Iconic 20th century German painter Georg Baselitz pays homage to artists who’ve inspired him in a new series of portrait paintings at Gagosian Gallery. Presented in Baselitz’s characteristic upside-down format, figures from Tracey Emin to Willem de Kooning (pictured here) hover against black backgrounds in an ethereal glow that suggests a ghostly background presence in the mind of the artist. (On view through March 16th).
Thomas Demand’s meticulous paper sculptures from his ‘Dailies’ series pay homage to ordinary objects that were encountered, considered extraordinary for a moment, photographed, then forgotten. After reconstructing a scene shot on his phone as a paper sculpture, Demand prints the image as a vivid dye transfer print. Positioned on Demand’s wall of anonymous lockers, the banal becomes something wondrous again. (On view in Chelsea at Matthew Marks Gallery through April 7th).
By passing polarized light through scrolled and bunched transparent films, German artist Martin Klimas creates an enticing abstraction in an array of tones and colors. (On view at Foley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Feb 18th).
Don’t let the cat fool you. Despite her somber dress and downcast eyes, this actress – who was never identified in this 1926 portrait by Max Beckmann – isn’t relaxing with her pet so much as she seems poised to transform into a new role before our eyes. An intensely colored yellow wall and orange-upholstered chair in the background promise something electrifying as our bolt upright subject leans in towards us. (In ‘Max Beckmann in New York,’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through Feb 20th).
German painter Katharina Wulff depicts the dusty byways of her adopted city of Marrakech in paintings that harness the strong sun to illuminate bodies and the landscape. Inside the peeling façade of this gym, bodybuilders strive for perfection while feral dogs rove outside. (At Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).
