It’s hard to tell if the hand in this photo by Mel Frank is gathering or stroking a marijuana plant; either way, the photo captures the cannabis cultivation guru and author’s affection for the herb. From extreme closeup photos to sunny landscapes dominated by weed and its farmers, Frank’s exhibition at Benrubi Gallery, ‘When We Were Criminals,’ offers a visual appreciation of a plant whose reputation continues to evolve. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 10th).
Just how ‘optimized’ should life be? Young Brooklyn painter Grace Weaver explores the idea of living to your utmost in ‘Best Life,’ her first solo show at James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side. Here, ‘peak season’ pictures two young people performing the role of tourist as they snap the requisite photos and navigate unfamiliar terrain on vacation. Weaver’s vividly colored portraits of her generation explore social pressures that will be alien to many but intense to her subjects. (On view through Oct 28th).
For her first New York gallery show in nearly ten years, Petah Coyne continues to create richly evocative sculpture inspired by literature; this peacock-topped chandelier titled ‘Black Snowflake’ pays homage to Masuji Ibuse’s Black Rain, his 1965 novel about Hiroshima. Personal themes also run though the show; here, a piece in memory of Coyne’s late father includes a bird considered in Irish mythology to accompany the soul to heaven. (On view at Galerie Lelong in Chelsea through Oct 27th).
Inspired by the DeLorean in the movie ‘Back to the Future,’ Daniel Arsham imagines the car as a relic from even further back, a remnant of the past now studded with sparkling patches of quartz crystal and pyrite. Alongside a similarly eroded Ferrari and a pile of obsolete consumer electronics, Arsham points out that given time, our castoffs revert to objects of desire. (On view at Perrotin through Oct 21st).
Katherine Bradford’s new painting ‘Suits’ juxtaposes a man in an impersonal business suit with a man stripped down to a swim suit. In his anonymous, corporate garb, the man above hovers over his more vulnerable counterpart like a spirit attempting to communicate from the beyond. Faceless, slack bodied and seemingly impervious, the man below stands in passive isolation. (On view at Canada New York through Oct 21st).
Titled ‘Juba’ after a West African dance tradition, Charles White’s portrait of this contemplative woman is dynamic though she’s still. Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s exhibition of work by White and contemporaries from his wide circle of influence and friendship showcases large-scale drawings like this one from the 60s and 70s, illustrating White’s masterful ability to confer serene wisdom on his characters. (On view through Nov 10th).
At 41 feet long, Sam Falls’ Untitled (Conception) is a huge recreation of the natural world, dropped into 303 Gallery’s spartan white cube. Made by laying natural materials (branches, coral, plants) onto canvas, then adding powdered pigments and waiting for moisture in the air to set the colors, Falls’ working technique is akin to making a photogram with objects on light sensitive paper. The result transports viewers away from the city and into the abundance of nature. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 20th).
Using a homemade camera positioned in the back of a pickup truck, John Chiara records unique images onto paper prepared as a negative, creating otherworldly photos that challenge our sense of time and place. Occasionally, a new skyscraper will loom in the background or a streetlight will invade the scene, making it undeniably contemporary, as in this East Village view. But without storefronts or people, and under a fiery sky, Chiara’s scenes turn Manhattan into a glowing landscape of intrigue. (On view at Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 27th).
Marc Straus Gallery nods to Mark Rothko’s hovering, painted rectangles of color and Josef Alber’s nests of colored squares on canvas, but the real attraction to Spain-born, New York-based artist Antonio Santin’s paintings is the fact that they’re painted at all. Resembling tapestries, Santin’s amazing abstract paintings are made with oil paint in a variety of patterns that suggest a 3D surface with something hidden beneath. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 16th).
Simone Leigh continues to merge bodies and architecture in provocative ways in her debut at Luhring Augustine in Chelsea. Highlights include the raffia-skirted figure on the left, a maternal character elevated by her tall, tent-like garment and commanding respect with her hands-on-hips pose. Natural materials contrast the delicate porcelain flowers clustered in a wreath around her face, suggesting a woman equally at ease with the ready-made and refined. (On view through Oct 20th).
If Ruby Sky Stiler’s latest sculptures at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery seem less curvy than usual, it’s because her latest work departs from the powerful, sometimes monumental female figures she’s known for, zeroing in on dads and kids instead. The subject of men with their children is so rare in contemporary art that it’s initially hard to grasp that the bigger figures aren’t women. Odder still is each group’s repose – wouldn’t these kids be playing soccer with dad or at least a card game? Stiler shatters stereotypical gender roles with aplomb. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 7th.)
