Tag: unicorn

Ariana Papademetropoulos at Vito Schnabel Gallery

Taking inspiration from medieval tapestries including ‘The Hunt of the Unicorn’ at the Met Museum’s Cloisters, Ariana Papademetropoulos’ new paintings at Vito Schnabel’s Chelsea gallery feature a unicorn that struggles towards its own unique experience of freedom.  Here, set in a Renaissance-era wood paneled room, the mythical creature – who the artist sees as an alter-ego – rests on a bed that is simultaneously a watery landscape.  This glimpse into a parallel world and the mirror with an emerging face on the left of the painting suggest that the unicorn may have escape portals that will allow it to slip its confines. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 7th.  Note holiday closures this week.)

Ariana Papademetropoulos, Horror Vacui, oil on canvas, 91 ¾ x 108 ¼ inches, 2022.

Jonathan Monaghan at Bitforms

In Jonathan Monaghan’s latest fantastical animation, Disco Beast, a unicorn is captured and drained of energy by a predatory cell phone charging station only to be reborn in a luxury building’s hidden disco. Here, the unicorn is penned in by a ring of TSA scanners, an allusion to the Renaissance Unicorn Tapestries (which act as metaphor for marriage, among other things) and an update on the experience of being ‘captured.’ (On view at Bitforms on the Lower East Side through Dec 10th).

Jonathan Monaghan, The Unicorn in Captivity, 3D printed 18K gold plated brass, 3D printed porcelain, acrylic, 15 x 23 x 8 inches, 2017.