Ajay Kurian explores the chemicals we consume using materials that range from melted gummy bears to microwaved bars of soap. The surprise in this attractive display is that these pretty ‘rocks’ contain traces of recycled nuclear waste. (At Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side through May 5th).
Ajay Kurian, Spiegel-Leben 2, plexiglass, epoxy clay, Gobstoppers, recycled nuclear waste, 2013.
I’ve been looking forward to globe-trotting street artist JR’s opening at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery next Tuesday, so spotting the artist and Jose Parla as they created this wall mural last Saturday on the gallery exterior was a treat. For their collaborative project, JR and Parla photographed and interviewed seniors including this stately woman. (‘The Wrinkles of the City’ opens May 7 and runs through July 12).
Is Ryan McGinley’s huge figure falling or floating? McGinley’s signature photos show young people living their lives with abandon. Here, his ambiguity is unsettling, but the gorgeous blue color on drab, early-spring 10th Ave is alluring. (At 18th Street and 10th Ave, presented by High Line Art, through April 30th)
Ryan McGinley, Blue Falling, print on vinyl, 2007.
In his latest New York solo show, British artist Richard Hughes turns drabness into whimsy by appearing to transform light posts into a pair of jauntily high-stepping legs. They’re actually meticulously created to look like the real thing, but that fact’s almost irrelevant to their enjoyment. (At Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery through May 18th).
Richard Hughes, Pedestrian (Hot Ste P), architectural grey board, fiberglass, stone resin, steel and paint, 2013.
On a pedestal of lava rock, Larry Bamburg stacked a 400lb redwood burl, then proceeded to add animal hoofs, turtle shells and more burls. The materials are evocative and the arrangement is a feat of balance but the real charge comes from nature used as both raw material and formal element. (At Simone Subal Gallery through April 28th)
Larry Bamburg, ‘Burls Hooves and Shells on a Pedestal of Lava Rock,’ wood burls, animal hooves, turtle and mollusk shells, lava rock, ratchet strap, 2013.
Indian artist Tallur L.N.’s huge sculpture is a standout in Chelsea on two counts: it courts religious reflection and you can hit it. Visitors are invited to pick up one of several nearby hammers and pound a coin into a log supported by a giant Buddha sculpture while making a wish. I’ve heard of the audience being invited to complete an artwork, but a divinity? (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through May 11th).
Tallur L.N., Chromathophobia, wooden log, granite and hammered coins, 2012.
Ryan Humphrey brings street life inside by making art from signage, brass knuckles, music and more in a show that includes paintings in the guise of caution tape, available by the piece or all together. A comment on desensitization or just plain desensitization? (At DCKT Contemporary on the Lower East Side through May 12th).
Ryan Humphrey, Tapes, acrylic on canvas, seven parts, 2013.
Israel-born, New York based artist Guy Ben-Ari makes his New York exhibition debut with a show that speaks to our access and remove from contemporary events. Here, hands hold a tablet showing an act of self-immolation caught on camera and witnessed by mostly passive spectators which include the tablet owner and finally, us. (At Scaramouche Gallery through April 28th)
Guy Ben-Ari, An Act of Protest Viewed Through a Tablet Device, oil on panel, 2013.
Over the past few years, Kara Walker has moved away from her signature antebellum figures seen in silhouette enacting various barbarisms on each other. In the back galleries of Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins, they return with vigor and malice, begging the question of what’s changed since they made Walker’s name in the mid-90s. (Through May 22nd).
Kara Walker, Wall Sampler 1, cut paper and paint on wall, dimensions variable, 2013.
In the late 60s, Richard Nonas was working as an anthropologist when he had an epiphany in the park one day while playing with his dog. Picking up pieces of wood, he was struck by their relationship to each other and began a career in making sculpture whose construction was plain to see but which resulted in what he calls an ‘unexpected inexplicable result.’ (At James Fuentes on the Lower East Side through April 21st).
Richard Nonas, Untitled (from the Cherrytree Split Series), cherry wood, 2012.
Rochelle Feinstein’s paired canvases deliver the same information: two cats in front of table or chair legs plus a pattern of black and white stripes. But the pairing seems to question how subtly altering the stripes and moving the cats might effect the meaning. (At the Lower East Side’s ‘On Stellar Rays,’ through April 28th)
Rochelle Feinstein, ‘Today in History,’ oil on canvas and digital prints on vinyl, 2013.
Wayne Gonzales’s past paintings of crowds looked like they were made from surveillance camera footage zeroing in on particular individuals who appear in multiple paintings. Here, in a crowded California parking lot, a recurring SUV turns from being an everyday car to a suspicious vehicle by virtue of being depicted repeatedly from different angles. (At Paula Cooper Gallery’s 534 West 21st Street location through April 27th).
Wayne Gonzalez, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 2012.
Could the androgynous couple in Volker Hueller’s ‘Welcome Home’ be mom and dad, greeting us at the door? With their spade-like heads and giraffe necks, the duo make for an exotic welcome team while their yellow background signals that something electric could happen. (At Eleven Rivington’s 195 Chrystie location through April 27th).
Volker Hueller, ‘Welcome Home,’ oil on canvas, 2012.
Julie Schenkelberg’s sculpture ‘Dowry, Rediscovered,’ a wooden bench sliced open to reveal crockery-stuffed cushions, has the feeling of a long hidden secret suddenly brought to light or a wondrous intrusion of nature – the plates look like fungus – on a man-made object. (At Chelsea’s Asya Geisberg Gallery through April 20th.)
Julie Schenkelberg, ‘Dowry, Rediscovered,’ wooden bench, dishes, acrylic gel, 2012.
From their locally sourced wood frames to their marble-dust surfaces, Ohio-based Scott Olson’s abstract paintings delight in the play of color and shape. In addition to his current solo show at Wallspace, see more of Olson’s work and that of other artists who dedicate themselves to painting in the Walker Art Center’s ‘Painter, Painter’ exhibition. (At Wallspace through May 4th.)
Scott Olson, Untitled, oil, wax, marble dust on wood, maple frame, 2013.
A couple in a rowboat would seem to be tame subject matter for rebellious rocker and prolific writer Billy Childish, but the man’s missing face and this painting’s line-driven style channels provocative Nordic expressionism a la Munch. (At Lehmann Maupin’s Chelesa location through April 20th).
Billy Childish, Rowers (version y)(Oyster Catchers, Thames Estuary 1932), oil and charcoal on linen, 2012.
This gruesome, one-eyed, blue cigarette bedecked creature with perfect teeth could be the patron deity of Bali-based Ashley Bickerton’s portraits of crazed hedonists. At over seven feet high, the sheer profusion of color and ornament – from her bottle cap necklace to paint-smeared coral – is impressive. (At Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location through April 20th)
Ashley Bickerton, White Head I, acrylic, digital print and plastic laminate on wood, 2012.
Isolated on the tarmac, Jamaican airport workers in young Jamaican-American artist Paul Anthony Smith’s paintings occupy a world of their own; though their jackets lend them a kind of authority (traffic cops come to mind), one with a hand to his mouth could either be thoughtful or confused while the younger man exudes relaxed self confidence despite his featureless face. (At Chelsea’s ZieherSmith through April 20th).
Paul Anthony Smith.
There’s something subtly odd about Darren Almond’s recent series of landscape photos, which seem not-so-extraordinary at first glance. The series’ ‘Fullmoon’ title gives the game away, however, revealing that each of the photos in this show has been taken in the light of a full moon. Verdant landscapes and smooth water surfaces are an eye-pleasing surprise, but the ephemeral beauty of these cherry blossoms is a delight. (At Matthew Marks’ 522 West 22nd Street space through April 20th).
Darren Almond, ‘Fullmoon@Sakura Hanami,’ c-print mounted to aluminum in artist’s frame, 2006.
Ordered by his doctors to avoid stress by taking a hiatus from painting, Chinese art superstar Zhang Xiaogang took up bronze casting instead. Pace Gallery presents these stoic young characters who take up Xiaogang’s long meditation on individual vs collective identity. (At Pace Gallery, 508-510 West 25th Street through April 27th).
Zhang Xiaogang, Young Man, painted bronze, 2013.
It comes as no surprise that Kafka’s ‘Metamorphosis’ is a favorite of New York artist Rona Pondick, whose new sculptures at Chelsea’s Sonnabend Gallery continue her trademark combination of her own head and other cast body parts with plant or animal bodies. Here, a wallaby’s stylized, beautiful form merges with a drooping hand and hanging head, suggesting a dragging weight. (Through April 27th).
Rona Pondick, Wallaby, stainless steel, 2007-12.
Known for cast concrete sculptures that relate to ancient literary or historical characters, often propped up on walkers, New York artist Justin Matherly was inspired by the Turkish archeological site of Nemrud Dagi to create these huge stelae (actually three sculptures end-to-end). Accompanying monoprints featuring the site bring to mind Smithson’s site and non-site as Matherly forges a mental connection between us and a distance place and time. (At Paula Cooper Gallery’s 521 W. 21st Street location through April 27th).
Justin Matherly, Handbook of inner culture for external barbarians (we nah beg no friend), concrete and ambulatory equipment, 2013.
London-based, Japanese artist Hiraki Sawa’s videos tend towards the whimsical, featuring tiny airplanes flying through his apartment or miniature rocking horses buried deep in flokati rugs. ‘Lineament,’ a new two-screen installation at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery takes a more serious turn as Sawa meditates on a friend’s sudden, profound memory loss with images of gears and an unraveling record suggesting erasure. (Through April 27th).
Hiraki Sawa, installation shot of Lineament, dual channel HD video with audio, 18:47 min, 2012.
Detail: Elliott Hundley, The Sun Goes Down, sound board, wood, inkjet print on kitakata, paper, string, plastic, photographs, pins, glass, 2013.
Elliott Hundley has toned down his extravagant bricolage in many of his recent artworks at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, but not in this 20ft tour de force in the back gallery. Hung with a curtain of colorful string and featuring dozens of tiny photos of the artist’s friends acting out scenes from black and white films, it’s a dramatic Hollywood homage. (Through April 27th).
Elliott Hundley, The Sun Goes Down, sound board, wood, inkjet print on kitakata, paper, string, plastic, photographs, pins, glass, 2013.
It takes a few hours to get going, but by the end of each day, Virginia Overton’s makeshift hot tub (heated by a coffee maker pumping water in and out of the tub) has gotten warm, if not necessarily inviting. The DIY sauna effect is complete with the other piece in the show – a gallery wall covered with Eastern red cedar cut from Overton’s family farm that fills the space with natural fragrance. (At Mitchell-Innes & Nash’s Chelsea gallery through April 6th).
Virginia Overton, ‘Untitled (hot tub),’ cast iron tub, coffee maker, vinyl tubing, limestone, brick, 2013 AND ‘Untitled (juniperus virginiana),’ eastern red cedar, 2013.
Doug Aitken is giving his ‘Sonic Fountain,’ dug from the floor of Chelsea’s 303 Gallery, a fitting send off as the show closes this week with a musical performance that wreaks havoc on more of the gallery’s architecture. (303 will move to West 24th Street while its current space is developed.) In this photo, musicians hammered on wood, tossed chunks of rubble and sawed drywall in accompaniment to the still operating fountain. (Through Saturday, April 6th).
Doug Aitken, musical performance/destruction of 303 Gallery’s interior, April 2, 2013.
Yesterday’s post featured Dieter Roth’s partially collapsed sculpture…in today’s, artist New York-based artist Sean Bluechel imagines ‘the moment before a collapse’ in cheeky sculptures cobbled together from forms derived from the history of ceramic art along with more contemporary vessels. (At Chelsea’s Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery through April 6th).
Sean Bluechel, installation view of ‘Still Life is No Life,’ at Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, March 2013.
Over the two months since Hauser & Wirth gallery opened a show of work by Dieter Roth and his son, Bjorn Roth, assistants have been casting molds of Roth’s head in chocolate and stacking them into a ceiling-height tower. Nature took its course last week, however, as the lower busts crumbled, leaving a piece that speaks of the inevitability of decade and collapse. (At Hauser & Wirth’s Chelsea location through April 6th. See my January 29th post for a picture of busts being made.)
Dieter Roth, Selbstturm (Self Tower), chocolate casts, glass, steel, ed. 1/3, 1994/2013.
Since the 70s, James Turrell has been converting the Roden Crater, an extinct volcano in Arizona, into a series of chambers for viewing earth’s atmosphere and celestial phenomena beyond. At Pace Gallery’s 57th St space, he’s exhibiting models of structures based on light phenomena explored at Roden, including this one, which suggests a merger of a UFO and a pyramid. (Through April 20th).
James Turrell, Missed Approach, cast, plaster and wood, 1990.
The premise is simple in Charles Ray’s iconic 1992-3 ‘Family Romance’ sculpture – reduce a nuclear family to the height of its youngest member – but the resulting sculpture is disturbingly complex as it breaks taboos against nudity in the family and renders children in a decidedly uncute way. It’s a standout in the New Museum’s provocative ‘NYC 1993’ show, featuring groundbreaking work created in/around 1993. (Through May 27th).
Charles Ray, Family Romance, painted fiberglass and synthetic hair, 1992-93.
