Glenn Kaino at Pace Gallery

Known for working in media including performance, film and theater, LA artist Glenn Kaino turns to portrait painting, small-scale sculpture of adapted samurai helmets and Japanese punch embroidery for his first major solo show at Pace Gallery.  Fresh on the heels of a soon-to-close exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum in LA for which he recreated his grandfather’s small East LA market, Kaino continues to probe his heritage as a Japanese American.  The show’s portraits aim to keep a record of community in the form of paintings of Kaino’s friends, musicians and people he meets.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 24th).

Glenn Kaino, Michael, oil on canvas, 61 x 49 x 3 inches, 2023.

Mika Tajima at Pace Gallery

Known for turning sound into image, Mika Tajima has gathered aural data from brain activity and turned it into visual information in her latest ‘textile paintings,’ now on view at Pace Gallery.  Produced by an experimental textile lab in the Netherlands, the monumental artworks juxtapose minute readings with expansive artworks, a nod to an individual human’s relative insignificance in the face of geological time and in relation to big data. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 24th).

Mika Tajima, Negative Entropy (Deep Brain Stimulation, Yellow, Full Width, Exa), cotton, polyester, nylon, and wood, 135 x 204 3/8 x 2 ¾ inches, 2024.

Song Dong at Pace Gallery

Well-known in New York for his 2009 installation ‘Waste Not’ at MoMA, in which he displayed all his mother’s 10,000+ accumulated belongings, Chinese avant-garde artist Song Dong morphs discarded objects into intriguing sculpture in his latest work at Pace Gallery.  Using circular forms important in traditional Chinese philosophy, Song created this light sculpture from a discarded object meant to be displayed behind a statue of the Buddha Guanyin; accordingly, the surface is marked a representation of the deity’s one-thousand arms which take on new meaning when viewed from above.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 18th).

Song Dong, Thousand Hands, glass, crystal, lamp, 15 3/4” x 63”, 2022-23.

Matthew Day Jackson at Pace Gallery

You’ve never seen Yellowstone National Park the way Matthew Day Jackson pictures it in otherworldly new hybrid collages of laser cut metal, wood and plastic at Pace Gallery.  Though the title of this piece, ‘Geyser (after Moran),’ alludes to Thomas Moran’s 19th century watercolor paintings of an erupting spout, Jackson’s version adds multiple, huge planets in the background while emphasizing the desolation of the landscape – even the trees lean away from the explosive force of a rigid plume of escaping water and steam.  Gallery visitors will notice an earthy smell in the air – the artist commissioned ArtOlifaction Lab to create an olfactory experience, asking the scent-makers to imagine that they were aliens who returned home to recreate the sights and smells of the planet.  Through the absence of humans, nebula-like swirls in the sky and toxic colors on land, Jackson posits a post-apocalyptic sci-fi scenario that both entrances and horrifies.  (On view through July 1st in Chelsea).

Matthew Day Jackson, Geyser (after Moran), wood, acrylic paint, urethane plastic, fiberglass, UV pigment, lead, stainless steel frame, 81 ¼ x 57 ¼ x 2 inches, 2023.

Leo Villareal at Pace Gallery

Can you capture the feeling of a sunset and make it last?  New media artist Leo Villareal has explained that his latest ‘digital sculptures’ – LED lights and electronics behind acrylic panels – at Chelsea’s Pace Gallery, have a similar effect to watching natural phenomena.  Titled ‘Interstellar’ and inspired by images from space, including photos from the James Webb Telescope, the new wall-mounted works manifest in a range of palettes, from calming blue/greens to blazing yellow/orange tones.  Powered by custom coding, the imagery constantly morphs, enticing viewers to linger.  (On view through April 29th).

Leo Villareal, installation view of ‘Interstellar’ at Pace Gallery, April 2023.