Brooklyn art duo FAILE and artist friend BAST put a new spin on the old question, ‘what is art?’ by teaming up at the Brooklyn Museum to present a free arcade decorated in their signature posters. According to the museum text, they aim to relieve ‘the pressure of a traditional gallery environment,’ which they do in spades – it’s hard to remember you’re in a museum. (Through Oct 4th).
Installation view of the FAILE and BAST Deluxx Fluxx Arcade, Brooklyn Museum, September, 2015.
It comes as no surprise that British artist Billy Childish counts Van Gogh as an influence. By putting these sunflowers in a vessel that recalls Gauguin’s ceramics, Childish marries two artists who lived outside of conventional society in an image that pulsates with pattern. (At Lehmann Maupin’s West 22nd Street location through Oct 31st).
Billy Childish, Sunflowers, oil and charcoal on linen, 60.04 x 42.13 inches, 2015.
A faintly suggested head of blond hair and delicate facial features on Ganymede as he is abducted by Zeus – an eagle with a wizened expression – succinctly tell an ancient tale in Kyle Staver’s graphically simple, wonderfully imagined reworking of the Greek myth. (At Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects on the Lower East Side through Oct 11th).
Kyle Staver, Ganymede, oil on canvas, 68 x 58 inches, 2015.
Biomorphic abstraction becomes even more a treat for the eyes under the hand of Rhode Island based artist Bayne Peterson as he morphs materials like plywood died in layers and powdered granite into sensuously curvy sculptures at Lower East Side gallery Kristin Lorello. (Through Nov 1st).
Installation view of Bayne Peterson and Nadia Haji Omar at Kristin Lorello. Foreground: Bayne Peterson, Untitled (Greens, Wood and Stone), dyed plywood, dyed epoxy, powdered granite, resin, 10.5 x 6 x 8 inches.
You don’t necessarily have to visit Europe to marvel at the scale and detail of its cathedrals; German photographer Markus Brunetti brings the experience to New York in a show of stunningly detailed, 10 foot tall prints at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery. Here, he gives the Ulm Munster his signature treatment – photographing the building in minute detail, then creating a crystal-clear digital collage. (Through Oct 17th).
Markus Brunetti, Ulm, Munster, from the series FACADES, 62 15/16 x 32 5/8 inches OR 118 3/16 x 59 1/16 inches, archival pigment prints, 2007-2014.
If you need evidence that ceramics don’t need to have use-value, check out Japanese artist Takuro Kuwata’s latest show of amazing abstract forms at Lower East Side gallery Salon94. In the foreground here, Kuwata uses ‘ishihaze’ or ‘stone explosion’ technique by which he adds stones to his clay, which then erupt during firing. (On view through Oct 24th).
Takuro Kuwata, installation view of ‘Dear Tea Bowl’ at Salon94 Freemans, September 2015.
Titles like ‘Spring Shadow’ or ‘Noon Ashes’ evoke places and moods beyond the everyday in Julia Bland’s show of attractive, fabric-based constructions. Here, ‘Lines from Memory’ suggests a series of portals constructed from an arrangement of dyed textile and lattices. (At On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side through Oct 25th).
Julia Bland, Lines from Memory, silk, linen, wool, oil paint, and dye, 88 ½ x 83 inches, 2015.
Painter Mark Barrow and textile designer Sarah Parke collaborate on painted, hand loomed fabrics that are so labor intensive, they’ll blow your mind. Here, the duo dye fabric, then reweave either the warp or the weft into a different material, thread by thread. (At Elizabeth Dee Gallery through October 24th).
Mark Barrow and Sarah Parke, detail of Reweave 7, hand dyed linen, 19 x 17 inches, 2015.
One wall is not enough for Denise Kupferschmidt’s abstracted human figures at Eleven Rivington. On the gallery floor, two feet and a head lie like scattered afterthoughts while solid figures run along the wall as if rendered in an extra bold font. The effect is strong yet comic, drawing us into Kupferschmidt’s imagined population. (On the Lower East Side through Oct 18th).
Installation view of wall mural and sculpture by Denise Kupferschmidt at Eleven Rivington Gallery, Sept 2015.
It’s post-apocalypse in Trisha Baga’s imagination – Florida has mostly sunk into the sea and the array of artifacts left behind, including this Doritos bag and chips, have been rendered in ceramic and put on display. In the video at rear, peacocks pick at a seed portrait of Rosie O’Donnell. Baga’s rich imagination makes an unknown world all the stranger. (At Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through October 3rd).
Trisha Baga, Doritos bag with 4 doritos, glazed ceramic, 2 ¾ x 9 x 6 inches, 2015. Background: Peacock Museum. The Department of Education, video installation, 4 mirrors with fava beans, 18 min, 44 sec, each 23 ½ x 19 1/8 inches, 2015.
Like inedible confections, the surfaces and strange forms of San Francisco artist Ron Nagle’s tiny ceramic sculptures are delectations for the eye. But for every attractive, shiny surface, there’s an opposite impulse to reject clashing color combinations and oddly suggestive bodily forms. (At Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Ron Nagle, Long Good Friday, ceramic, porcelain, glaze, catalyzed polyurethane, epoxy resin, 3 ¾ x 2 ½ x 3 ¾ inches, 2015.
The pyramids meet a great big expressionist splash of paint in a recreation of a mural by Roy Lichtenstein from 1983, which brings together references from art history and Lichtenstein’s previous work in a size XXL jumble. Originally installed for six weeks at Leo Castelli Gallery before being painted over, Gagosian Gallery is currently hosting a redo, accompanied by paintings and sculpture that flesh out Lichtenstein’s subject matter, from a Picasso head to a piece of Swiss cheese. (In Chelsea through Oct 17th).
Roy Lichtenstein, Greene Street Mural, 1983 (replica, 2015).
From 17th century Dutch paintings of the countryside to sublime Hudson River views by mid 19th century Americans, landscapes unspoiled by development have been a favorite subject in art. Barnaby Furnas’s new paintings at Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery go back further in time, imagining the drama of a planet at the moment of creation, here on ‘The First Morning.’ (Through Oct 10th).
Barnaby Furnas, The First Morning (Fire Toads), acrylic, dispersing pigment, pencil, colored pencil on prepared linen, 99 1/8 x 104 inches, 2015.
Ken Price’s blob of shiny weirdness is an enticement to venture into Matthew Marks Gallery’s back gallery. A standout in this low-key exhibition of work by gallery artists, the shimmery, seductive surface contrasts the suggestion of an unknown organic substance moldering. (In Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Ken Price, Untitled, fired and painted clay, 18 x 17 x 16, 1996-2011.
This washed out figure is a faded but haunting recurring image in Andrew Kreps Gallery’s retrospective of work by San Francisco-based artist and graphic designer Robert Overby. Based on a 16th century Madonna by Albrecht Durer, Mary’s imposing, weirdly angled eye suggests an oddly provocative madness. (In Chelsea through Oct 31st).
Robert Overby, detail of ONE EYED-GRID, offset lithograph on paper on plywood, 18 ½ x 14 ¾ inches, 1975.
Inspired by a stone carving of the feathered dragon Quetzalcoatl, painter Philip Taaffe had the shape recreated in Spanish alabaster, which he then painted and printed. In the paper collage in the background, concentric circles give the illusion of a spiral echoing the coils of the serpent. (In Chelsea at Carolina Nitsch through Nov 7).
Philip Taaffe, Hodi Mihi, Cras Tibi (#2/8), hand carved Spanish alabaster, poppy seed oil, hand stamped and painted with oil paint, signed, numbered, dated below, 17 x 17 x 15 inches, 2015.
Sarah Sze’s installations have been characterized as organized chaos; her latest solo show aims to bring the mess and spontaneous decision-making of an artist’s studio into the gallery, yet the feeling of control is palpable. Torn paper, carefully spilled paint, and hanging sheets of plastic suggest a carefully arranged work in progress. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 17th).
Sarah Sze, installation view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Sept 2015.
Dana Schutz’s ‘Fight in an Elevator,’ the title piece for her show at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery, recalls NFL player Ray Rice’s scandalous attack on his fiancée in a hotel elevator but levels the playing field as an abstracted man and woman give as good as they get in a futurist-inspired rumble. (Through October 24th).
Dana Schutz, Fight in an Elevator, oil on canvas, 96 x 90 inches, 2015.
Christian Marclay’s 24-hour video of collaged clock-related film clips from 2010 was so engaging that his subsequent photo projects and onomatopoeia paintings have sometimes seemed bland by comparison. The standout piece in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery corrects that trend, however, by animating words from cartoons in an eye-popping immersive installation that, though soundless, communicates loudly. (Through Oct 17th).
Installation view of Christian Marclay’s ‘Surround Sounds,’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, September 2015.
Doris Salcedo’s interconnected concrete-filled wardrobes are a standout in her beautiful, somber show at the Guggenheim Museum; using personal possessions, Salcedo uses the furniture to speak to the suspended lives of political detainees and the ‘disappeared’ in her native Columbia. (Through October 12th).
Doris Salcedo, installation view of Untitled Works, 1989-2008, Sept 2015.
The street and gang life surrounding Miami painter Michael Vasquez as he grew up without a father have become subject matter for his large-scale, bold paintings based on friends, family and acquaintances. A standout in the Americas Society’s show of self-portraits by U.S. Latino artists, the dark background of this touching painting of a man and boy is foreboding. (Through October 17th).
Michael Vasquez, The Neighborhood Tour, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2007.
Every bridge, pier and building in Manhattan at the time of making is included in this marble rendition of the island by Japanese artist Yutaka Sone on the High Line. Isolated from the rest of the map, and created of white stone, Manhattan resembles a shrouded corpse. (Through March 2016).
Yutaka Sone, Little Manhattan New York, New York, marble, 2007- 2009.
Influential German painter Albert Oehlen’s huge, boldly messy paintings put representational drawing, expressionism, color experiments and more in the blender, challenging how much ‘bad’ a ‘good’ painting can accommodate. (At the New Museum through Sept 13th).
Installation view of Albert Oehlen: Home and Garden at the New Museum, July 2015.
Performers give it their all in one of the best galleries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s John Singer Sargent show, focusing on non commissioned (hence less restricted) portraits of friends and colleagues. Here, after meeting musical patron and singer Mabel Batten, Sargent persuaded her to pose for this incredible portrait of singing abandon. (Through Oct 4th).
John Singer Sargent, Mrs George Batten Singing, oil on canvas, 1897.
Mexican artist Damian Ortega finds a new to suspend his sculpture in space (last winter he created an explosion of tools at the Cooper Hewitt Museum) in this graffiti made of rebar, as if he’s managed to tag the sky. (On the High Line in Chelsea through March 2016).
Damian Ortega, Physical Graffiti #3, steel, 5 ft 10 ¾ inches x ¾ inches x 7 ft 9 ¼ in, 2015.
