Deborah Butterfield at Marlborough Gallery

Though told as a student that horses weren’t ‘serious’ subjects for contemporary art, Deborah Butterfield persevered to become renowned for sensitive and powerful sculptures of horses created in materials from salvaged metal to sea plastics.  Best-known are her bronze pieces that still appear to be made of the wood from which they were cast, an enticing illusion.  In a show of new work at Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery, Butterfield sourced wood from near her home/working horse ranch in Montana and property in Hawaii to create towering horses like this one titled ‘Sweetgrass,’ which, though its assembled form is light like a sketch created in wood, has a powerful presence in keeping with its weighty bronze manufacture.  (On view through Jan 14th).

Deborah Butterfield, Sweetgrass, cast bronze, unique, 90 x 108 x 33 inches, 2021 – 22.

Davina Semo at Marlborough Gallery

While a single glove evokes Michael Jackson in the glitter of stage lights, this lone accessory – a stainless steel mesh glove encased in concrete – conveys something sinister. Semo’s other minimalist sculptures co-opt possible residue of violence, including chains, broken glass and shell casings as art materials, asking how fine art and conflict connect. (At Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 14th).

Davina Semo, SHE LOOKED THROUGH HIS THINGS, CAREFUL TO LEAVE EACH AS IT HAD BEEN, pigmented, reinforced concrete; mica, stainless steel mesh glove, 9 x 6 x 1 7/8 inches, 2016.
Davina Semo, SHE LOOKED THROUGH HIS THINGS, CAREFUL TO LEAVE EACH AS IT HAD BEEN, pigmented, reinforced concrete; mica, stainless steel mesh glove, 9 x 6 x 1 7/8 inches, 2016.

Werner Buttner at Marlborough Gallery

Monks levitate in an intense ball game imagined by German artist Werner Buttner. Elsewhere, sausages fall from the sky and a dinosaur skeleton in a red hat bounds through a barren landscape in a series of paintings that combine the banal and the unusual to striking effect. (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through Dec 3rd).

Werner Buttner, Joie de Vivre (Lebensfreude), oil on canvas, 74 ¾ x 59 inches, 2015.
Werner Buttner, Joie de Vivre (Lebensfreude), oil on canvas, 74 ¾ x 59 inches, 2015.

John Kelsey in ‘Landscapes’ at Marlborough Gallery

A phenomenal landscape meets a monumental project to collect data at mind-boggling expense ($1b+) in John Kelsey’s pretty watercolor of an NSA Data Center in Williams, Utah. (At Marlborough Gallery through July 29th).

John Kelsey, NSA Data Center, Camp Williams, UT, watercolor, mounted on aluminum, 12 ¼ x 16 1/8 inches, 2013.
John Kelsey, NSA Data Center, Camp Williams, UT, watercolor, mounted on aluminum, 12 ¼ x 16 1/8 inches, 2013.

Shara Hughes at Marlborough Gallery

Titled ‘Trips I’ve Never Been On,’ Shara Hughes’ solo show at Marlborough Gallery includes slightly surreal scenarios like this one, a juxtaposition of landscapes that seems both dream-like and real. (In Chelsea through March 12th).

Mushroom Hunt, oil, acrylic, flashe, caulk, spray paint and enamel on canvas, 64 x 54 inches, 2015.
Mushroom Hunt, oil, acrylic, flashe, caulk, spray paint and enamel on canvas, 64 x 54 inches, 2015.