Linda Goode Bryant in ‘Social Works’ at Gagosian Gallery

Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ piles of candy, Oscar Murillo’s pallets of freshly made chocolate and Betty Woodman’s ceramic fragments are some of the most meaningful and memorable free gifts artists have offered to New York art audiences in recent years.  Now, Linda Goode Bryant’s floating farm at Gagosian Gallery joins in with daily offerings of freshly grown and harvested produce.  Tiny bags of basil, cilantro and green beans await someone’s dinner plate but also testify to Bryant’s efforts to supply healthy food to communities with restricted access to produce via Project EATS, the urban farming organization she founded in 2009.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 13th.  Masks and social distancing required.)

Linda Goode Bryant, Are we really that different?, installation, dimensions variable, 2021.

 

Ariel Orozco at Spencer Brownstone Gallery

No detail of urban life is too mundane for Mexico-City based conceptual artist Ariel Orozco, whose minimalist panels at Spencer Brownstone Gallery uncover a hidden choreography in the metropolis.  Finding himself trailing 18 wheelers through city traffic, Orozco recorded the patterns of blinking lights on the rear of the trucks, then recreated the same flashing sequences with lights embedded into canvas.  The effect is humorous and surprisingly engaging…and viewers don’t even have to deal with diesel exhaust.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 8th).

Ariel Orozco, installation view of La cabeza el los pies (Head on feet), truck tail lights, electrical hardware, circuit box, canvas on panel, 90.5 x 78.5 inches, 2020.

Rebecca Morgan in ‘Amuse-Bouche’ at asyageisberg.com

Rebecca Morgan’s skewering of elitist urban attitudes towards rural Americans has shifted towards the grotesque in recent years.  You wouldn’t guess this to judge by this highlight of Morgan’s 2014 show from New York Art Tours archive, a sensitive portrayal of the artist wrapped in her ‘depression blanket.’  Audacious and merciless as ever, Morgan’s latest work at Asya Geisberg Gallery is part of a group exhibition of work priced under $3k; her young woman in a face mask is a highlight of the presentation.

Rebecca Morgan, Depression Blanket, oil and graphite on panel, 28” x 22,” 2014.

John Chiara at Yossi Milo Gallery

Using a homemade camera positioned in the back of a pickup truck, John Chiara records unique images onto paper prepared as a negative, creating otherworldly photos that challenge our sense of time and place.  Occasionally, a new skyscraper will loom in the background or a streetlight will invade the scene, making it undeniably contemporary, as in this East Village view.  But without storefronts or people, and under a fiery sky, Chiara’s scenes turn Manhattan into a glowing landscape of intrigue. (On view at Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 27th).

John Chiara, East 2nd Street at Avenue C, negative chromogenic photograph, approx. 50 x 40 inches, unique, 2018.

Yun-Fei Ji at James Cohan Gallery

Amid lush landscapes, bundles of household goods and furniture await removal in Yun-Fei Ji’s watercolor paintings of rural China.  As the government relocates huge numbers of country-dwellers to urban areas, the artist zeros in on individuals and their belongings in the process of being uprooted.  (On view at James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location through June 16th).

Yun-Fei Ji, detail of The Family Belongings, watercolor and ink on Yuan paper mounted on silk, 15 ½ x 26 ¼ (unframed), 2011.