Though gestural strokes dominate new ‘paintings’ by Barcelona-based artist Meyer Vaisman, all have been created with inkjet on industrial plywood with stretcher bars made to look like the back of a canvas. Though the work is abstract, the imagery is based on Vaisman’s signature. (At Eleven Rivington on the Lower East Side through July 3rd).
Meyer Vaisman, Artist’s Signature: llehctiM naoJ, 5773, AFGA UVI ink on popular plywood, 2014.
LA-based art star Sterling Ruby turns his signature, stalactite-like urethane sculptures into quasi-Greek columns with a backdrop painting recalling American quilting traditions, tie-dying, Color Field painting and the colors of the US flag. Grand themes abound in an ambitious show that treats icons of art and history with a provocative mix of reverence and distain. (At Hauser & Wirth Gallery through July 25th).
Sterling Ruby, (foreground) Pillars, PVC pipe, foam and urethane, (rear) FLAG (4791) bleached and dyed canvas and elastic, 2014.
An imaginary cabaret group spreads the word about the dangers of climate change as advertised by this wall of faux event posters by artist duo Kahn and Selesnick. Known for photographing outlandish scenarios, their imagination runs riot in this jam-packed show. (At Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery through July 3rd).
Kahn & Selesnick, installation view of ‘Truppe Fledermaus & the Carnival at the end of the World,’ Flashe and tempura paint on canvas and on paper, printed posters.
A mirror buried in a tangle of orange-blossomed plants turns this lush landscape by Arkansas-based artist and musician Stephanie Pierce into an enigmatic self-portrait. (At Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects on the Lower East Side through June 29th).
Stephanie Pierce, Cosmos, oil on canvas, 2013.
When Alabama-based artist Pinky M M Bass’s sister was suffering from cancer, the artist started stitching internal organs on photos as a means of processing what was going on insider her sister’s body. Here, foods hover around the shoulders of this figure, waiting to make their way into the digestive tract. (On view at Chelsea’s Robert Mann Gallery through August 15th.)
Pinky MM Bass, Contemplating My Internal Organs, 1999-2006, embroidery on gelatin silver print, with platinum hanging hardware and Plexiglas.
Shredded and twisted fabric create the bark on a 60-foot tall tree by renowned street artist Swoon that fills the Brooklyn Museum’s fifth floor rotunda. The tree anchors a stunning installation that features huge portraits of the artist’s friends and family along with rag-tag boats that once plied the waters in New York and Venice. (On view through August 24th).
Swoon, installation view of ‘Submerged Motherlands,’ at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, April – August, 2014.
Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photographs of natural history dioramas – ongoing since the 70s – challenge viewers to find the line between real and represented. They also point out how the museum’s role in displaying these animals has changed in the face of habitat loss and endangerment. (On view at Pace Gallery through June 28th).
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Polar Bear, gelatin silver print, 47 x 58 3/4”, 1976.
Iconic ceramic artist Ken Price launched this series of monumental bronze composite sculptures late in his life, bringing a career of innovation to a close with suggestive, almost glowing forms. (At Chelsea’s Matthew Marks Gallery through June 28th).
Ken Price, installation view of ‘Large Sculptures’ at Matthew Marks Gallery, in the foreground: ‘Ceejay,’ painted bronze composite, 48 x 48 3/8 x 46 inches, 2011.
Dancer and visual artist Tony Orrico spent eight hours at PPOW Gallery in Chelsea creating this minimal work on paper – a record of his physical interaction with a vast sheet of paper made by chewing on each fold to leave a personal imprint on his material. (Through June 28th).
Tony Orrico, prepare the plane (P.P.O.W., New York, NY) 2014/2012, dental occlusion on archival bright white Neenah paper, 8:15:22 hours, 96 x 96 inches.
Bizarre scenarios like this exchange of processed meat in young Canadian photographer Elaine Stocki’s hand-colored silver gelatin prints make for captivating and strange images that run the gamut from obviously staged to apparently documentary. (At Chelsea’s Thomas Erben Gallery through June 28th).
Elaine Stocki, Meat Meet, hand-tinted silver gelatin print, 29.5 x 37.75 inches, 2013.
David Scanavino’s vibrantly colored institutional floor tiles, Michael DeLucia’s tire images, carved out of MDF by a computer-controlled router, and David Kennedy Cutler’s elongated arm, created with pictures of a real hand, bring together images generated in the computer and realized in three dimensions. (At Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery through June 28th).
David Kennedy Cutler, Michael DeLucia, David Scanavino, To Be Titled, plywood and high pressure laminate, injet on cotton sateen and aluminum, tree branch, wood, spray paint, permalac, VCT tile, floor wax, MDF, glue, 2014.
Tara Donovan does it again with two new sculptures at Chelsea’s Pace Gallery created in her signature style – multiplying an everyday object by millions to create a wondrous installation. Here, index cards suggest fairy chimneys or termite mounds to astonishing effect. (Through June 28th).
Tara Donovan, Untitled, styrene index cards, metal, wood, paint and glue, 12’ 5 1/2” x 22’ 4” x 22’ 11 1/2”, 2014.
Brooklyn-based artist Jayson Musson’s tongue-in-cheek recreation of ‘modern’ art from the comic strip Nancy for his show at Salon94 on the Lower East Side is perfectly timed to recent market interest in abstract painting. Playfully forcing the question of how we create value in art, the show amuses and provokes in equal measure. (Through June 20th).
Jayson Musson, installation view of ‘Exhibit of Abstract Art,’ Salon94 Bowery, May 2014.
Constructed from saddles and harnesses given to her by major Ab Exp sculptor David Smith, this striking assemblage by Nancy Grossman from 1965 suggests militaristic aggression and violence enacted on an individual’s body. (At Michael Rosenfeld Gallery through July 3rd.)
Nancy Grossman, For David Smith, mixed media assemblage on canvas mounted on plywood, 85 x 85 x 6 ¾ inches, 1965.
San Francisco-based abstract sculptor Vincent Fecteau’s untitled, wall-mounted clay sculpture resembles a super-sized, wadded up piece of paper at first glance; delicate green coloring, eye-grabbing negative space in the folds and a mysterious bar-like shape at the top encourage further looking, however. (At Matthew Marks Gallery through June 28th).
Vincent Fecteau, Untitled, resin clay, acrylic paint, 26 x 28 x 8 inches, 2014.
Korean artist Lee Bul’s ‘Via Negativa II’ appears to hover mirage-like above the gallery floor, a perfect intro to the disorienting experience of walking through Bul’s mirrored maze to an inner sanctum of lights that appears to extend into infinity. (At Lehmann Maupin Gallery‘s Lower East Side location through June 21st).
Lee Bul, installation view of Via Negativa II, polycarbonate sheet, aluminum frame, acrylic and polycarbonate mirrors, steel, stainless-steel, mirror, two way mirror, LED lighting, silkscreen ink, 275 x 500 x 700cm, 2014.
Many younger artists will cite the influence of Duane Hanson’s super realist sculptures, but it’s rare to see one in New York. It was a treat and a surprise to recently spot this life-like ‘Man with Handtruck’ in George Adams Gallery’s project room. (In Chelsea through June 14th).
Duane Hanson, Man with Handtruck, polyester and fiberglass, oil, mixed media, 66 x 30 x 41 inches, 1975.
Based on an 18th century print of Paris society at a Salon exhibition, Chicago-based Jose Lerma’s huge painting (seen here in detail), features a sardine-packed assortment of onlookers whose doubled features suggests a jittery, half-mad art audience. (At Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery through June 14th).
Jose Lerma, Parterre, acrylic on canvas, 108 x 192 inches, 2013-14.
Examples from Dutch designer Joris Laarman’s ‘Maker’ series, on display at Chelsea’s Friedman Benda Gallery, demonstrate the possibilities this celebrated young designer explores using digital fabrication. Here, resin and walnut undergo an attractive merger. (Through June 14th).
Joris Laarman, Maker Chair (Diagonal), resin and walnut, 31.5 x 23.62 x 25.59 inches, 2014.
London-based Palestinian artist Mona Hatoum is known for sculptures that question the sanctity and safety of home; here, it’s the visitor who must beware of a prickly welcome. (Spotted in Alexander and Bonin Gallery’s third floor viewing space, Chelsea).
Mona Hatoum, Doormat, stainless steel and nickel-plated pins, glue and canvas, 1 x 28 x 16 inches, 1996.
Just inside the front door of Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, the drip from an air conditioner hits a hotplate, creating a arresting sound that sets the tone for a show full of magical occurrences and mysterious processes…(Through June 14th).
Mika Rottenberg, installation view of Tsss Tsss Tsss, air conditioner, plant, hotplate, frying pan, water, 2014.
Elaborate patterns made from stretched monofilament are the highlight of British artist Robert Currie’s New York solo debut at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. Seeming to shift as visitors move, they embody an unexpected dynamism and astound at their intricate construction. (Through June 14th.)
Robert Currie, (detail view of) 40, 031 inches of black, red and yellow nylon monofilament, nylon monofilament, 27 1/8 x 51 ¼ x 11 inches, 2014.
Walton Ford is back at Chelsea’s Paul Kasmin Gallery with more of his signature large watercolors focusing on the fraught relationship throughout history between man and animal. Here, he recalls a medieval tale of a retreating poacher who scattered reflective balls to confuse a tigress. (Through June 21st).
Walton Ford, The Tigress, watercolor and gouache on paper, 60 x 120 inches, 2013.
Picassoid nudes brawl on the sidewalk while two Renaissance angels airlift a Henry Moore nude to safety in Canadian artist Kent Monkman’s hilarious contemporizing of iconic art historical types. (At Sargent’s Daughters on the Lower East Side through June 8th).
Kent Monkman, ‘Le Petit dejeuner sur l’herbe,’ acrylic on canvas, 2014.
A pile of stock certificates slung on the gallery floor and a fake-aged panel emblazoned with logos by New York artist Mark Flood at Zach Feuer Gallery cynically (or efficiently?) offers collectors straightforward value, cutting out actual art objects as a middle man. (Through June 14th).
Mark Flood, installation view of ‘Mark Flood: Available NASDAQ Symbol’ at Zach Feuer Gallery, May 2014.
Brooklyn artist Blane De St Croix’s trips to the Arctic Circle have resulted in this huge (24 foot long) sculpture titled after the run-off of a melting glacier. It brings to mind a fossilized sea creature or a ship’s hull, turning a still-familiar form into a relic. (At Chelsea’s Fredericks Freiser Gallery through June 14th).
Blane De St. Croix, Dead Ice, mixed media, aqua resin, eco expoxy and recycled material, 288 x 132 x 84 inches, 2014.
Under a stunning sunrise, time runs out, nature takes its course and a masked figure keeps up appearances in this attractively simple yet hard-to-interpret painting by Brooklyn artist Jaya Howey. How it all fits together seems to be less important than noting how it’s all happening at once. (At Bureau on the Lower East Side through June 15th).
Jaya Howey, Opening Narrative with Frame Work 3, oil and acrylic on canvas, ceramic, epoxy, 119 x 94cm, 2014.
Keith Haring turned his signature energetic designs into a calligraphic abstraction in this untitled painting on a tarp (seen as a detail) from 1985, now on view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery. (In Chelsea through June 14th).
Keith Haring, detail of ‘Untitled,’ 60 x 60 inches, acrylic on muslin, 1985.
Beijing-based artist Jiang Pengyi suggests a dystopian quality to China’s rapid urban development with his ‘Unregistered City’ series now at Chelsea’s Klein Sun Gallery. Here, skyscrapers scaled down to toy-size are surrounded by dust and debris in an old, industrial-looking setting that suggests a bleak bigger picture. (Through June 21st).
Jiang Pengyi, Unregistered City No. 1, archival pigment print on cotton rag paper, 59 x 82 ¼ inches, 2008.
If you’re an artist who thinks your work might be improved by being destroyed, you might want to talk to New York based artist Lucas Ajemian. Ajemian has created this work – reminiscent of a reclining figure in a weathered fresco from a Roman villa – and the others in his latest solo show at Marlborough Gallery’s Lower East Side location by treating, then machine washing other artists’ paintings. (Through June 8th).
Lucas Ajemian, Laundered Painting (20 x 16) I, painting on canvas, 2014.
