Sean Landers at Petzel Gallery

The tale of Moby Dick as metaphor for a doomed, obsessive quest, specifically the U.S.’s military involvement in the Middle East, was the subject of Robert Longo’s stunning show at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery last spring. Now at the same gallery, Sean Landers’ takes up the subject in a more narcissistic way, depicting the great whale as a stand-in for the artist’s pursuit of a lasting artistic legacy. (Through Dec 20th).

Sean Landers, Moby Dick (Merrilees), oil on linen, 112 x 336 inches, 2013.

Robert Longo at Petzel Gallery

There’s little subtlety in Robert Longo’s massive, 17 ft tall U.S. flag that appears to sink into Petzel Gallery’s floor and is subtitled ‘The Pequod’ after the ship destroyed by Ahab’s mad quest for vengeance on Moby Dick. (In Chelsea through May 10th).

Robert Longo, Untitled (The Pequod), steel, wood, wax and pigment, 207 x 192 x 12 inches, 2014.

Barnaby Furnas at Marianne Boesky Gallery

Barnaby Furnas, Jonah and the Whale #2, water-based pigment, color pencil and acrylic on linen, 2012.
Barnaby Furnas, Jonah and the Whale #2, water-based pigment, color pencil and acrylic on linen, 2012.

Whale-lovers beware at Barnaby Furnas’ latest solo show at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea – riffing on Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick’ and Jonah’s cetacean misadventure, Furnas’s new paintings picture whalers in total, gory triumph.  Inspired by the fact that whale oil provided light for lamps, Furnas bathes a tattered Jonah in celestial light as he reaches shore, prepared to follow a new path.  (Through Dec 21st).