This 1989-90 pair of shoes by Elizabeth Murray features chimney-like shapes and keyholes, bringing to mind two houses (representing a couple?) bound by a tangled set of orange laces. On loan from MoMA, ‘Dis Pair’ is a highlight of Pace Gallery’s exhibition of Murray’s raucous, street-inspired painting from the 80s. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 13th).
These shoes may not be the most ambition artworks in Sally Saul’s debut show at Rachel Uffner Gallery, but their unassuming quality – a quotidian appreciation for the quiet pleasures in life, such as the perfect shoes for the occasion – is the perfect introduction to a show of what critic John Yau calls ‘funny, sweet and tender’ artworks. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 29th).
Sascha Braunig is best known for paintings of quasi-human figures that seem to merge with a digital backgrounds, so her sculpture ‘Giantess’ on the High Line – set in a natural environment – is something of a fun surprise, begging the question of who would wear these huge, spur-bedecked heels. (On view through March 2018 near 24th/25th Street).
Young Toronto-based painter Vanessa Maltese has a different take on the shoe as object d’art. In a show titled, ‘Company,’ it appears that she has invited guests who have removed their shoes in an empty gallery, then disappeared. In fact, each piece of footware is cast aluminum, painted in oil. Too clean to compare to Van Gogh’s famous paintings of heavily used shoes, these sneakers have some travels yet to complete. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd).
IT professor and artist E.M. Saniga explains that his professional focus – mathematical model building – and his passion for painting are not so dissimilar, both involving abstracting reality in inventive ways. Saniga’s recent series at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects was inspired by objects unearthed in an 18th century Quaker home and items from museum collections and the imagination. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 16th)
E.M. Saniga, ‘Early Shoes and Quaker Moths,’ oil on panel, 2012-2014.
