Azita Moradkhani at Jane Lombard Gallery

A lacy garment opens to reveal an aerial view of marchers protesting for women’s rights in ‘Women of Revolution,’ a beautifully detailed colored pencil on paper drawing in Azita Moradkhani’s inspiring show at Jane Lombard Gallery.  Fueled by the Woman Life Freedom movement and her own long consideration of impositions on women’s bodies in her home country of Iran, Moradkhani’s drawings combine photojournalistic images of protest with undergarments that symbolize close and personal concerns.  (On view in Tribeca through June 10th).

Azita Moradkhani, (detail) Women of Revolution, colored pencil on paper, 40 x 26.23 inches, 2023.
Azita Moradkhani, Women of Revolution, colored pencil on paper, 40 x 26.23 inches, 2023.

Margarita Cabrera in ‘say the dream was real and the wall imaginary’ at Jane Lombard Gallery

The artists in ‘say the dream was real and the wall imaginary,’ Jane Lombard Gallery’s excellent group exhibition organized by curator and critic Joseph R. Wolin, deftly negotiate cultural boundaries in contexts that vary from imaginary cities to remote villages.  Margarita Cabrera’s cacti are a standout; known for her ongoing collaborations with immigrants in the Southwestern U.S., Cabrera creates plants crafted from border patrol uniforms and invites Mexican migrants to embroider them with emblems that communicate personal histories.  Featuring designs including an American flag, stick figure portraits of family members, a church building and more, the sculptures communicate shared values and dreams.  (On view through April 23rd in Tribeca).

Margarita Cabrera and collaborators, Space in Between – Nopal #5, border patrol uniform fabric, copper wire, thread and terra cotta pot, 50 x 51 x 49 inches, 2016.

Michael Rakowitz at Jane Lombard Gallery

Iraqi-American artist Michael Rakowitz brings the destruction and theft of ancient artworks to public attention at Jane Lombard Gallery with a beautiful but barren reconstruction of the banqueting hall of 9th century BC Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II at the Palace of Nimrud.  Though destroyed by the Islamic State in 2015, panels from the Palace of Nimrud are housed in many museums, a point Rakowitz highlights by crafting ‘empty’ walls as meticulously as the patterned ones.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 22nd).

Michael Rakowitz, The invisible enemy should not exist (Room F, section 1, panel 15, Northwest Palace of Nimrud), Middle Eastern food packaging and newspapers, glue, cardboard on wooden structures, 2019.

Ashley Lyon at Jane Lombard Gallery

A crumpled red duvet at the entrance to Jane Lombard Gallery is at once cozy and alien – a symbol of the comforts of home, but a symbol that belongs to someone else. Constructed in fired clay by Ashley Lyon, sculptures including the bed covering, a piece of memory foam, pillows and this quilt offer a conceptual appreciation of the soft furnishings that make a house a home. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 21st).

Ashley Lyon, Wellspring, fired clay with mixed media surfacing, 7 x 8 x 19 inches, 2017.

Richard Artschwager in ‘Sites of Knowledge’ at Jane Lombard Gallery

Richard Artschwager’s two-foot tall wooden exclamation point – which shapes artistic language out of the forms of language itself – adds a note of excitement to Jane Lombard Gallery’s summer group show. (On view in Chelsea through July 28th).

Richard Artschwager, Exclamation Point, wood, 28.5 x 6.5 x 6.5 inches, 1970.