Kacper Kowalski at The Curator

Several years ago, Polish photographer Kacper Kowalski turned his back on his career in architecture and began a new pursuit taking photographs from a paraglider or a gyrocopter at around 500 feet above the central European landscape. This beautiful observation of nature’s seasonal transformations is part of a series documenting the onset and experience of winter from above. (At The Curator in Chelsea, through Dec 17th).

Kacper Kowalski, Seasons/Autumn #29, archival pigment print, 27 x 41 inches, 2015.
Kacper Kowalski, Seasons/Autumn #29, archival pigment print, 27 x 41 inches, 2015.

Paulina Olowska at Metro Pictures

Polish painter Paulina Olowska’s series of female figures suggest strong personalities; this shadowy character is based on gardener Valerie Finnis, who confessed to having once put plants before people. (At Metro Pictures in Chelsea through Dec 22nd).

Paulina Olowska, The Gardener after Valerie Finnis, oil and acrylic on canvas, 86 5/8 x 70 7/8, 2016.
Paulina Olowska, The Gardener after Valerie Finnis, oil and acrylic on canvas, 86 5/8 x 70 7/8, 2016.

Goshka Macuga at the New Museum

Miroslav Tichy surreptitiously photographed unsuspecting women in the Czech Republic for decades; the resulting images are often celebrated in New York galleries and museums. For her solo show at the New Museum, Polish-born artist Goshka Macuga created this tapestry, featuring women from Tichy’s photos (and other sources) along with two women who wear body suits based on Tichy’s drawings.  The women in the tapestry clean Karl Marx’s tombstone, summoning not workers but women to unite. (At the New Museum through June 26th).

Goshka Macuga, Death of Marxism, Women of All Lands Unite, wool tapestry, collection of the Broad Art Foundation, 2013.
Goshka Macuga, Death of Marxism, Women of All Lands Unite, wool tapestry, collection of the Broad Art Foundation, 2013.

Alicja Kwade at 303 Gallery

Large mirrors intersect with clear glass frames in Berlin-based Polish artist Alicja Kwade’s first solo show at 303 Gallery, confusing the sightlines and adding intrigue to the gallery’s stunning new space on 21st Street. In the foreground, Kwade offers a beautiful brass sculpture that suggests the trajectory of a slowing spinning and falling hoop, arresting a sequence of events as a sculpture. (In Chelsea through June 30th).

Alicja Kwade, installation view of ‘Alicja Kwade,’ at 303 Gallery, May 2016.
Alicja Kwade, installation view of ‘Alicja Kwade,’ at 303 Gallery, May 2016.

Sharon Lockhart at Barbara Gladstone Gallery





Visitors to Sharon Lockhart’s latest solo show at Barbara Gladstone play a game of peek-a-boo with the LA artist’s recurring subject, a Polish teen with whom she’s worked for years. Moving around the large walls erected at the center of the gallery, visitors can ponder how much a photo can ever really reveal of its subject. (In Chelsea, through January 23rd). 

Sharon Lockhart, Milena, Jaroslaw, 2013, three framed chromogenic prints, 50 ¾ x 40 ¾ inches, 2014.