Anselm Kiefer, Danae at Gagosian Gallery

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Gagosian Gallery’s enormous Chelsea space seems made to accommodate the monumental scale and theme of Anselm Kiefer’s latest paintings, which address contemporary migration via reference to Greek mythology and the Biblical exodus.  The title of this over 43’ long painting, ‘Danae,’ refers to the Greek myth of Zeus manifesting as a shower of gold to visit the imprisoned Danae, a liaison which resulted in the birth of their son, Perseus.  Here, a cloud of gold hovers above the cavernous hangar of Berlin’s now-closed Tempelhof Airport, a space that has been used to house refugees, as if to rain blessing on the imperiled populations that have taken refuge there. (On view through Dec 23rd).

Anselm Kiefer, Danae, emulsion, acrylic, oil, shellac, gold leaf, coal, metal and wires on canvas, 149 5/8 x 523 5/8 inches, 2016 – 2021.

Allison Schulnik at PPOW Gallery

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Set off against purple and pink walls at PPOW Gallery, Allison Schulnik’s paintings of night visitors to her property in Sky Valley, California convey the mystery and intrigue of the owls, bobcats and foxes that make the desert their home.  The animation ‘Purple Mountain’ – the title piece for the show, created from 675 gouache on paper paintings – features distant San Jacinto Peak in a blaze of glorious light conditions.  By contrast, this bobcat and other animals appear to have been glimpsed briefly in a flash of light against the dark of night; rendered in Schulnik’s signature impasto style, they convey a sense of immediacy and power through their expressive rendering. (On view through Dec 10th).

Allison Schulnik, Water Plate Bobcat #1, oil on canvas stretched over panel, 48 x 60 in, 2021.

Angel Otero at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

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Featuring a piano from his studio, a former church building in the Hudson Valley, this vibrant painting by Angel Otero is a standout among his new work at Hauser & Wirth Gallery.  Otero once created abstract images from sheets of dried oil paint; he now employs a combination of techniques from paint on canvas to collaged paint, resulting in thick, complex surfaces that suggest layers of memories.  Inspired by recollections of his upbringing in Puerto Rico, ‘Concerto’ acknowledges the personal resonance of objects like dentures in a glass, a large cooking pot or the magical suggestion of a school of goldfish filling the air.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Angel Otero, Concerto, oil paint and fabric collaged on canvas, 95 x 95 x 1 ½ inches, 2022.

Leda Catunda at Bortolami Gallery

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Titled ‘Geography,’ Brazilian artist Leda Catunda’s current exhibition at Bortolami Gallery offers personal interpretations of the landscape in the form of fabric-based sculptures sourced from materials created by the fashion and decoration industries.  Here, ‘Mapa Mundi’ juxtaposes the built environment (represented by swatches of plaid) with green areas inhabited by chickens.  She adds rocks from a shoreline, a few bucolic scenes of country life and ominous patches of flame, all surrounded by flowing waters.  Zones of striped colors suggest unknown aspects of life on the planet, in Catunda’s vision, a place created by our desire to define ourselves through images and design.  (On view through Dec 23rd).

Leda Catunda, Mapa Mundi, acrylic and enamel on fabric, wood, plastic, velvet, voile, flags, rug and foam, 90 ½ x 118 1/8 inches, 2022.

Jannis Kounellis at Gladstone Gallery

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Describing himself as a ‘Greek man and an Italian artist,’ the late Jannis Kounellis was a founder of Arte Povera, a movement that emerged from the desire of post-war Italian artists to embrace materials more linked to everyday life than to fine art.  In this piece from 2016, Kounellis sourced outdoor sheds, placing them on beds of coals arranged in a grid around Gladstone Gallery’s spacious 21st Street location.  Iron panels line the walls, holding a rope and bent pieces of metal that resemble an alphabet.  Though not meant to be interpreted literally, Kounellis’ materials are evocative – coal suggesting fire and the wooden sheds standing in for fuel while looking like makeshift coffins.  Whether it’s the death of the industrial past hinted at by the old railway sheds or more contemporary losses, this somber installation acts as a reminder to pause and reflect.  (On view through Dec 23rd).

Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, iron panels, bent metal, metal hooks; iron panels, rope, metal hooks; antique wardrobes, coal, overall dimensions variable, 2016.

Gladys Nilsson, Wheee at Garth Greenan

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Twenty-six vividly colored new watercolors by Gladys Nilsson lining the walls of Garth Greenan Gallery are an intense dose of visual pleasure and irreverent fun.  In this piece titled ‘Wheee,’ Nilsson tones down her focus on the body parts we tend to keep private (with the exception of a prominent derrière), instead featuring a large figure in jester-like clothes who dangles from a fleshy-pink tree branch. From on high, the individual above makes eye contact with a similarly boneless-looking character below, each as curious about each other as they are to us.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 17th).

Wheee, watercolor, gouache, and pencil on paper, 30 x 22 ¾ inches, 2021.

Ivan Navarro at Templon Gallery

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It’s easy to name a few stars, at least of the human variety.  But start thinking beyond our solar system and it gets tougher to come up with household names for more distant celestial bodies.  The stars – Almaz, Menkalinen, Hoedus I and others noted on this lightbox by Ivan Navarro at Templon Gallery’s recently opened New York space – are officially named by a working group of the International Astronomical Union in Paris.  Navarro, known for neon sculptures that comment on political power and social issues questions who has the right to mark territory with names or by other means.  Swirls of painted color evoke distant nebula along with the stars, emphasizing the unknown nature of distant phenomenon.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Ivan Navarro, Nebula X (Auriga), LED, aluminum, wooden box, paint, regular mirror, one way mirror, and electric energy, 2022.

Anya Kielar in ‘Somatic Markings’ at Kasmin Gallery

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How do individuals, particularly women, live up to the roles society offers them and how do they shape those identities? Fluidity between these two positions is at the heart of Kasmin Gallery’s new group show Somatic Markings, a selection of work by seven artists whose unconventional depictions of the human body invite rejection of binaries.  Here, Anya Kielar’s shadow box sculpture ‘The Actress’ features a figure soliloquizing before a disembodied eye.  Inspired by Greek and Roman relief painting and shallow medieval carving among other sources, the title figure is cramped by her surroundings and depicted in such willowy forms that she appears infinitely capable of adaptation and change. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 23rd).

Anya Kielar, The Actress, paint, linen fabric, foam, aqua resin, wood and plexiglass, 40 ¼ x 30 ½ x 8 inches, 2020.

Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens at Jane Lombard Gallery

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From toddler fight clubs to flat earth theories, colorful sculptures by Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens at Jane Lombard Gallery symbolize rumors and conspiracies of the 21st century with seriousness tempered by humor.  The purple head in the foreground of this installation view represents the notion that climate activist Greta Thunberg is actually an actor in thrall to nefarious powers.  Other pieces suggest that the US government can control the weather or that patterns of holes in ripped jeans have been used to communicate secret messages. Lighthearted in appearance but representing harmful misunderstandings, the installation emphasizes the absurdity and ubiquity of widespread falsehoods.  (On view in Tribeca through Dec 17th).

Richard Ibghy & Marilou Lemmens, installation view of ‘Alternative Facts of the 21st Century,’ at Jane Lombard Gallery, Nov 2022.

Pamela Jorden, Noisetone at Klaus von Nichtssagend

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Two strikingly different semi-spherical paintings appear to join together to provocative effect at the center of ‘Noisetone,’ one of Pamela Jorden’s new abstractions at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery in Tribeca.  Both created from washes of paint and featuring a curving arch at the top like a dip in a wave or a celestial sphere, the palettes of each half create divergent moods that suggest different light conditions and landscapes.  Purple and pink washes of color on the left uplift an otherwise bleak scene and off-set an overpoweringly rich combination of blue, green, red and yellow to the right.  (On view through Dec 10th).

Pamela Jorden, Noisetone, oil and acrylic and linen, 80 inch diameter, 2022.

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Midnight Voices #2 at Nicelle Beauchene

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At just smaller than 30 x 23 inches, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’ new lithographs in the entry space of Nicelle Beauchene Gallery are smaller than the artist’s vibrant, pattern-driven paintings in the main space, but more intense and rewarding.  Powered by the motion of the curving, androgynous bodies that contort to fit into the picture’s confined space, each print conveys the energy and rhythms of dance.  (On view in Tribeca through Nov 23rd).

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Midnight Voices #2, two-color lithograph on paper, 29 7/8 x 22 3/8 inches, 2022.

Mary Ellen Bartley at Yancey Richardson Gallery

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Mary Ellen Bartley’s photographs are not about the objects she pictures; blue-toned hardcover books are shot in ways that challenge spatial perception, for example, while a stack of paperbacks with multi-colored edges becomes a geometric abstraction.  These transformations of ordinary objects into unique and thought-provoking arrangements of color and form connect Bartley with work by 20th century Italian artist Giorgio Morandi, who famously spent decades painting images of vessels as he explored the possibilities of representation.  Begun during a residency at the Casa Morandi in Bologna and interrupted by the onset of the pandemic, Bartley’s new work at Yancey Richardson Gallery features books from Morandi’s library.  Like Morandi, Bartley delays our reading of each picture’s components, sometimes by obscuring its components in a way that excites interest in the contents of the volumes and the possibilities of perception.

Mary Ellen Bartley, Large White Bottle and Shadow, archival pigment print, ed of 7, 28 x 37 inches, 2022.

Fiona Rae at Miles McEnery Gallery

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Typically, Fiona Rae’s ambiguous painted forms suggest real-world objects but elude identification.  Further complicating the work, both gestural and geometric abstraction appear on the same canvas, a surprising combination geared to upend our expectations.  Her latest work at Miles McEnery Gallery distills these artistic strategies into paintings featuring distinctly formed clusters of organic and geometric shapes set against a spare white background.  Titles reveal that each grouping is a word from a phrase taken from a written source, from pop music to Shakespeare.  This airy assemblage reads, ‘I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe,’ a line from the movie Bladerunner expounding on futuristic technological marvels.  (On view in Chelsea through Nov 26th).

Fiona Rae, I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe, oil and acrylic on linen, 60 x 50 inches, 2022.