Tag: sky

John Riepenhoff at Broadway

While traveling the world in his various roles as art dealer, artist, art activist, art impresario, and beer and cheese maker, John Riepenhoff has made time to appreciate the night sky from a variety of vantage points, from urban rooftops to wilderness.  In the latest from his ongoing series of sky paintings created in the dark of night and now on view at Broadway in Tribeca, he continues to configure the heavens in surprising ways, filling canvases with vertical dashes or elliptical forms that suggest a view from inside a rain storm. Blooms of purple-reddish color and scattered flecks of orange or yellow light further encourage appreciation for the wonders of nature.  (On view through July 15th).

John Riepenhoff, Skies, acrylic, flashe and oil on linen, 44 x 50 inches, 2022.

Byron Kim at James Cohan Gallery

The weeks turn to years in Byron Kim’s diaristic notes, jotted on his paintings of the sky on successive Sundays since 2001. The towers fall, Obama is elected president, Kim worries over his kids, ponders his work and enjoys an active social life – all set against the backdrop of shifting weather. (On view at James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 17th).

Byron Kim, installation view of ‘Sunday Paintings, 1/7/01 to 2/11/18’ at James Cohan Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 17th.

Vija Celmins at Matthew Marks Gallery

One stone is real, the other is a replica. Vija Celmins entices viewers to ponder which one came from the earth and which from the artist’s hand in this pairing at Matthew Marks Gallery’s 22nd Street space in Chelsea. In other works, Celmins turns her hand to the skies and the seas with meticulous realist paintings that celebrate the creative powers of the artist. (On view through April 15th).

Vija Celmins, Two Stones, one found stone and one made stone: bronze and alkyd oil, 2 ¼ x 8 x 5 ½ inches, 1977/2014-16.

Keltie Ferris at Mitchell-Innes and Nash

Brooklyn-based painter Keltie Ferris is known for abstract paintings that recall the city grid, so you’d think she’d relish LA’s road systems on her recent residency there. Instead, she turns her eye skyward in pieces like ‘oRiOn,’ a canvas that hints at a celestial hunter, outlined in vivid color and decorated in a shower of shooting stars. (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes and Nash through Oct 17th).

Keltie Ferris, oRiOn, acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 2015.

Diana Thater at David Zwirner Gallery

Inspired by James Turrell sculptures, in which the audience looks upward through a ceiling aperture to view the sky as art, LA artist Diana Thater devised this projection on the ceiling of David Zwirner Gallery as an homage to the dung beetle, a creature which looks to the stars to guide its ecologically critical activity. (In Chelsea through Feb 21st).

Diana Thater, Science, Fiction, installation for two video projectors, media player, and lights, overall dimensions vary with installation, 2014.