Yinka Shonibare, Bronze Sculpture at James Cohan

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Known for sculpture and 2-D work that incorporates textiles originally inspired by Dutch wax printed fabrics, British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare gives new life to his signature material in pieces that resemble flying cloth at James Cohan Gallery.  Shonibare has explained that his new bronzes came from thinking about the wind that filled the sails of ships involved in transatlantic trade and forced migration in past centuries.  Now, the dynamic pieces resemble dancing forms as they elegantly and energetically swirl on their pedestals in the gallery.  (On view in Tribeca through Dec 22nd).

Yinka Shonibare, Abstract Bronze I, bronze sculpture, hand-painted with Dutch wax pattern, 78 ¾ x 57 ¾ x 49 ¾ in, 2023.

Katherine Bradford, In the Lake at Canada New York

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New York painter Katherine Bradford’s swimmers – a recurring subject – include ephemeral, washy suggestions of submerged figures and bolder, mostly visible individuals standing still in the water.  New work at Canada in Tribeca favors more dominant figures, filling the space of the canvas with their solid forms and often expressionless faces.  ‘In the Lake,’ features individuals who float, walk or stand in dark water perhaps lit by the moon, each in their own space; with their arms outstretched, several figures appear to be relaxing while an orange-topped figure waits and a man starts to exit the scene to the right.  Bradford excels at complex realities, as past shows suggest – e.g. the terror and pleasure of waves in 2016 or the comforting and confining closeness of mothers and children in 2021.  Here, mostly placid faces suggest tranquility but closeness and individual isolation among the swimmers leaves room to wonder.  (On view through Dec 22nd).

Katherine Bradford, In the Lake, acrylic on canvas, diptych: 80 x 136 inches, 2023.

Kayode Ojo at 52 Walker

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“If you look at the work, it is actually posing for you,’ explained New York artist Kayode Ojo in a past video describing his elegantly spare sculptural installations, now on view at 52 Walker in Tribeca.  Having studied photography before becoming known for in-the-round artworks, Ojo now creates arrangements of fast-fashion clothing, accessories and other objects sourced via on-line shopping that elicit admiration and desire.  By titling each artwork with the text originally used to sell each it, Ojo centers his practice squarely in conversations about consumption while transporting each piece into the realm of luxury art object.  (On view in Tribeca through Jan 6th).

Kayode Ojo, Comfort, New Orleans 4-Light Clear Unique/Statement Geometric Chandelier with Crystal Accents, 84 x 72 x 16 inches, 2023.

Shilpa Gupta at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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‘Uncontrollable Desirrs,’ ‘Between Places’ and ‘Until they Dsiappear’ are among the suggestive phrases that appear in Shilpa Gupta’s ‘StillTheyKnowNotWhatIDream’ flapboard sculpture at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery.  The sound of the board’s moving panels creates a sense of dynamism and anticipation as the text constantly changes, while the words themselves conjure unsettled feelings compounded by Gupta’s use of alternative spellings of select words.  In the show’s other works, Gupta speaks the works of jailed poets into bottles, capping them and arranging them in an ‘reimagined library’ and presents a sound installation of protest songs sung globally, a collective tribute to the power of words and the need to protect freedom of speech. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 16th).

StillTheyKnowNotWhatIDream, motion flapboard, 35 min loop, 93 ½ x 5 x 9 ½ inches, 2021.

Martyn Cross at Marianne Boesky Gallery

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Titled ‘All Shall Be Well,’ after a record of visions experienced by a medieval English religious recluse, British painter Martyn Cross’ show of mystical new paintings at Marianne Boesky Gallery emphasizes the connectedness of humans and nature.  Here, in ‘You and I Are Earth,’ the link is literal, with a seascape manifesting in human form; in other paintings, a root system morphs into an old man and a giant eye appears in the clouds.  Fresh from a residency on England’s fossil-rich southern coast, a UNESCO World Heritage site known as the ‘Jurassic Coast,’ Cross merely scratches the surface of deep time but prompts viewers to recenter their thinking about our relationship with the earth. (On view through Dec 22ndin Chelsea).

Martyn Cross, You and I Are Earth, oil on canvas, 86 ¾ x 63 inches, 2023.

Ghada Amer, A Woman’s Voice at Marianne Boesky

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Inspired by Egyptian traditions of decoration on tents used for weddings or feasts, Egyptian-American artist Ghada Amer substitutes contemporary text for Islamic or calligraphic imagery in new work at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea.  Using applique, in which fabric is sewn onto other fabric, Amer incorporates feminist phrases and text into designs resembling QR codes.  Those these designs don’t scan, they open up histories of struggle for women’s rights via texts by late Egyptian feminist and activist Nawal El Saadawi or late Australian women’s liberation activist Joyce Stevens.  Here, the writing reads, ‘A woman’s voice is revolution.” (On view in Chelsea at Marianne Boesky Gallery through Dec 22nd.  Ghada Amer’s bronze series ‘Paravent Girls’ is on view at Tina Kim Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 9th).

Ghada Amer, A WOMAN’S VOICE,’ “A woman’s voice is revolution,” cotton applique on canvas, 82 ½ x 83 ½ inches, 2023.

Bo Bartlett at Miles McEnery Gallery

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Underexposed to art as a kid and inspired by American painters like Andrew Wyeth and Norman Rockwell, Bo Bartlett has continued in a vein of realism that presents tantalizing, slightly surreal narratives.  In ‘La Corrida’ or ‘The Bullfight,’ a highlight of Bartlett’s current solo show at Miles McEnery Gallery in Chelsea, the toreador has fallen and the bull eyes the open gate from which the artist has perhaps dashed, leaving behind his jacket and materials.  Flecked with blood, the bull has been provoked and further disaster is coming; the absence of people leaves viewers to ponder the question of culpability.  (On view through Dec 9th).

Bo Bartlett, La Corrida, oil on linen, 88 x 120 inches, 2023.

Candice Lin at Canal Projects

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Candice Lin’s fantastical tale of a lithium factory worker reincarnated as a sex demon draws viewers in through an abundance of media including paintings on textile, adapted Korean fermentation vessels, video and workstations featuring ceramic computers, clocks and more in a bizarre but masterful exhibition at Canal Projects.  The installation – coproduced and commissioned by the 14th Gwangju Biennial and Canal Projects – is accompanied by a text detailing the story of a young woman who attempted to steal lithium to make a new life for herself and her lover.  Apparently killed in the effort, she finds herself in the body of a demon – inspired by spirits in Japanese, Chinese and Malaysian lore who are attracted to bodily fluids and functions – who makes her way back to the human realm to haunt the lithium factory and its workers.  Dehumanized by factory work performed to service our reliance on lithium, Lin’s worker ceases to be human, an outcome that serves as a warning to viewers.  (On through on Canal Street through Dec 16th).

Candice Lin, installation view of Lithium Sex Demons in the Factory, Canal Projects, Sept – Dec 2023.

Louis Fratino at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

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Surprisingly, Louis Fratino’s still lives can be the most dynamic of his works – a sink full of dishes or an arrangement of fish in a market stall appear as a jumble of curving or stacked forms in constant motion.  In ‘Latteria,’ from Fratino’s current show at Sikkema Jenkins and Co., the artist creates an intriguing balance of action and repose as he combines the bustle of the figures in the café, tables that tilt and floor tiles that rear up with the stillness of the central figure who sits with a quiet and pensive look.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 9th).

Louis Fratino, Latteria, oil on canvas, 47 x 42 inches, 2023.

Hilary Harkness at PPOW Gallery

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In the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s audio guide to its famous 1866 painting ‘Prisoners from the Front’ by Winslow Homer, the Union general Francis Channing Barlow is described as a ‘restrained Northern Puritan’ type vs the ‘dashing and impulsive’ Southerner at center. In Hilary Harkness’ version of the painting, seen here and now on view at PPOW Gallery, Barlow is nothing of the sort.  In a series of paintings that Harkness created over a four-year period from 2019 to 2023, she reimagines Barlow as a trans man, in love with Charles, the Black Union solider pictured here (a major alteration from the original), who fights with such single-minded fervor for the Union that he pauses only briefly (and secretly) during battle to give birth to Charles’ child.  Told through meticulously detailed paintings that picture Charles’ heroics while documenting the racial injustices and oppression of Confederate culture, Harkness’ narrative is both absorbing and unforgettable.  (On view through Nov 11th in Tribeca).

Hilary Harkness, Prisoners from the Front (1866), commissioned by Arabella Freeman, oil on panel, 12 x 19 inches, 2019.

Willie Stewart at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

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Warhol’s poppies, Roy Lichtenstein’s 1964 painting ‘Gullscape’ and a urinal recalling Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ all make an appearance in Willie Stewart’s new 3-D, wall-mounted sculpture now on view at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, signaling the artist’s intent to make something new from modern art samplings. Set upon a support that resembles a shelf or mantelpiece, Stewart’s Springer Spaniel represents the idea of the loyal family pet; paired with Warhol’s poppies, flowers associated with remembrance, the piece turns nostalgic and wistful.  (On view through Nov 25th).

Willie Stewart, Dog (Springer Spaniel), colored pencil with ink, gouache, and graphite on cotton board, polychrome wood and acrylic on canvas over artist-made panels, 60 h x 69 w x 5.5 d inches, 2023.

Sui Park at Sapar Contemporary

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Water worn rocks, amoebas, cells, sea creatures and more come to mind in Sui Park’s exhibition of colorful abstract sculpture at Sapar Contemporary in Tribeca.  Crafting her work from looped cable ties and monofilaments, Park turns mass-produced plastic materials into artworks that, ironically, foster appreciation of the natural world. This installation’s handsome black background color is somewhat misleading; titled ‘Sprinkles,’ Park has explained that she was inspired by dessert sprinkles.  (On view through Nov 27th.)

Sui Park, Sprinkles, cable ties, hand-dyed cable ties, variable size, 2023.

Rebecca Morris at Bortolami Gallery

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In a recent interview, Rebecca Morris explained that color is the content of her painting.  On view through Saturday at Bortolami Gallery in Tribeca, Morris’ light pink, blue and green abstractions are easy on the eye, even when accented by attention-grabbing metallic colors.  All titled just with the date of their making, it’s up to the viewer to puzzle out how each artistic decision – the checkerboard pattern, the shape of each zone of color and the variety of pink tonal contrasts in Untitled (#04-23), for example – creates meaning and mood.  In this painting, Morris considers cultural values placed on color saying, “Gold makes pink important…Often pink is seen as pretty, and pretty gets devalued.”  In this opulent, complex and intellectually engaging painting, pink steals the show.  (On view through Nov 4th).

Rebecca Morris, Untitled (#12-23), oil and spray paint on canvas, 2023.

Scherezade Garcia at Praxis Gallery

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Scherezade Garcia’s baroque paintings at Praxis Gallery of water-borne women are part of the ‘liquid turn’ or ‘blue humanities,’ explains Lesley A. Wolff in a gallery handout, a field of study that finds inspiration in the fluidity and transformative qualities of the sea. Characterized by their ‘cinnamon skin,’ which Garcia creates by mixing primary and secondary colors, and inspired by the artist’s female relatives, figures positioned directly in the water are a metaphor for ‘layered, fluid, transformative’ identities.  Surrounded by lush flower swags, ornate scrolling forms, decorative lace and gold – from decorative tiles at the top to a duck-shaped life preserver – each character’s ornate environment speaks to a complex, self-inventing identity. (On view through Nov 4th).

Scherezade Garcia, Harvest of the Sea, acrylic, pigment, charcoal, ink on linen, 84 x 180 inches, 2023.