Jacquelyn Strycker in Group Show at Print Center New York

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Jacquelyn Strycker uses the risograph mechanical copying/printing process to create abstractions that look like sewn textiles, a fruitful juxtaposition of the machine made and handmade that makes her work a standout at the opening of Print Center New York’s engaging new group show of work by emerging artists.  This piece’s profusion of pattern came from Strycker’s decision to embrace complexity.  Sometimes printed on handmade and Japanese papers or, in this piece titled ‘Dream House,’ made using cotton stuffed with Poly-fil, the resulting forms resemble a curious mix of quilt, garment and architecture.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 25th).

Jacquelyn Strycker, Dream House, sewn risograph on cotton stuffed with Poly-fil, 2023.

Quentin James McCaffrey at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

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Never much more than a foot high, Quentin James McCaffrey’s small paintings at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery encourage viewers to draw close and peer into imagined domestic interiors that act as portals into other times and places. Here, ‘Mirror with a View’ presents us with a mirror (or is it a painting of a mirror’s reflection?) that reflects not us but a view of a landscape through a door, a painting of clouds on the domed ceiling and four paintings that lead the eye into other landscapes.  Though McCaffrey offers a profusion of exits via paintings, ceiling and door, the diminutive size of each limits our fantasy escape, instead underscoring the tantalizing possibilities of illusion.  (On view through July 7th).

Quentin James McCaffrey, Mirror with View, oil on canvas over wood panel, 16 x 13 x 1 ½ inches, 2023.

Kristen Sanders at Asya Geisberg Gallery

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At what point in human development did we become self-aware? This question absorbs Kristen Sanders in new paintings featuring mask-like faces in pre-historic natural environments at Asya Geisberg Gallery in Chelsea.  Interested both in the initial development of human consciousness and its current potential for manifestation via AI, Sanders visages look as if they’ve been peeled from contemporary mannequins and abandoned in ancient shell-strewn, rocky coastal scenes.  In this haunting image of a floating head titled ‘Middle Paleo,’ long lines across the face could reference the first deliberate marks made in sand by protohumans (a Sanders preoccupation), drips of a strange liquid or slash marks.  The ambiguity is provocative, highlighting the figure’s artificiality and strangeness and acknowledging the difficulty of reconciling such vastly distant eras of human development.  (On view in Chelsea through July 8th).

Kristen Sanders, Middle Paleo, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 inches, 2022.

Sam Falls Ceramics at 303 Gallery

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Known for making paintings by leaving canvases outside to weather under careful arrangements of plants and scattered, colorful pigments, Sam Falls’ ceramics at 303 Gallery offer a more direct appreciation of the flora he depicts.  While the canvas works feature silhouettes of plants (created as the natural material blocks the pigments from reaching the canvas), the ceramics include plant life which has been rolled into the clay and burnt out in the kiln.  Falls then applies glazes which flow and fade to suggest memories of the original natural material.  At the center of this piece is a photo taken on instant film (a technology that, like its subject, enjoyed a limited lifespan) of flowers in Central Park, which he returned to and harvested once dead to include in the ceramic form.  (On view in Chelsea through July 28th).

Sam Falls, The Pool, Central Park, NYC, Fujifilm FP-100C45 instant film, glazed ceramic and glass, 14 3/8 x 13 ¼ x 2 1/8 inches, 2023.

Chryssa at the Dia Foundation

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When she arrived in New York from Athens, young Greek artist Chryssa was so taken by Times Square that she was inspired to create assemblages from neon and signage that capture the color and excitement of street life.  Stocked with loans from MoMA, the Walker Art Center and other major museums, the artist’s first show in the US since the 80s, now at the Dia Foundation in Chelsea, makes a strong case for her importance to New York’s downtown art scene in the 60s and 70s. Resembling a combination of street signs and printing plates for mass publication, Chryssa’s Americanoom suggests or actually includes words (‘zoom,’ ‘run,’ ‘new,’ and ‘café’) that give voice to a bustling city. (On view through July 23rd).

Chryssa, Americanoom, aluminum, steel, stainless steel and neon, 1963.

Matthew Day Jackson at Pace Gallery

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You’ve never seen Yellowstone National Park the way Matthew Day Jackson pictures it in otherworldly new hybrid collages of laser cut metal, wood and plastic at Pace Gallery.  Though the title of this piece, ‘Geyser (after Moran),’ alludes to Thomas Moran’s 19th century watercolor paintings of an erupting spout, Jackson’s version adds multiple, huge planets in the background while emphasizing the desolation of the landscape – even the trees lean away from the explosive force of a rigid plume of escaping water and steam.  Gallery visitors will notice an earthy smell in the air – the artist commissioned ArtOlifaction Lab to create an olfactory experience, asking the scent-makers to imagine that they were aliens who returned home to recreate the sights and smells of the planet.  Through the absence of humans, nebula-like swirls in the sky and toxic colors on land, Jackson posits a post-apocalyptic sci-fi scenario that both entrances and horrifies.  (On view through July 1st in Chelsea).

Matthew Day Jackson, Geyser (after Moran), wood, acrylic paint, urethane plastic, fiberglass, UV pigment, lead, stainless steel frame, 81 ¼ x 57 ¼ x 2 inches, 2023.

Alison Elizabeth Taylor Marquetry at James Cohan

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Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s intricately crafted, marquetry hybrid images of friends and family at James Cohan Gallery picture an array of pleasures that include a tropical hotel bar, a young woman playing guitar on the front steps of a house and friends enjoying time together.  The first piece in the show – an image of a cactus created by collaging together thin pieces of wood veneer and other materials and titled ‘Decision Fatigue’ – introduces her technique and points to the unending possibilities for choosing and creating images out of the variety of materials at her disposal, which include not only wood but photographed and textured material as well as paint.  In what feels like Taylor’s most integrated assemblages of materials to date, the artist’s skill is foremost on display (in the tones of Javier and Will’s faces and hair in this image, for example), and the biggest pleasure is not the subject matter but the artist’s skill in rendering it.  (On view in Tribeca through June 24th).

Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Javier and Will in CDMX, marquetry hybrid, 56 x 47 ¾ inches, 2022.

Bob Thompson at 52 Walker and Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

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Bob Thompson’s 1965 painting ‘The Swing’ at 52 Walker resembles Jean-Honore Fragonard’s famous 18th century rendering of a finely dressed young woman on a swing and her lover gazing up at her from below but radically shifts the focus and intent.  In Thompson’s characteristic style, the figures are monochromatic and nude, the eroticism of the female character emphasized by the outline of a breast and the complicity of the two men suggested by their common red color.  The man who controls the swing is no longer hidden by foliage, instead playing a clearer role in the flirtation going on between the other two characters. Likewise, Fragonard’s barely noticeable lake in the background turns into a waterfall, two pink putti are locked in a more ambiguous embrace and the swing’s rope more clearly and menacingly encircles the branches above.  In exhibitions of work from Thompson’s brief career (he died just shy of his 29th birthday in 1966) at 52 Walker and at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, the artist delves into European art history, clarifying some elements of iconic works and making others ambiguous to provocative effect. (On view in Tribeca at 52 Walker through July 8th and in Chelsea at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery through July 7th).

Bob Thompson, The Swing, oil on canvas, 49 x 36 inches, 1965.

Ruby Rumie Installation at Nohra Haime

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Inspired by a mid-19th century geographical survey that attempted to catalogue the inhabitants, economies and landscapes of Colombia, Cartagena-based artist Ruby Rumie’s latest photography series at Nohra Haime Gallery in Chelsea celebrates the diversity and beauty of her fellow citizens.  Crowned by peppers or wreathed in abundant clusters of fruit, project participants pose with their favorite foods, suggesting that our personal likes and preferences are an aspect of both individual and shared identity.  (On view through July 16th).

Ruby Rumie, installation view of ‘Us, 172 Years Later’ at Nohra Haime Gallery, Chelsea, June ’23.

‘Avedon 100’ at Gagosian Gallery

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Enter Gagosian Gallery and you’ll immediately see Marilyn Monroe striking flirtatious poses in 1957, to the right is a joyous full-length portrait of Tina Turner and further back, a cast of characters from Andy Warhol’s Factory exudes downtown chic, even in the nude.  The gallery’s museum-quality celebration of iconic photographer Richard Avedon’s 100 birthday includes some of the most recognized subjects and photographs of the 2nd half of the 20th century, a time when Avedon shot for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and the New Yorker while also completing his own projects. The beautifully staged exhibition offers sightlines that take visitors from oil field workers in Oklahoma to a fashion shoot narrative (right and left in this image) to Dovima, posing with elephants in a Paris circus in 1955. (On view through July 7th).

Richard Avedon, installation view of ‘Avedon 100’ at Gagosian Gallery, May 2022.

Azita Moradkhani at Jane Lombard Gallery

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A lacy garment opens to reveal an aerial view of marchers protesting for women’s rights in ‘Women of Revolution,’ a beautifully detailed colored pencil on paper drawing in Azita Moradkhani’s inspiring show at Jane Lombard Gallery.  Fueled by the Woman Life Freedom movement and her own long consideration of impositions on women’s bodies in her home country of Iran, Moradkhani’s drawings combine photojournalistic images of protest with undergarments that symbolize close and personal concerns.  (On view in Tribeca through June 10th).

Azita Moradkhani, (detail) Women of Revolution, colored pencil on paper, 40 x 26.23 inches, 2023.
Azita Moradkhani, Women of Revolution, colored pencil on paper, 40 x 26.23 inches, 2023.

Fred Eversley at David Kordansky Gallery

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After a serious car crash in the mid-60s prompted a career shift from aerospace engineering to fine art, West coast Light and Space artist Fred Eversley applied his knowledge of materials to the creation of tinted cast sculptures like those now on view at David Kordansky Gallery in Chelsea.  As a kid in his father’s basement lab, Eversley recreated Galileo’s experiments in making parabolic shapes; as an artist, he describes his work as reflecting forms of energy and light.  Eminently enjoyable, Eversley explains that his sculptures are “made for spectators to amuse themselves by discovering all of the infinite combinations of internal reflections, refractions, color changes and other optical phenomena that one can perceive within an individual piece of sculpture.”  (On view through June 10th).

Fred Eversley, installation view of ‘Cylindrical Lenses’ at David Kordansky Gallery, May 2023.

Bisa Butler at Deitch Projects

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A fabulously patterned rendition of Harriet Tubman’s portrait at the entrance to Bisa Butler’s show at Deitch Projects announces Butler’s supremely enjoyable textile practice and celebration of the achievements of Black Americans.  Basing her artworks on photographs by creatives including Gordon Parks and Jamel Shabazz, Butler lovingly embellishes her subjects using an array of rich materials, including cotton, silk, wool, velvet, and lace.  This portrait of Ahmir Questlove Thompson (original photo by Daniel Dorsa) incorporates glass beads, adding dimension and reflecting light to suggest the musical artist’s visionary quality.  (On view through June 30th).

Bisa Butler, The Passion of Questlove, from a photograph of Ahmir Questlove Thompson by Daniel Dorsa, cotton, silk, wool, velvet, lace, jet glass beads and vinyl quilted and appliqued, 36 x 23 inches, 2023.
Bisa Butler, (detail) The Passion of Questlove, from a photograph of Ahmir Questlove Thompson by Daniel Dorsa, cotton, silk, wool, velvet, lace, jet glass beads and vinyl quilted and appliqued, 36 x 23 inches, 2023.