packing five paintings onto one cube, currently on view at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea. Here, thick brushes and lush lips conflate on-line makeup tutorials with the painter’s art, humorously questioning art’s role in selling product. (On view in ‘Painting/Sculpture’ through August 9th).
Gina Beavers, Lips with Painter’s Lips, acrylic and foam on canvas on panel with wood frame, framed: 31 x 31 x 8 inches, 2019
Dramatically colored abstract forms rise off the canvases in Tony Cox’s engaging new show of textured panels at Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea. Inspired by psychotherapy and Jungian psychology, Cox emerged from a recent health crisis to create labor intensive works that reward contemplative viewing. (On view through August 2nd).
Tony Cox, Shadow Taser, thread, acrylic, suede, lamb leather, twisted lipcord, poly stuffing on canvas in walnut frame, 73 ½ x 57 ½ inches, 2019.
Three children forge ahead into the unknown on a boat made of braiding hair packaging in this oil-based relief collage on canvas by Yale MFA candidate Kathia St Hilaire. A standout in Derek Eller Gallery’s current group show, St Hilaire’s image features kids venturing forth under a blazing sun to navigate their own identities and paths in life. (On view on the Lower East Side through July 3rd).
Kathia St Hilaire, detail of 100% Kanekalon, oil-based relief collage on canvas, kanekalon braiding hair, 54.5 x 42 inches, 2018.
Washington-based glass artist Dylan Martinez fools the eye with solid glass sculptures that appear to be plastic bags filled with water. “Our desires often override our true perception of reality,” the artist explains, anticipating the strong urge to believe that there’s water inside each ‘bag’ when, in fact, it’s the reflections on the exterior that create an illusion of movement. A standout in Lyons Wier Gallery’s ‘Fire & Water’ group exhibition, Martinez also amazes with glass sculptures resembling cross sections of a vase, undulating in space. (On view in Chelsea through July 6th).
Dylan Martinez, Glass Water Bags, hollow and solid sculpted glass, 2019.
It’s risky to take too long a look at Sikkema Jenkins & Co’s gallery wall – British abstract artist Terry Haggerty’s mural can literally upend your balance as his painted lines appear to twist and bend in space. The optical surprises continue in painted wooden panels that invite us to try to make out the multiple viewpoints depicted in each piece. Whether you walk away with a headache or invigorated by the effort of wrestling with your perceptions, the show is worth engaging. (On view in Chelsea through June 30th).
Terry Haggerty, Untitled, acrylic on wall, dimensions variable, 2019.
Finely sifted red soil imported from Oklahoma becomes a patterned carpet in Rena Detrixhe’s first New York solo show at Spencer Brownstone Gallery. Using a trowel to smooth down the dirt, then imprinting it with modified shoe soles, the Kansas-based artist considers the symbolic value attached to land in the mid-west while alluding to mankind’s impact on it. (On view on the Lower East Side through June 16th).
Rena Detrixhe, Red Dirt Rug, sifted red soil, 20 x 10 feet, 2019.
Inspired by his home country’s rich tradition of textile working, Malian artist Abdoulaye Konate employs colorful patterns, cut-out shapes and embroidery to depict a sea abundant with life. As with many of his representational works, Konate alludes to social issues including the desertification of the country and the lack of access to clean water while he celebrates the beauty of its traditional fabrics and indigo dyes. (On view at Blain Southern in Chelsea through June 15th).
Abdoulaye Konate, installation view of ‘Ocean, Mother and Life,’ textile, 118 1/8 x 229 7/8 inches, 2015.
Female legs become soft beakers in Jen Liu’s painting of a luxuriously gold-toned world populated by detached body parts, currently on view at Simone Subal Gallery on the Lower East Side. A floating head connects by thin gold wire to the legs, while giant fingers reach in from the side to manipulate events. A nearby video featuring a hot dog factory manned by cadres of female workers aims at “resolving the inequities of wealth and resource distribution through the factory-produced hot dog.” (On view through March 24th).
Jen Liu, PSCS Gold Loop: Shoe Tubes, acrylic ink, acrylic gouache, and gold acrylic on paper, 70 x 51 inches, 2017.
Like Fernando Botero’s swelling human figures, Jordan Kasey’s monumental painted bodies transport viewers out of the everyday. Kasey’s figures, however, have the ponderous heaviness of stone enlivened by a sometimes-electric color palette, a dynamic that gives her massive paintings unique energy. (On view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 17th).
Jordan Kasey, The Play, oil on canvas, 66 x 72 inches, 2018.
Torn and damaged-looking, Bianca Beck’s past paintings have drawn comparison to anguished post-WWII art movements. Eleven seven-foot-high sculptures dominating Rachel Uffner Gallery‘s back space couldn’t be more different, however. Towering over visitors with raucous poses and vibrant color, they were inspired by Plato’s Symposium, which imagined humans so spirited they had to be disciplined by Zeus. (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 23rd).
Bianca Beck, installation view at Rachel Uffner Gallery, Nov 2018, materials: wood, wire, papier-mache, acrylic and oil, foreground sculpture: 82 x 48 x 37 inches, 2018.
Construction sites, abandoned objects on the street and even a rubbish-filled alley have inspired Phyllida Barlow’s gritty sculpture, now on view at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Chelsea. Barlow once described her work as ‘hideous,’ and in her current show, ‘tilt,’ her sculpture stands in apparent defiance of gravity, incorporating jarring angles and textured surfaces that offer more for the eye to puzzle over than to delight in. This towering accumulation of jagged forms entices with its pink color but is ultimately menacing, suggesting immanent catastrophe. (On view through Dec 22nd).
In her current solo show at Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery, Austrian artist Svenja Deininger has brought out a new body of painting, literally, in canvases that evoke the human form, her own domestic environment, and the city of Milan, where she initiated her latest series. (On view through Dec 22nd).
Svenja Deininger, Untitled, oil on canvas, 23 ¾ x 19 5/8 inches, 2018.
From a couple of everyday guys to this fabulously coiffed model, Nathaniel Mary Quinn’s characters astound and intrigue as layers of personality come together to make a disjointed but coherent whole. Inspired by real characters from his life and Brooklyn neighborhood, Quinn’s paintings acknowledge human complexity while celebrating individuality. (On view at Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side through Oct 27th).
Nathaniel Mary Quinn, America’s Next Top Model, oil paint, paint stick, oil pastel, gouache on linen canvas, 80 x 50 inches, 2018.
Male behaviors and rituals occupy Ohio-based printmaker and current International Print Center New York resident artist Morteza Khakshoor’s colorful, dream-like prints. This piece, ‘Men of High Culture’ is a standout in the IPCNY’s current juried exhibition of new prints. Including a homogeneously dressed cast of male wall flowers and two figures grappling with eccentric creatures and separated by a vase of flowers, Khakshoor’s setup reinterprets the uber-male cockfight. (On view through Sept 22nd).
Morteza Khakshoor, Men of High Culture, screenprint on paper mounted on panel, 29 ¼ x 42 ¾ inches, 2018.
Peg board, orange plastic wrap, beard hair and other unexpected art materials create surprise and immediacy in Aaron Fowler’s meditative self-portrait at Totah Gallery on the LES. Salon94 Gallery, which also showed Fowler’s work earlier this month, explains the donkey “…as a symbol of human imperfection and signifying the potential for transformation.” (On view through Aug 26th at Totah Gallery).
Aaron Fowler, Donkey of the Lou (Self-Portrait), acrylic paint, enamel paint, sand, mirror, concrete cement, orange plastic wrap, screws, hair weave, beard hair, photo printout, plexiglass, cotton balls, LED rope lights, chains and pegboard on cubicles, 108 x 114 inches, 2018.
Humor, irony and abjection abound in Greene Naftali Gallery’s summer group show ‘Painting Now and Forever, part III,’ a collaboration with Matthew Marks Gallery, but none of these qualities are found in British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s fictional portrait titled ‘Jubilee.’ Instead, Yiadom-Boakye’s elevated characters – backlit in this case by a golden glow – are quietly exalted, seemingly above everyday life and happy in their own company and thoughts. (On view in Chelsea through August 17th).
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Jubilee, oil on canvas, 41 ½ x 35 ¾ inches, 2016.
Taking flowers or nature as the theme for a summer group exhibition isn’t particularly original or necessarily avant-garde. Still, nature’s beauty and uplift as symbol of regeneration is irresistible to audiences and to the curators of ‘A Rose is a Rose is a Rose’ at Jack Hanley Gallery, who apologetically admit that painting flowers is ‘embarrassing.’ This paper sculpture by Daniel Gordon, which recalls still lives throughout art history (think Cezanne and Matisse) and pushes the possibilities of photography as sculpture, suggests that the show’s organizers have nothing to worry about. (On view on the Lower East Side through August 3rd).
Daniel Gordon, Poppies, Pitcher & Fruits, pigment prints, glue and wire, 41 x 51 x 18 inches, 2018.
Minnesota-based nonagenarian ceramic artist Warren MacKenzie means for his creations to be used. A selection of work at Driscoll Babcock Galleries, including this attractive arrangement of cups and bowls, holds out the idea of living with beautiful things. (In Chelsea through Feb 25th).
Warren MacKenzie, installation view of ‘A Master’s Hand’ at Driscoll Babcock Galleries, Jan 2017.
One of the most divine dresses in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition of China-inspired Western fashions is this evening gown by Guo Pei in the museum’s Chinese Buddhist sculpture galleries. Though the model’s dress incorporates a lotus throne like the sculpture, it doesn’t seem to advocate any rejection of worldly pleasures. (Through Sept 7th).
Guo Pei, Evening Gown, spring/summer 2007, Haute Couture, gold lame embroidered with gold and silver silk, metal and sequins.
The dramatic centerpiece of Dale Chihuly’s show of recent work at Marlborough Gallery’s 57th Street space combines burnt logs, glass ‘reeds’ and neon light in a scenario that evokes nature but with overtly man-made objects and forms. Sapphire lights and the juxtaposition of sharp and round shapes both draw in and confound the eye. (Through April 11th).
Dale Chihuly, Sapphire Neon with Burned Logs and Neodymium Reeds, neon lights, burned wood and hand blown glass over stainless steel rods, 96 x 252, 180 inches, 2015.
New York ceramic artist Kathy Butterly’s new work at 57th Street gallery Tibor de Nagy demonstrates her inexhaustible ability to invent new, evocative forms for both standard vessels and abstract shapes. Though less than 9 inches high, the tiny artworks are powerful. (Through April 12th).
Kathy Butterly, Chatter (foreground), clay, glaze, 6 x 7 x 4 1/8 inches, 2013.
Mona Hatoum, 'Home,' 1999, photograph courtesy of Alexander and Bonin
Mona Hatoum’s 1999 sculpture Home (featuring kitchen implements with wires running out of them, accompanied by the sound of pulsating current) inspired this unsettling exhibition plumbing the darker side of the places in which we live. High on anxiety but regrettably low on risk factor, this hit parade of big-name artists still affords the pleasure of reconnecting with iconic artworks about painful circumstances.
Family relations simmer in the show’s best pieces. Louise Bourgeois’s claustrophobic house teeming with phallic/breast/fungal forms and Rachel Whiteread’s black urethane mattress creased by a labial fold conjure a dread matched by a Luc Tuymans painting of place settings that foretells the drama of a family gathering.
Violence spills over in Gregor Schneider’s photos of a strung-up sex doll and in Mamma Andersson’s painting of a disordered bedroom with ominously bloodred furniture. But the most disturbing pieces hint at souls lost to the chaos (Jeff Wall’s photo of a disheveled character standing by the door of his decrepit domicile) or obsessive order (a Thomas Ruff living-room scene) of their lives.
Even a cheery painting of a beach house by Maureen Gallace turns suspiciously, unbelievably idealized in this context, while a whimsical paintbrush by Michael Brown, its handle crafted from melted Neil Young records, seems primed for a cover-up. Viewed from the right angle, David Altmejd’s plaster sculpture of a fantastical lair with dangling staircases turns out to be the head of some deranged giant. Such twists add intrigue to this domestic thriller of a group show.
