Drawing on the 11th century Persian epic poem ‘The Book of Kings,’ Arghavan Khosravi abuts the fantastical and mundane in absorbing and beautiful paintings that contrast Iran’s storied past and post-Revolution political realities. Here, a pensive young woman in a glass-walled enclosure holds Simurg, a mythical creature that sustained one of the poem’s heroes by providing him sustenance in difficult times. (On view at Lyles and King on the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).
The experience of curling up with a good book in a comfy chair isn’t what you might expect in Meredith James’ ‘Library,’ a standout in her show of delightfully strange sculpture at Jack Hanley Gallery. Stocked with blandly-colored, identical volumes, the miniature library set in a chair, feels more ominous than wonderful. A gallery handout suggests that James’ new work explores ‘things in various stages of disappearance or obsolescence,’ offering an uncertain future for the written word. (On view on the Lower East Side through Nov 10th).
Can you guess who is the housekeeper in each of these photos and who is the employer? Columbian artist Ruby Rumie and French-American photographer Justine Graham teamed up to question the perceived and real differences between one hundred women in photographs and accompanying interviews at Nohra Haime Gallery. As the uniform white shirts worn by the women suggest, Rumie and Graham emphasize the women’s shared hopes, fears and more in questionnaires and videos that foreground their similarities. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 16th).
After the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro was ravaged by fire in Sept 2018, renowned Rio and NY based artist Vik Muniz reached out to offer help. The resulting series ‘Museum of Ashes,’ now on view at Sikkema Jenkins & Co in Chelsea, mourns the loss of artifacts that range from dinosaur fossils to Egyptian artifacts by recreating images of the objects created from their own ashes. (On view through Nov 16th).
It took a good part of the summer for Uruguayan artist Marco Maggi to install his immersive installation at Josee Bienvenu Gallery in Chelsea, yet it’s possible to visit the gallery and not even notice the artwork. Maggi employed his signature technique of cutting tiny geometric shapes and strips from adhesive paper and adhering them to the wall in his latest show, but he keeps the gallery lights off, forcing viewers to employ flashlights to hunt for the work. As the show’s subtitle, ‘From Obscurantism to Enlightenment’ suggests, Maggi wants viewers to enjoy the process of looking, slowing down and letting enlightenment unfold. (On view through Nov 11th).
Mexican born, Harlem-based activist and artist Aliza Nisenbaum’s new paintings at Anton Kern Gallery’s midtown gallery celebrate group activities in kaleidoscopic form and brilliant color. From teaching English to immigrants in Queens in 2012 to various residences and projects, Nisenbaum has engaged individuals who become subjects for paintings that celebrate togetherness and diversity. (On view through Nov 2nd).
Despite their tiny size, monitors on twin coin-operated chairs from 1988 by Nam June Paik in the entryway of James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location blast a stream of media content at visitors who can simultaneously watch the world go by on the busy street outside. Resembling test patterns, the chairs’ upholstery invites viewers to submit themselves to media overload. (On view through Oct 20th).
Inspired by her pregnancy and experience as a mother, Loie Hollowell’s new paintings make rich connections to art history while helping to launch Pace Gallery’s stunning new eight story building on West 25th Street. Here, swelling curves (achieved in part by mounting foam on panel) reference an abundant female form in motion across the lower half of the canvas. Recalling Picasso’s doubled Girl Before a Mirror and Duchamps’ blurred Nude Descending a Staircase, the painting’s cool colors and flashes of fierce red convey powerful fecundity and tranquil poise. (On view through Oct 19th in Chelsea).
After famously taking his mobile photo studio to Times Square for his ‘Inside Out’ portrait project in 2013, French street artist JR hit New York’s streets again in Spring ’18 to make detailed photo collages championing the everyday New Yorker, now on view at Galerie Perrotin. Titled ‘Chronicles of New York City,’ the project follows ‘Chronicles’ in Paris and San Francisco and is also currently featured in Brooklyn Museum’s Great Hall. JR invited over a thousand New Yorkers to step into his truck turned studio to ‘present themselves as they’d like to be seen and remembered.’ The resulting collages bring the city’s citizens together in harmony and common purpose. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 26th.)
Inspired by Surrealist Meret Oppenheim’s performance ‘Cannibal’s Feast,’ Japanese photographer Michiko Kon’s food-based sculptural creations from the 90s fascinate and disturb in equal measure. This photo, currently on view at Robert Mann Gallery, showcases a boot crafted from ark clam shells and a real fish head. By evoking luxury goods popular in pre-crash 90s Japan and creating them in perishable materials, Kon updates the vanitas genre for more recent times. (On view through Oct 19th).
David Benjamin Sherry’s photos depict familiar-seeming western landscapes but in colors that force viewers to ask what they’re seeing. Man’s impact on the environment comes to mind, as does the emotional value of portraying these spaces in vibrant pink or purple or yellow tones. In his latest series, ‘American Monuments,’ Sherry shot locations newly threatened by having their protected status removed to allow resource extraction. (On view at Salon94 on the Lower East Side through Oct 26th).
Egyptian artist Wael Shawky talks of crafting history as a medium, referencing existing texts, historical paintings, poems and more to conjure a new creative product. His latest show at Lisson Gallery takes inspiration from histories of the Arabian peninsula from the 17th century to the present, particularly considering the rapid development of the region’s cities. Here, a glass structure and a giant palm tree act like beacons atop two hills, situated on a larger blue/green structure alluding to traditional thick-walled Najd architecture in a striking installation alive with opaque allusions. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 19th).
Inspired by women’s lives in her parent’s native Nigeria, US born artist Wuru-Natasha Ogunji’s considers the daily task of carrying water in her video, ‘Will I still carry water when I am a dead woman?’ Featuring several masked women walking the residential streets of Lagos dragging gold-colored water containers, viewers witness the toll exacted on the bodies of the exhausted and drenched participants. (On view at Fridman Gallery through Oct 12th).
The Haas Brother’s zany show of comical, beaded sculpture at Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery announces the duo’s foray into the fine art world. Having made a hit in the design community for the past decade with otherworldly furnishings, the twins collaborated on the new work with collaborators, Monkeybiz, to present an assortment of odd creatures and eccentric plant-life in a brilliantly painted, eye-popping setting. (On view through Oct 26th).
Vija Celmins’ once described her relationship to the ocean, which she has rendered again and again in paint, graphite and prints, as akin to wrestling something huge into a tiny 2-D space. This woodcut from 2000, created with one of printmaking’s oldest techniques, captures a particular view of the water’s surface that looks as if it could have been made yesterday or hundreds of years ago. (On view in Chelsea at Matthew Marks Gallery through Oct 26th).
