Julia Felsenthal at JDJ Gallery

Julia Felsenthal is the first to acknowledge that many artists before her have painted the sea, while also observing that, even in her own production, each rendition is different.  The Brooklyn and Cape-Cod based writer and painter tempts viewers to stop in front of each of her small watercolor on gouache studies of sky and water at JDJ Gallery in Tribeca to appreciate the various effects of light, mist, cloud, sunrise, water depth and more.  Sublime in power yet compact in form, Felsenthal’s waterscapes speak to the endless beauty and fascination of the ocean.  (On view through July 21st).

Julia Felsenthal, Glinting Sea, watercolor and gouache on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 2022.

Susan Lichtman at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects

The canvas barely manages to contain an angled view of a screened window by painter Susan Lichtman, reflecting an outdoor scene from her Massachusetts home. With one window panel opening toward viewers, the painting appears to project itself into Steven Harvey Fine Art Project’s narrow gallery space, an arresting and dynamic move that belies an apparently tranquil domestic scene. (On the Lower East Side through July 15th).

Susan Lichtman, Cookout, oil on linen, 64 x 58 inches, 2016.

Gregory Crewdson

The color and lighting of Gregory Crewdson’s new photos can be traced to his interest in how painters of the 19th century and prior drew viewers into their paintings with detail and tones that could be appreciated from both near and far. The photos’ suspenseful and melancholy mood might be attributable to major life changes, which have included a new gallery, a divorce and a move out of New York. (At Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street location through March 5th).

Gregory Crewdson, Woman at Kitchen Window, digital pigment print, 45 1/16 x 57 9/16 inches, 2013.
Gregory Crewdson, Woman at Kitchen Window, digital pigment print, 45 1/16 x 57 9/16 inches, 2013.

Sandra Allen in ‘Land and Sea’ at Danese Corey

Known for graphite-on-paper drawings of trees, Massachusetts-based artist Sandra Allen creates an almost abstract, immensely powerful image from the trunk of a tree in ‘Ballast’ from 2009. (At Danese Corey through July 31st).

Sandra Allen, Ballast, graphite on paper, 11 x 18.5 feet, 2009.

Lucy Kim at Lisa Cooley

Over one hundred dental casts of the same smile create a grid in this slightly creepy, subtly funny 3-D painting by Massachusetts-based painter Lucy Kim at Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side. With cartoon-like swirls of red curls and sesame seeds connoting freckles, this character – with her super abundance of toothy grins – charms and repulses at the same time. (Through Feb 15th).

Lucy Kim, detail of Tomorrow, Tomorrow (Leeza Smiles), oil paint, acrylic paint, urethane resin, polyurethane glue on dibond panel, 36 x 45 inches, 2014.