Trevor Paglen at Metro Pictures

Trevor Paglan’s latest project ups the ante on artistic ambition; a series of one hundred images titled ‘Last Pictures’ was etched on a disk and affixed to a communications satellite that went into space last November, creating a selective portrait of mankind’s nature and history for all or none who may see it.  Here, a gallery visitor examines unselected images from Paglan’s shortlist. (At Metro Pictures in Chelsea, through March 9th).  

Trevor Paglen, ‘The Last Pictures’ installation view, Feb 2013 at Metro Pictures.

Jorge Queiroz at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Lisbon-based artist Jorge Queiroz barely allows a human figure to materialize in this psychologically intense painting, but his indistinct human presence turns the abstract shapes in the background into suggestions of places and objects of significance.  (At Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co through March 2nd).  

Jorge Queiroz, Waiting on the Room, oil stick and vinyl ink on canvas, 2012.

Patricia Piccinini at Haunch of Venison

Australian artist Patricia Piccinini has said that anxiety and wonder are at the heart of her bizarrely intriguing human-animal hybrid creatures, which explains why this fleshy fish is simultaneously repulsive and fascinating.  Titled ‘Eulogy,’ the piece suggests both a connection between this businessman and toxic waters that spawned this mutant and an individual’s personal loss. (At Haunch of Venison, Chelsea, through March 2nd).  

Patricia Piccinini, ‘Eulogy,’ silicon, fiberglass, human hair, clothing, 2011.

Keith Sonnier at Mary Boone Gallery

In Keith Sonnier’s ‘Ba-O-Ba’ series, lines of neon connect geometric glass shapes and bathe the surrounding space in color.  Placed on the floor against the wall, the pieces originally served as performance sets that would include the performers’ bodies as a further reflected element. (At Mary Boone Gallery’s Chelsea space through Feb 23rd).  

Keith Sonnier, ‘Ba-O-Ba II,’ neon, glass/transformer, 1969.

Jessica Jackson Hutchins & Anna Betbeze at Mitchell-Innes & Nash

Jessica Jackson Hutchins’ blobby anthropomorph nestles in a spray painted chair while Anna Betbeze’s burnt, torn and cut Flokati rug on the wall behind acts as perfectly alien décor in this otherworldly group show at Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes & Nash.  (Through Feb 23rd).  

Jessica Jackson Hutchins, ‘Hand,’ spray paint, ceramic, chair, 2012 (foreground).  Anna Betbeze, ‘Lava,’ wool and ash, 2012 (background).