Tag: trash

Tony Cragg in ‘Spectrum’ at Lisson Gallery

Conflict is at the heart of Tony Cragg’s 1983 sculpture ‘Spectrum,’ from which Lisson Gallery’s new summer show takes its title.  Beautiful in its variety of color and inspired by the natural phenomenon of the color spectrum, it was assembled from sea plastic found on the shore, a decidedly ugly and unnatural phenomenon.  Part of a series, this iteration spreads objects out on the floor like a carefully presented anthropological display that implicates throw-away culture.  (On view in Chelsea Mon-Thurs, 11am – 4pm through August 27th. Masks and social distancing are required and visitor numbers are limited to 10 at a time.)

Tony Cragg, Spectrum, plastic, 255 7/9 x 137 ¾ inches, 1983

Dieter Roth at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

Six hundred binders hold plastic sleeves filled with studio waste in a huge installation of books and other material created by Dieter Roth and his son and collaborator, Bjorn Roth currently at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Chelsea. Every piece of trash less than 5mm thick found its way into a binder in the years 1975-76, resulting in a portrait of the artist told through postcards, cigarette butts, packaging and more. ‘The worse it looks, the better,’ Roth noted on one binder. (On view through July 29th).

Installation view of ‘Books. Dieter Roth. Bjorn Roth. Studio,’ Hauser and Wirth Gallery, April 27 – July 28, 2017.

Deborah Butterfield at Danese Corey Gallery

Man meets nature in this bronze sculpture by Deborah Butterfield, who has cast wood and marine debris collected from the Gulf of Alaska into one of her signature, horse sculptures. Butterfield’s sensitive renderings of horses bring us closer to the natural world; here, they poignantly speak to nature’s endurance in the face of environmental degradation. (At Danese Corey Gallery in Chelsea through June 23rd).

Deborah Butterfield, Orenji, unique cast bronze with patina, 25.75 x 26.5 x 10 inches, 2017.

Yuji Agematsu at Miguel Abreu Gallery

Daily for the past twenty years, New York artist Yuji Agematsu has walked the city streets collecting refuse and reforming it into artful accumulations and arrangements. Here, he has allowed lollipops to melt and deteriorate before arresting them in precise moments of decay that still recall the joy of a freshly unwrapped piece of candy while fast forwarding to the end of that pleasure. (At Miguel Abreu Gallery through April 2nd).

Yuji Agematsu, no time, no location, lollipops, paper and plastic sticks, hair, thread, cellophane, chewing gum and mixed media inserted into wall, 18 x 25 ½ x 5 ¼ inches, 2013 – 16.

Christine and Margaret Wertheim and the Institute for Figuring at the Museum of Art & Design

In one of the most visually stunning shows in New York this season, sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim and a team of collaborating makers have created crocheted segments of coral reefs as sculptures, now on view at the Museum of Art and Design. Using geometry to crochet forms that correspond to the shapes of the reefs, the sisters combine yarn and plastic trash in glittering, colorful sculptures that gratify the senses as they warn against our ongoing destruction of the world’s coral reefs. (On view through Jan 22nd).

Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim with Sarah Simons, Clare O’Callaghan, Kathleen Greco, Evelyn Hardin, Matthew Adnams, Christina Simons, and Jemima Wyman, (detail) Coral Forest – Ea, Plastic shopping bags, The New York Times wrappers, Hula-Hoop, plastic spades, found objects, yarn, felt, Sonotube, chicken wire, 2009 – 14.
Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim with Sarah Simons, Clare O’Callaghan, Kathleen Greco, Evelyn Hardin, Matthew Adnams, Christina Simons, and Jemima Wyman, (detail) Coral Forest – Ea, Plastic shopping bags, The New York Times wrappers, Hula-Hoop, plastic spades, found objects, yarn, felt, Sonotube, chicken wire, 2009 – 14.