Jason Moran at Luhring Augustine Gallery

Areas of darker and lighter blue in jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran’s bold new abstractions at Luhring Augustine suggest intervals of energy and calm, control and freedom.  Moran made the works by placing pigment on Gampi paper, laid atop a keyboard, then enacting private performances – ‘surrogates to the concerts I was unable to perform in 2020,’ he explains.  Paired with tracks from his new album, the works suggest both transcendence and engagement with the challenges of life over the past year.  (On view at Luhring Augustine’s Tribeca space through Feb 27th).

Jason Moran, Went wild and left in Silence, pigment on Gampi paper, 25 1/8 x 37 ½ inches, 2020.

Sam Falls at 303gallery.com

Sam Falls records a direct experience of nature by allowing the elements to interact with the plant material and pigment he places on canvas and leaves outdoors.   His beautifully presented on-line exhibition at 303gallery.com includes photos that elaborate on his process and his ceramic practice, which includes a series of intricate ceramic tile archways on the High Line featuring designs every bit as enticing as the lush foliage surrounding them.  (On view in 303 Gallery’s on-line viewing room through May 15th).

Sam Falls, detail of Untitled (Conception), pigment on canvas, 7ft, 6 in x 41ft, 2018.

Bosco Sodi at Paul Kasmin Gallery

Bosco Sodi’s hand-formed ceramic cubes at Paul Kasmin Gallery are new but appear weathered, evoking mankind’s ancient and ongoing relationship with clay. Behind, a mixed media painting continues Sodi’s signature practice of mixing pigment, sawdust, glue and other materials into an explosive, vividly colored abstraction. (On view at Paul Kasmin Gallery through Jan 6th).

Bosco Sodi, Untitled, clay, 31 ½ x 31 ½ x 31 ½ inches, 2017 (foreground) and Untitled, mixed media over linen, 78 ¾ x 110 ¼ inches, 2017 (background).

Pamela Rosenkranz at Miguel Abreu Gallery

An LED lighting strip turns Miguel Abreu Gallery an eerie green color, illuminating a puddle of synthetic liquid based on a pigment found in rainforest worms. Accompanied by a soundtrack of Amazon jungle noise played backwards, this installation by young Swiss artist Pamela Rosenkranz creates a surprisingly atmospheric faux-natural environment on the Lower East Side. (Through Dec 22nd).

Pamela Rosenkranz, Amazon (Green), LED lighting strip, 56 x 1 1/8 x ½ inches, 2016.
Pamela Rosenkranz, Amazon (Green), LED lighting strip, 56 x 1 1/8 x ½ inches, 2016.

 

Fran Siegel at Lesley Heller Workspace

Fran Siegel’s monumental aerial view of Los Angeles defies standard views of the city that emphasize the grid, instead glorying in the expansive notion of the place as a fragmented network of systems and communities.  (At Lesley Heller Workspace on the Lower East Side through December 1st.)  

Fran Siegel, installation view of ‘Overland 16,’ cyanotype, ink, pencil and pigment on cut paper, 96” x 140,” 2013.