One of the most divine dresses in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition of China-inspired Western fashions is this evening gown by Guo Pei in the museum’s Chinese Buddhist sculpture galleries. Though the model’s dress incorporates a lotus throne like the sculpture, it doesn’t seem to advocate any rejection of worldly pleasures. (Through Sept 7th).
Guo Pei, Evening Gown, spring/summer 2007, Haute Couture, gold lame embroidered with gold and silver silk, metal and sequins.
Titled after mirages that form on the horizon line, Teresita Fernandez’ ‘Fata Morgana’ in Madison Square Park playfully imagines what it would be like to inhabit the mirage. Her sprawling, 500 foot long installation of golden, mirror-polished metal covers the park’s walkways, creating both a dappled pattern on the ground and a through-the-looking-glass effect in the reflective surface overhead. (Through winter ’15-‘16).
Teresita Fernandez, Fata Morgana, Madison Square Park, through winter 2015-16.
Inspired by film and fiber art, Portuguese artist Leonor Antunes’ site-specific installation at the New Museum turns hand-made, hanging forms into an architecture perceived by the body as it moves through the installation. (At the New Museum through Sept 6th).
Installation view of Leonor Antunes at the New Museum, July 2015.
The most understated Met Museum Roof Garden commission in recent memory, French artist Pierre Huyghe’s installation features a chunk of bedrock set on the museum’s stone tile roof within site of a tank populated with primordial-looking tadpole shrimp. In contrast to the spectacle of luxury condo growth seen just south of the park, the low-key intervention on the Met’s roof is almost disorienting. Weeds sprouting from removed floor tiles suggest a dereliction far from the norm, a crack in the Met’s perfect public face. (At the Metropolitan Museum of Art through Nov 11th).
Pierre Huyghe, Roof Garden commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2015.
It’s creepy, but a steady stream of visitors to the High Line can’t resist taking a sip from Ryan Gander’s fountain, designed so that a stream of water flows from the mouth of a woman rendered in marble. The sculpture is a provocative update on traditional ‘garden of love’ imagery given that the model was Gander’s wife, leaning in for a kiss. (On the High Line Park in Chelsea through March 2016).
Ryan Gander, To employ the mistress…It’s a French toff thing, marble, stainless steel, copper tubing, 1 ft 4 inches x 1 ft 4 inches x 5 ft 4inches, 2015.
For her last series, late Pictures Generation photographer Sarah Charlesworth used available light coming from her studio window to illuminate carefully chosen objects. Here, a glass holding a sphere has the meticulous quality of product photography, but it sells nothing, instead it turns everyday objects into something serenely magical. (At the New Museum through Sept 20th).
Sarah Charlesworth, Carnival Ball, from the ‘Available Light’ series, Fuji Crystal Archive prints with lacquered wood frames, 2012.
Like sketchbook pages mounted to the wall, Brazilian Neoconcretist sculptor Amilcar de Castro’s model-like Corten steel sculptures resemble drawings for future pieces as well as typography, recalling the artist’s graphic design background. (At Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine Gallery through Aug 28th).
Amilcar de Castro, Untitled, 140 sculptures of Corten steel, 9 inches – approx. size, c. 1990. (background) Paulo Monteiro, Untitled, bronze, 28 11/16 x 35 3/8 x 35 3/8 inches, bronze.
Seven striking new aluminum sculptures by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava are a bold contrast in color and form to the buildings lining Park Ave (even elegant Lever House in the background). They’re reminiscent of Calatrava’s evolving transportation hub downtown, designed in a similarly organic form to suggest the wings and flight of a bird. (On view on the Park Avenue Mall between 52nd and 55th Streets through early November.)
Santiago Calatrava, S4, painted plate aluminum, 2015.
With its view of Manhattan just across the East River, Long Island City’s tranquil Socrates Sculpture Park plays perfect host to Agnes Denes’ ‘Living Pyramid.’ Created from wood and soil, flowers and grasses in the form of some of the world’s earliest monumental architecture, it’s a provocative foil to the city’s skyscrapers. (Though August 30th).
Agnes Denes, The Living Pyramid, flowers, grasses, soil, wood, paint, 30 x 30 x 30 feet, 2015.
Gritty doesn’t begin to describe Danish artist Jacob Aue Sobol’s photographs taken along the Trans-Siberian Railway, now on view at Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea. This man’s face and the wall behind him are marked with use; the alarmed person in the line drawing begs the question of the man’s psychological state. (Through Aug 28th).
Jacob Aue Sobol, from the series Arrivals and Departures, Untitled #16, gelatin silver print, 24 x 20 inches, 2012.
Starting with a solarized photo of water in which the dark tones have turned light, Brooklyn artist Eric Cahan scans and prints each image, attacking it with bleach and altering it in Photoshop. In a time when web users spend just seconds looking at images, Cahan’s practice questions what abstract art should offer the viewer. (At Benrubi Gallery through Aug 22nd).
Installation view of Eric Cahan, ‘Data Mining’ at Benrubi Gallery, July 2015.
Paintings of jungles, tropical fruit, and monkeys and sculptures of snakes and strange flora make ‘Tiger, Tiger’ at Salon94 Bowery one of the lushest shows open in New York this summer. Yutaka Sone’s folk-art inflected rattan and steel palm in the foreground sets the laid-back tone. (On the Lower East Side through August 21st).
Installation view of Tiger, Tiger at Salon94 Bowery, July 2015. (foreground: Yutaka Sone, Tropical Composition/Traveler’s Palm #1, rattan and steel, 143 x 165 x 24 inches, 2011.
In this detail of a photogram by NJ/Maine artist Bryan Graf, the artist’s hand reaches into the frame, conjuring swirls of mesh into a dynamic design. In the accompanying Polaroid (not pictured here), we see a straight shot of the artist revealing his magic as he holds screen material in front of light sensitive paper. (At Yancey Richardson Gallery through August 21st).
(Detail of) Bryan Graf, Shot/Reverse Shot (Corner Piece #2) December 18, 2012, Polaroid and two gelatin silver prints, Polaroid: 3.5 x 4.5 inches, Gelatin silver diptych: 24 x 40 inches, unique.
Visit a New York City park in the summer and you’ll find clusters of kids filling water balloons at fountains identical to LA artist Fiona Connor’s handmade replica of a cast concrete water fountain. Connor’s indoor version offers more peaceful and contemplative refreshment, however, on its own in the back room of Lisa Cooley Gallery. (On the Lower East Side through August 21st).
Fiona Connor, On What Remains (fountain), concrete, EPS foam, antique brass hardware, plumbing supplies, steel, ply, paint and coatings, car battery, Jabsco pump, potable water, 36 x 24 x 36 inches, 2015.
Known for photo sequences that involve individuals interacting with drawings made on the ground or wall, South Africa artist Robin Rhode branches out into post-performance installation in his latest show at Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Bikes have long figured in his work as emblems of what the average kid on the street can’t afford; here, he’s used a cast chalk bike as a drawing tool to create a jittery, moving vehicle. (Through August 21st).
Robin Rhode, Chalk Bike, chalk and steel, 41 x 72.5 x 19 in, 2 windows, each 24.75 x 38.5 x 3 inches, 2015.
Belgian artist Patrick Van Caeckenbergh’s meticulous drawings resemble photographs but record trees embellished by his imagination into wondrous monstrosities. (At Lehmann Maupin Gallery on the Lower East Side through August 21st).
Patrick Van Caeckenbergh, Drawing of Old Trees during wintry days 2007-2014, pencil and paint on paper, 21.06 x 30.79 inches, 2007 – 2014.
Ajay Kurian’s torture machine for Minions slowly pokes into a plastic toy version of this cheery embodiment of evil, a thought-provoking gesture both absurd and sinister. (At Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery through August 21st).
Ajay Kurian, What Should We Do with Our Brains?, toy, steel, Plexiglas, linear actuator, arduino board, magic-sculpt, 14.5 x 14 x 24 inches, 2015.
It might be a stretch to consider this 16th century French illustrated manuscript as a precursor to R. Crumb’s cartoons, as a handout at Paul Kasmin Gallery suggests. Still, its meticulous detail and historical importance make it a knockout in the gallery’s summer group show celebrating the visual qualities of the written word. (In Chelsea through August 14th).
The Hours of Jacques Hurault, Grand Audienier of France, c. 1500-1510, Book of Hours, use of Rome in Latin and French, illuminated manuscript on parchment, bound in French vellum, 6 ¼ x 4 ¼ x 1 ½ inches.
London-based painter Ellen Macdonald snaps her audience to attention by juxtaposing abstraction and figuration in this painting of a hand and a neighboring abstract work composed of looping lines on a vivid orange background. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through August 14th).
Ellen Macdonald, Untitled (U include the, wall between and you), oil on linen, 24 x 18 inches, 2015.
When this show at Andrew Edlin Gallery comes down, it’ll do so literally when the building is demolished later this year. In the meantime, the gallery invited seven artists to make environmentally-themed art directly on the walls. Here, gallery artist Brian Adam Douglas riffs on Gericault’s famous early 19th century shipwreck scene, ‘Raft of the Medusa,’ while picturing the dire effects of environmental catastrophe. (In Chelsea through Aug 15th.)
Installation view of ‘Anthems for the Mother Earth Goddess,’ at Andrew Edlin Gallery, June 2015. (Center – mural by Brian Adam Douglas).
Divers stand stiffly, then spring into the air in Andrea Wolf’s projections on small Plexi cubes at Bitforms Gallery. Taken from found super8 and 8mm films, these unknown and blurry figures evoke distant memories from either real life or movies. (On the Lower East Side through Aug 16th).
Andrea Wolf, No 4., Unsolicited Memories, Archival Exercises, Plexiglas cubes, Plexiglas base, projector, multimedia player, mirror, video, 5 x 8 x 6 inches, 3:30min.
Ellsworth Kelly’s sleek forms – sometimes abstracted from nature – inspired FLAG Art Foundation’s summer group show and are seen in the background here. But Roni Horn’s ‘Pink Around (B),’ in the foreground is perfectly positioned to beautifully interact with nature, reflecting the sky and recording the changing light during the course of the day. (In Chelsea through August 14th).
Roni Horn, Pink Around (B), solid cast pink glass, 40 x 14 1/2 inches, 2008.
Parker Ito’s riotous mess of an installation in Andrea Rosen Gallery’s summer group show epitomizes his collage art approach. A painting dangling from the ceiling brings together unconnected, sampled phrases like ‘I’m really creative’ and ‘One Love’ against a background of LED light strings, keeping meaning elusive on purpose. (In Chelsea through August 14th).
Parker Ito, One Love/Everyday people/tell me/jelly manhood I’m wearing those pants now/I’m pretty creative /Essay coming soon), oil on canvas, acrylic on aluminum strainers, artist frame, hanging hardware, LED lights, 122 x 96 x 2.5 inches, 2013-15
It’s not an official exhibition, but Paul Kasmin Gallery’s 515 West 27th Street space is currently hosting a selection of artworks including designer Ron Arad’s shimmering chair-like sculpture ‘Thumbprint,’ which seems to shape-shift on the gallery floor.
Art made outside of New York art scene from the 60s to the present inspired Matthew Marks Gallery’s group show this summer, an exhibition that includes work by the collective ‘Forcefield’ who are known for their unconventional costuming. Here, Lord of the Rings inspires a contemporary chain mail chic. (In Chelsea through August 14th).
Forcefield, Lord of the Rings Modulator Shroud, stainless steel ID rings, 2002-15.
In the still of Simon Preston Gallery, Paris-based artist Pepo Salazar stretches a slim yet commandeering text reading ‘noise’ from wall to wall, forcing visitors to step gingerly through an artwork inspired by heavy metal music fonts. (On the Lower East Side through August 8th.)
Pepo Salazar, Noise, steel, 843 x 331 x 10.16 cm, 2008-2015.
Oversized furniture segments, huge matchsticks, nautical implements and memorials come to mind with LA artist Lisa Williamson’s tall, elegant ‘Long Dimension (Gates),’ a standout in Marianne Boesky Gallery’s summer group show. (In Chelsea through August 7th).
Installation view of ‘No Vacancies’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery (Background: Robert Morris, Untitled, 1997. Foreground: Lisa Williamson, Long Dimension (Gates), acrylic on wood, steel base with black acid and wax finish, 2015.)
Michael Smith opens a new chapter in the life of his hapless alter ego, Mike, with an exhibition centered around his search for the fountain of youth. A tapestry map, banners featuring Sudoku games and a water cooler are just some of the fun in Mike’s quest. (At Chelsea’s Greene Naftali Gallery through Aug 14th).
Michael Smith, installation view of ‘Excuse me!?!…I’m looking for the ‘Fountain of Youth,’ July 2015.
Art history meets sneaker culture in paintings by Tommy Mishima at Nancy Margolis Gallery. (In Chelsea through August 7th).
Tommy Mishima, Sneakers 2, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, 2015.
Painted in response to police violence this year, Peter Williams’ tongue-in-cheek superhero, ‘N-Word,’ clobbers injustice personified by ghoulish characters in his series ‘Common and Proper Nouns.’ Here, with a physique far from the super-hero norm, this likeable underdog triumphs over a crowd of zombies and two scared authority figures. (At Driscoll Babcock through Aug 14th).
Peter Williams, Common Thread, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, 2015.
Blue, green, yellow, orange and red walls at Alexander Gray Associates are the perfect backdrop for a show of gorgeously colored paintings by late artist and housewares designer Vera Neumann, famous in the ‘60s and ‘70s for producing colorful, nature-inspired textiles, scarves, wallpapers and more. (In Chelsea through Aug 7th).
Vera Neumann, Installation view at Alexander Gray Associates, July 2015.
