Brooklyn-based artist Tom Fruin recalls Lady Liberty’s flame and the colorful city grid in new sculpture at Chelsea’s Mike Weiss Gallery – both to be appreciated from the seat of a custom-designed swing. (Through October 18th).
Tom Fruin, (left) Billboard, powder-coated laser-cut steel, Plexiglas and painted aluminum, (right) Flame, steel and Detroit factory window glass, Dutch Masters Swing (Blue), powder-coated laser-cut steel and found chain, all three pieces 2014.
Late Polish artist Alina Szapocznikow’s cast of her own lips as a lamp act as erotic beacon yet resemble a golf club, suggesting a mix of attraction and violence that makes this piece standout in Luxembourg & Dayan’s excellent group exhibition ‘The Obscure Object of Desire.’ (Through October 4th).
Alina Szapocznikow, Lampe-bouche, colored polyester resin, electrical wiring, and metal, 17 ¾ x 6 x 4 inches, 1966.
Fred Wilson seems to bait his viewers by draining his show at Pace Gallery of color, presenting two austere bronzes in black and white, monochromatic flags from African and African diasporic countries, and more. The oversimplified dichotomy between black and white clashes with the variety of cultures represented by the sculpture and flags, encouraging a more nuanced engagement with racial difference. (In Chelsea through October 18th).
Fred Wilson, The Mete of the Muse, bronze with black patina and bronze with white paint, 2006.
Traditional women’s work becomes political in an international way in Mona Hatoum’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Alexander and Bonin Gallery. Featuring panels woven by Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the installation symbolizes cultural practices interrupted by war. (Through October 18th).
Mona Hatoum with Inaash, Twelve Windows, 12 pieces of Palestinian embroidery on fabric, wooden clothes pegs, steel cable, each 39 3/8 x 29 3/8 inches, 2012-13.
Globe-trotting Swiss artist Not Vital fills Sperone Westwater’s Lower East Side gallery with stainless steel heads that echo the austere, clean line of the gallery’s architecture. As much as the reflective material draws the viewer in, however, the uniform, monochromatic surface repels investigation into the character of these heads, which were partly inspired by huge Buddha the artist encountered in his travels. (Through October 4th).
Not Vital, installation view of ‘Everton’ at Sperone Westwater Gallery, September 2014.
Marlene McCarty closes out her ‘Murder Girls’ series that pictures girls who have killed with this huge, four-part ballpoint and graphite drawing. Instead of showing the face of someone who has taken a life, McCarty hides it in a screen of wild hair, suggesting mental turmoil. (At Sikkema Jenkins in Chelsea through Oct 4th).
Marlene McCarty, series titled: ’14,’ graphite and ballpoint pen on paper, 71 x 94 inches each of four drawings, 2014.
Jean Lowe’s imagined auction items in her latest exhibition, supposedly culled from historical papers and ephemera, demonstrate the artist’s delightfully absurd sense of humor while poking fun at what might be considered sale-worthy at auction. (At McKenzie Fine Art through Oct 12th).
Jean Lowe, ‘Ephemera (Lost Time),’ acrylic and watercolor on paper, 22 ¼ x 19 ¼ inches, 2013.
Marco Breuer’s endless experimentation with abstract photography continues with a new show at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery for which he folds, burns, scratches, and and scrapes the surface of photos to create layered records of removed information. (Through Nov 1st).
Marco Breuer, Untitled (C-1471), chromogenic paper, folded/burned/scraped, 15 ½ “ x 12 1/16,” unique, 2014.
In a futuristic city inhabited by robots, stories of two dogs and a married couple loosely intertwine as one character tries to disentangle real from false memories. As could be expected, the protagonist never separates one from the other, but the process of watching is mesmerizing. (At Eleven Rivington’s 195 Chrystie Street location through October 5th).
Adam Shecter, installation view of ‘New Year’ at Eleven Rivington Gallery, September 2014.
Butterflies inspire and energize New York City artist Paul Villinski’s sculptural practice, which includes a self-portrait sculpture that doubles as a butterfly habitat, butterflies crafted from cans, and a purpose-built containment area designed to breed butterflies (pictured here in detail). His latest show at Morgan Lehman in Chelsea features all three projects, collectively showcasing the wonder of this insect. (Through Oct 11th).
Paul Villinski, (detail) Butterfly Machine, mixed media, electric and hydroponic components, plants, butterflies, 2014.
Beautiful organic forms, a trace of violence in a smear of blood, a mysteriously hazy landscape and a young woman crowned with a wig of wool and hidden by a totemic mask by Zipora Fried create an atmosphere of enticing mystery at her impressive solo show at On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side (through October 12th).
Zipora Fried, Installation view of ‘I Hope the Moon Explodes,’ at On Stellar Rays, September, 2014.
Cars have given photographer Justine Kurland the freedom to travel the country shooting unforgettable photos on her road trips; her latest series is a gritty but beautifully shot homage of sorts to the mechanics who keep them going. (At Mitchell-Innes and Nash in Chelsea through October 11th).
Justine Kurland, For Abigail, inkjet print, 18 ½ x 24 inches, 2014.
A low sound of waves and chirping is a subtle accompaniment to Anissa Mack’s clusters of helium dolphins; this hint of ‘real’ nature sharply contrasts the balloons’ reference to theme parks and carnivals and adds a little whimsy and wonder to mass produced inflatables. (At Laurel Gitlen Gallery on the Lower East Side through October 19th).
Anissa Mack, installation view of ‘Deep, Deep Pepsi’ at Laurel Gitlen Gallery, Sept 2014.
New York-based British photographer Paul Graham mixes and scatters photos of rainbows shot in Ireland, pawn shops and images of his young partner asleep on the walls his latest solo show at Pace Gallery in a somewhat obvious but nevertheless beautiful mediation on finding your luck. (At Pace Gallery’s 510 West 25th Street location through Oct 4).
Paul Graham, installation view of ‘Does Yellow Run Forever?’ at Pace Gallery’s 510 West 25th Street location, Sept, 2014.
How do babies see the world without benefit (or burden) of language and experience in interpreting forms? This question inspired Brooklyn artist and new father Johannes VanDerBeek’s more or less obviously human figures, including this flattened, rabbit-like form and a striding figure at Chelsea’s Zach Feuer Gallery (through Oct 4th).
Johannes VanDerBeek, to the left: Running in Grass, aqua-resin, fiberglass, steel, clay, silicon, paint, 65 x 45 inches, 2014. To the right: Early Outline with Leaning Features, Celluclay, Aqua-Resin, paint, steel, including base: 87 x 24 x ¼ inches, 2014.
Young LA-based artist David Benjamin Sherry made his name with eco-conscious photos that alter the landscape of the American west. Here, he collages several photos together making a quilt-like pattern of stones that resembles a Playdoh sculpture or a well-intentioned but garish re-do of nature. (At Salon94 on the Lower East Side and Danziger Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 25th).
David Benjamin Sherry, Emotional Algorithm Epoch, Joshua Tree, California I, collage of traditional color darkroom photos, 40 x 50 inches, 2014.
Dreaming of escape to a summer rental property, Brooklyn-bound artist David Kramer’s stayed in town prepping this show, which features paintings and a replica of a cabin’s front porch, littered with beer cans. The elephant in the room is this over 9 foot tall self-portrait of the artist as lumberjack whose imaginary might is coincidently paralleled in this image by a gallery staff member cleaning after opening night. (At Thierry Goldberg Gallery on the Lower East Side through October 5th).
David Kramer, Self-Portrait as a Lumberjack, mixed media, 113 x 56 x 26 inches, 2014.
For sheer ambition, not much in Chelsea beats New York artist Jacob Hashimoto’s wondrous ‘Skyfarm Fortress’ at Mary Boone Gallery. Thousands of paper and wood ‘kites’ create a space that looks like fantasy architecture or a structure pulled into reality form the digital realm. (Through Oct 25th).
Jacob Hashimoto, Skyfarm Fortress, acrylic, paper/Dacron, wood, dimensions variable, 2014.
Inspired by the modern glass wall grid of Mies van der Rohe’s 1951 Lake Shore Drive Apartments, Warsaw-based artist Monika Sosnowska’s ‘Tower’ reverses the aspiration and elegance of International Style. Sprawled on the ground an curling like a dying leaf, the massive steel structure is a blunt symbol of failed ideals. (At Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Chelesa through October 25th).
Monika Sosnowska, Tower, steel, paint, unique, 2014.
Looking like someone’s giant selfie gone wrong, this painting by LA artist Brian Calvin depicts a carefully dressed figure in the blush of youth, whose crooked teeth take center stage to suggest a momentary lapse in managed self-presentation. (At Anton Kern Gallery through Oct 4th).
Brian Calvin, Ha, acrylic and flashe on canvas, 72 x 48 inches, 2014.
Known for sculptures that initiate processes that yield attractive results (like an engine block transformed by gorgeous copper sulphate crystals), British artist Roger Hiorns goes for a gritty sci-fi feel in the back gallery at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine. Compressors pump air through grimy car parts creating billows of soap suds that make these quasi-organic figures appear sentient, if barely. (Through Oct 18th).
Roger Hiorns, installation view at Luhring Augustine Gallery, Chelsea, Sept 2014. All works: Untitled, plastic, compressor, and foam, 2014.
Cleverly placed near the gallery entrance, late sculptor Louise Kruger’s bulky ‘Standing Dog’ could –for an instant – be mistaken as a real pet tagging along with gallery visitors. Other charmingly odd wood figures stand out amongst work in fabric and metal by an artist who developed her own unique folk/pop artistic language. (At Chelsea’s Lori Bookstein Fine Art through Oct 4th).
Louise Kruger, Standing Dog, pine, 27 x 16 x 38 inches, c. 1970-75.
New media takes a turn for the traditional in David Hockney’s new series at Pace Gallery, for which his iPad drawings are displayed as prints. Still, the Brit art icon’s colors remain vibrant, transforming the English countryside with fantastical, south-of-France brightness. (At Pace’s 508 West 25th Street space in Chelsea through Nov 1st).
David Hockney, The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven) – 5 May, 2011, iPad drawing printed on paper, 55” x 41 ½”
A room eighty feet long is condensed into 18 feet in Roxy Paine’s latest uncanny scene from his Diorama series – an airport security checkpoint crafted entirely in maple wood, devoid of humans and presented for contemplation. (At Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery through October 18th).
Roxy Paine, Checkpoint, maple, aluminum, fluorescent light bulbs, and acrylic prismatic light diffusers, 14 ‘ h x 26’ – 11” w x 18’ – 7 1/2” d, 2014.
Nick Cave’s latest body of work – filling both of Jack Shainman’s Chelsea galleries – was inspired when Cave was stunned to find a spittoon in the shape of a African-American man’s head at a flea market. Since then, he’s collected similar figures, like this lawn jockey who recalls the legend of a slave boy who froze to death while holding a lantern for George Washington’s historic Delaware River crossing. Standing on a shoe-shine chair and surrounded by a shrine-like collection of bric-a-brac, Cave repositions an icon from America’s troubled past. (On view through Oct 11th).
Nick Cave, Fear Not, Therefore (detail), mixed media including cast-iron figure, shoe shine chair, ceramic birds, strung beads and metal flowers, 77 x 44 x 30 inches, 2014.\
Bouchra Khalili’s video installation in the New Museum’s Arab art exhibition movingly documents the travels and travails of immigrants coming to Europe without papers. The tales of their setbacks and successes are mesmerizing. (Through Sept 28th).
Bouchra Khalili, The Mapping Journey Project, eight videos, color, sound, 2008-11.
Trinidad-born artist Romy Scheroder explains that she was thinking of the strictures of colonial culture (wood) vs adaptation by the population (rubber bands) in her sculpture Skin (seen here in the background). Despite the serious subtext, two mirrored chairs delight in the foreground with a joyful dance. (At the Museo del Barrio through September 6th).
Romy Scheroder, Mirror, Mirror, found chairs, 2014.
Jeff Koons’ name is synonymous with high production values and what the New York Times called ‘art for billionaires and oligarchs.’ Despite the exclusivity, most Koons works are designed to appeal, from the flowering sculpture currently installed at Rockefeller Center to this stainless steel heart and aluminum Playdoh pile at the Whitney Museum where the artist is currently enjoying a career retrospective. (Through October 19th).
Jeff Koons, Hanging Heart (Violet/Gold), 1994-2006, mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating.
For eight years in the 60s and 70s, iconic New York photographer Bill Cunningham took pictures his friend, neighbor and celebrity portrait photographer Editta Sherman in period clothes in front of famous New York City landmarks. Here, in one of the earliest images in his ‘Facades’ project, Sherman poses in front of St Paul’s Chapel in late 17th century clothes purchased in a second hand store for just a few dollars. (At the New York Historical Society (show extended).
Bill Cunningham, St Paul’s Chapel and Churchyard, (built ca 1766-1796, Broadway at Vesey Street), from the Façade series, 1968.
