Tag: salon94

Natalie Frank at Salon94

Tiny at just 8 x 8 inches, this underpainted and glazed ceramic sculpture has a powerful presence in Natalie Frank’s solo exhibition at Salon94’s Lower East Side location.  ‘Woman, Bride,’ is one of many female figures depicted in paper pulp paintings or ceramic sculpture who appears to know her own mind and is prepared to use it.  Whether Frank is partnering with Ballet Austin on a performance, illustrating books with her expressive paintings, or crafting sculpture, the dynamism and daring of her imagined characters stands out.  (On view on the Lower East Side through May 22nd.)

Natalie Frank, Woman, Bride, glazed ceramic, 8 x 8 x 1 inches, 2021.

Niki de Saint Phalle at Salon94

Titled ‘Joy Revolution,’ Salon94’s exhibition of late French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle’s painting, sculpture and work on paper celebrates color, pleasure and play.  Just inside Salon94’s stunning new 89th Street location, a 17,500 square foot former mansion built by philanthropist Archer Huntington, two lions originally intended as garden decoration greet visitors.  Intended to entice kids to climb them, they serve here as guardians and greeters.  (On view through April 24th).

Niki de Saint Phalle, Guardian Lions, polyurethane foam, resin, steel armature, ceramic tiles, glass, tumbled stone, and fused millefiori glass inserts, 88 x 132 x 112 inches, 2000.

Josep Grau-Garriga at Salon94 Bowery

At over twenty feet tall, late Catalan fiber artist Josep Grau-Garriga’s monumental tapestry ‘February Light’ dominates visitors to Salon94 Bowery.  Made in the 70s after Grau-Garriga had pioneered a move away from realist tapestries crafted with expensive materials into expressionist compositions fashioned from fibers including string, hemp and even old sacks, February Light’s wooden rods and ropes give the piece a remarkable boldness.  Created in the years just after the death of dictator Francisco Franco, the many openings in the blood-red areas of the artwork seem to continue Grau-Garriga’s frequent political allusions.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 29th).

Josep Grau-Garriga, Llum de Febrer, tapestry, 255 7/8 x 118 1/8 inches, 1978-81.

David Benjamin Sherry at Salon94

David Benjamin Sherry’s photos depict familiar-seeming western landscapes but in colors that force viewers to ask what they’re seeing.  Man’s impact on the environment comes to mind, as does the emotional value of portraying these spaces in vibrant pink or purple or yellow tones.  In his latest series, ‘American Monuments,’ Sherry shot locations newly threatened by having their protected status removed to allow resource extraction.   (On view at Salon94 on the Lower East Side through Oct 26th).

David Benjamin Sherry, View from Muley Point, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, chromogenic print, 2018.

Luis Flores at Salon94 Bowery

LA based artist Luis Flores deliberately employs the feminized craft of crochet to create self-portraits which undermine the concepts of masculinity he learned as a boy from his male relatives.  Here, he fights with himself in an installation featuring a series of wrestling moves enacted by his body doubles and observed by his passive and skeptical wife. (On view at Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side through April 20th).

Luis Flores, Tornado, yarn, AAA t-shirt, Levi’s jeans, Vans shoes and socks, 57 x 69 x 36 inches, 2019.