Kelly Akashi at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Kelly Akashi’s poetic assemblages of sculpture in glass, stone, bronze and rammed earth at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery heighten awareness of her materials and processes while juxtaposing human concepts of time with comparatively vast measures of time on earth and in the universe. Here, the glass sphere titled ‘Cosmic Axis,’ brings to mind the axis around which the earth rotates while also alluding to the connection between heavenly and terrestrial realms.  Surrounded by photos of distant nebula taken by telescopes, the sculpture feels especially present in the space of the gallery, its delicacy contrasted by a large concrete pedestal and enhanced by cherry blossoms on top that extend into the space of the sphere. (On view in Chelsea through June 10th).

Kelly Akashi, Cosmic Axis, Flame-worked borosilicate on rotating cast concrete pedestal, 77 x 22 x 22 inches, 2022-23.

Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Buildings and monuments in the U.S. capital inspired Rotterdam & Benin-based artist Meschac Gaba’s latest synthetic-hair sculptures. Including (right to left) the White House, the U.S. Capitol and St John Episcopal Church, the sculptures represent a merger of African craft and sites of power. (On view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through July 28th).

Installation view of Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, June, 2017 featuring at right, ‘White House,’ braided wig of synthetic hair, 35 x 20 x 14 inches, 2017.

Uta Barth at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Inspired by the light in her adopted home-city of LA and by the still life arrangements of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, Uta Barth employs everyday glassware as lenses. Transparent objects in various shapes, colors and combinations shift light to harness the properties of nature in service of art. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through March 11th).

Uta Barth, In the Light and Shadow of Morandi (17.03), face mounted, raised, shaped, Archival Pigment print in artist’s frame, 48 ¾ x 52 ¾ inches, 2017.

Ernesto Neto at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto opens a new chapter in his colorful immersive installations with this homage to the birth of humanity. Hand-crocheted hanging sculptures in the shape of a womb invite visitors to enter and walk back to a communal space with drum and guitar. Allusions to Adam and Eve in both western and indigenous Amazonian culture find common ground in the pursuit of knowledge. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 17th).

Ernesto Neto, installation view of ‘The Serpent’s Energy Gave Birth to Humanity,’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, November 2016.
Ernesto Neto, installation view of ‘The Serpent’s Energy Gave Birth to Humanity,’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, November 2016.

Nicole Wermers at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

These assisted readymade sculptures by Nicole Wermers were inspired by awnings but have been fitted with custom textiles and turned to the side to create vertical columns. Their patterns recall post-war minimal painting a la Daniel Buren, but rolled up, their potential is hidden. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through July 29th).

Nicole Wermers, installation view of ‘Vertical Awnings’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, June 2016.
Nicole Wermers, installation view of ‘Vertical Awnings’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, June 2016.