Saying goodbye must have felt easier in these gorgeous half-mourning dresses from 1902 in the Met’s ‘Death Becomes Her’ show at the Costume Institute. Unlike the black-bedecked Queen Victoria in the background, these ladies look primed to welcome the new. (Through Feb 1st).
Henriette Favre (French), Evening dress, mauve silk tulle, metal foil sequins, 1902. Probably French, Evening dress, black silk tulle, mauve silk chiffon, purple silvered gelatin sequins, 1902.
Slipping into a red dress has adventurous connotations completely suppressed by Cezanne’s portrait series of his wife, Hortense Fiquet, who sat for hours on end as her husband’s patient model. Cezanne’s famous line, ‘Only I understand how to paint a red,’ is put to the test in works that also create psychological intensity by disregarding traditional perspective. (‘Madame Cezanne’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through March 15th).
Paul Cezanne, Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair, oil on canvas, ca 1888-90.
At the beginning of his workday, British-born, Trinidad-based artist Chris Ofili experiments with watercolor and pencil drawings of his ‘Afromuses,’ imagined male and female characters that create a varied repertoire of inspirational characters. Seen here at Ofili’s New Museum exhibition, a selection of over 80 pieces showcases his quirky yet regal characters. (Through Jan 25th).
Chris Ofili, installation view of ‘Afromuses,’ at the New Museum, watercolor and pencil on paper, 1995-2005.
Late sculptor Louise Bourgeois harnessed the discomfort inherent in the idea of hanging for many sculptures over the decades of her long career. Cheim & Read Gallery gathers a stunning selection, including this polished bronze, titled ‘Arch of Hysteria.’ Conferring hysteria on a male figure and distorting the body into an impossibly uncomfortable arch creates odd tensions that give the piece its disarming impact. (In Chelsea through Jan 10th).
Louise Bourgeois, Arch of Hysteria, polished bronze, 33 x 40 x 23 inches, 1993.
Kara Walker’s monumental installation of an eroticized, African-American sphinx last summer at Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Factory was a run-away hit for its sheer size and painful exaggeration of an American stereotype. At Sikkema Jenkins in Chelsea, Walker presents work surrounding the project, including watercolors and the sphinx’s severed hand, preserved for the time being in its defiantly rude gesture. (Through Jan 17th.)
Kara Walker, installation view of Afterword at Sikkema Jenkins, Dec 2014.
When young Italian artist Lorenzo Vitturi moved to London several years ago, he settled in the East London neighborhood of for its affordability and multi-cultural demographic. As gentrification has altered the area, however, Vitturi has preserved aspects of the area’s famed market in his photographs, including this precarious construction of edibles, still beautiful but now past their prime. (At Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 10th).
Lorenzo Vitturi, Green Stripes #1, from the series Dalston Anatomy, Giclee Print on Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, 2013.
The Phrygian cap, worn as a symbol of emancipation in the French revolution and before, inspired American sculptor Martin Puryear’s new work at Chelsea’s Matthew Marks Gallery. As a series of sculptures that point to freedom, Puryear’s work goes beyond formally attractive objects to suggest justice as its own form of beauty. (Through Jan 10th).
Martin Puryear (foreground), Big Phrygian, painted red cedar, 2010-2014.
British Pop art icon David Hockney has said that there’s drama whenever more than one person appears in a picture, but his recent ‘photographic drawing’ seen here is less about human interaction than experimentation with perspective. Working in his LA studio, Hockney photographed friends, studio assistants and furniture (as well as his own paintings in the background) to create an intriguing, uncanny image composed of multiple different perspectives enhanced by digitally drawn-in shadows. (At Chelsea’s Pace Gallery through Jan 10th).
David Hockney, The Potted Palm, photographic drawing shown on a 55 inch Sony Ultra HD screen, 48 5/8” x 29 1/4’” x 2 5/8”, 2014.
Hands down, one of the hottest shows of the season in Chelsea is Takashi Murakami’s current solo at Gagosian Gallery, featuring towering demons guarding an ancient Japanese sacred gate crafted by Japanese artisans. After Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Murakami watched the nation turn to things spiritual…with this show, he makes a response by offering up his own quasi-religion. (Through Jan 17th).
Installation view of Takashi Murakami’s ‘In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,’ Gagosian Gallery, Nov 2014.
Enabled to create her art through Oakland’s ‘Creative Growth’s studio program for artists with disabilities, Judith Scott spent the last almost 20 years of her creative life crafting yarn, thread and other materials into dense bundles. The piece in the foreground testifies to her drive – when no other materials were available to her, she gathered paper toweling from the restroom or kitchen to use. (At the Brooklyn Museum, through March 29th).
Installation view of ‘Judith Scott’ at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Foreground: Judith Scott, Untitled, fiber and found objects, 27 x 23 x 17 inches, 1994.
Young Danish artist Alexander Tovborg painted one abstracted image of a dinosaur, turned it to the wall and from memory painted the next, creating this row of images that rely on memory and depict now extinct – yet gorgeously colored – creatures. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).
Alexander Tovborg, Eternal Feminine (I), felt, pastel crayon, acrylic and imitated gold leaf on wood panel, 48 x 36 inches, 2014.
Known for his computer-created virtual photos, New York artist Takeshi Murata’s latest solo show at Salon 94 Bowery includes this quirky character, whose dripped frame and the appearance of stickers suggest the touch of a human hand but whose red smiley face is all about mechanical distortion. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).
Takeshi Murata, Jogger (Red), pigment print mounted to plexi with powdercoated unibody aluminum frame, 40 x 44 x 2 inches, 2014.
The tale of Moby Dick as metaphor for a doomed, obsessive quest, specifically the U.S.’s military involvement in the Middle East, was the subject of Robert Longo’s stunning show at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery last spring. Now at the same gallery, Sean Landers’ takes up the subject in a more narcissistic way, depicting the great whale as a stand-in for the artist’s pursuit of a lasting artistic legacy. (Through Dec 20th).
Sean Landers, Moby Dick (Merrilees), oil on linen, 112 x 336 inches, 2013.
Angels sleep under rainbows in Francesco Clemente’s ‘Angels’ Tent,’ while top-hatted men act oppressively (one enslaves two figures) in the ‘Devil’s Tent.’ The lushly decorated Mughal style tents signal Clemente’s nomadic lifestyle while making a strong contrast between good and evil. (At Chelsea’s Mary Boone Gallery through Dec 20th).
Francesco Clemente, installation view of Angels’ Tent and Devil’s Tent at Mary Boone Gallery, Nov, 2014.
Glitzy sequins compete with more down-to-earth hand woven hemp fabric in a sculpture by San Francisco artist Josh Faught titled ‘Greg’ after a past romantic attachment. The clock suggests that time ran out on this relationship while a spilled drink and two tins of cookies (all food made of plastic) implies the unexpected upset of something delicious. (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).
Josh Faught, Greg, hand woven and crocheted hemp (hand dyed in colors to match the 2013/2014 color forecast, Indigo, gold spray paint, sequin trim, silk, wool, giant clothes pin, spill (resin) with Cathy mug, chocolate chip cookies (plastic), and tin of butter cookies (plastic and metal) on Cedar support, 76 x 74 x 12 inches, 2014.
Known for cheeky stop-motion animations made by photographing thickly textured paintings, Brooklyn artist Yui Kugimiya settles into a vividly colored, thickly painted non-moving images for her current show at Marlborough Gallery’s LES location. Painted as she looked out of her studio window at the East River, their Fauve color and style offers an intensely personal view of the city and here, its geese. (Through Dec 21st).
Yui Kugimiya, Geese on East River – One – 2, oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, 2014.
Like a giant emptied beanbag chair, Italian artist Giuseppe Gabellone’s ‘Acid Green’ fabric installation flops in the corner of Andrew Kreps’ Chelsea gallery, transforming the space and color of the room. Part of a show of work by artists who push their materials, the piece boldly occupies its space while suggesting future uses for the fabric. (Through Dec 20th).
Giuseppe Gabellone, Verde Acido, velvet fabric, acrylic padding, 590 ½ x 452 ¾ inches, 2012.
Though this huge polished aluminum sculpture by iconic minimalist-turned-maker of-exuberant-forms Frank Stella looks like a giant Christmas tree ornament, at over 18’ tall it’s too big even for the Rockefeller tree. Titled ‘Puffed Star II,’ it continues Stella’s interest in forms that take over the space they’re in. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery’s Chelsea space through Dec 20th.)
Frank Stella, Puffed Star II, polished aluminum, 224 ½ x 224 ½ inches, 2014.
Late New York painter Albert York’s paintings of landscapes, dogs, cows and flowers may look conventional, but they elicit strong praise from art world cognoscenti for their dreamy quality and conversation with the history of painting landscape and portraiture. (At Chelsea’s Matthew Marks Gallery through Dec 20th).
Albert York, Cow, oil on board, 9 x 10 ¼ inches, c. 1972.
What does your bookcase say about you? London-based artist Dylan Stone memorializes his film producer parents’ collection of books, LPs and video-cassettes in a huge painting at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery (seen here in detail). So much pre-digital media rendered in the ageless media of watercolor makes a poignant comment on longevity. (Through Dec 13th.)
Dylan Stone, detail from Barbara and David Stone’s Videos, LPs and Books, watercolor on paper, 110 x 150 inches, 2014.
George Condo’s Picassoid jumbling of classic Condo facial features on the left and a sketchy blond Ab Exp muse on the right make an arresting couple at the entrance to Skarstedt’s Chelsea gallery. They’re also an amusing counterpart to the current Picasso show down the block at Gagosian Gallery. (In Chelsea through Dec 20th)
George Condo, Double Heads on Blue and Silver, acrylic, charcoal, pastel on linen, 78 x 110 inches, 2014.
By dividing Ramiken Crucible’s small Lower East Side space into narrow compartments littered with dingy Pepsi cans and wall mounted urethane furniture casts, LA artist Kaari Upson creates a claustrophobic habitat that’s grungy while also strangely tidy. A puffy urethane door and doorstop at the entrance recall the harmless oddness of Claes Oldenburg sculpture. (At Ramiken Crucible through Dec 14th).
Kaari Upson, Untitled, aluminum, 200 aluminum cans, 2014 (foreground). Kaari Upson, Door Stop, urethane, pigment and cement, 2014 (background).
Resting on their stately pedestals like exhibits at the Met, late Viennese sculptor Franz West’s candy-colored abstract sculptures may strike a serious pose but still exude nose-thumbing absurdity. (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street location through Dec 13th).
Franz West, Untitled (10 Sculptures), papier-mache, plaster, polyester, gauze, paint, plastic, metal and wood in eleven parts, dimensions variable, 1990-1997.
Known for distorting photographic images with liquids, Sara Greenberger Rafferty pushes the idea further in her latest solo show at Rachel Uffner Gallery by layering prints, acrylic and Plexi in images that juxtapose youth and decay. Here, a blurry image of a young woman (hung as if lurking or hiding in the stairwell) recedes behind a skeletal figure. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 21st.)
Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Untitled, acrylic polymer and inkjet print on acetate on Plexiglas and hardware, irregular size: 164.5 x 60.3 x 1.3cm, 2014.
This small detail from a paper cut tiger’s face by Beijing-based Wu Jian’an astounds with its detail. Created in unlikely colors, the pastels lend the tiger a dream-like appearance, in keeping with the esoteric imagery. (In Chelsea at Chambers Fine Art through Dec 20th).
Wu Jian’an, detail of ‘Faces – Tiger,’ hand dyed and waxed paper-cut, cotton thread, paper, 66 ¼ x 53 ¼ inches, 2014.
The romance of the rails infuses Marianne Vitale’s totemic figures constructed from disused railway crossings. To stand near them is to imagine the tons of freight that have clattered over them, heading off to distant places. (At Chelsea’s Zach Feuer Gallery through Dec 20th).
Marianne Vitale, Installation view of ‘Nine Worthies’ at Zach Feuer Gallery, Nov 2014.
By combining multiple exposures, Abelardo Morell’s gorgeous flower still life doesn’t just represent the passage of time a la Dutch genre painting, it literally captures change in one image. (At Edwynn Houk Gallery in the 57th Street area through Dec 20th).
Abelardo Morell, Flowers – for Lisa, archival pigment print, 2014.
Traditional perspective takes a vacation in riotous new collages by Chicago Imagist artist Gladys Nilsson featuring monumental female figures created from and surrounded by consumer goods. This quail-eggs-for-nipples-Venus yolks it up against a fertile arbor backdrop. (At Garth Greenan Gallery, through Dec 6th).
Gladys Nilsson, A Girl in the Arbor #3, mixed media on paper, 2013.
Lily Ludlow’s angular abstractions at first look like x-rays of Cubist paintings, but her deliberately indistinct canvases (actually sanded down) gradually materialize into charged interactions between nude or semi-clothed characters. (At Canada on the Lower East Side through Dec 14th).
Lily Ludlow, The Knifers, acrylic, pencil, graphite, chalk on canvas, 2014.
Canonical works of western art from throughout the ages – cut from the pages of art books – rub shoulders in Vancouver artist Geoffrey Farmer’s ‘Boneyard’ installation at Casey Kaplan Gallery in Chelsea. The effect is surprisingly odd as it seems to warp space and time via the simple device of propping paper cutouts on a white tabletop. (Through Dec 20th).
Geoffrey Farmer, Boneyard, paper cutouts, wood, glue, dimensions variable, 2013.
Part-astronaut, part-characters from the Hindu epics, Indonesian artist Heri Dono’s ‘Flying Angels’ were, for the artist, symbols of inspiration and the future. Stand outs in the internationally-known artist’s first New York solo show at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in Chelsea, they introduce a fanciful body of work enlivened by references to Javanese folk theater. (Through Dec 20th).
Installation view of: Heri Dono, Flying Angels, fiberglass, fabric, bamboo, acrylic paint, electronic and mechanical devices, cable, automatic timer, 10 pieces, each 39 x 24 x 10 inches, 1996.
