Known for turning sound into image, Mika Tajima has gathered aural data from brain activity and turned it into visual information in her latest ‘textile paintings,’ now on view at Pace Gallery. Produced by an experimental textile lab in the Netherlands, the monumental artworks juxtapose minute readings with expansive artworks, a nod to an individual human’s relative insignificance in the face of geological time and in relation to big data. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 24th).
Known for sculpture and 2-D work that incorporates textiles originally inspired by Dutch wax printed fabrics, British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare gives new life to his signature material in pieces that resemble flying cloth at James Cohan Gallery. Shonibare has explained that his new bronzes came from thinking about the wind that filled the sails of ships involved in transatlantic trade and forced migration in past centuries. Now, the dynamic pieces resemble dancing forms as they elegantly and energetically swirl on their pedestals in the gallery. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 22nd).
Raised in rural Pennsylvania with little access to museums but within easy reach of her mom’s crafting supplies, New York artist Melissa Joseph developed a textile-based practice resulting in painterly portraits of family now on view at Margot Samel in Tribeca. Three small pieces in needle felted wool on industrial felt, mounted on found silver plates, are the size of embroidery but use material more akin to impasto painting. Here, Joseph’s extended family piles on to a living room seat, creating a tangle of bodies as familiar and comfortable as the material depicting them. (On view in Tribeca through Nov 22nd).
‘Meet me on the Equinox,’ the title of Sanford Biggers’ show at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea deliberately evokes a point of convergence between different places or ideas, appropriate for new work that combines objects from a mix of cultures. Pieces like this marble, wood and textile sculpture titled The Repatriate, continue Biggers’ interest in combining artifacts with different backgrounds, in this case a mask that is itself a collage of various African masks, a wooden platform inspired by bases of roadside shrines in Asia and beyond, and quilts that recall stories of textiles used to send messages on the Underground Railroad. As its title suggests, Biggers explains that he was thinking of objects with identities that have been altered by context; as ownership changes, identity continues to evolve. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 14th).
Jacquelyn Strycker uses the risograph mechanical copying/printing process to create abstractions that look like sewn textiles, a fruitful juxtaposition of the machine made and handmade that makes her work a standout at the opening of Print Center New York’s engaging new group show of work by emerging artists. This piece’s profusion of pattern came from Strycker’s decision to embrace complexity. Sometimes printed on handmade and Japanese papers or, in this piece titled ‘Dream House,’ made using cotton stuffed with Poly-fil, the resulting forms resemble a curious mix of quilt, garment and architecture. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 25th).
