Known for meticulously hand-making sculptures inspired by his childhood drawings, German artist Martin Honert’s ‘Gang’ from 2002 accompanies new work at Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea. Do the cheeky boys with the shifty eyes exist just in the bigger boy’s imagination? Or is that bike really in danger of disappearing? (At Matthew Marks’ 502 West 22nd Street space through Oct 26th).
Martin Honert, Bande/Gang, steel, polyester and paint, 2002.
In a 200 year throw-back to the days when parts of Chelsea were Clement Clarke Moore’s apple orchard, Paul Kasmin Gallery has partnered with collector and real estate developer Michael Shvo to create an agrarian landscape on the recently closed Getty gas station on the corner of 24th Street and 10th Ave. Before the site is turned into a luxury condo, it will be populated by sheep sculpture by the late French artist Francois-Xavier Lalanne, making for one of the most head-turning exhibitions in Chelsea at the moment. (Through Oct 20th).
In the mid-80s, photographer Robert Polidori started photographing the palace of Versailles, focusing not on its opulence but on the realities presented by over 300 years of wear and tear. The story is told in the details, as in images like these details of well-used doorways, blown up into gorgeous, light suffused prints. (At Mary Boone Gallery, Chelsea through Oct 26th).
Robert Polidori, Door Detail, Attique du Midi, Versailles & Door Detail, Galerie Basse, Versailles, c-print, 2005/2013.
Brooklyn-based artist Derrick Adams’ grid of glittery men’s shirts and ties looks fabulous and conformist at the same time, recalling Fred Wilson’s early 90s guard uniforms that pointed out how uniformity leads to anonymity. A trophy-like chalice placed just out of reach on top of this wall-mounted sculpture seems to offer a lofty reward for someone who’ll step out from the crowd. (At Louis B. James on the Lower East Side, through Oct 19th).
Derrick Adams, He Him, They, Them, tempera, painted faux brick paneling, glitter, textured spray, 2008.
San Francisco-based artist Andrew Schoultz alters Morgan Lehman’s white cube gallery by papering the walls with sections replicating building bricks. It’s the perfect backdrop for pieces that picture natural and man-made disasters, including this acrylic and collage image of a tornado demolishing a red brick building. (At Chelsea’s Morgan Lehman Gallery through October 12th).
Andrew Schoultz, Tornado (Up in the Air), acrylic, collage, graphite, and string on wooden panel, 2013.
A New York Observer critic recently likened Caetano de Almeida’s vividly colored geometric abstractions to an open window, adding that viewing them was ‘like flying.’ Come check out their physical effect on the Oct 12th open group tour. (At Eleven Rivington Gallery on the Lower East Side through October 13th).
Caetano de Almeida, Agudos, acrylic on canvas, 2013.
In the latest iteration of a project started in the early 80s, Allan McCollum has invited Joshua Tree, California based artist Andrea Zittel to collaborate on a show of his ‘plaster surrogates,’ or plaster casts that stand in for paintings. Here, Zittel sketches out a rough landscape of hills and desert colors in an avant-garde twist on landscape painting. (At Pezel Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 5th).
Allan McCollum, installation view of ‘Plaster Surrogates Colored and Organized by Andrea Zittel,’ at Petzel Gallery, Sept 2013.
Having moved from New York City to Massachusetts, Michael St John titles the paintings in his latest solo show at Andrea Rosen Gallery ‘Country Life.’ The resulting images, which employ collage and trompe l’oeil, are cheeky ruminations on what the differences between city and country life may be. (Through October 5th).
Michael St. John, ‘Country Life,’ acrylic, collage/assemblage, polymers, 2013.
Known for his sobering photographic visions of modern Africa (including his reknowned hyena keeping minstel series), South African photographer Pieter Hugo’s new photo series ‘Kin’ brings him closer to home as he depicts South African citizens whose lives have been marked by the legacy of Apartheid. (At Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery through Oct 19th).
Pieter Hugo, Mimi Afrika, Wheatland Farm, Graaff Reinet, digital c-print, 2013.
Dutch artist Michael Raedecker’s latest solo show summons opulence and decay in equal measure with his signature, embroidered paintings depicting chandeliers, suburban homes and palm trees. All are painted in silver and blue colors that walk the line between elegant and dreary. (At Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery through Oct 5th).
Michael Raedecker, Blink, acrylic and thread on canvas, 2012.
Brooklyn-based artist Ruby Sky Stiler takes the seated nude to a new level with her ten-foot tall female figure. Carved from foam, its stepped form nevertheless suggests weighty ancient architecture embellished with images of power-wielding women. (At Nichelle Beauchene on the Lower East Side through Oct 6th)
Ruby Sky Stiler, Seated Woman, foam, acrylic resin, thermal adhesive, 2013.
When iconic Minimalist/Conceptualist artist Sol Lewitt moved to Italy in the 70s, his palette veered dramatically toward the colorful, evident here in what the New York Times has called ‘2,448 sq ft of visual sumptuousness.’ The huge installation is one of the approximately 1,200 wall drawings the artist conceived of in his lifetime, and is an arresting blast of color and form. (at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through October 12th.
Sol LeWitt, installation view of ‘Wall Drawing #564: Complex forms with color ink washes superimposed,’ (1988) Paula Cooper Gallery, Sept 2013.
Considering the profuse detail of the 2-D collages, floor covering and pencil-studded ceiling of his installation at Chelsea’s Lyons Wier Gallery, it comes as no surprise that Greg Haberny was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. The frustration of a childhood defined by medicines and misdiagnoses comes through loud and clear. (Through October 5th).
Greg Haberny, installation view of ‘Burn all Crayons’ at Lyons Wier Gallery, Sept 2013.
Is it a serpent? A leg in fishnet stockings? A feathered neck? None of the above? New York based German artist Charline von Heyl’s latest paintings at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery come loaded with associations for viewers willing to engage the myriad suggestions. (Through October 5th)
Charline von Heyl, Pancalist, acrylic on canvas, 2012.
During a Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Penelope Umbrico photographed cameras from the museum’s collection and printed them, applying Photoshop’s ‘Old Style’ filter, and creating this rather forelorn selection of specimens which rest under a projection of a mountain (used as a subject by Ansel Adams) photographed using hundreds of filters available on dozens of smartphone apps. (At LMAK Projects on the Lower East Side through Oct 20th).
Penelope Umbrico, 136 Mini Film Cameras in the Smithsonian Institution History of Photography Collection with Old Style Photoshop Filter, archival pigment prints on Hahnmuhle Photo Rag paper, 2013.
Chelsea and 57th Street gallery Marlborough Gallery has now put an anchor down in the Lower East Side, launching a new space at 331 Broome with the lightheartedly delicious ‘Pizza Time,’ a show dedicated to the slice. It includes this collage by Catherine Ahearn that marries painting and photo as serendipitously as olives and mushrooms. (Through Oct 6th)
Catherine Ahearn, Untitled (pizza 3), multi-media, 2011.
To some, Leslie Hewitt’s conceptual photography will be maddeningly vague, to others, enticingly elusive. Propped against the wall as if it were an object or sculpture, it displays one book with its spine facing us – James Baldwin’s essays on race, ‘The Fire Next Time.’ This incendiary text rests next to a cooling lemon, an art historical symbol of mortality and moderation. (At Sikkema Jenkins & Co in Chelsea, through Oct 5th).
Leslie Hewitt, Untitled (Perception), Still Life Series, digital c-print in custom maple frame, 2013.
New York artist Adam Marnie presents a mediated flash-back with his solo show at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery by removing the bottom two feet of drywall from the gallery’s walls, recalling the scene after Hurricane Sandy last October. Nearby interlocking cubes recall 60s minimalist ideas about art being a physical experience; but what happens to interpretation if the physical space of the gallery is altered by disaster? (Through Oct 5th).
Adam Marnie, Inward Object I, maple, wood putty spray paint, 2013.
Brian Adam Douglas’ surreal, Neo Rauch- like images of anonymous characters intently engaged in their individual tasks are intriguing, but are even more amazing for being constructed entirely of paper. Though his solo show at Chelsea’s Andrew Edlin Gallery was inspired by mankind’s ability to rebuild after natural disasters, here each character experiences a momentous occasion of his or her own. (Through Oct 26th).
Brian Adam Douglas, The Memory of You is Never Lost Upon Me, cut paper on birch panel with UVA varnish, 2011.
British artist Phil Collins set up a phone booth in a German homeless shelter and offered its guests a deal – in exchange for free local and international calls, they allowed the artist to record their conversations and commission songs from the transcripts. At Tanya Bonkadar Gallery, visitors are invited to listen to the results in individual sound booths. (In Chelsea through October 19th).
Phil Collins, installation view of ‘my heart’s in my hand and my hand is pierced, and my hand’s in the bag, and the bag is shut, and my heart is caught,’ sound installation, 2013.
Inspired by BODIES: The Exhibition, Brooklyn artist Matthew Day Jackson created his own five-vitrine exploration of the human anatomy at Hauser & Wirth Gallery’s 18th Street space. In the context of the larger show, which includes dramatic landscapes and references to astronauts and Hiroshima, the artist seems to wonder how one frail form could wield great power. (Through Oct 19th)
Matthew Day Jackson, installation view of the sculptures: Skeleton, Veins, Nerves, Muscles, Bartholomew, all 2013, Sept 2013.
While much of the art world slumbered through August, some galleries remained open, including 57th St area Gering Lopez Gallery, which features this subtly energetic 10 x 40 foot wall painting in which swirling lines resemble but belie the intimacy of fingerprints. (Through Sept 7th)
Linn Meyers, This Familiar Place, ink and acrylic paint on wall, 2013.
Andra Ursuta’s giant marble nose begs the question of what Ozymandias-like character would deserve such a large portrait sculpture and what went wrong, leaving only the nose behind. It’s a highlight of the High Line’s group exhibition ‘Busted,’ which reimagines public portrait sculpture. (Through April 2014).
Andra Ursuta, Nose Job, white marble, wheelbarrow, variable dimensions, 2013.
Swept-back hair and blocky shades give this graceful dancer a back-to-the-future vibe that’s complicated by the possibility that she’s a street mime, a mannequin or neither. (Featured in the group exhibitions ‘Busted’ on Chelsea’s High Line through April 2014.)
Frank Benson, Human Statue (Jessie), bronze, acrylic polyurethane, 2011.
The title of Swiss New Yorker Olaf Breuning’s ‘The Humans’ in City Hall Park showcases human character types in a series of six figures, from a fulsome female to a kingly clown, while also inviting real live humans to pose or clown for the camera in what’s turned out to be a major magnet for picture takers. (Through December 13th).
Olaf Breuning, ‘The Humans,’ marble, bronze, 2007.
Anyone ready to harvest squash from their garden in the coming weeks will appreciate British artist Sarah Lucas’ mother of all zucchini at City Hall Park, one of two gigantic cast concrete sculptures titled ‘Florian’ and ‘Kevin’ that summarize excess in vegetable form. (Through December 13th).
Sarah Lucas, Florian and Kevin, cast concrete, 2013.
