In Albertz Benda’s summer group exhibition, ‘Fragmented Bodies II: Fluidity in Form,’ fluidity defines identity. Chloe Chiasson’s Target Practice, a shaped painting that is part of the wall and leaps off of it, features a group of young men who defy stereotypes of masculine rural behavior. Perched on a wooden fence with beer cans used for target practice, one man’s ‘Daddy’ tattoo, another’s earring and scattered daisies upend expectations. (On view in Chelsea through July 31st).
Pretty in pink but commanding her space, the subject of this portrait by Sydney Vernon at Canada Gallery is full of life. Along with an accompanying video the mixed media portrait is actually a memorial to a family matriarch, ‘a tender reflection on familial love and loss.’ A pelvic x-ray to the left, a photo of two children on the right along with living spaces and artwork suggest episodes from a life while writing on the column to the left offers sage advice including ‘beauty is only skin deep.’ (On view in Tribeca through April 10th. Masks and social distancing is required and occupancy is limited).
Peg board, orange plastic wrap, beard hair and other unexpected art materials create surprise and immediacy in Aaron Fowler’s meditative self-portrait at Totah Gallery on the LES. Salon94 Gallery, which also showed Fowler’s work earlier this month, explains the donkey “…as a symbol of human imperfection and signifying the potential for transformation.” (On view through Aug 26th at Totah Gallery).
Books are bound with covers of cigarettes or melted crayons, studded with nails like a fetish object or stuffed with garbage in Allan Stone Projects’ exhibition of Barton Benes’ book sculptures. This book from c. 72-74 is at the mercy of a giant safety pin, perhaps holding the book together, keeping it closed or treating it like a punk or a diapered baby? (On view in Chelsea through Feb 24th).
A tiny, sideways glance from a woman playing the slots in Vegas red flags an internal conflict in Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s absorbing mixed media image at James Cohan Gallery. Constructed using marquetry and collaged photos, the materials themselves speak to a nature/culture divide made more acute by the way the outside world is visible through the casino walls and the subject wears animal patterned (and likely synthetic) clothes. (At James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side space through Dec 22nd).
