Jennifer Carvalho at Helena Anrather Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Derived from art historical textbooks and web sources, Canadian artist Jennifer Carvalho’s painted remakes of medieval and Renaissance imagery now on view on the Lower East Side at Helena Anrather Gallery recontextualize ancient expressions of strong feeling or devotion.  Performing what the gallery calls ‘art historical archaeology,’ Carvalho digs up new meaning by cropping a face to put a focus on an abundance or tears or zeroing in on a hand supported by another person’s hands that foregrounds an emotive or tender moment.  Here, disembodied arms with hands in a pose related to mourning hover over a space featuring decorative gothic architecture and a curtained bed, foregrounding a surreal but expressive gesture in a space that combines both the public and private.  (On view through Dec 22nd).

Jennifer Carvalho, Clasped hands (study of mourning), oil on canvas, 2023.

Arthur Simms at Martos Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Known for sculptures made of materials wrapped in hemp rope, Arthur Simms makes a departure in this ’96 piece by encasing two bicycles in wire, allowing us to see the license plates, central structure and bucket-like portable toilet on this tricked out super vehicle.   On view in Simm’s select 30-year retrospective at Martos Gallery, this sculpture and other wrapped works were inspired by carts used by homeless New Yorkers as well as the carts used by market vendors in Simm’s home country of Jamaica.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 23rd).

Arthur Simms, Bicycle, bicycles, wire, wood, bottles, plastic, metal and objects, 67 x 93 x 30 inches, 1996.

Jake Kean Mayman at Candace Madey

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Though isolated and spare, the objects in Jake Kean Mayman’s painting in his current solo show at Candace Madey tap into complex histories and conversations about technology today.  Surprised by how ubiquitous microprocessors are, yet how little the average person knows about them, Mayman carefully renders a processor next to extra-lush raspberries and a sticker representing Raspberry Pi, a project intended to boost programming skills in schools. As such, the painting represents growth – raspberry vines have a lifespan approximating the time a young person takes to get through the educational system – and potential.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 4th).

Jake Kean Mayman, Brambles of Industry, Druplets of Education (Raspberry Pi Foundation), oil on linen, 43 ¼ x 37 ¼ inches, 2021.

Martine Syms at Bridget Donahue

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Martine Syms fans expect a stream-of-conscious outpouring of text and image (as in her recent diaristic book, ‘Shame Space’) and her latest solo at Bridget Donahue will not disappoint.  Videos housed in custom, laser-cut cardboard boxes covered in fragments of commercial imagery or even inserted into a corner of a hanging dry cleaning bag run counter to typical sleek gallery video presentations.  Positioned in front of one video wall, this chair titled ‘Bonnet Core’ sports frilly lace at the edges, abundant text and a high heeled pink boot next to one chair leg.  Accompanied by a press release written by Alissa Bennett detailing enthusiastic engagement with an auction of Janet Jackson’s belongings earlier this year, the show speaks to our deeply personal yet shared experience of pop culture.  (On view through Sept 25th on the Lower East Side).

Martine Syms, Bonnet Core, cotton, rhinestones, metal, paint, lace, polyester, thread, 39 3/8 x 18 1/8 x 25 ¾ inches, 2021.

Jose-Carlos Martinat at Marc Straus Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Peruvian artist Jose-Carlos Martinat transplants bold graphics from the streets of Lima into Marc Straus Gallery’s Lower East Side space in an impactful show that coincides with his country’s contentious election. Working in his signature technique, Martinat applies resin and fiberglass to outdoor walls that have been painted with political symbols and slogans, peeling away the paint in sheets that hang from the gallery ceiling or on the walls.  Here, a giant pencil originated as a message of support for former school teacher Pedro Castillo, the apparent winner of this month’s runoff.  (On view through June 30th.  Masks and social distancing required.)

Jose-Carlos Martinat, installation view at Marc Straus Gallery, June 2021.

Miguel Cardenas in ‘Best in Show’ at Jack Hanley Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Known for his surreal canvases, Columbian artist Miguel Cardenas adds a mysterious element to Jack Hanley Gallery’s current dog-themed group exhibition.  At just under 1’ x 1,’ this small panel painting has a strong presence with its bold blue background and a hybrid man/dog creature’s penetrating eyes.  The title, ‘Heart of a Dog,’ suggests a human following animal passions.  (On view through June 12th Masks and social distancing required.)

Miguel Cardenas, Heart of a Dog, oil on panel, 11.8 x 11.8 inches, 2017.

Jennifer J. Lee at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Closeups of a yellow cable knit sweater, acne scars, popcorn and other objects with textured surfaces draw viewers into Jennifer J Lee’s tiny representational paintings at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery.  Colorful and complex, they engage the senses on multiple levels; painted on rough panels of jute, Lee accentuates the tactility of her subjects.  Here, cacti crowd the frame of this 13 x 12 inch piece offering a lively dynamic of sharp thorns and strong light.  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 26th.  Masks and social distancing required).

Jennifer J. Lee, Prickly Pear, oil on jute, 13 x 12 inches, 2021.

Natalie Frank at Salon94

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Tiny at just 8 x 8 inches, this underpainted and glazed ceramic sculpture has a powerful presence in Natalie Frank’s solo exhibition at Salon94’s Lower East Side location.  ‘Woman, Bride,’ is one of many female figures depicted in paper pulp paintings or ceramic sculpture who appears to know her own mind and is prepared to use it.  Whether Frank is partnering with Ballet Austin on a performance, illustrating books with her expressive paintings, or crafting sculpture, the dynamism and daring of her imagined characters stands out.  (On view on the Lower East Side through May 22nd.)

Natalie Frank, Woman, Bride, glazed ceramic, 8 x 8 x 1 inches, 2021.

Josiah McElheny at James Cohan Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Josiah McElheny’s current show of blown glass sculpture at James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location was inspired by a set of references as complex as his mirrored environments but dazzles even without the background info.  Prompted by a library imagined by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, McElheny creates vessels intended to house various forms of knowledge.  In this sculpture, McElheny explains that oblong shapes embody the idea of atoms in motion and the planet on its elliptical orbit.  Though we don’t literally see a library of knowledge relating to elliptical motion, each sculpture inspires wonder at the possibilities of what we may have not yet considered.  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 12th. Masks and social distancing are required).

Josiah McElheny, From the Library of Elliptical Motion, Hand-blown, cut, polished, and mirrored glass; low-iron mirror and two-way mirror; electric light; walnut frame, 24 1/4 x 28 x 20 1/2 in, 2021.

Jonathan Monaghan at Bitforms Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Luxury, power, and technology provocatively merge in Jonathan Monaghan’s mesmerizing digital images and new animation ‘Den of Wolves’ at Bitforms Gallery.  Traditional symbols of monarchal authority – an ermine robe, a scepter – show up in the aisles of an otherwise empty big box outlet or a pristine, unpopulated Apple store, conflating old and new symbols of cultural clout.  Still images titled ‘Sentry’ or ‘Soft Power’ picture the places and beings – composed of luxurious upholstery and architectural details – populating Monaghan’s eerie, too-perfect dystopia. (On view on the Lower East Side through June 12th.  Masks and social distancing are required).

Jonathan Monaghan, Soft Power II, dye-sublimation on aluminum, painted maple frame, 27 x 22.5 inches, 2020.

Arghavan Khosravi at Rachel Uffner Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Beautiful women and lush gardens contrast oppressive symbols like balls and chains or large metal keys in Arghavan Khosravi’s latest paintings at Rachel Uffner Gallery.  Here, ‘Patiently Waiting,’ features an explosive device with ambiguous consequences if used – will freedom or destruction result?  Similarly, Khosravi’s gardens can be read in contradictory terms as commentary on life in her home country, Iran.  The gallery explains, they “…represent the possibilities for respite afforded by private life or the image of utopian paradise promised by religious fundamentalism.”  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 5th).

Arghavan Khosravi, Patiently Waiting, 2021, signed and dated verso, acrylic and cement on cotton canvas wrapped over shaped wood panel, wood cutout, polyester rope, 53 1/2 x 58 1/8 x 12 inches.

Matt Bollinger, Countdown at Zurcher

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

‘This is the American dream gone wrong’ declared a review of past work by Matt Bollinger whose paintings were inspired by the people and places of the artist’s home state, Kansas.  Bollinger is back with new work at Zurcher Gallery featuring electric colors that run counter to his usual muted tones, but which make the the weariness of his characters all the more noticeable.  Even when they’re in public, Bollinger’s characters are alone, caught in a moment of reflection and looking devastated.  (On view on the Lower East Side through April 29th.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Matt Bollinger, Countdown, flashe and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 38 inches, 2021.

Malia Jensen at Cristin Tierney Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Malia Jensen explores the idea of getting closer to nature in a literal way by placing sculpture resembling body parts into remote Oregon landscapes.  In 2019, the artist carved a hand, foot, head, breast and a stack of donuts (representing the stomach) from livestock salt licks and positioned them and several motion-triggered cameras in places where they’d be altered over time by animals and weather.  A year later, she collected the sculptures and cast them in glass, creating artworks now on view at Cristin Tierney Gallery that demonstrate ‘beauty in our vulnerability.’ (On view on the Lower East Side through April 3rd. Masks and social distancing are required.)

Malia Jensen, Foot, kiln-cast glass, etching ink, white oak, reclaimed fir, 8 x 13 ½ x 11 ½ inches, 2020.

Peter Sacks at Sperone Westwater

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Made over months if not years, Peter Sacks’ multilayered works at Sperone Westwater are composed of layers of typewritten text, cardboard, paint, textiles from around the world and more.  Describing the mind as sedimentary in a 2019 New Yorker profile, Sacks layers meaning below the surface of each artwork, burying layers of imagery to convey the concept that more lies below, unseen.  Here, a piece from his ‘Above Our Cities’ series turns the skies into a colorful riot over the relatively small skyline below.  Is this a celebration? An apocalypse?  Both?  (On view on the Lower East Side through March 20th).

Peter Sacks, Above Our Cities 2, mixed media on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, 2020.

Ragna Bley at Downs and Ross Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Color pools and flows in Oslo-based artist Ragna Bley’s acrylic on sailcloth paintings at Downs and Ross, offering a lushly colored alternative to drab, late-winter New York.  Inspired by marine biology and the endlessly fascinating shallows and depths of the sea, each painting complicates the reference to water with its dynamism and color.  (On view on the Lower East Side through March 6th).

Ragna Bley, Undertow (Heat), 2020. Acrylic on sailcloth, 59 × 37 1/2 inches

Sahana Ramakrishnan in Group Exhibition at Fridman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Born in Mumbai, raised in Singapore and living in Brooklyn, Sahana Ramakrishnan draws on a multitude of sources, including Hindu, Buddhist and Greek mythology to create intriguingly enigmatic stories.  Referring to ‘the innate mystery of the other,’ the group exhibition ‘A Stranger’s Soul is a Deep Well’ at Fridman Gallery showcases complex and unexplained imagery, including Ramakrishnan’s characterful animals, gathering around a vessel to ask for retribution.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 20th).

Sahana Ramakrishnan, All The Animals Asked For Blood, egg tempera, sumi ink, gold leaf and ferric chloride on stretched paper, 16 x 13 x 1”, 2020.

Sally Saul, Troubled Waters at Rachel Uffner

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Sally Saul’s new ceramics at Rachel Uffner Gallery engage today’s difficult times with humor by bringing out the absurdity in some of our anxieties.  Here, waves defy nature to encircle one swimmer and finger-like peaks rise up in to threaten unwanted contact.  On the other hand, the small size and delicate nature of the waves make them look almost playful.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Jan 30th.  Masks and social distancing are required).

Sally Saul, Troubled Waters, clay and glaze, 12 ½ x 28 x 17 inches, 2020.

Alex Gardner at The Hole NYC

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

With their black skin highlighted blue and featureless faces, Alex Gardner’s characters evade racial identification and offer no way to read their expressions.  In this painting at The Hole NYC, only hands supporting a foot are visible, but the title ‘Cheer Stunt’ brings to mind a group performance full of suspense and excitement.   Backlighting suggests a digital space or perhaps a stadium at night while alternatively, smooth, stylized hands and foot could be part of a new sculptural monument.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 27th. Masks and social distancing required).

Alex Gardner, Cheer Stunt, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, 2020.

Pat Oleszko and Anthea Hamilton in ‘Living Things’ at JTT Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Whether it’s the wheezing, inflatable breast sculpture by Pat Oleszko or Anthea Hamilton’s sea-life encrusted boot near the entrance, the group exhibition ‘Living Things’ at JTT Gallery immediately feels set apart.  Though the artists hail from different generations and employ various media, performance and transformation is key.  Here, Pat Oleszko’s huge hammer costume appears in an accompanying film, ‘Tool Box,’ while Anthea Hamilton’s Papilio whip butterfly dominates the back wall with leather whips for antenna.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 28th.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Back wall: Anthea Hamilton, Papilio whip butterfly, printed fabric, Devore velvet, Ikat cotton, upholstery foam, leather whips, metal cable ties, 2018. Foreground: Pat Oleszko, Mike Hammer (from the Tool Jest), foam, fabric, paint, wire, 1984.

Sadie Laska at Canada New York

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Sadie Laska’s flags line the walls of Canada NYC’s Tribeca project room in a profusion of color and an abundance of possible messages. An evolving fish strides along with the message ‘go fund yourself,’ as if suggesting a fundraising campaign to finance future development.  Nearby, a quilted star hovers over the image of planet earth featured in the 1960s-designed Earth Flag, while a mysterious silhouette thoughtfully paces above it all.  With humor, Laska suggests more complex flag-flying.  (On view in Tribeca through Dec 5th).

Sadie Laska, Installation view of EREHWON at Canada Gallery, Nov 2020.

David Kennedy Cutler in ‘Masks’ at Klaus Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Why stop at masking your mouth and nose these days?  David Kennedy Cutler’s standout contribution to Klaus Gallery’s group exhibition, ‘Mask,’ shows the artist’s rack of cloned selves in the form of complete suits constructed by printing scanned images on cotton and plastic.  Designed to be worn in performances by multiple individuals, including the artist, each character manifests the digital self with ‘real’ self hidden beneath.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 28th.  Masks and social distancing required.)

David Kennedy Cultler, Second Skins, inkjet on cotton and PETG, zipper, Velcro, deconstructed sneakers, performance detritus, wood rack, outfits: 79 x 22 x 12 inches, 2017-2020.

Stephanie Temma Hier at Arsenal Contemporary Art

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

While most artists would choose between a ceramic sculpture or a painting for a given artwork, young Brooklyn-based Canadian artist Stephanie Temma Hier combines both in wall-mounted sculptures that frame representational paintings of fruit, vegetables, and flowers.  Surrounded by natural imagery, the artworks set up conversations between painting and crafted subjects that literally expand our thinking beyond the frame.  Here, fresh, clean and ready to cook greens meet both wild (hallucinogenic?) and chopped mushrooms offering a variety of pathways to consumption.  (On view at Arsenal Contemporary Art on the Lower East Side through Dec 20th.  Masks and social distancing required).

Stephanie Temma Hier, Beloved by the Caterpillar, oil on linen with glazed stoneware, 21.5 x 18 x 3 inches, 2020.

Jordan Nassar at James Cohan Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

A rich array of colors make Jordan Nassar’s flame-worked glass bead sculptures at James Cohan Gallery an immediate and present pleasure, yet the experience of dislocation drives these abstracted landscapes.  Raised in the US, the young Palestinian-American artist grew up understanding aspects of his family’s culture at a geographical remove.  Here, he creates points of entry into imagined landscapes through transparent grids of glass beads.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 21st.  Masks and social distancing required.)


Jordan Nassar, Bab Al-Amoud (Gate of The Pillar), hand-flamed glass beads, steel, wire, 12 x 29 x 10 inches, 2020.

Emma Kohlmann at Jack Hanley Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The long-armed embrace offered by the central figure says it all in this acrylic on canvas painting by Emma Kohlmann at Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side.  Kohlmann explains that viewers who venture out to galleries during the pandemic should encounter an oasis, or a place to be distracted from turbulent times.  Caring couples, harmonious relationships between humans and nature, and references to Matisse’s colorful painting abound in a show that will take the mind to happy places.  (On view through Nov 14th).

Emma Kohlmann, When I Found My People, Acrylic on raw canvas, 60 x 60 inches, 2020.

Anders Oinonen at The Hole NYC

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

It’s often hard to read a visage by Canadan artist Anders Oinonen, whose cast of odd characters is currently making faces on the walls of The Hole NYC on the Lower East Side.  This figure has turned his or her architectural face sideways, allowing cotton candy hair to float along the top of the canvas.  Though partially obscured in shadow, the face looks anxious, making this individual a perfect representative of the election anxiety faced by many Americans today.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 15th).

Anders Oinonen, Untitled, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, 2020.

Ariel Orozco at Spencer Brownstone Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

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.

Hana Yilma Godine at Fridman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Reflecting the complexity of women’s lives, Ethiopian painter Hana Yilma Godine literally makes her characters multi-dimensional, fashioning their images from oil and acrylic, magazines, newsprint, fabric and more.  This standout piece from her first New York solo show at Fridman Gallery features overlapping female figures who may represent the same figure at different points in life.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 1st.  Masks and social distancing are required).

Hana Yilma Godine, Spaces Within Space (9), oil acrylic, charcoal and collage on canvas, 51 x 48 inches, 2019.

Emily Mae Smith, Head, Horizon World at Simone Subal

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Emily Mae Smith’s subversive broom-bodied character appears in close-up with a view of mice, wheat and a polluted environment reflected in her eyes in this highlight of the artist’s current show at Simone Subal Gallery.  Derived from Disney’s Fantasia, the broom appears poised to clean up the landscape she surveys, perhaps in aid of the mice and wheat, species who’ve been on the planet a long time.  Her crown of hair, composed of gingko leaves, points to the trees’ role in removing huge amounts of CO2 from urban environments.  (On view on the Lower East Side.  Masks and social distancing are required and appointments recommended.)

Emily Mae Smith, Head, Horizon World, oil on linen, 67 x 90 inches, 2020.

Susumu Kamijo at Jack Hanley Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Known for his paintings of poodles, Brooklyn based artist Susumu Kamijo takes the dog’s form as a launchpad for explorations of color, pattern and form.  Here, the dog breaks up into floating organic shapes that come together to form a canine apparition.  Similarly real-but-not-quite, the dog’s mouth opens in an enthusiastic bark but its half closed eyes suggest restraint.  (On view at Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side and at Marvin Gardens in Ridgewood, NY through Oct 11th.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Susumu Kamijo, Tell Me So, flasch vinyl paint on canvas, 48 x 36 inches, 2020.

Cheyenne Julien at Chapter NY

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Young Bronx-based painter Cheyenne Julien’s portrait of her father speaks powerfully to his love of music and his comfort in his own space.  Surrounded and transported by music, he appears to both meet his viewer’s gaze and look beyond and upwards.  A huge pink-toned foot at the painting’s foreground is boldly positioned, the rest of his body relaxed suggesting confident comfort.  (On view at Chapter NY on the Lower East Side through Oct 10th.  Masks and social distancing required and appointments recommended.)

Cheyenne Julien, Master of House, oil on canvas, 60 x 52 inches, 2020.

Gahee Park at Perrotin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Lone insects, sharpened fingernails and portraits of impassive, semi-clad or nude characters lend young New York painter Gahee Park’s new paintings at Perrotin Gallery a sense of eerie calm and pervasive danger.  Innuendo ranges from the obvious to subtle, here appearing in two speared olives and the fishs’ pretty lips not to mention the long red nails pulling down the blinds.  A mini-cascade of eyes peers in past the shrimp-shaped nails to give the painting a surreal, voyeuristic charge.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 17th).

Gahee Park, Seafood Dream, 24 x 25 inches, oil on canvas, 2020.

Michele Abeles, 1/1/19, 2:20PM at 47 Canal

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Known for adding paint, tile or other materials to the surface of her photographs, Michele Abeles shifts gears in her current show at 47 Canal, offering a surprisingly unmanipulated selection of images reflecting on macabre Halloween traditions.  Most of the show’s pictures of ghoulish lawn decorations come across as straightforward documentation of bizarre but unsurprising phenomenon.  A few images break through to another level, however, making an inflatable demon or a casually placed, dismembered body part freshly strange.  Here, natural materials on the ground contrast sharply with the glowing white paper skeleton, creating a jarring contrast that illuminates the artificiality of the bones.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 3rd.  Appointments are encouraged and masks and social distancing are required.)

Michele Abeles, 11/1/19, 2:20PM, dye sublimation on aluminum, 31 x 21 ½ inches, 2020.

Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson at Pierogi Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Boxes are stacked floor to ceiling and charts dominate a claustrophobic space introduced as ‘The Truth Workshop,’ an installation by artists Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson at Pierogi Gallery.  The artists conceived this drably colored, overwhelmingly crowded room as the place where the secretive powers-that-be concoct what the public will believe to be truth.  Stacked boxes labeled ‘Fake News Homeruns,’ or ‘Classic Inside Jobs’ house the juicy details of manufactured truths while rows of books with titles like ‘Trashing the Planet’ offer instruction on nefarious activities.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 11th. Appointments are not necessary.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson, installation view of ‘The Room Where it Happened,’ at Pierogi Gallery, Sept 2020.

Alyson Shotz Installation at Derek Eller Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Alyson Shotz’s fascination with gravity, light, and other natural phenomenon continues in her current show of sculpture at Derek Eller Gallery. Textile-like sheets of electroplated metal disks hang from the ceiling, enticing visitors with their shiny iridescence.  Curling inward, they create shapes that resemble chrysalises while at the same time suggesting shed skin, another natural phenomenon signaling growth.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 10th. Masks and social distancing are required and gallery capacity is limited.)

Alyson Shotz, installation view of Intricate Metamorphosis #1-6, plated carbon steel, various dimensions, 2020 in ‘The Small Clocks Run Wild’ at Derek Eller Gallery.

Katsu, Dot at The Hole NYC

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Seven blank white canvases, spray paint and drone technology have turned The Hole NYC into one huge painting by New York street artist and tech pioneer Katsu.  Partnering with Tsuru robotics in Moscow, Katsu has developed ways to write by drone and recently, to enable drones to create abstract paintings with programmed randomness.  (On view through August 23rd).

Katsu, installation view of ‘Dot’ at The Hole NYC, July 2020

Cosima von Bonin in ‘The Secret History of Everything’ at Galerie Perrotin

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

“First of all, I never explain my work,” Cosima von Bonin declared at the beginning of a 2018 interview with Brooklyn Rail, establishing that there are no pat explanations for pieces like this octopus currently on view at Galerie Perrotin.  Patchwork fabrics and stuffing give the animal an approachable and familiar feel, like a kid’s toy, while the blue glow of neon tubes below may represent mysterious ocean depths. Beached on this platform, however, with patches of white suggesting splashed water, the animal doesn’t appear to be on safe ground, creating an attractive but uncertain scenario.  (On view in the group exhibition ‘The Secret History of Everything’ on the Lower East Side through Aug 14th . Masks and social distancing are required.  Appointments can be made via the gallery’s app.)

Cosima von Bonin, Total Produce (Morality), 2010, Octopus: Various fabrics, polyfill, Base: Various fabrics, foam materials, rubber, wood, neon tubes, Octopus: 86.6 x 86.6 x 23.6 inches

Kyle Staver at Zurcher Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Beyond a circle of big cats, claws extended and mouths open, a dazzle of wide-eyed zebras sprint across the grass in this dramatic nature scene by New York painter Kyle Staver.  Now on view at Zurcher Gallery, Staver’s paintings continue to upend traditional European art historical iconography (Susanna’s pet tigers keep her safe from molesting Elders, for example).  Edward Hick’s folk art, harmony-between-creatures ideal ‘Peaceable Kingdom’ comes to mind with ‘Zebra Pass,’ but differs from that arcadia thanks to the menace of waiting predators.  (On view on the Lower East Side through July 24th).

Kyle Staver, Zebra Pass, oil on canvas, 70 x 52 inches, 2019.

Omar Rodriguez-Graham at Marc Straus Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Shape and color appear to explode from Omar Rodriguez-Graham’s paintings, once again on view at newly reopened Marc Straus Gallery on the Lower East Side.  Based on Renaissance or Baroque paintings by artists from Tiepolo to Ricci which the artist turns into digital abstract compositions then paints on canvas attached to shaped supports, the artist marries historical work with a distinctly contemporary sense of energy and movement.  (On view through July 31st).

Omar Rodriguez-Graham, La Anciana de las 3 Navajas, oil and acrylic on linen mounted on panel, 78.7 x 72.8 inches, 2020.

Rochelle Feinstein at Sperone Westwater

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Aimed at an artist, the phrase ‘Love Your Work’ can be sincere or suspect.  This unforgettable 1999 fresco by Rochelle Feinstein brilliantly isolates the phrase below an envy-green field of paint.  Color takes center stage in Feinstein’s latest body of work, now on view online in Sperone Westwater’s viewing room.  Inspired by a photo she took in Rome of a double rainbow, the recent work foregrounds the color spectrum and the mutability of art. (Online through June 25th).

Rochelle Feinstein, Love Your Work (detail), fresco, 1999.

Ajay Kurian in ‘Inventory’

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The U.S. flag becomes a symbol not just of the nation, but of the country’s continuous transformation in Ajay Kurian’s abstracted, epoxy rendition.  Peeling, scale-like segments suggest old skin giving way to new in brilliant color.  A similar piece from Kurian’s 2018 exhibition at 47 Canal is now showcased on ‘Inventory,’ a new platform organized by artist Darren Bader to present artwork that might otherwise languish in gallery storage while galleries are closed.

Ajay Kurian, Flag (foot print), epoxy clay, spray paint, wood, plasti-dip spray, 34 ¼ x 65 inches, 2018.

Sara Ludy with Bitforms at Future Fair

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Sara Ludy’s artwork connects to both virtual and physical worlds manifesting as actual objects inspired by a VR dream house; here, in pieces from 2018, the artist combined glass and copper to create sculptural environments for imagined birds.  Ludy’s ability to create compelling work in digital and physical media makes her an ideal artist for her gallery, Bitforms, to showcase in the inaugural Future Fair, currently operating on-line due to the pandemic.  Check out her latest images, attractive abstractions which appear simultaneously organic and highly manipulated, intimate yet without reference to scale. (On view in the Future Fair through June 6th).

Sara Ludy, Nest 1 and Nest 2, both Waken Glass; copper mesh and glass, 4 x 8 x 7 inches & 2.5 x 5 x 4.75 inches, both 2018.

Emily Mae Smith in ‘Second Smile’ at theholenyc.com

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Installed in late April though the show will likely never be seen in person by the public, The Hole NYC’s exhibition ‘Second Smile’ asks how Surrealism continues to surface in contemporary painting.  The show includes work by Emily Mae Smith, whose painting of two candles in a clandestine nighttime meeting was a memorable part of her show at Simone Subal Gallery in 2017.  (On view at The Hole NYC through May 24th).

Emily Mae Smith, The Caress, oil on linen, 48 x 38 inches, 2017.

Broomberg & Chanarin at signsandsymbols.art

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

London and Berlin-based artists and photography professors Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin’s short film, ‘The Bureaucracy of Angels’ grabs the imagination immediately with an unlikely casting choice; the star of the show – a mechanical wrecking arm – makes a riveting appearance as a soulful ballad singer lamenting the pain of migration.  Currently available to watch via the Lower East Side gallery Signs & Symbols’ website, the piece’s premise is absurd but the effect is first mesmerizing, then moving.  Part destroyer, part guardian, the machine keeps watch over migrants being intercepted by rescue agencies before eventually wrecking boats abandoned by travelers who made it to Sicily.  (Available online at signsandsymbols.art through May 13th).

Broomberg & Chanarin, still from ‘The Bureaucracy of Angels,’ 2017.

Tuan Andrew Nguyen at jamescohan.com

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The centerpiece of Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s current on-line show at James Cohan Gallery is  ‘The Boat People,’ a video about a heroic group of survivor children who’ve become the last humans alive.  They parade through their lonely world carrying wooden artifacts (sculpture hand crafted in Bataan, Philippines) that speak to war and migration pre-apocalypse.  The Bodhisattva Guanyin reappears throughout the exhibition (here making a benevolent gesture), repeatedly orienting the narrative toward compassion.  In a must-see video, Nguyen explains that the dark, burned areas on the wood point to fire as ‘a strong metaphor for freedom and liberation, both spiritual and political.’ (On view through May 3rd).

Tuan Andrew Nguyen, The Offering Of A Sentient Cry (detail – right hand only), hand-carved gmelina wood, 26.5 x 15.5 x 9 inches, 2019.

Curtis Talwst Santiago at The Drawing Center

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Canadian-Trinidadian artist Curtis Talwst Santiago’s invented ancestors are conduits to an inaccessible past, allowing him to imagine the lives of those who came before him.  The fabulously beaded Jab Jab Knight seen here breaks through a wall of netting and stone to dominate Santiago’s recent show at Rachel Uffner Gallery; at the Drawing Center where the artist’s drawings and installations are now on view on-line, Santiago walks visitors through the show, introducing his knights and inspiring consideration of ‘genetic imagination.’

Curtis Talwst Santiago, The Jab Jab Knight, wire and beads, 82 x 24 x 24 inches, 2020.

Keegan Monaghan with David Zwirner & James Fuentes Galleries

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Virtual exhibitions have replaced in-person shows at many New York galleries, but David Zwirner Gallery’s new ‘Platform’ offers something different by showcasing work by individual artists represented by twelve established, smaller New York galleries.   The initiative highlights painting and sculpture, conceptual and digital art by groundbreaking artists and includes Keegan Monaghan’s impasto oil paintings.  Monaghan’s ‘The Screen’ – pictured here from New York Art Tour’s photo archive from Jan ’18 at James Fuentes Gallery – perfectly illustrates how pictures can ‘serve alternatively as barriers and entry points’ as we look at someone looking at someone looking.

Keegan Monaghan, The Screen, oil on canvas, red oak frame, 50 x 56 ¾ inches framed, 2016-2017.

Bayne Peterson at Kristen Lorello Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Intimately scaled and vibrantly colored, Bayne Peterson’ abstract sculpture is both a pleasure and puzzle for the eye.  In this Sept ’15 photo from New York Art Tour’s archives, a series of interlocking triangular forms made from dyed plywood segments joined by dyed epoxy creates a jittery pattern belied by the sculpture’s soothing curves.  Peterson’s latest work – currently featured by Kristen Lorello Gallery – was inspired by the dynamism of classical sculpture and the unique optical abilities of the mantis shrimp.  To see his recent sculpture, visit Kristen Lorello Gallery or check out the gallery’s special Learning Opportunities.

Sept 2015 installation view of Bayne Peterson and Nadia Haji Omar at Kristen Lorello Gallery. Foreground: Bayne Peterson, Untitled (Greens, Wood and Stone), dyed plywood, dyed epoxy, powdered granite, resin, 10.5 x 6 x 8 inches.

Bharti Kher at Perrotin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

New Delhi-based British artist Bharti Kher breaks and recombines clay figures she’s collected over the years, inventing hybrids that combine supposed opposites – male and female or divine figures from different faiths.  Her show at Perrotin Gallery on the Lower East Side is no longer open to the public, but Kher shared her process in an insightful video shot during a residency in the UK.  This piece, Ardhanarishvara, represents a manifestation of the Hindu divinities Shiva and Parvati.  Roughly joined from mass produced figurines, they’re far from divine perfection.  Instead, they represent the artist’s ability to remake the known world, in this case with mysterious materials packed into conjoined bodies.

Bharti Kher, (foreground) Ardhanarishvara, cement, clay, wax, bronze, 54 1/8” x 9 5/8”, unique, 2016.

Jane South at Spencer Brownstone Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

A metal panel bolted closed on a grimy subway wall, a garage door and barred windows of an industrial building and other snapshots of the built environment are among the inspirations for Jane South’s new wall-mounted assemblages at Spencer Brownstone Gallery.  Posted to her Instagram account as #streetsources and #subwaysources, the photos speak to the long and varied life of the structures surrounding us as translated into canvas, tarp, batting and other materials.  (On view on the Lower East Side through April 5th).

Jane South, Mark, acrylic, canvas, batting, fabric, thread and mixed media, 105 x 109 inches, 2019.

Josep Grau-Garriga Tapestry at Salon94

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

At over twenty feet tall, late Catalan fiber artist Josep Grau-Garriga’s monumental tapestry ‘February Light’ dominates visitors to Salon94 Bowery.  Made in the 70s after Grau-Garriga had pioneered a move away from realist tapestries crafted with expensive materials into expressionist compositions fashioned from fibers including string, hemp and even old sacks, February Light’s wooden rods and ropes give the piece a remarkable boldness.  Created in the years just after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, the many openings in the blood-red areas of the artwork seem to continue Grau-Garriga’s frequent political allusions.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 29th).

Josep Grau-Garriga, Llum de Febrer, tapestry, 255 7/8 x 118 1/8 inches, 1978-81.

Janet Sobel at Andrew Edlin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

On her way to developing an abstract, dripped-paint style that influenced Jackson Pollock in the 1940s, New York artist Janet Sobel painted scenes inspired by the shtetls of her native Ukraine.  Now on view at Andrew Edlin Gallery, a selection of Sobel’s work shows her flattening of space and merger of a flowery landscape, patterned skirt and floral headdress in a way that flirts with all-over abstraction.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 22nd).

Janet Sobel, Untitled, gouache on board, 10.5 x 7.5 inches, c. 1943-48.

Dana Lixenberg at Grimm Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Dutch photographer Dana Lixenberg’s iconic photos for Vibe magazine in the 90s of Tupac Shakur & Biggie appear at the center of schematic mural at Grimm Gallery that demonstrates the incredible currency that photos can have.  Radiating from the center, remakes of Lixenberg’s photos of the two music legends appear in the foam of a latte, on tattoos and via The Simpsons characters among other iterations.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 29th).

Dana Lixenberg’s photos featured in a centerfold from Lixenberg’s Tupac Biggie, design by Linda van Dursen (Roma Publications, 2018).

Jan Tichy at Fridman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Chicago-based artist and professor Jan Tichy found an outlet for his ‘socially conscious formalism’ in the context of the Lower East Side’s lighting district, where he made work in and in response to the neighborhood’s dwindling number of lighting fixture stores.  Layering images shot in the lighting stores, their bright wares hung enticingly from the ceiling, with exposures of actual fixtures on light sensitive paper in the darkroom, Tichy created this frenetic print which mirrors the pace of change in the city.  (On view at Fridman Gallery through Feb 23rd).

Jan Tichy, Bowery Print VI, single-edition silver gelatin print, 16 h x 16 w inches, unique, 2020.

Jeanne Silverthorne Sculpture at Marc Straus Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

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.

Jesper Just at Perrotin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Emotion and vulnerability continue to be strong themes in Jesper Just’s latest body of work at Perrotin Gallery on the Lower East Side.   American Ballet Theater dancers lie and sit on the floor while receiving muscle therapy via patches applied to their skin. Though nearly motionless, this individual’s alert state and a single tear suggest powerful goings on beneath a calm exterior.  Panels separated from the main display join blocks of concrete on the gallery floor in order to engage viewers more personally by forcing us to consider our own bodies in the gallery space and our own efforts at constructing meaning.  (On view through Feb 15th).

Jesper Just, Corporealities – 1, LED panels, multi-channel video, sound, steel, and cement, 98 7/16 x 137 13/16 x 143 inches, 2020.

Melanie Baker at Cristin Tierney

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The man in the foreground of this huge charcoal, graphite and pastel drawing by Melanie Baker leans forward conspiratorially, his own identity concealed as he shields the figure before him from view.  Ironically framed on each side by lit sconces, the two shadowy figures seem to have paused in the halls of power to engage in an intense and private discussion that Baker invites us to question.  (On view on the Lower East Side at Cristin Tierney through Feb 22nd).

Melanie Baker, Pomp and Sycophants, charcoal, graphite, and pastel on paper mounted on Dibond, 72 x 120 inches, 2019.

Issy Wood at JTT Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Stars swirl around a young woman in this painting by Issy Wood as if the Paramount logo or the European Union flag’s emblems had risen to encircle her.  Though she appears to be calmly shielding herself, the painting’s title ‘Study for me getting nostalgic’ suggests that the doughy, green stars are moving away from the London-based artist in an image that depicts a mental navigation of Brexit. (On view at JTT Gallery on the Lower East Side through Feb 9th).

Issy Wood, Study for me getting nostalgic, oil on linen, 60 x 81 inches, 2019.

Crystal Z. Campbell in ‘A Field of Meaning’ at Callicoon Fine Arts

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

By revisiting historical events through one individual’s point of view, Crystal Z. Campbell reconsiders the 1921 race massacre that devastated Tulsa, Oklahoma’s burgeoning African American Greenwood District.  The artist personalizes this archival photo of a Tulsa woman, adding color and patterning and thereby making it impossible to overlook this peaceful scenario as ordinary or every day.  (On view in ‘A Field of Meaning’ at Callicoon Fine Arts on the Lower East Side).

Crystal Z. Campbell, Notes from Black Wall Street: Receptive, Soft and Absolute, mixed media on birch wood panel, 24 x 30 inches, 2019.

Joanne Greenbaum Paintings at Rachel Uffner Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Joanne Greenbaum’s paintings do what words can’t, conveying relationships that don’t translate easily into verbal language.  Watching the artist find a balance between lines and shapes, of color spread across the canvas, and of lighter vs bolder marks is the attraction in paintings that pleasurably upend expectations.  (On view at Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side through Jan 12th).

Joanne Greenbaum, Untitled, oil, acrylic, neo-color and marker on canvas, 88 x 77 inches, 2018.

Jonathan Schipper at Pierogi Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

A charred tree trunk overtaken by a crystalline-looking mass or spreading fungal growth dominates Pierogi Gallery’s Lower East Side space.  At close range, the lightly colored substance materializes into thousands of tiny 3-D printed human figures locked in what could be combat or an interconnected embrace, acting out love-hate relationships en masse.  With the piece, New York State artist Jonathan Schipper contemplates the consequences of human drives, specifically consumption, that come at the cost of our habitat.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Jan 12th).

Jonathan Schipper, At Any Given Moment, wood, UV cured resin, approx. 53 (h) x 131 (w) x 55 (d) inches, 2019.

Addie Wagenknecht in ‘Embedded Parables’ at Bitforms Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

As machines take over tasks formerly performed by people, Addie Wagenknecht’s programmed Roomba has complicated the role of the artist.  In her past work using Yves Klein blue, the Roomba replaced the female bodies Klein used as paintbrushes. Here, the machine paints using a mix of art media (linseed oil and turpentine), grooming products (cosmetics, botox and perfume) and stimulants (wine, tequila and CBD oil) suggesting the symbolic expressive potential of non-traditional art media.  (On view in ‘Embedded Parables’ at Bitforms on the Lower East Side through Jan 19th).

Addie Wagenknecht, Night to Morning, linseed oil, turpentine, cosmetic pigments, oolong tea, white wine, tequila, CBD oil, botox, JULIETTE HAS A GUN Not a Perfume perfume, lubricant, 81 x 41 inches, 2019.

Daniel Richter at GRIMM Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

When German painter Daniel Richter radically switched painting styles c. 2015, moving from newspaper or history book-inspired representational scenes to more expressionistic scenarios, he explained that he wanted to get away from the ‘theater stage,’ and from ‘…knowing what I’m about to do.’  His recent paintings at GRIMM Gallery feature powerful, abstracted encounters between unknown actors, creating dramas that go beyond a particular moment in time.  Here, two figures emerge from a dark background locked in combat against a dramatically lit sky, their large scale suggesting an apocalyptic encounter between the toga-clad character on the left and the alien-like combatant with elongated, insectoid leg on the left.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Jan 4th).

Daniel Richter, UNSER DER TAG, oil on canvas, 90 ½ x 70 7/8 inches, 2019.

Rosson Crow at The Hole NYC

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

LA based painter Rosson Crow’s recreation of the Garden of Eden, seen here in detail and part of her current show ‘Trust Fall’ at The Hole, was inspired by a creationism theme park that looked more like a cheap film set than an idyllic landscape.  Splashed and dripped paint on the canvas surface makes it clear this is a painted representation, alluding to notions of ‘fake’ and ‘real’ that define political discourse today.  Meanwhile, a Greek-inspired urn abandoned in the foliage reading ‘how does it feel to want?’ speaks to contemporary concerns about extremes of wealth and poverty.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 29th).

Rosson Crow, Garden of Eden Recreation, acrylic, spray paint, photo transfer, oil and enamel on canvas, 96 x 120 inches, 2019.

 

 

Chen Fei at Galerie Perrotin

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Beijing-based artist Chen Fei channels Dutch still life in his painting of tempting foodstuffs but substitutes dumplings for bread and banana leaf wraps for grapes.  He cites Renaissance historian Vasari to question whether still life can be as engaging as portraiture, forcing the issue by presenting figurative painting in the downstairs gallery and still life upstairs.  While the large-scale nude characters downstairs steal the show with their unconventional personalities, the still lifes still wow with their sheer abundance.  (On view at Perrotin on the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).

Chen Fei, detail from Painting of Harmony, acrylic, gold and silver foil on linen mounted on board, 39 3/8 x 78 ¾ inches.

Baseera Khan at Simone Subal Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

A broken column constructed of foam core and covered by custom handmade silk Kashmiri rugs in Baseera Khan’s current show at Simone Subal Gallery suggests an empire toppled, its segments like gears in a massive, defunct machine.  Instead of dominating visitors with its huge size though, the pillar entices thanks to its decorative patterns and appears mysteriously futuristic due to its liquid-looking resin core.  Fascinating remnants entice us to consider the historical past as complicated and unknown, suggesting new legacies for the future.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd).

Baseera Khan, installation view of ‘snake skin’ at Simone Subal Gallery, Nov 2019.

Lee Bae at Perrotin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest Show, Inside ViewPosted on Comments are Disabled

Korean-Parisian artist Lee Bae’s medium is more than a means to an end.  Since buying a cheap bag of charcoal as a cash-strapped new arrival to the French art scene in 1990, Lee’s interest in the medium has expanded to drawings, sculpture and 2-D mosaics of polished charcoal.  He points to the role of charcoal in Korean culture (from art medium to building material) to connect to age-old tradition to his production today.  At Perrotin Gallery’s spacious upstairs space, the artist has installed sculptures of Korean pine turned to charcoal in his own kiln, a month-long process which results in a piece of material with endless possibilities.  (On view through Dec 21st.)

Lee Bae, installation view of ‘Promenade’ at Galerie Perrotin, Nov 2019.

Karl Wirsum at Derek Eller Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Chicago Imagist Karl Wirsum’s gender ambiguous, robotic characters are an odd mix of human and alien, bionic and freighted by imperfect human bodies.  This character – a standout in Derek Eller Gallery’s showcase of 50 years of Wirsum’s drawing – has proportions calculated to puzzle and amaze, from tiny eyes and little apple core mouth that contrast a complex and angular nose to broad shoulders that set off a pair of small feet. (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).

Karl Wirsum, Lambs Cloth Muscle Toppsie from the Land of the Silly Forgottens, color pencil on board, c. 1987.

Alex Bradley Cohen, Morley Music at Nicelle Beauchene

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Young Chicago-based artist Alex Bradley Cohen channels the vibrant color and inventive perspectives of David Hockney’s 80s paintings in expressively distorted portraits of friends and family now on view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery.  Against a fiery orange carpet and cool blue background beyond the terrace, this subject comes across as both guarded and open, inviting viewers to engage further.  (On the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).

Alex Bradley Cohen, Morley Music, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 inches, 2018.

Arghavan Khosravi at Lyles & King

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Drawing on the 11th century Persian epic poem ‘The Book of Kings,’ Arghavan Khosravi abuts the fantastical and mundane in absorbing and beautiful paintings that contrast Iran’s storied past and post-Revolution political realities.  Here, a pensive young woman in a glass-walled enclosure holds Simurg, a mythical creature that sustained one of the poem’s heroes by providing him sustenance in difficult times.  (On view at Lyles and King on the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).

Arghavan Khosravi, Simurg, acrylic on linen canvas mounted on shaped wood panel, 42 x 31 inches, 2019.

Meredith James at Jack Hanley Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The experience of curling up with a good book in a comfy chair isn’t what you might expect in Meredith James’ ‘Library,’ a standout in her show of delightfully strange sculpture at Jack Hanley Gallery.  Stocked with blandly-colored, identical volumes, the miniature library set in a chair, feels more ominous than wonderful.  A gallery handout suggests that James’ new work explores ‘things in various stages of disappearance or obsolescence,’ offering an uncertain future for the written word.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).

Meredith James, Library, armchair, wood, acrylic paint, paper, 44 x 31.5 x 30 inches, 2019.

Nam June Paik at James Cohan Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Despite their tiny size, monitors on twin coin-operated chairs from 1988 by Nam June Paik in the entryway of James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location blast a stream of media content at visitors who can simultaneously watch the world go by on the busy street outside.  Resembling test patterns, the chairs’ upholstery invites viewers to submit themselves to media overload.  (On view through Oct 20th).

Nam June Paik, Music is Not Sound, video system, chairs, statuettes, other objects, 46 x 41 x 72 inches, 1988.

JR, The Chronicles of New York City at Galerie Perrotin

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

After famously taking his mobile photo studio to Times Square for his ‘Inside Out’ portrait project in 2013, French street artist JR hit New York’s streets again in Spring ’18 to make detailed photo collages championing the everyday New Yorker, now on view at Galerie Perrotin.   Titled ‘Chronicles of New York City,’ the project follows ‘Chronicles’ in Paris and San Francisco and is also currently featured in Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall.  JR invited over a thousand New Yorkers to step into his truck turned studio to ‘present themselves as they’d like to be seen and remembered.’  The resulting collages bring the city’s citizens together in harmony and common purpose. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 26th.)

JR, detail from ‘The Chronicles of New York City, Lightbox, USA, print on duratrans, led backlight, steel frame, 2018.

David Benjamin Sherry at Salon94

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

David Benjamin Sherry’s photos depict familiar-seeming western landscapes but in colors that force viewers to ask what they’re seeing.  Man’s impact on the environment comes to mind, as does the emotional value of portraying these spaces in vibrant pink or purple or yellow tones.  In his latest series, ‘American Monuments,’ Sherry shot locations newly threatened by having their protected status removed to allow resource extraction.   (On view at Salon94 on the Lower East Side through Oct 26th).

David Benjamin Sherry, View from Muley Point, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, chromogenic print, 2018.

Wuru-Natasha Ogunji at Fridman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Inspired by women’s lives in her parent’s native Nigeria, US born artist Wuru-Natasha Ogunji’s considers the daily task of carrying water in her video, ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?’ Featuring several masked women walking the residential streets of Lagos dragging gold-colored water containers, viewers witness the toll exacted on the bodies of the exhausted and drenched participants. (On view at Fridman Gallery through Oct 12th).

Wuru-Natasha Ogunji, still from ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?, single-channel digital video, 11 min, 57sec, 2013.

Madeline Donahue at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

A mother’s body becomes a playground for her baby, whose sense of curiosity and play ignores boundaries in Madeline Donahue’s humorous paintings at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects.  Shifts in scale turn a mom into a giant as baby uses her hair like climbing rope; in other pieces, Donahue creates curving or angular geometric compositions from the antics of her exploring offspring.  Through it all, the paintings charm with their sense of humor, patience and stoicism.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 5th).

Madeline Donahue, Untitled, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches, 2019.

Mel Ziegler at Galerie Perrotin

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Fifteen years of collected memorabilia from Mt Rushmore yielded the material for artist Mel Ziegler’s one thousand digitally printed portraits of the monument’s four presidents, currently filling the ground floor of Galerie Perrotin on the Lower East Side.  Though repetition and systemization are key, the degradation of each image – suggesting they were lifted from cheaply made or tiny reproductions – leaves the most lasting impression.  Despite the scale of the effort in the original Rushmore or Ziegler’s redo, there’s no guarantee that a burnished image will be handed down to posterity.  (On view through Aug 16th).

Mel Ziegler, detail installation view of ‘1000 Portraits,’ inkjet on canvas, dimensions variable, each canvas 8 x 10 inches, 2018.

Graham Nickson in ‘Summer!’ at Betty Cuningham Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

New York Studio School dean Graham Nickson’s beach paintings have been described as “extreme, impenetrable, and haunting” for their isolated figures inhabiting landscapes pared down to horizontal bands of color.  Here, a lone figure’s ambiguous activity (Is she shielding her face from the sun?  Reading a giant book?) lends mystery and import to a leisure activity that might otherwise be overlooked.  (On view in ‘Summer!’ at Betty Cuningham Gallery on the Lower East Side through August 2nd).

Graham Nickson, Untitled from Bather Series, acrylic on canvas in artist’s frame, 48 x 48 inches, c. 1980.

Scott Olson Abstractions at James Cohan

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Scott Olson’s new biomorphic abstractions at James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location continue to tap into the language of early 20th century non-objective art, engaging the imagination with a pleasing play of color and form.  A rectangle of dark space at the bottom of the composition sets off what’s above – an array of shapes that tempt interpretation, guiding the eye along diagonally sloping paths toward imagery that resembles the stalks of plants or, above, a segmented area that suggests an arachnid or segmented fruit.  (On view through July 26th).

Scott Olson, Untitled, oil on linen with artist frame, 33 ½ x 23 ½ inches, 2019.

Kathia St Hilaire at Derek Eller Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Three children forge ahead into the unknown on a boat made of braiding hair packaging in this oil-based relief collage on canvas by Yale MFA candidate Kathia St Hilaire.  A standout in Derek Eller Gallery’s current group show, St Hilaire’s image features kids venturing forth under a blazing sun to navigate their own identities and paths in life.  (On view on the Lower East Side through July 3rd).

Kathia St Hilaire, detail of 100% Kanekalon, oil-based relief collage on canvas, kanekalon braiding hair, 54.5 x 42 inches, 2018.

Frances Goodman in ‘Delicate Industry’ at Richard Taittinger Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

‘Seething’ is the perfect word to describe the undulating mass of red and purple folds that writhe and twist in South African artist Frances Goodman’s ‘Seething Mass,’ a standout in Richard Taittinger Gallery’s current group show.  Composed of acrylic nails in colors that range from blood red to vivid magentas and purples, this abstract wall sculpture hangs near shields that resemble sharpened, painted fingernails.  In both cases, Goodman gives adornment dangerous potential.  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 30th).

Frances Goodman, detail of ‘Seething Red,’ acrylic nails, resin, foam, silicone glue, 51 ¼ x 102 3/8 x 9 inches, 2017.

Shara Hughes at Rachel Uffner Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Shara Hughes’ new paintings of lush, psychedelic flowers dominate landscapes so teeming with life it’s almost alarming.  Here, several colorful plants sprout blossoms supported by curvaceous stems resembling cursive script, as if new language was needed to describe this beautifully alien world.  (On view at Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side through June 23rd).

Shara Hughes, My Organized Flare, oil and acrylic on canvas, 78 x 66 inches, 2019.

Rena Detrixhe at Spencer Brownstone Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Finely sifted red soil imported from Oklahoma becomes a patterned carpet in Rena Detrixhe’s first New York solo show at Spencer Brownstone Gallery.  Using a trowel to smooth down the dirt, then imprinting it with modified shoe soles, the Kansas-based artist considers the symbolic value attached to land in the mid-west while alluding to mankind’s impact on it.  (On view on the Lower East Side through June 16th).

Rena Detrixhe, Red Dirt Rug, sifted red soil, 20 x 10 feet, 2019.

Josh Kline, Inundation at 47 Canal

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

What happens to humanity if global warming leads to drastic sea level rise?  Josh Kline envisions the end of life as we know it in a provocative sculpture series featuring submerged cities and preserved specimens of everyday 21st century life at 47 Canal on the Lower East Side.  Inside lab hoods, preserved doll-house sized domestic and office environments suggest that what’s normal now may soon be a thing of the past.  (On view through June 9th).

Josh Kline, detail view of Inundation, lab hood, glass, urethane paint, light box, reinforced steel, color filter gel, blackout fabric, contents: glass, silicone, dollhouse miniatures, fabricated miniatures, objects cast in epoxy resin, cyanoacrylate glue, silicone epoxy, 89 ¾ x 48 x 33 inches, 2019.

Todd Gray at David Lewis Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Coretta Scott King speaks in a photo held by a silent man who himself is superimposed over an elaborate ornamental structure in this photo collage by Todd Gray.  Liberation and the legacy of oppression, particularly of European colonization in Africa and the architectural expressions of wealth it allowed in Europe, come head-to-head in new photo collage by Todd Gray at David Lewis Gallery on the Lower East Side. (On view through June 16th).

Todd Gray, Coretta, two archival pigment prints in artist’s frames and found frames, UV laminate, 51 ½ x 67 x 3 ½ inches, 2019.

Elsa Sahal at Natalie Karg Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Curvy harlequins and female clowns populate French artist Elsa Sahal’s latest solo show of ceramic sculpture at Natalie Karg Gallery on the Lower East Side.  Inspired by Picasso’s actors in diamond-patterned clothing, these two truncated figures enact a choreography that could be read as erotic or menacing.  (On view through June 15th).

Elsa Sahal, Harlequins Duo, glazed ceramic, 34 5/8 x 27 ½ inches, 2019.

Paola Pivi at Perrotin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The word for Italian born, Alaska-based artist Paola Pivi’s installation of multi-colored, feathered baby bears at Perrotin Gallery on the Lower East Side is ‘cute.’  Explaining that the installation was inspired by her adopted son’s “energy, life and positivity,” Pivi developed a series of bears playfully fighting, doing acrobatics and generally looking to inspire ‘awwwws.’  (On view through June 8th).

Paola Pivi, installation view of ‘We Are the Baby Gang’ at Perrotin Gallery, April 2019.

Elise Engler at Frosch and Portmann Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Having painted every block on Broadway and drawn every object she owns, New York artist Elise Engler is no stranger to the long-term project.  Her most recent obsession – creating a daily visual record of radio news headlines since November 2015 – has resulted in a dense installation of images on the walls of Frosch and Portman Gallery on the Lower East Side.  A somber recording of natural disasters, political intrigue and more, the assembled works testify to troubled times.  (On view through May 19th).

Elise Engler, installation view of ‘Diary of a Radio Junkie: 1237 Days of Waking up to the News,’ April 2019.

Matthew Hansel in Post Analogue Studio at The Hole NYC

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

17th century Dutch still life painters delighted in the effect of light hitting rich fabric or shiny glass; contemporary Brooklyn artist Matthew Hansel is into optical delights of a different sort as he mimics digital distortion in oil and flashe paint.  Included in The Hole’s continuing investigation of how digital techniques have impacted non-digitally created art, this shaped painting throws a little fun-house mirror effect into a traditional momento mori.  (On view on the Lower East Side through May 19th).

Matthew Hansel, The Tide That Left and Never Came Back, oil and flashe paint on linen mounted on panel, 30 x 44 inches, 2019.

Firelei Baez at James Cohan Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Under a recreation of the night sky as it appeared at the start of the Haitian Revolution, Firelei Baez presents a dramatic installation at James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side space featuring empowered female figures who assert their presence in the gallery and in history.  Wearing a tignon that refers to the 18th century legal requirement for African-diasporic women to cover their hair, this casually posed yet regal figure lacks a mouth yet speaks with her eyes.  (On view through June 16th).

Firelei Baez, installation view of A Drexcyen Chronocommons (To win the war you fought it sideways) at James Cohan Gallery on the Lower East Side, April 2019.

Nikki Maloof at Jack Hanley Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Nikki Maloof puts her audience right in the cage with these canaries while free pigeons cavort outside.  Newspaper headlines on the pages papering the cage alternate between self-help and anxious messages while a dynamic twisting branch and electric colors of the yellow birds against a pink wall suggest pleasure and danger.  (On view at Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side through April 21st).

Nikki Maloof, Canaries, oil on canvas, 70 x 88 inches, 2018.

Amanda Baldwin at Thierry Goldberg Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

The back glow behind the woman in Amanda Baldwin’s ‘Blushing Orchid’ and the neon-like outline of flowers against the wall suggest that the artist has a paintbrush in hand and her mind in the digital realm.  The surreal, collage-like effect of pairing a realistic eye with Photoshop features or delicate blooms with blanched fern fronds deliberately juxtaposes the pleasure of looking in the digital and analogue realms. (On view at Thierry Goldberg Gallery through April 28th.)

Amanda Baldwin, Blushing Orchid, oil on canvas, 53 x 42 inches, 2019.

Luis Flores at Salon94 Bowery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

LA based artist Luis Flores deliberately employs the feminized craft of crochet to create self-portraits which undermine the concepts of masculinity he learned as a boy from his male relatives.  Here, he fights with himself in an installation featuring a series of wrestling moves enacted by his body doubles and observed by his passive and skeptical wife. (On view at Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side through April 20th).

Luis Flores, Tornado, yarn, AAA t-shirt, Levi’s jeans, Vans shoes and socks, 57 x 69 x 36 inches, 2019.

Susan Jane Walp at Tibor de Nagy Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Vermont-based painter Susan Jane Walp cites early Renaissance artist Piero della Francesca and 20th century great Giorgio Morandi as influences on her painting style.  Accordingly, Walp’s carefully tilted pummelo and spoon exude alertness, suggesting the objects depicted are literally poised for a diner.  A cropped wine cork, pewter jug and glass egg cup extend off the canvas to allude to a wider spread of items in this measured yet rich array.   (On view at Tibor de Nagy Gallery on the Lower East Side through April 14th).

Susan Jane Walp, Pummelo with Spoon, oil on linen, 10 ¼ x 10 inches, 2014.

Michael Sailstorfer at Galerie Perrotin

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Berlin-based artist Michael Sailstorfer’s tear-themed show at Galerie Perrotin aims to convert sadness to fun.  Here, a rickety farm building is destroyed by wrecking balls in the shape of teardrops (cables were removed post-production). Elsewhere, the artist prepares tear-shaped lumps of coal for burning and morphed Bavarian beer bottles into tear-shapes with the help of a glass-blower.  (On view on the Lower East Side through April 13th).

Michael Sailstorfer, Tranen, video, 2015.

Nicholas Buffon, Bethesda Fountain at Callicoon Fine Arts

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Central Park is bursting with color and life in this acrylic painting by New York artist Nicholas Buffon, currently on view on the Lower East Side at Callicoon Fine Arts.  Featuring the Bethesda Fountain’s ‘Angel of the Waters’ by queer sculptor Emma Stebbins, the painting calls attention to and celebrates sites important to LGBTQ communities around the city.  (On view through March 24th).

Nicholas Buffon, Bethesda Fountain, acrylic and carbon transfer on Bristol paper, 20 ½ x 13 ½ inches, 2018.

 

 

Jen Liu at Simone Subal Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Female legs become soft beakers in Jen Liu’s painting of a luxuriously gold-toned world populated by detached body parts, currently on view at Simone Subal Gallery on the Lower East Side.  A floating head connects by thin gold wire to the legs, while giant fingers reach in from the side to manipulate events.  A nearby video featuring a hot dog factory manned by cadres of female workers aims at “resolving the inequities of wealth and resource distribution through the factory-produced hot dog.”  (On view through March 24th).

Jen Liu, PSCS Gold Loop: Shoe Tubes, acrylic ink, acrylic gouache, and gold acrylic on paper, 70 x 51 inches, 2017.

Jordan Kasey, The Play at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Like Fernando Botero’s swelling human figures, Jordan Kasey’s monumental painted bodies transport viewers out of the everyday.  Kasey’s figures, however, have the ponderous heaviness of stone enlivened by a sometimes-electric color palette, a dynamic that gives her massive paintings unique energy.  (On view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 17th).

Jordan Kasey, The Play, oil on canvas, 66 x 72 inches, 2018.

Ellen Berkenblit in ‘Samaritans’ at Eva Presenhuber Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Ellen Berkenblit’s snarling big cat dominates Eva Presenhuber Gallery’s basement, where the group show ‘Samaritans’ assembles painting, sculpture and photography that spin strange tales.  Above the animal, pipes spew blue clouds while below (or in the distance?) a truck dumps a load of materials.  Trapped in the middle of human endeavors, this powerful creature bares its teeth.  (On view in the East Village through March 2nd).

Ellen Berkenblit, Captain of the Road, oil and paint stick on linen, 57 x 76 inches, 2018.

Josh Sperling at Perrotin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Josh Sperling describes his shaped canvases as “simple, beautiful, and fun” in a recent Perrotin Gallery video that touts the pleasures of looking.  He can add ‘huge’ to describe fifteen-foot tall Hocus Pocus, a centerpiece of his current show at the gallery. Evoking flowers or ripples from raindrops in water, the assemblage of eighty-four separate paintings is pure enjoyment.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 16th).

Josh Sperling, installation view of Hocus Pocus, acrylic on canvas (84 elements), 15 x 18 feet, 2018.

Marlon Mullen Paintings at JTT Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Art magazine covers inspired Marlon Mullen’s latest body of work, a series of paintings on view at JTT Gallery that revamp the eye-catching images on the country’s best-known art publications.  From his studio at the NIAD Center for Art & Disabilities, Mullen here refines a unique vision that injects vivid color, graphic boldness, and some whimsy into a reworking of a 2014 ArtNews cover featuring Yemeni photographer Boushra Almutawakel’s image of a woman wearing a U.S. flag as headscarf. (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 17th).

Marlon Mullen, untitled, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, 2017.