Tag: LIFE

Becky Suss at Jack Shainman Gallery

During the pandemic, many people became extremely familiar with their domestic spaces.  Philadelphia-based artist Becky Suss turned up the intensity on her introspection by moving back into her childhood home with her young child and proceeding to paint scenes of her childhood bedroom from different points in her life.  Now on view at Jack Shainman Gallery, the new work reveals how she mined her memory for details from her past, creating scenes within scenes; here, each window in the dollhouse represents a setting from a different children’s story. (On view in Chelsea on 24th Street through June 18th.)

Becky Suss, 8 Greenwood Place (my bedroom), 84 x 60 x 2.5 inches, oil on canvas, 2020.

Ariel Orozco at Spencer Brownstone Gallery

No detail of urban life is too mundane for Mexico-City based conceptual artist Ariel Orozco, whose minimalist panels at Spencer Brownstone Gallery uncover a hidden choreography in the metropolis.  Finding himself trailing 18 wheelers through city traffic, Orozco recorded the patterns of blinking lights on the rear of the trucks, then recreated the same flashing sequences with lights embedded into canvas.  The effect is humorous and surprisingly engaging…and viewers don’t even have to deal with diesel exhaust.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 8th).

Ariel Orozco, installation view of La cabeza el los pies (Head on feet), truck tail lights, electrical hardware, circuit box, canvas on panel, 90.5 x 78.5 inches, 2020.

Gordon Parks at Jack Shainman Gallery

Granted access to Nation of Islam leadership and communities in 1963, Life photographer Gordon Parks shot remarkable images including this portrait of women’s leader Ethel Sharrieff. Now on view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s 24th Street location, the arresting show overviews selections from Parks’ lesser-known yet powerful series. (On view through Feb 10th).

Gordon Parks, Ethel Sharrieff, Chicago, Illinois, gelatin silver print, 20 x 16 inches, 1963.

Nina Leen at Daniel Cooney Fine Art

Teenagers were a recurring subject for Russian-born New York photojournalist Nina Leen, who, as one of the first female contract photographers for LIFE magazine, photographed now-nostalgic images like this one of fashionable hair-dos for young ladies in 1947. (At Daniel Cooney Fine Art in Chelsea through May 16th).

Nina Leen, Popular Teenage Shoulder length Hairstyles, 12 x 10” vintage gelatin silver print, 1947.