Dan Flavin, ‘Grids’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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Perfectly timed to contrast New York’s drab winter landscape, David Zwirner Gallery’s show of iconic light artist Dan Flavin’s fluorescent ‘Grids’ series offers a hugely enjoyable immersion in color.  Installed in the gallery as they were in Leo Castelli’s space in 1987, the show starts with three grids on loan from the Guggenheim, Princeton University Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art placed end to end across a corner.  Casting and blending their colors, this work from 1977 and the show’s other pieces transform the space of the gallery, engaging with architecture by bathing it in light. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 21st.)

Two people stand in front of a sculpture made of a grid of colorful fluorescent tubes.
Dan Flavin, untitled (for you, Leo, in long respect and affection) 2, blue, yellow, pink and green fluorescent light, 8 ft square across a corner, edition 3 of 3, 1977.

Chiharu Shiota, ‘Echoes Between’ at Templon Gallery

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Visitors to Berlin-based Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota’s latest solo show at Templon Gallery in Chelsea immediately encounter a tunnel-like path through hanging fiberoptic threads, an enchanting space that invites wonder.  Tiny lights at the end of each thread affixed to the ceiling form walls of white light which open up to allow visitors to walk around a white chair placed at the center of the gallery.  Known for employing everyday objects that may carry histories of use, Shiota arranges a flurry of butterfly-like fabric tufts above the chair, perhaps alluding to a person or spirit who is no longer there.  Suggesting transformation and passage into another state of consciousness, wakefulness or life, the installation is a dramatic opener to a though-provoking show.  (On view in Chelsea through Jan 22nd).

A white chair sits in the center of a room, surrounded by hanging fiberoptic threads.
Chiharu Shiota, installation view of ‘Echoes Between,’ November 2025 at Templon Gallery, New York.

Spencer Finch, ‘One Hundred Famous Views of New York City (after Hiroshige)’ at James Cohan Gallery

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Using glass, paint, light and other materials, Spencer Finch makes artworks that mimic natural effects, such as fog in an Emily Dickinson poem or the atmosphere of Monet’s Giverny.  Now on view at James Cohan Gallery, his latest body of work pays homage to the decades-long influence of Japanese aesthetics on his practice.  Watercolor paintings overlaying contemporary views of New York and Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo from the mid-19th century offer fragmentary but tantalizing glimpses of urban landscape. Here, Finch’s stained-glass panels installed over the gallery windows create the effect of light reflected in a New England pond, recalling moon-viewing traditions in Japan.  (On view through Oct 4th in Tribeca).

A room with a tall ceiling and arched windows with large panels of stained glass. small stacks of grey bricks are clustered on the floor of the gallery.
Spencer Finch, Moonlight (Reflected in a Pond), stained glass, dimensions variable, 2025 and on the floor, Fourteen Stones, concrete bricks, 2025.

Laura Lima, ‘Bale Literal’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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Dozens of performers noiselessly cluster backstage waiting to go before the audience at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in a performance orchestrated by Brazilian artist Laura Lima.  All actors, or ‘ballerinas’ as the gallery terms some of them, are sculptures created by Lima’s studio and include beekeeping clothes modified to suggest a space suit, a hammer and a sickle, each sporting a long ‘Greek’ dress, and a black and red cross a la early 20th century artist Kazimir Malevich.  Sent out on a pulley system along one gallery wall and powered by an offstage bicycle, the inanimate figures are given life by lights, sound and careful movement of the pulley.  Strangely absorbing, the installation and its dancing figures reward visitors who are game for interpretation. (On view in Chelsea through May 30th.)

Laura Lima, installation view of ‘Bale Literal,’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, May 2025.

Ksawery Komputery in ‘LFG’ at The Hole NYC

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Polish art/tech studio Ksawery Komputery’s interactive light installation in the form of an Atolla jellyfish is a highlight of The Hole’s lively video-game inspired show ‘LFG’ in Tribeca.  Pointing out both that the cultural influence of contemporary art is tiny in comparison with that of digital games and that such games don’t appear often in art world settings, this group show argues for more digital artwork in galleries.  Though not all pieces make use of digital technology, the standouts do and include a pickax-wielding dragon projected on a 3-D printed sculpture by Kevin Bray, Luke Murphy’s light installation on a slumping, fragmented screen and Ksawery Komputery’s dazzling, sound-responsive deep-sea creature.  (On view in Tribeca through May 24th).

Ksawery Komputery, Bios, oil paint on wood panels in 3 pieces, interactive light installation / led, 3d print, custom hardware and software, 28 x 12 inches (main structure) + 196 inches (long LED strips), 2025.

Leonardo Drew, Number 427 at Galerie Lelong

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At the entrance to Leonardo Drew’s current solo show at Galerie Lelong is a huge, ten-foot-high grid of panels, each hosting a rich abundance of fragments, yet this towering, orderly artwork is overwhelmed by the dynamic chaos of a floor-to ceiling installation in the main gallery beyond.  The materials – wood, plaster and paint – appear to be weathered fragments from a natural disaster but are in fact deliberately distressed and arranged in clusters around the gallery’s two main columns.  In his urge to reinvent, Drew has reused elements from previous installations – projects for Art Basel in ’22 and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in ’23 – to respond to the specifics of Galerie Lelong’s industrial-architecture-turned-white-cube by banishing its austerity and taking over the space.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 19th).

Leonardo Drew, installation view of Number 427, wood, plaster and paint, 3 parts, overall dimensions variable, 2024.

Osgemeos, Cultivating Dreams at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

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Known for imagining idiosyncratic characters from dreamed up worlds, Brazilian street-artist twins, Osemegos are back at Lehmann Maupin Gallery with paintings and two installations that fill the gallery with vivid color and sound from a built-in DJ booth.  Pictured here, the gallery’s west wall houses a mystical architectural construction presided over by a nude man whose body has split in two to reveal a glowing inner self.  To either side, a celestial goddess holds a planet in her hand while a man whose head in encircled by flower petals smiles serenely.  In the sky, two heads circled by colorful lights – one of which is emerging from a UFO – light up the already bright skies over an installation that delights and entertains.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 16th).

Osgemeos, installation view of ‘Cultivating Dreams,’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, June 2024.

Hugh Hayden, Hughmans at Lisson Gallery

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Hugh Hayden’s last show in 2021 at Lisson Gallery featured church pews installed like a chapel in the gallery; his current exhibition again transforms the space, this time into a restroom with artworks in multiple stalls, including a functioning urinal.  Visitors open doors to find pieces that refer generally to human experience: education (a distorted school desk), diasporic culinary arts and music (cooking pans merged with West African masks) and sexuality (several male torsos make a connection between guns and phalluses.)  Sequestered in their own stalls, each sculpture can be viewed alone or – though it feels strange, given the public restroom environment – with others.  Engaging with the show is irresistible; curious visitors are rewarded with beautifully crafted, surreal sculptures that prompt us to explore specific cultural commonalities.  (On view in Chelsea through June 15th).

Hugh Hayden, installation view of ‘Hughmans’ at Lisson Gallery, June 2024.

Thomas Hirschhorn at Gladstone Gallery

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Known for gallery-filling installations made of cardboard and packing tape, Paris-based artist Thomas Hirschhorn marshals these materials to transform Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location into a room resembling a destroyed command center or gaming parlor.  Titled ‘Fake it, Fake it – till you Fake it’ the gallery’s huge space houses rows of desks littered with cigarettes and coffee cups cut roughly from polystyrene and cardboard computers (some with smashed screens) featuring war-destroyed buildings from both real places and video games.  Hanging from lengths of packing tape, images of soldiers taken from video games populate the room’s aisles, their faces covered by emojis, which also hang like mobiles from the gallery ceiling.  Hirschhorn’s deliberately low-tech materials contrast the realistic imagery from the video game (seen in this photo on one screen) and disturbingly blur the line between real and fake. (On view in Chelsea through March 2nd).

Thomas Hirschhorn, installation view of ‘Fake it, Fake it – till you Fake it,’ cardboard, prints, tape, polystyrene, aluminum foil, dimensions variable, 2023.

Candice Lin at Canal Projects

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Candice Lin’s fantastical tale of a lithium factory worker reincarnated as a sex demon draws viewers in through an abundance of media including paintings on textile, adapted Korean fermentation vessels, video and workstations featuring ceramic computers, clocks and more in a bizarre but masterful exhibition at Canal Projects.  The installation – coproduced and commissioned by the 14th Gwangju Biennial and Canal Projects – is accompanied by a text detailing the story of a young woman who attempted to steal lithium to make a new life for herself and her lover.  Apparently killed in the effort, she finds herself in the body of a demon – inspired by spirits in Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian lore who are attracted to bodily fluids and functions – who makes her way back to the human realm to haunt the lithium factory and its workers.  Dehumanized by factory work performed to service our reliance on lithium, Lin’s worker ceases to be human, an outcome that serves as a warning to viewers.  (On through on Canal Street through Dec 16th).

Candice Lin, installation view of Lithium Sex Demons in the Factory, Canal Projects, Sept – Dec 2023.

Liliana Porter at Bienvenu Steinberg and J

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Tiny figures perform enormous undertakings in delightfully absurd new sculpture and 2-D works by Liliana Porter at Bienvenu, Steinberg and J in Tribeca.  Miniscule men with leaf blowers raise up a storm of swirling forms while a little woman with an even smaller a basket of glitter spreads the shiny material into an expanding field of brightness.  Ruptures in scale and contrasts between the real and represented are the stock in trade of Porter’s six decades of artmaking.  Here, magical scenarios convert mundane acts by individuals into aesthetic gestures for the public. (On view through Oct 14th).

Liliana Porter, Untitled with her, gold glitter and metal figurine, dimensions variable, 2023.

Jacob Hashimoto at Miles McEnery Gallery

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At first glance, the entrance to Jacob Hashimoto’s installation at Miles McEnery Gallery appears to be blocked by a super abundance of paper and bamboo disks, his signature material.  No one pauses for a moment though, before climbing the gallery stairs and whipping out a phone to photograph the strings of shapes that form a cloud overhead.  Called ‘kites’ by the artist, the forms are heavier than the airborne toys but resemble them in their paper on frame structure, sense of lightness and potential for movement.  Austere in black and white tones that echo the gallery architecture, the installation is restrained yet exuberant, balanced yet dynamic.  (On view through Oct 21st).

Jacob Hashimoto, installation view of ‘The Disappointment Engine,’ at Miles McEnery Gallery, Sept 2023.

Pepon Osorio at the New Museum

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When he had a son in the 90s, Puerto Rico-born artist Pepon Osorio started thinking of how to raise him without perpetuating unwanted ideas about masculinity. This consideration (and a commission from Real Art Ways in Connecticut) led the artist to create the multi-media installation ‘No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop,’ now on view at the New Museum in a solo survey show presenting Osorio’s work from the 90s to today.  Originally installed in a working-class Puerto Rican neighborhood in Hartford, CT, the installation sprang from community conversations identifying barber shops as places where “…ideas surrounding machismo are formed and performed in Latinx culture from generation to generation.”  Overwhelming in its decorative detail, the recreated barbershop builds a powerful and absorbingly complex picture of male identity formation from the influence of actors, sports heroes and other public figures to the car culture alluded to in wall-mounted hubcaps.  (On view through Sept 17th).

Pepon Osorio, installation view of ‘No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop (En la barberia no se llora), mixed mediums and video installation, 1994.

rafa esparza at Artists Space

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Titled ‘Camino’ or ‘Road,’ LA based performance and exhibition artist rafa esparza’s exhibition at Artists Space creates a pathway through the gallery space using blocks of adobe that connect earthen panels painted with portraits of Black and brown working people.  Interspersed are paintings of the 110 Freeway in Los Angeles, listed in the US National Register of Historic Places as the first freeway in the western United States.  Though esparza’s barefoot subjects literally connect to the land itself, the show considers how individuals and community connections to land have been disrupted by the highways that followed 110 and how customized vehicles (including the bike seen here) have provided a workaround and sense of identity.  (On view in Tribeca through Aug 18th).

rafa esparza, Jaime, acrylic on adobe and powder coated steel, painting: 85.5 x 50 x 3 inches, overall: 89 x 50 x 60 inches, 2023.

Spencer Finch at the Hill Art Foundation

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It’s impossible not to gaze out over 10th Ave or the greenspace of the High Line Park through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Hill Art Foundation’s gorgeous two-story Chelsea gallery space.  Spencer Finch – an artist who has made a career of simulating natural phenomena in gallery settings using a diverse range of media from photography to installation – reverses the outward look, inviting nature into the space. Inspired by Claude Monet’s desire to “paint air,” Finch has created an installation that recreates his direct observation of the light and color of the famous Impressionist’s garden in Giverny.  (On view through March 4th).

Spencer Finch, Painting Air, glass, hardware, wall painting, dimensions variable, 2012.

Chiharu Shiota at Templon Gallery

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The huge line to enter Chiharu Shiota’s exhibition at Chelsea’s Templon Gallery last weekend speaks to the capacity of the Berlin-based Japanese artist to mesmerize audiences with the scale and intense labor of installations that elaborate on her ongoing theme of human connectivity.  A temporary installation fills the gallery’s front room, acting as portal to the rest of the exhibition and a place to marvel at the seemingly simultaneously chaotic and orderly network the artist created by suspending book pages in a web of thick white thread stapled to walls and floor.  Titled ‘Human Rhizome,’ the piece references an underground network of roots; in Shiota’s interpretation, the written word acts as an unseen communication network. (On view through March 9th).

Chiharu Shiota, Human Rhizome, thread and book pages, installation, ‘23

Sol LeWitt, Wall drawing #485 at Paula Cooper

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Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings – some 1,200 sets of instructions for turning architecture into art – range from the simple (e.g. drawing lines in patterns going up, down and to the side) to the kind of full-room, immersive installation currently on view at Paula Cooper Gallery.  Energizing but restrained, a matte, fresco-like orange tone dominates, setting off multi-hued, isometric pyramids of various colors that seem to float through space.  In the center of the gallery, white enamel on aluminum sculptures resemble tips of icebergs adrift on the gallery’s polished concrete floor.  Surrounded by angular geometries in the cavernous rectangle of the gallery, visitors inhabit a parallel universe governed by alternative rules of color and space.  (On view on 21st Street in Chelsea through Oct 22nd).

Sol LeWitt, Wall drawing #485 (detail), three asymmetrical pyramids with color ink washes superimposed, color wash ink, 1986. Sol LeWitt, Complex Form #6 (to the right, detail), enamel on aluminum, 1987/1988.

Jesus Raphael Soto in ‘WAVE’ at Marlborough Gallery

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Experiencing one of late Venezuelan kinetic artist Jesus Raphael Soto’s signature sculptures of hanging plastic cord in 1969, critic Guy Brett remarked that the participant’s ‘physicality was diffused,’ suggesting that moving through the piece breaks down the barrier between bodies and environment.  With or without visitors mingling among the threads in this piece in Marlborough Gallery’s summer group show of abstract and kinetic art, Soto’s installation challenges perception as it morphs from solid to ephemeral, suggesting a work always in flux.   (On view in Chelsea through Sept 10th.)

Jesus Rafael Soto, Penetrable Azul de Valencia, wood and pigmented plastic, unique, 108 5/8 x 366 1/8 x 108 ¼ inches, 1999.

Nari Ward, Shoelaces at Lehmann Maupin

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Shining copper panels shaped like the squares of a sidewalk, marked with outlines of candles and other items left by mourners on a street memorial are beautiful reminders of the terrible cost of the pandemic and of racially-motivated violence in Nari Ward’s latest solo show at Lehman Maupin Gallery.  Downstairs, four text-based works in one of his signature materials – hanging shoelaces – cite songs, poetry and the Emancipation Proclamation.  ‘What’s Going On,’ references Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song, inspired by US involvement in Vietnam and the civil unrest in Watts.  In the past, Ward has collected shoelaces from museum visitors to make word-based installations, establishing an association with the personal that brings the text closer to home.  (On view in Chelsea through June 4th).

Nari Ward, What’s Going On, shoelaces, 78 x 81.5 x 1 inch, 2022.

Eva LeWitt at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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Using silicone and metal beads, sculptor Eva LeWitt creates a series of hanging spheres in Luhring Augustine’s Chelsea space that shape-shift as light passes through them.  The artist has explained that for her, spheres are ‘a beginning and an end…a period, a punctuation.’  Hung in a ring around the middle of the gallery at varying lengths, they seem gathered as if for conversation or play.  (On view in Chelsea through April 30th).

Eva LeWitt, installation view at Luhring Augustine Gallery, March 2022.

Camille Norment at the Dia Art Foundation

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Norway-based American artist Camille Norment conceives of social relationships past and present in terms of sound in two new commissions at the Dia Art Foundation in Chelsea.  For this untitled piece, microphones in the gallery pick up ambient sound and send it down the stem and into the bell below.  As sound creates more sound and feeds back into the loop, auditory events in the room become, in Norment’s words, “an exponential saturation of voice, existing and experienced as a negotiation of control.” (On view through Jan 2023).

Camille Norment, Untitled, brass, sine waves, autonomous feedback system, and archival radio static, 2022.

Haroon Mirza at Lisson Gallery

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Known for artwork that favors experience over objects, Haroon Mirza was inspired by a mind-boggling proposal which he has made into the central concept behind his current exhibition at Chelsea’s Lisson Gallery.  Introduced in a British sci-fi novel from the 30s and advanced in the 60s by the physicist Freeman Dyson, the Dyson Sphere is a series of orbiting platforms erected around a star to harvest solar energy.  Mirza creates a mini version at the center of the gallery; a ring of solar panels collects energy from the halogen lights at center, providing energy to power various artworks around the gallery, including a terrarium of hallucinogenic cacti and a simple machine that plays a set of drums.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 12th).

Haroon Mirza, installation view of ‘For A Dyson Sphere,’ Lisson Gallery, February 2022.

‘Hello Walls’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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Titled after a Willie Nelson ballad about lost love, ‘Hello Walls’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street space dwarfs the viewer with huge wall paintings by big-name artists. Here, Ugo Rondinone’s fuzzy target at the show’s entrance acts like a pulsing beacon to draw visitors into the gallery while Michael Craig-Martin’s take-away cup is so big it feels architectural. (Through July 31st).

Installation view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location, Michael Craig-Martin on left, Ugo Rondinone on right, July 2015.

Olaf Breuning Solo Show at Metro Pictures

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Flotsam from the digital world materializes in Olaf Breuning’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Metro Pictures gallery, which is crowded with large wall-paper covered MDF panels that reference thought bubbles, emoticons, motivational slogans and more. (Through July 31st).

Olaf Breuning, installation view of ‘The Life,’ at Metro Pictures, June 2015.

Kay Rosen at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

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Kay Rosen’s wall installation ‘Monuments’ at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co is a size XXL love scene written entirely in two words, as a reclining nude ‘obelisk’ and upright phallic ‘obelisk’ tangle in a curvy ‘S.’ (through July 18th).

Kay Rosen, Monuments, latex paint on wall, dimensions variable, 2013.

Adrian Piper at Elizabeth Dee Gallery

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Would you be willing to promise that you’ll always do what you say you’re going to do? How about signing a contract to that effect? At three stations in conceptual artist Adrian Piper’s latest solo show at Elizabeth Dee Gallery in Chelsea, the artist asks visitors to do just that. Here, you can agree to ‘always be too expensive to buy.’ (Through May 31st).

Adrian Piper, installation view of ‘The Probable Trust Registry’ at Elizabeth Dee Gallery, May 2014.

Jenny Holzer in ‘No Problem’ at David Zwirner Gallery

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David Zwirner Gallery revisits the 1980s in ‘No Problem,’ a group show that tracks the mutual influence of the Cologne and New York art scenes during this era. It includes Jenny Holzer’s inflammatory essays – in-your-face rants once plastered around New York and included in a show at Monika Spruth Galerie in Cologne in 1985. (In Chelsea through June 14th).

Jenny Holzer, Inflammatory Essays, 1979-1982, offset posters on colored paper, 17 x 17 inches (each).

Oscar Murillo at David Zwirner Gallery

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If making abundant free chocolate to give to gallery visitors seems like a blatant ploy to get people talking about your artwork, you’d be reading Oscar Murillo’s latest show at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery correctly. The young, London-based Columbian artist intends visitors to his candy factory – operated by visiting Columbian staffers – to take some to share, spreading the conversation about migration and commerce. (Through June 14th).

Oscar Murillo, installation view of ‘A Merchantile Novel’ at David Zwirner Gallery, April 2014.

Rob Fischer at Derek Eller Gallery

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Created from recycled materials, Rob Fischer’s ‘Good Weather (Glass House)’ on view at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery offers bare bones living with a utilitarian kitchen and basic loft bedroom as well as an opportunity to commune with your surroundings, whether urban or rural. (Through April 19th).

Rob Fischer, Good Weather (Glass House),’ glass, steel, screenprint ink, acrylic and latex paint, construction adhesive, wood floor, lights, wires, 175 x 223 x 126 inches, 2014.

Hans Schabus at Simon Preston Gallery

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When hundreds of dealers from around the world converge at an art fair, how do they set themselves apart? At Art Basel Miami, Simon Preston Gallery brought their gallery doors with them per Vienna-based artist Hans Schabus’s instructions. Back in New York, with new doors installed outside, Schabus displayed the earlier versions, along with a rendering of the temporary plywood exterior and a drawing that questioned the importance of a gallery’s local setting. (On the Lower East Side through April 14, 2014).

Hans Schabus, installation view of ‘Lower East Side,’ at Simon Preston Gallery, March, 2014.

Xu Bing in ‘Ink Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Beijing-based artist Xu Bing is a star of the Met’s excellent ‘Ink Art’ exhibition, which features important work by prominent Chinese artists of the past few decades who have maintained a link with China’s traditional calligraphic and painting traditions. Here, Xu’s Book from the Sky submerses visitors in a sea of Chinese characters (with over a thousand unique variations) yet comes to question tradition and the relay of information by the fact that all are illegible. (At the Metropolitan Museum of Art through April 6th).

Xu Bing, Book from the Sky, ca 1987-91, installation of hand-printed books and ceiling and wall scrolls printed from wood letterpress type; ink on paper.

Pawel Althamer at the New Museum

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Polish artist Pawel Althamer opens up his exhibition at the New Museum to contributions from the public by providing paint, paper and smocks to the many, many visitors who want to leave their mark. (On the Lower East Side through April 13th).

Pawel Althamer, installation view of ‘Draftsmen’s Progress’ at the New Museum, March 2014.

Red Grooms at Marlborough Gallery

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Though New York artist Red Grooms created this gallery-filling installation replicating an alley near his downtown studio over twenty years ago – to bring some ‘quintessential New York funk’ to Marlborough Gallery’s London location – its shady hustle and bustle and maniacal truck driver still look contemporary. (At Marlborough Gallery’s Lower East Side location through March 23rd.)

Red Grooms, ‘The Alley,’ wood, foam, and mixed media, dimensions variable, 1984-5.

Erwin Redl at Bitforms Gallery

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Powered by small fans at the bottom of wall-mounted glass tubes, Ping-Pong balls play a solitary game as they whiz up and down in Ohio-based artist Erwin Redl’s mesmerizing installation at Chelsea’s Bitforms Gallery.  (Through March 15th).  

Erwin Redl, Levitate (thirty-one), suspended glass tubes, fans, Ping-Pong balls, microprocessor, 11 x 31 x 1 ft, 2014.

David Altmejd at Andrea Rosen Gallery

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Montreal-born, Long Island City based sculptor David Altmejd once again excites the senses by filling Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery with one of his trademark vitrine-like sculptures.  Throughout the sculpture, hands appear to manipulate various materials, suggesting the act of creation, while fake fruits and armies of ants bring to mind decay.  (Through March 8th).  

David Altmejd, The Flux and the Puddle, installation view at Andrea Rosen Gallery, Feb 2014, mixed media, 2014.

Ingrid Calame at James Cohan Gallery

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“The whole surface of the world is a potential drawing,” said LA artist Ingrid Calame in a recent interview.  “How do you represent something as huge as the world?”  Calame answers her question by mapping a small section of the world and making it feel large.  For this room-sized installation, Calame visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pits, tracing the stains and tire tracks and reproducing them here in a blaze of electric colors.  (At Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery through Feb 8th.)  

Ingrid Calame, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pits, #4, #7, #9, #26, #32, #33, #35, #37, #39, #40, as installed:  13’ 5 ½” x 41’ 9” x 30’, pigment on wall, 2013.

Duke Riley at Magnan Metz Gallery

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Built from materials reclaimed from shipwrecks off Florida’s Key West, this pigeon coop houses birds trained by New York artist Duke Riley to fly from Havana to Key West bearing cigars in carefully crafted slings.  Grids of painted bird portraits detail the fates of the participants, who were named after filmmakers who had brushes with the law, or historical smugglers.  (At Chelsea’s Magnan Metz Gallery through Jan 11th).  

Duke Riley, installation view of ‘See You At the Finish Line,’ at Magnan Metz Gallery, Dec, 2013.


Roni Horn at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

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Even inside a gallery, these pristine glass sculptures by American artist Roni Horn subtly change as the light from the skylights passes through them.  Their title references dreams while their surfaces resemble pools; they’re objects to transport you.  (At Hauser & Wirth Gallery through Jan 11th.  Check website for holiday season opening hours.)  

Roni Horn, Untitled (“A dream dreamt in a dreaming world is not really a dream…but a dream not dreamt is.”), solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces, 10 parts, unique (series 5), 2012.

Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner Gallery

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Yayoi Kusama’s star is still shining in New York, where her Whitney Museum show in 2012 attracted throngs, and now an exhibition including two more trademark ‘infinity rooms’ is drawing thousands of visitors a day to Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery.  In this room, mirrors, low lights and polka-dotted tentacles coming from floor and ceiling create a hallucinatory effect.  (Through Dec 21st).  

Yayoi Kusama, Love is Calling, wood, metal, glass mirrors, tile, acrylic panel, rubber, blowers, lighting element, speakers, and sound, 2013.

Terry Haggerty at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

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British artist Terry Haggerty’s updated Op Art never stops moving when you are in front of it.  The simplest device – twisting and tapering the end of parallel lines – turns this installation in Sikkema Jenkins & Co’s back gallery into a dizzying experience. (In Chelsea through Nov 16th).  

Terry Haggerty, forward/reverse, latex paint on walls, 2013.

Julie Becker Sculpture at GreeneNaftali Gallery

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Julie Becker’s mixed media sculpture from 2000 brings a slice of LA into NYC by suggesting a block of West Sunset Blvd complete with weeds, a lost slipper and a drawing advertising a street art competition.  It’s a quirky, anything’s possible kind of city view that’s fast disappearing from Chelsea.  (At Chelsea’s GreeneNaftali Gallery through October 5th.)  

Julie Becker, 1910 West Sunset Blvd, mixed media sculpture, 2000.

Sol LeWitt at Paula Cooper Gallery

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When iconic Minimalist/Conceptualist artist Sol Lewitt moved to Italy in the 70s, his palette veered dramatically toward the colorful, evident here in what the New York Times has called ‘2,448 sq ft of visual sumptuousness.’  The huge installation is one of the approximately 1,200 wall drawings the artist conceived of in his lifetime, and is an arresting blast of color and form.  (at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through October 12th.    

Sol LeWitt, installation view of ‘Wall Drawing #564:  Complex forms with color ink washes superimposed,’ (1988) Paula Cooper Gallery, Sept 2013.

Greg Haberny at Lyons Wier Gallery

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Considering the profuse detail of the 2-D collages, floor covering and pencil-studded ceiling of his installation at Chelsea’s Lyons Wier Gallery, it comes as no surprise that Greg Haberny was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.  The frustration of a childhood defined by medicines and misdiagnoses comes through loud and clear.  (Through October 5th).  

Greg Haberny, installation view of ‘Burn all Crayons’ at Lyons Wier Gallery, Sept 2013.

Adam Marnie at Derek Eller Gallery

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New York artist Adam Marnie presents a mediated flash-back with his solo show at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery by removing the bottom two feet of drywall from the gallery’s walls, recalling the scene after Hurricane Sandy last October. Nearby interlocking cubes recall 60s minimalist ideas about art being a physical experience; but what happens to interpretation if the physical space of the gallery is altered by disaster?  (Through Oct 5th).  

Adam Marnie, Inward Object I, maple, wood putty spray paint, 2013.

Phil Collins at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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British artist Phil Collins set up a phone booth in a German homeless shelter and offered its guests a deal – in exchange for free local and international calls, they allowed the artist to record their conversations and commission songs from the transcripts.  At Tanya Bonkadar Gallery, visitors are invited to listen to the results in individual sound booths.  (In Chelsea through October 19th).  

Phil Collins, installation view of ‘my heart’s in my hand and my hand is pierced, and my hand’s in the bag, and the bag is shut, and my heart is caught,’ sound installation, 2013.

Daniel Buren in ‘Lightness of Being’ at City Hall Park

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It’s going to be hard to appreciate major late 20th century minimalist Daniel Buren’s characteristic indoor painted installations after seeing his gorgeous pavilion in City Hall Park, which allows visitors to literally walk into fields of color and interact with spaces projected by the sun onto the ground and pavilion floor.  (Through December 13th).  

Daniel Buren, Suncatcher, powder-coated steel, glass, vinyl, 2013.

David Jelinek at Andrew Edlin Gallery

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For many artists, being offered an exhibition in a Chelsea gallery would feel like winning the lottery.  For his first show at Andrew Edlin’s Chelsea gallery, New York artist David Jelinek takes the daring step of filling the space not with his own creations but with a symbol of hope aroused and then dashed – a scattering of discarded losing lottery tickets strewn on the gallery floor. (Through Aug 17th).  

David Jelinek, installation view of ‘Money Down,’ at Andrew Edlin Gallery, July 2013.

Piero Golia in ‘Mixed Media Message’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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I saw a dog enthusiastically enjoying this sculpture at Barbara Gladstone Gallery with its owner…that is, until it was scared away when the animatronic creature raised its head in response to a periodic drip coming from an easy-to-miss fake ventilation shaft.  This piece by LA-based artist Piero Golia suggests that even a faux dog’s powers of perception are to be reckoned with.  (At Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 24th St space, through Aug 2nd).  

Piero Golia, The Dog and the Drip, animatronic dog, solenoids and sync device, 2013.

Simryn Gill in ‘CHICK LIT: Revised Summer Reading’ at Tracy Williams, Ltd.

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Australia-based artist Simryn Gill found a nine-volume set of books by Mahatma Gandhi in a library sale and transformed them into spheres.  But like a book, the sculptures are intended to be held, prompting their audience to consider their subject in a new way. (At Tracy Williams, Ltd. through Aug 9th).  

Simryn Gill, 9 Volumes from The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, paper, glue, 2008.

Simon Denny at Petzel Gallery

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One of Chelsea’s more unusual looking shows of the moment involves innovative display of old information.  Berlin-based artist Simon Denny’s latest solo show at Petzel Gallery takes the 2012 version of the annual DLD tech conference as its subject matter, displaying posters that summarize event highlights (last year’s news) in analogue (obsolete?) style.  

Simon Denny, installation view of ‘All you need is data:  the DLD Conference REDUX rerun,’ at Petzel Gallery, June, 2013.

Christian Holstad at Andrew Kreps Gallery

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Andrew Kreps inaugurates its new space at 537 West 22nd (Petzel Gallery’s old spot) with a show by new gallery artist Christian Holstad, whose handcrafted objects (including trashcans, an abandoned stroller, a flock of chickens and bees like this one) invite mediation on the contemporary urban environment. (Through June 22nd).  

Christian Holstad, installation view of ‘Christian Holstad:  The Book of Hours,’ at Andrew Kreps Gallery, May 2013.

Chadwick Rantanen at Essex Street

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Chadwick Rantanen’s new show, ‘Bins and Loops’ at the Lower East Side gallery ‘Essex Street’ pushes his materials like no other show up at the moment.  Rantanen uses the hydrographic process, in which images are applied to produce surfaces via printed film, but stops short of applying the images, instead leaving them to float on the water’s surface in an abstract pattern that dramatically updates the idea of process art.  (Through June 9th).  

Chadwick Rantanen, ‘Bin,’ 11 polypropylene bin bottoms and 10 tops, hydrographic film, water, 2013.

Jorge Macchi at Alexander & Bonin Gallery

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Jorge Macchi’s percussive sculpture ‘fan’ entices visitors into Chelsea’s Alexander & Bonin’s main gallery space, but once inside conveys danger as wobbling ceiling fan blades chip into the gallery walls.  In a show devoted to mediations on time, it’s an ominous portent. (Through June 15th).

Jorge Macchi, ‘fan,’ metal ceiling fan, 2013.

Ugo Rondinone at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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Swiss conceptual artist Ugo Rondinone has converted Barbara Gladstone’s gallery into an elegant cave featuring plaster-covered walls and stacked stone anthropomorphs.  Rondinone channels his own family’s past as cave dwellers to create this clan of simple bluestone characters whose titles (‘glad,’ ‘blessed,’ ‘shocked’) add to their surprising charm.  (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street Chelsea space through July 3rd.  See their larger cousins at Rockefeller Center through July 4th).

Ugo Rondinone, ‘soul,’ installation view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, May 2013.

Mark di Suvero at Paula Cooper Gallery

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Mark di Suvero’s huge new steel sculpture ‘Little Dancer’ at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery belies its title at 19 x 36 x 15 feet.  Still, in comparison to the larger structure, spiraling forms hanging from the larger, angular structure are as graceful as tons of steel can get.   (Through June 29th).

Mark di Suvero, Little Dancer, steel, 2010-12.

Mika Rottenberg at Andrea Rosen Gallery

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Mika Rottenberg’s acclaimed films evoke fascination and repulsion in equal measure as we watch eccentric characters labor to create ambiguous products in claustrophobic, factory-like settings.  With jagged, candy-colored sheets of polyurethane resin propped against the wall at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, Rottenberg transforms her signature mix of sweet and grotesque into sculpture.  (through June 22nd).  

Mika Rottenberg, ‘Texture 1 & 3, Texture 2, part a, Texture 3 & 4,’ polyurethane resin, acrylic paint, installed dimensions variable, 2013.

Marianne Vitale at Zach Feuer Gallery

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Marianne Vitale’s ‘Diamond Crossing’ at Zach Feuer Gallery is one of the most minimal and therefore surprising installations in Chelsea right now and consists entirely of a five-ton section of decommissioned railroad track meeting in a junction.  Like the burnt bridge and a bullet-riddled outhouse in her last show, it’s an iconic relic of the American landscape. (through June 15th).  

Marianne Vitale, Diamond Crossing, steel, installation view, 2013.

JR & José Parlá at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

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Cartagena, Spain, Shanghai, LA and Havana have hosted globe-trotting street artist JR and his ‘The Wrinkles of the City’ project, for which he interviews and photographs senior citizens, then blows up their images and applies them with glue to the city’s walls.  Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery showcases the monumental Havana photos and an entertaining video through July 12th.  

JR and José Parlá, The Wrinkles of the City, Havana, Cuba, Man with a Jerry Can, color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminum, 2012.

Josh Tonsfeld at Simon Preston Gallery

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When his grandparents’ Missouri farmhouse burned, Josh Tonsfeld’s family salvaged some things and left the rest.  In a creative act of excavation, the New York based artist returned to remove more objects from the debris, including this book, ruined furniture and correspondence, which he arranges in the gallery in a kind of provocative but inconclusive personal archeology of a past American life.   (At Simon Preston Gallery through June 2nd).

Josh Tonsfeld, Untitled, book, 2013.

Maria Petschnig at On Stellar Rays

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Austrian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Maria Petschnig terms her videos ‘raw’ and ‘psychological,’ terms which still apply to her videos and installation at On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side, as she transforms the white cube gallery into a dimly lit, wood-paneled maze punctuated by mattress sculptures featuring eerily unknowable lumps.  (Through June 16th).  

Maria Petschnig, Mycroft, mattress, jersey, polyester, padding, 2013.

Ryan Humphrey at DCKT Contemporary

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Ryan Humphrey brings street life inside by making art from signage, brass knuckles, music and more in a show that includes paintings in the guise of caution tape, available by the piece or all together.  A comment on desensitization or just plain desensitization?  (At DCKT Contemporary on the Lower East Side through May 12th).  

Ryan Humphrey, Tapes, acrylic on canvas, seven parts, 2013.

Virginia Overton at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

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It takes a few hours to get going, but by the end of each day, Virginia Overton’s makeshift hot tub (heated by a coffee maker pumping water in and out of the tub) has gotten warm, if not necessarily inviting.  The DIY sauna effect is complete with the other piece in the show – a gallery wall covered with Eastern red cedar cut from Overton’s family farm that fills the space with natural fragrance. (At Mitchell-Innes & Nash’s Chelsea gallery through April 6th).  

Virginia Overton, ‘Untitled (hot tub),’ cast iron tub, coffee maker, vinyl tubing, limestone, brick, 2013 AND ‘Untitled (juniperus virginiana),’ eastern red cedar, 2013.

Doug Aitken at 303 Gallery – Continued…

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Doug Aitken is giving his ‘Sonic Fountain,’ dug from the floor of Chelsea’s 303 Gallery, a fitting send off as the show closes this week with a musical performance that wreaks havoc on more of the gallery’s architecture.  (303 will move to West 24th Street while its current space is developed.)  In this photo, musicians hammered on wood, tossed chunks of rubble and sawed drywall in accompaniment to the still operating fountain. (Through Saturday, April 6th).  

Doug Aitken, musical performance/destruction of 303 Gallery’s interior, April 2, 2013.

Sylvie Fleury at Salon 94 Bowery

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Sylvie Fleury’s 1998 video ‘Walking on Carl Andre,’ features women’s feet as they pose on ‘60s Minimalist icon Carl Andre’s signature metal floor plate sculptures.  In this updated version, she allows visitors to try on a pair of heels and strut their stuff on an Andre replica in a feminizing collaboration that turns his masculine, industrial art product into a catwalk. (At Salon 94 Bowery through April 27th.)  

Sylvie Fleury, installation view of ‘It Might as Well Rain Until September,’ at Salon 94 Bowery, March 2013.

Mark Dion at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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Mark Dion’s vitrine-based sculptures often evoke the wonder of the 16th-18th century ‘Wunderkammer,’ or cabinet of curiosities.  In this sculpture, the centerpiece of his current show at Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, the ‘wunder’ of this cast replica of a manatee skeleton is overshadowed by a polluted sea-bed of tar-covered consumer goods below. (Through April 13th).  

Mark Dion, Trichechus manatus latirostris, plastic skeleton, tar, found objects in steel and glass case, 2013.

Miroslaw Balka at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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You have to shout to be heard above the roar of dyed-black water pouring into vast steel containers in Polish artist Miroslaw Balka’s installation at Barbara Gladstone Gallery.  Whether it conjures environmental destruction (with the oil-like appearance of the water) or suggests larger industrial processes, the installation, titled ‘The Order of Things,’ generates unease.  (At Barbara Gladstone’s 21st Street location in Chelsea through March 30th).  

Miroslaw Balka, 2 x (350 x 300 x 300), 36 x 36 x 29/The Order of Things, steel, water, pumps, plastic, rubber, water, food coloring and wood, 2013.

Michael Riedel at David Zwirner Gallery

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In past work, German artist Michael Riedel has drawn his materials from texts on the web written about his own work, which he turned into exhibition wallpaper.  For his current show at David Zwirner Gallery, he puts those images into PowerPoint and causes a ‘freezing’ between slides to create a new merger of information.  (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 533 West 19th Street location through March 23rd).  

Michael Riedel at David Zwirner Gallery, installation view, Feb 2013.

Ragnar Kjartansson at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson’s 9-screen installation at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine has been a hands-down ‘Chelsea Gallery Tour’ favorite lately.  Kjartansson and a band of musician friends occupy different rooms in a 200 year old Hudson River mansion as they perform a 53 minute song, which fades away but sticks in the memory as the group exits the house and trails away over green hills. (Through March 16th).  

Ragnar Kjartansson, ‘The Visitors,’ installation view, Nine channel HD video projection, 2012.

Ishmael Randall Weeks at Eleven Rivington

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Ishmael Randall Weeks, I-Beam, cut and carved books, wood shelf, metal, 2012.
Ishmael Randall Weeks, I-Beam, cut and carved books, wood shelf, metal, 2012.

Ishmael Randall Weeks’ mountain range – suspended in the middle of Eleven Rivington’s Chrystie Street space – is composed of carved texts about revolution in Latin America, turning writing about imagined utopias into a depiction of a real place.  (On the Lower East Side through Feb 10th).

Doug Aitken at 303 Gallery

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Doug Aitken, installation view of ‘Sonic Fountain,’ basin with 5 underwater microphones, five computer controlled valves, pipes and rigging, 6 speakers, subwoofer, audio mixer, digital audio processor, custom valve controller, transformer, computer, monitor, water tanks, pump, hoses, cables, 2013.
Doug Aitken, installation view of ‘Sonic Fountain,’ basin with 5 underwater microphones, five computer controlled valves, pipes and rigging, 6 speakers, subwoofer, audio mixer, digital audio processor, custom valve controller, transformer, computer, monitor, water tanks, pump, hoses, cables, 2013.

LA video artist Doug Aitken, known for ambitious projects like his film projections on the exterior walls of MoMA and the Hirshhorn Museum, has created a smaller scale but no less intense installation piece for his latest show at 303 Gallery in Chelsea.  The centerpiece is ‘Sonic Fountain,’ which allows drips to fall from the ceiling into a hole dug in the gallery floor in patterns that create a song that’s been likened to breathing.  (Through March 23rd).

Tour Chelsea Galleries with Merrily this Saturday, 11am – 1pm

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Dieter Roth at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, installation view of The Floor I, 1973 - 1992.
Dieter Roth at Hauser & Wirth Gallery, installation view of The Floor I, 1973 – 1992.

Discover Chelsea’s newest gallery and more this Saturday (11am – 1pm) on Merrily’s first group gallery tour of the year!  Iconic European artist Dieter Roth merged art and life to the point of exhibiting impressive chunks of his studio floor that bear the traces of decades of art making.  Email merrily to reserve your spot: merrily@newyorkarttours.com. (If you’ve toured with Merrily before, take 25% off your ticket price!)

Martin Creed at Hauser & Wirth

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Martin Creed, Work No. 1461, 2-inch wide adhesive tapes, 2013.
Martin Creed, Work No. 1461, 2-inch wide adhesive tapes, 2013.

Boasting ‘one of the largest column-free spaces for exhibiting art in the city,’ Hauser & Wirth’s spectacular new Chelsea location even has an impressive entrance.  Work no. 1461 by British conceptual art titan Martin Creed is a permanent installation consisting of 2-inch wide adhesive tapes whose vivid colors lend visitors the energy to climb the stairs.  Check back tomorrow for a peek upstairs.

Nicholas Party at Salon 94 Freemans

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Nicholas Party, Dinner for 24 Dogs, installation views, 2012.
Nicholas Party, Dinner for 24 Dogs, installation views, 2012.

Artist Nicholas Party is aptly named considering his mixed media installation, ‘Dinner for 24 Dogs’ which he designed for a dinner party at Salon 94 this fall.  Seen here afterwards at Salon94’s Freemans Alley space, 24 hand painted ceramic plates that once held artistically arranged edibles rest on a sliced, patterned table while wooden dogs wait patiently below to support the diners who complete this participatory artwork. (At the LES’s Salon 94 Freemans through Dec 22nd).

Huang Yong Ping at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

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Huang Yong Ping, 'Circus,' wood, bamboo, taxidermy animals, resin, steel, cord and cloth, 2012.
Huang Yong Ping, ‘Circus,’ wood, bamboo, taxidermy animals, resin, steel, cord and cloth, 2012.

Headless animals wander in and out of a bamboo cage-like structure while a giant deity collapses into pieces in Chinese-French artist Huang Yong Ping’s latest installation at Barbara Gladstone’s 21st Street gallery.  The piece feels a little too eerie and apocalyptic for its cynical title, ‘Circus.’ (through Jan 19th.)

Lin Tianmiao at Galerie Lelong

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Lin Tianmiao, Badges installation view, Galerie Lelong, NY, 2012.
Lin Tianmiao, Badges installation view, Galerie Lelong, NY, 2012.

Lin Tianmiao ‘s installation at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong, titled ‘Badges,’ features sixty embroidered American and Chinese slang terms for women, most of which aren’t particularly flattering.  When asked for a recent Artnews article if she’d call herself feminist, Lin’s great reply was “…in China, we don’t have that tradition…but no matter how you look at it…it is better to have respect in mind and equality in mind.” (through Dec 15th).

Alice Channer at Lisa Cooley Gallery

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Alice Channer, installation view at Lisa Cooley Gallery, 2012.
Alice Channer, installation view at Lisa Cooley Gallery, 2012.

London-based artist Alice Channer’s sculpture ‘Backbone’ makes the best use of stirrup pants ever. Cast in polyurethane resin and paired with aluminum bars, they elegantly slink across the gallery floor towards two huge vertical banners featuring elongated shampoo bottles.  (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 23rd).

Edward & Nancy Kienholz’s ‘The Ozymandias Parade’ at Pace Gallery

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Edward & Nancy Kienholz, 'The Ozymandias Parade,' mixed media installation, 1985.
Edward & Nancy Kienholz, ‘The Ozymandias Parade,’ mixed media installation, 1985.

Installation art pioneers Edward & Nancy Kienholz’s 1985 sculpture ‘The Ozymandias Parade’ is heartfelt and bitter enough to give pause to both post U.S. presidential election gloaters and wound-lickers. Depicting a national leader and his deputy falling from horses and a top ranking general riding an elderly taxpayer’s back, it also reveals the results of a poll taken this fall prior to the installation asking, “Are you happy with your government?’  The answer was ‘no.’  (At Pace Gallery, 510 West 25th Street through Dec 22nd).

Martha Rosler’s Meta-Monumental Garage Sale at MoMA

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Martha Rosler, Meta-Monumental Garage Sale, installation view, 2012.
Martha Rosler, Meta-Monumental Garage Sale, installation view, 2012.

Martha Rosler’s ‘Meta-Monumental Garage Sale’ officially opens tomorrow at MoMA, allowing visitors to browse and buy second-hand clothes, furniture, home décor and more collected by the artist.  Though MoMA’s major art acquisitions make headlines, buying and selling is strictly behind the scenes;  here, Rosler puts consumption – the kind involving money AND aesthetics – center stage.  (Though Nov 30th, opens at 12pm).

Andra Ursuta at Ramiken Crucible

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Andra Ursuta, installation at Ramiken Crucible, 2012.
Andra Ursuta, installation at Ramiken Crucible, 2012.

Smashed gallery windows and a wall plowed down by a shiny cart set a restive mood for Andra Ursuta’s  latest solo show at Ramiken Crucible on the Lower East Side.  Totemic female torsos crafted from a mix of concrete and manure and marble statues of a Romanian gypsy woman awaiting deportation from France are weighed down and beautified by jewelry made from coins.  Partly informed by a story of Romanian witches casting a curse on their government, the show’s female characters stubbornly resist tidy concepts of national identity. (Through October 21st.)

Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe at Marlborough Gallery Chelsea

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Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe, Stray Light Grey installation view at Marlborough Gallery Chelsea, 2012.
Jonah Freeman & Justin Lowe, Stray Light Grey installation view at Marlborough Gallery Chelsea, 2012.

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s latest feat of installation art takes visitors through a series of rooms, transporting us into both strange and familiar worlds.  This show is the talk of the town, art-wise, and is a stop on this Saturday afternoon’s Chelsea Gallery Tour, 2-4pm.  For more info, see the scheduled tours page.  (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through Oct 27th).

Leonardo Drew at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

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Leonardo Drew, Number 155, wood, 2012.
Leonardo Drew, Number 155, wood, 2012.

The new art season officially roared to life again this week with dozens of major shows opening in the last few nights.  Leonardo Drew’s installation at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co is one of the outstanding offerings thanks to a huge, gallery-filling installation composed of rough lengths of burnt wood as well as more tidy but no less ambitious wall relief sculptures.  (Through October 12th.)

Christian Marclay’s ‘The Clock’ opens at Lincoln Center Today

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Christian Marclay, 'The Clock,' still from single channel video, 2010.
Christian Marclay, ‘The Clock,’ still from single channel video, 2010.

Christian Marclay’s 24 hour video installation ‘The Clock’ – praised as one of the standout artworks of the past decade – opened today at Lincoln Center as part of the Lincoln Center Festival. Composed of thousands of film clips featuring timepieces, and synched with real time, it entertains while making viewers eerily aware of the time they’re spending watching it.  Arrive early – lines snaked down the block to view it in Feb ’11, so check out the Festival’s twitter ‘line update.’ (Runs through Aug 1st).