Marlon Mullen at JTT Gallery

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.

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.

Lorna Simpson at Salon94 Bowery

Lorna Simpson’s understated, monochrome images employ collaged fragments from magazines like Ebony and Jet in a powerful, poetic mediation on race in America. (At Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side through Oct 22nd).

Lorna Simpson, Hands, India ink and screenprint on Clayboard, 48 x 36 inches, 2016.
Lorna Simpson, Hands, India ink and screenprint on Clayboard, 48 x 36 inches, 2016.

 

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.

Marlon Mullen at JTT Gallery

California artist Marlon Mullen reduces the world to blocks of color and general forms, conveying the gist of his source material – ads and images in art magazines – in striking simplicity. (At JTT Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 15th).

Marlon Mullen, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 inches, 2012.