John Riepenhoff at Broadway

While traveling the world in his various roles as art dealer, artist, art activist, art impresario, and beer and cheese maker, John Riepenhoff has made time to appreciate the night sky from a variety of vantage points, from urban rooftops to wilderness.  In the latest from his ongoing series of sky paintings created in the dark of night and now on view at Broadway in Tribeca, he continues to configure the heavens in surprising ways, filling canvases with vertical dashes or elliptical forms that suggest a view from inside a rain storm. Blooms of purple-reddish color and scattered flecks of orange or yellow light further encourage appreciation for the wonders of nature.  (On view through July 15th).

John Riepenhoff, Skies, acrylic, flashe and oil on linen, 44 x 50 inches, 2022.

Ebony G Patterson at Hales Gallery

In the darkened space of Hales Gallery’s Chelsea location, Ebony G. Patterson’s ‘night garden’ entices with elaborately cut works on paper and wall-mounted tapestry installations decorated with strings of beads, glitter and other alluring objects. Each features a female figure (here in pink) with missing face or other body parts, a representative of loss who is literally no longer whole herself.  Patterson explains that on occasions of mourning, it’s often women who are the public face of their family or community; as such, this central, sequined figure, like the garden around her, represents ‘beauty concealing trauma and violence.’ (On view through June 18th).

Ebony G. Patterson, ‘….in the swallowing…she carries the whole…the hole’ (partial view), hand-cut jacquard woven photo tapestry with appliqué, fabric, plastic, beads, feathers, trim, glitter, and wood mounted on wallpaper in two (2) parts, 50 3/8 x 86 1/4 x 5 7/8 in, 2021 – 2022.

Benjamin Degen at Susan Inglett Gallery

A body melts and a blanket rises into colorful foothills in this painting celebrating the pleasures of the senses and the outdoors by Benjamin Degen at Susan Inglett Gallery.  In other works, bathers visit the beach at night to watch the moon while nature creates fabulous patterns in the movement of stars, rain and ocean water.  (On view by appointment in Chelsea through through July 24th).

Benjamin Degen, Rise, oil and spray enamel on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, 2019.

Luca Campigotto at Laurence Miller Gallery

Italian photographer Luca Campigotto’s cityscapes are bold and bright, though they’re shot after dark. Humans don’t feature much in the images yet our presence is felt through ubiquitous lights left on for safety, decoration, advertising and nighttime living. Here, Hong Kong glows with the intensity of over seven million lives being led and lit below. (On view at Laurence Miller Gallery through Feb 24th).

Luca Campigotto, Hong Kong, 55 x 73 ¾ inches, pure pigment print, 2016.

Jeronimo Elespe at Eleven Rivington

After seeing just a few pieces in Madrid-based painter Jeronimo Elespe’s latest show at Eleven Rivington, it won’t come as a surprise to find out that he paints at night. Figures and interiors materialize out of the darkness; here, a staircase seems to magically end in a pool of reflected light, anchored by a sniffing dog. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 20th.)

 Jeronimo Elespe, Fine, oil on aluminum, 14.96 x 9.84 inches, 2015.