Jeanne Silverthorne at Marc Straus Gallery

Butterflies are a reminder of the brevity of life, but the Xerces Blue perching on this crate is an extinct species, adding a note of finality even as the nearby Venus Flytrap demonstrates abundant health.  Jeanne Silverthorne’s new sculpture at Marc Straus Gallery also includes silicone rubber crates which symbolize unknown creative possibilities.  Acting as pedestal and art object, they range from sturdy to dilapidated, suggesting the coexistence of ideas that will someday manifest as artworks and those that will not.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 16th).

Jeanne Silverthorne, Venus Flytrap with Xerces Blue (Extinct), Two Crates, platinum silicone rubber, 53 x 25.3 x 48 inches, 2012-19.

Jeanne Silverthorne at Marc Straus Gallery

If you climb up to the fourth floor of Marc Straus Gallery expecting to find strange things in the attic spaces, Jeanne Silverthorne’s sculptural rendition of scored poppy plants dripping latex won’t disappoint.   Surrounded by rubber sculptures of packing crates, perhaps hiding even stranger cargo, the piece comes as an otherworldly surprise. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 10th).

Jeanne Silverthorne, Poppy Juice, platinum silicone rubber, phosphorescent pigment, 25 x 38 x 19 inches, 2017.