One hundred artists on two museum floors make the Museum of Art and Design’s ‘NYC Makers’ one of the busiest in town with lots to discover and explore. For these garments, conceptual artist Caroline Woolard and designer Lika Volkova recycled unwanted paintings by various artists into chic, mobile canvases. (Through October 12th).
Printed in life size and confronting viewers head-on, these arresting photos of South Sudan’s White Army show unique individuals who are nevertheless unknown. Taken by photojournalist Tim Freccia this year, they depict members of the Nuer ethnic group who are battling the nation’s other dominant group, the Dinka. (At Chelsea’s Ricco Maresca through September 13th.)
Tim Freccia, three type C-print surface mounted images, each titled ‘White Army,’ 84 x 42 inches, 2014.
Ghostly white fiberglass figures representing migrant workers in Tiananmen Square make roosts for flapping doves in Beijing artist Zhang Dali’s exhibition at Chelsea’s KleinSun Gallery. Despite the dove as symbol of hope, the figures are washed of color and identity, bespeaking drab anonymity. (Through August 30th).
Zhang Dali, installation view of ‘Square’ at Klein Sun Gallery, June, 2014. Fiberglass and baking varnish.
California artist Nancy Rubins has been collecting aluminum figures originally found on playgrounds; for her first major NY installation since showing at Lincoln Center in ’06, she combines them like organic masses into wall projections and freestanding sculpture to painterly effect. (At Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street space through Sept 13th.)
Installation view of Nancy Rubins, ‘Our Friend Fluid Metal,’ at Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street location, July, 2014.
Part of a series of images shot in Egyptian museums, this intriguing 2009 image by British photographer Jason Larkin could have been taken decades ago. It appears to tell of information forgotten and marginalized. (At Chelsea’s Flowers Gallery through August 30th).
Jason Larkin, Museum 11, #3, archival pigment print, 30 x 30 inches, 2009.
Thirsty visitors to Chelsea’s High Line park will want to keep walking past New York artist Josh Kline’s contribution to the outdoor public sculpture show ‘Archeo.’ In this industrial fridge under the Standard Hotel, Kline presents a selection of drink containers labeled with ingredients that might turn you into a label checker. They include: ‘minimum wage,’ French fries, Mr Clean, K-Y jelly and fake plant. Takers?
Installation view of ‘Skittles’ by Josh Kline in ‘Archeo’ on the High Line, New York City.
Abstract Expressionist fans won’t want to miss Cheim & Read Gallery’s summer exhibition of work by the late painter Joan Mitchell. It includes this thirteen-foot wide interpretation of trees, which pits aggressive forms against an elegantly cream-colored, muted background. (In Chelsea through August 29th).
Joan Mitchell, Trees, oil on canvas diptych, 94 ½ x 157 ½ inches, 1990-91.
Known for his creativity with photo printing processes (he presented heliographs created with tar from the La Brea Tar Pits in his last show) LA artist Matthew Brandt created this piece from his ‘Burnout’ series by using acid to thin out areas of velvet on which he’s reproduced an image of a garment created with the same burnout process. (In Chelsea at Yossi Milo Gallery through August 29th).
Matthew Brandt, from the series Burnouts, SR03A, silkscreen print on silk velvet with acid treatment, 54 ¼” x 42 1/2,” 2014.
Once called ‘radically slight’ by an admiring critic, New Zealand artist Kate Newby’s work looks deceptively simple. Here, she presents a selection of skipping stones crafted of porcelain, which she’s been known to present to friends with the request that they launch them across the water. (At Tracy Williams, Ltd. in Chelsea through Sept 3rd).
Kate Newby, Skimming stones formed by clapping hands, stoneware, porcelain, glaze, sand, cardboard, 15 x 15 inches, 2014.
Political, Pop artist Jerry Kearns turns up the volume at Mike Weiss Gallery with wall installations that could have a physical effect on viewers. (In Chelsea through August 23rd).
Installation view of Jerry Kearns: RRRGGHH!!! At Mike Weiss Gallery, July 2014.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has installed another winner in its long, narrow 1st floor hallway gallery (extraordinary Peruvian feathered panels lined the walls for the last show). Painted directly on the gallery walls, Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawing #370 commands the space with its simple and perfectly executed geometric shapes. (Through September 7th).
Sol LeWitt, Wall Drawing #370, installation view in Gallery 399 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, August, 2014.
Tom Friedman, master of the surprisingly crafted object (e.g. an accident victim made from paper, a huge star made from tiny toothpicks) doesn’t disappoint in his latest solo show at Luhring Augustine’s Bushwick space. A standout is ‘Moot,’ a guitar, microphone with stand and stool created entirely from Styrofoam and paint. (Through August 22nd).
Tom Friedman, Moot, paint and Styrofoam, 2014.
Traditional Japanese Ikebana becomes art in the hands of New York artist Carissa Rodriguez (who memorably showed a Cartier clock owned by FDR at the Whitney Biennial this spring). In Anton Kern Gallery’s treasure-chest of a summer group exhibition, she saddles this gorgeous arrangement with the title ‘I Will Cook Myself Tomorrow,’ making it a kind of pre-memorial. (In Chelsea through August 22nd).
Center: Carissa Rodriquez, I Will Cook Myself Tomorrow,’ unique seasonal Ikebana arrangement, Sogetsu suiban vessel and custom pedestal, variable dimensions, 2012. To the left: ‘Blue Shelf’ by David Korty. To the right: ‘Vase (prototype) and paper bouquet,’ Marc Camille Chaimowicz.
This boy of summer doesn’t have a care in the world, despite having failed to take a swing at the ball whizzing in front of him. He’s as cheerful as a clothing model on a catalogue shoot yet his odd proportions make this painting by Daniel Heidkamp an engaging mix of familiar and strange. (At Jack Hanley Gallery through August 22nd).
Daniel Heidkamp, Town League Slugger, oil on linen, 36 x 30 inches, 2014.
One of Matthew Ronay’s previous shows at Andrea Rosen Gallery involved entering a large, curtain-enclosed space filled with natural forms – trees, totems – that referred to transcendent experiences. In Rosen’s smaller Gallery II space, Ronay showcases his own journey in meditative daily drawings like this one. (In Chelsea through Aug 22nd).
Matthew Ronay, 12.16.13, gouache on 140lb arches watercolor paper, 15 x 11 inches, 2013.
Andrew Edlin Gallery’s riotous group show ‘Purple States’ stands out among summer group shows for its energy. It includes this fanciful yellow, ceramic birdcage by Elisabeth Kley resting on patterns of her creation while a nearby, a friendly saint by legendary folk artist and minister Howard Finster stands and gestures. (In Chelsea through August 22nd).
Elisabeth Kley, Large Yellow Birdcage, glazed ceramic, 2014 on Patterned Scrolls, ink on Japanese paper, 2014. Next to: paint on wood figure, St John, 1999 by Howard Finster. Shooting stars by Howard Finster, mixed media, 1983 is behind.
With its gothic title, ‘Bloodflames Revisited,’ and catwalk running above a straw-covered floor, this is one of the more unusual shows on view in Chelsea at the moment. The setting is just right for Deborah Kass’ enthusiastic but ambiguous-feeling rainbow painting reading ‘Daddy, I would love to dance.’ (At Paul Kasmin Gallery through August 15th).
Deborah Kass, Daddy, acrylic on canvas, 2008.
If Dunkin’ Donuts used this image by Beth Galton in their advertising, I’d buy. Would you? (Though it is reminiscent of the anti-obesity ads on the subway…) (At Aperture Foundation in Chelsea through August 15th.)
Beth Galton, Coffee and Donut; from the series Cut Food, 2012.
Japanese collaborative digital artist group teamLab are making a huge splash on the New York art scene this summer with their exhibition, ‘Ultra Subjective Space.’ A seven screen installation featuring animated mythological crows in impossibly complicated flight patterns, an endlessly blossoming outcropping, a digital waterfall and more make this stunning show one to remember. (In Chelsea at Pace Gallery through August 15th, 2014).
Awol Erizku’s ‘Heads’ is a trip down memory lane, a tribute to the art of self-styling and a reminder that vanity involving hair isn’t just a female domain. (At Hasted Kraeutler, Chelsea, through August 15th).
Awol Erizku, Heads, grid of nine archival pigment prints in custom white frames, 2013.
Looking to sniff out some good summer group shows on the Lower East Side? These comic noses in rough clay by Danish artist Ditte Gantriis at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery are worth checking out; they bring to mind iconic character types and how quickly we interpret them. (Through August 15th).
Ditte Gantriis, Untitled, white sculpture clay, 11 ½ x 5 x 5 inches, 2014.
Brooklyn-based artist Elisa Lendvay’s totemic objects stand out in Asya Geisberg Gallery’s dystopic summer group show as tools for navigating a hostile environment. They bring to mind masks or divining rods without revealing any intended purpose, allowing us to invent our own uses. (Through Aug 15th).
Elisa Lendvay, (top) Inverted Pocket, papier mache, silver leaf, acrylic paint, 12 x 7 x 2.5,” 2012, (middle) Code, bamboo, papier mache, silver leaf, acrylic paint, wire, 16.5 x 18 x 2,” (bottom) Skate, wood, wire, plastic, papier mache, acrylic paint and medium, 17.5 x 11 x 1.25,” 2013.
Friedman Benda’s summer group exhibition, featuring contemporary Japanese art seen through a post-Fukushima Daiichi lens includes traditional architecture upended and mirrored by Takahiro Iwasaki and a mind-bending interactive installation by Kazuki Umezawa for which looking into an iPad at a digital print produces surprising results. (In Chelsea through August 8th).
Foreground: Takahiro Iwasaki, Reflection Models, wood, monofilament, 2014. Background: Kazuki Umezawa, AR image core involving all, digital print on tarpaulin sheet, 2 iPads, 2013.
Split down the middle and at the sides, this cast body in aluminum by LA artist Naotaka Hiro, succinctly describes a divided psyche, even summoning an animal body. The cast negative space between the legs resembles a phallus but was created by absence, making this enigmatic artwork strikingly poignant. (At Flag Art Foundation in Chelsea through August 8th).
Naotaka Hiro, Four-Legged (Toe to Heel), aluminum, wood, 18 x 20 x 65 inches, 2014.
Brooklyn-based artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s more recent New York solo show in Fall ‘13 at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery was a gratifying chance to witness her wizardry with wood veneer in 2-D scenes of natural destruction; but her contribution to the gallery’s excellent summer group show – a western home invaded by a storm tossed tree – is a knockout. (Seen in detail.) (Through August 8th).
Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Kitchen (detail), wood veneer, oil, acrylic, shellac, 92 x 116 inches, 2014.
‘Another Look at Detroit’ is one of the summer’s major exhibitions, showing at powerhouse galleries Marlborough Chelsea and Marianne Boesky Gallery, but it starts off with this initially underwhelming weed by New York sculptor Tony Matelli located near the entrance of Marlborough. Look closer, however, and this meticulously crafted, painted bronze plant becomes an object of wonder. (Through August 8th).
Tony Matelli, Weed #293, painted bronze, 11 x 9 x 13 inches, 2014.
Made with a camera obscura, George Woodman’s photo ‘Grapes, a Mexican Bride, and a Classical Harvest’ uses old technology to create a scene that evokes nostalgia for different eras of history. (At Jeff Bailey Gallery through August 8th.)
George Woodman, Grapes, a Mexican Bride, and a Classical Harvest, gelatin silver print, 42 x 39.5 inches, 1999.
Art fairs draw private transactions and moments into the public eye, making them fertile subject matter for street-style photography. San Francisco artist Andy Freeberg’s series ‘Art Fare’ captures quirkily funny moments like this one, in which art handlers become part of the installation. (At Chelsea’s Andrea Meislin Gallery through August 8th).
Andy Freeberg, Anne de Villepoix, archival pigment print, 30 x 45 inches, 2011.
Mary Heilmann’s two acrylic on paper pieces, both titled ‘Negative Space,’ in David Zwirner Gallery’s summer ‘Paintings on Paper’ group exhibition look like sections of the gallery wall coming forward into the viewer’s space and casting impossibly dark shadows behind, a clever illusion created with simple means. (In Chelsea through August 15th).
Mary Heilmann, Negative Space One, 11 ½ x 11 ½ inches (left) and Negative Space Two, 12 x 15 inches, both are acrylic on handmade paper, 2014.
Portraits of Picasso’s women inspired Mickalene Thomas’ latest series at Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, including this rhinestone and acrylic collage. Exuberant eye-brows and lashes suggest exotic bird plumage while garish, fauve colors and many sharp angles hint at the sitter’s strong personality. (Through August 8th).
Mickalene Thomas, Carla, enamel, acrylic, oil paint, glitter, rhinestones, oil pastel, graphite and silk screen on wood panel, 96 x 72 inches, 2014.
Citibike stands abound in New York’s gallery areas, but are the bikes art? New York artist Dan Colen’s addition to Marlborough Gallery’s bike-themed group exhibition ‘Joyride’ could theoretically be taken out for a spin as a kind of performance or experiential art. In the background, Leo Fitzpatrick’s acrylic on canvas pieces offer a more cynical take on the pleasures of freewheeling about town, suggesting that Citibike users end their trips in the East River. (On the Lower East Side through August 3rd).
Foreground: Dan Colen, Title, x citibikes, 2014. Background: Leo Fitzpatrick, bikes in bag, bag in river, acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 2 pieces, each 22 x 14 inches, 2014.
