Tag: garden

Tim Gardner at 303 Gallery

A gold panner in moonlight, a lone boy at a scenic outlook and a camper van headed into the mountains were some of the evocative but lonely subjects of Canadian artist Tim Gardner’s last solo show at 303 Gallery, created during the days of pandemic isolation.  His new watercolor and ink paintings at 303 have subtracted humans from the picture entirely, instead featuring horses, police bikes (minus riders) and flowers.  While the bikes beg the question of where the humans are, Gardner’s horses and flowers have a powerful and lively presence of their own. Here, a cluster of tulips sways in unison, a welcome pronouncement of the arrival of spring and nature’s beauty.  (On view in Chelsea through May 25th).

Tim Gardner, Untitled (garden), watercolor and ink on paper, 11 x 13 ½ inches, 2023.

Ebony G Patterson at Hales Gallery

In the darkened space of Hales Gallery’s Chelsea location, Ebony G. Patterson’s ‘night garden’ entices with elaborately cut works on paper and wall-mounted tapestry installations decorated with strings of beads, glitter and other alluring objects. Each features a female figure (here in pink) with missing face or other body parts, a representative of loss who is literally no longer whole herself.  Patterson explains that on occasions of mourning, it’s often women who are the public face of their family or community; as such, this central, sequined figure, like the garden around her, represents ‘beauty concealing trauma and violence.’ (On view through June 18th).

Ebony G. Patterson, ‘….in the swallowing…she carries the whole…the hole’ (partial view), hand-cut jacquard woven photo tapestry with appliqué, fabric, plastic, beads, feathers, trim, glitter, and wood mounted on wallpaper in two (2) parts, 50 3/8 x 86 1/4 x 5 7/8 in, 2021 – 2022.

Linda Goode Bryant in ‘Social Works’ at Gagosian Gallery

Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ piles of candy, Oscar Murillo’s pallets of freshly made chocolate and Betty Woodman’s ceramic fragments are some of the most meaningful and memorable free gifts artists have offered to New York art audiences in recent years.  Now, Linda Goode Bryant’s floating farm at Gagosian Gallery joins in with daily offerings of freshly grown and harvested produce.  Tiny bags of basil, cilantro and green beans await someone’s dinner plate but also testify to Bryant’s efforts to supply healthy food to communities with restricted access to produce via Project EATS, the urban farming organization she founded in 2009.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 13th.  Masks and social distancing required.)

Linda Goode Bryant, Are we really that different?, installation, dimensions variable, 2021.

 

Arghavan Khosravi at Rachel Uffner 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.

Joan Bankemper in ‘Summer Gardens’ at Nancy Hoffman Gallery

Gardens are Joan Bankemper’s inspiration, whether she’s crafting a vase-form covered in flowers and bees or helping plan community gardens. At Chelsea’s Nancy Hoffman Gallery, Bankemper combines handmade and found flowers, vessels and spiritual beings in this riotous sculpted garden. (On view through Sept 1st).

Joan Bankemper, Morning Glory, ceramic, 32 x 18 x 18 inches, 2012.