Paul Kasmin Gallery and Sotheby’s Gallery team up this month to bring the vanitas still life and memento mori up to date in an impressive exhibition of Dutch genre painting and contemporary art touching on the theme of life’s brevity. Columbian artist Rafael Gomezbarros’ smarm of ants – constructed with cast human skulls – opens the show with a bang. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea through March 4th).
The colors of Gustav Klimt’s famous portrait of Viennese girl Mada Primavesi (in the Met’s collection) inspired this lush painting by British artist Ian Davenport, seen here in detail. In Klimt’s original, Mada’s slim figure barely stands out against a background of white, lilac and pink color; here, Davenport allows the colors to take over fully. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery through Oct 22nd).
Known for painting muscled men who radiate strength, Indonesian artist Nyoman Masriadi creates a painting seething with tension as two guards interrogate a party-goer who claims to be ‘on the list.’ Each towering painting in the show (this one is over six feet tall) seethes with drama as it pokes fun at various powerful men. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery’s 293 Tenth Ave location through June 18th).
Will Ryman has arranged thousands of paint brushes into soft wavy walls and planted huge metal flower sculptures on the Park Avenue malls, so the political subtext beneath his recent sculpture ‘The Situation Room’ at Chelsea’s Paul Kasmin Gallery comes as something of a surprise. Wanting to respond to the famous photos of the Obama administration watching the SEAL raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in 2011, Ryman recreated the scene in coal dust covered sculptures that appear suspended in time as if preserved by a fossil fuel-related Pompeiian disaster. (Through Oct 17th).
Will Ryman, The Situation Room, coal, fiberglass, wood, fabric, epoxy, 132 x 163 x 78 inches, 2014.
It might be a stretch to consider this 16th century French illustrated manuscript as a precursor to R. Crumb’s cartoons, as a handout at Paul Kasmin Gallery suggests. Still, its meticulous detail and historical importance make it a knockout in the gallery’s summer group show celebrating the visual qualities of the written word. (In Chelsea through August 14th).
The Hours of Jacques Hurault, Grand Audienier of France, c. 1500-1510, Book of Hours, use of Rome in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, bound in French vellum, 6 ¼ x 4 ¼ x 1 ½ inches.
