Milano Chow at Chapter NY

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In the mid to late 19th century, property developers in Tribeca could style their buildings by selecting decorative elements from catalogues of cast-iron components.  Contemporary artist Milano Chow’s drawings of fictional building facades – made precise with the aid of a drafting tool – at Tribeca’s Chapter NY recall such foundry publications as well as architectural elevations, dollhouses, and images from art and architecture history books.  In contrast to practical illustrations, however, Chow adds intriguing details – partly drawn curtains, figures peeping out from windows and dramatically lit shop windows – to each scene.  Here, a figure standing recessed in a dramatically columned house exudes mystery, as if appearing in the opening scene of a detective story.  (On view in Tribeca through May 4th).

Milano Chow, Entrance with Statues, graphite, ink and photo transfer on paper, 15 5/8 x 10 ½ inches, 2024.
Milano Chow, (detail) Entrance with Statues, graphite, ink and photo transfer on paper, 15 5/8 x 10 ½ inches, 2024.

Philip Guston at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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In the late 60s, abstract artist Philip Guston stopped painting, then restarted his practice by building a new, figurative artistic vocabulary.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s newly installed mezzanine gallery features solitary painted objects – a lightbulb, a shoe – on small canvases that demonstrate how the artist weighed up the meaning and import of everyday objects that he would later repeat. This untitled painting shows a partial view of the artist himself, apparently painted over and covering another image. Wide-eyed and looking straight at the viewer, Guston is only partially visible, but his wary stare speaks volumes about his desire to communicate.  (On view on the Upper East Side in the Met’s ‘Philip Guston: The Panel Paintings, 1968-72 which includes work from Musa Guston Mayer’s promised gift.)

Philip Guston, Untitled, acrylic on panel, 1968.

Barbara Takenaga, Red Turnout at DC Moore Gallery

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Abstract painter Barbara Takenaga stakes out new territory in recent works at DC Moore Gallery in Chelsea, introducing compositions dominated by curvy organic shapes (recalling bodies by Gladys Nilsson) and bordered by bright red contour lines.  The 12 foot long ‘Two for Bontecou’ features a fragmented circular object with a void at center a la sculptor Lee Bontecou, and appears to combine deliberately rendered forms with Takenaga’s signature change-driven mark-making.  Here, in ‘Red Turnout,’ a multi-colored form snakes up from below while a signature explosion of white marks covers the canvas, contributing to this painting’s dynamic impact.  (On view through April 27th in Chelsea).

Barbara Takenaga, Red Turnout, acrylic on linen, 70 x 60 inches, 2024.

Cal Lane at C24 Gallery

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Cal Lane’s steel sculptures of lacy underwear – incongruous in their industrial material vs subject matter – are real attention grabbers but take a back seat to altered found materials in the artist’s mini-retrospective at C24 Gallery in Chelsea.  Though they appear light and whimsical, these shovels from 2016 recall steel sculptural panels commissioned by the MTA for Knickerbocker Ave station which were inspired by the area’s architecture.  The wheelbarrow is one of the show’s best pieces for pushing the material, achieving a surprising delicacy via intricate patterning.  (On view through May 10th).

Cal Lane, Untitled (Wheel Barrow), plasma cut wheel barrow, 55.5 x 25.5 x 6 inches, 2007 and 3 x Untitled (Shovel), plasma cut steel and wood, 2016.

Sarah Crowner at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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Barbara Hepworth’s pierced organic abstractions, Henry Moore’s curvilinear reclining figures and the undulating forms of Chinese scholar stones come to mind when viewing Sarah Crowner’s attractive new bronze sculptures at Luhring Augustine Gallery’s Tribeca space.  Reflecting Crowner’s vibrant paintings, which have fittingly vivid titles like ‘Red Oranges Over Orange with Curve,’ or ‘Violets Over Reds,’ the sculptures are enhanced by and enhance their environment.  (On view through May 4th).

Sarah Crowner, installation view of ‘Hot Light, Hard Light,’ at Luhring Augustine Gallery, Tribeca, March 2024.

Ian Mwesiga at FLAG Art Foundation

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Forest mist and a pool’s smooth surface mirror each other in color and tranquility in Ian Mwesiga’s intriguing painting ‘Man and His Shadow’ at the FLAG Art Foundation, but the scene isn’t as peaceful as it first appears.  The work is a standout in the Kampala-based artist’s first New York solo show and one of several that feature pools of water as troubled places.  In one painting, a woman glides underwater while a friend acts as lookout under a ‘no swimming’ sign; in another piece, a corporate logo dominates the scene.  Here, the water looks least inviting for a dip, as fallen leaves indicate a change of season that might bring a chill to the air.  Standing between two cracked columns that suggest ruins and leaning on a more solid-looking, modern wall, a young man in swim trunks peels off a sock.  Apparently the sole agent who can decide how this scenario moves forward, viewers look to him, anticipating what will happen next.  (On view in Chelsea through May 4th).

Ian Mwesiga, Man and His Shadow, oil on canvas, 70 7/8 x 59 inches, 2023.

Mary Carlson at Kerry Schuss Gallery

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Modeled after El Greco’s ‘The Penitent Mary Magdalene,’ Mary Carlson’s small-scale sculpture of one of Christ’s most devoted followers is both delicate in her tiny features and monumental in her seated, robed body. Now on view at Kerry Schuss Gallery, displayed on wall-mounted wooden shelves amid scrolling copper piping, Carlson’s new sculptures evoke the figures and decorative designs on the pages of medieval manuscripts.  Characterized by world-weariness vs El Greco’s doe-eyed young woman, Carlson’s saint is pictured in the process of receiving a revelation and puts a hand to her bare chest.  Less erotic than El Greco’s version, Carlson’s Mary is a substantial woman engaged with the life of the mind and spirit.  (On view in Tribeca through April 27th).

Mary Carlson, Mary Magdalene (after El Greco), glazed porcelain, wood, copper, 29 x 36 x 8.75 inches, 2024.
Mary Carlson, Mary Magdalene (after El Greco), glazed porcelain, wood, copper, 29 x 36 x 8.75 inches, 2024.

Dabin Ahn at 1969 Gallery

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Inspired by traditional Korean ceramics, Chicago-based artist Dabin Ahn’s new paintings at 1969 Gallery combine art historical references with a feeling of wonder and whimsy.  Painted like an apparition, the top section of this vessel hovers in lighter tones above the more solid-looking segment below.  Perhaps once part of the decoration, the birds’ white wings continue the contour of the vase while they appear to cavort in mid-air.  Materializing as if from memory or history, the vase may be broken, but its magical quality remains.  (On view in Tribeca through April 20th).

Dabin Ahn, Phantom, 18h x 17w inches, oil on linen, 2024.

Maria Calandra at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery

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Red-orange skies appear to be ablaze in Maria Calandra’s landscape painting of Weir Island in Maine while her blue skies over Como, Italy are a tranquil color but feature roiling clouds.  Apocalyptic in their color and Mannerist in their elongated forms, Calandra’s paintings at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery are hallucinogenic visions that offer visual pleasure via their dynamic fluidity.  Here, Mont Sainte-Victoire, made famous by Paul Cezanne’s many images of the mountain near Aix-en-Provence, rises above a field of flowers and greenery that appears to be flowing up the mountain.  (On view in Chelsea through April 13th.)

Maria Calandra, Mont Sainte-Victoire, acrylic on linen, 2023.

Oliver Beer at Almine Rech Gallery

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Inspired by 17th century German scholar Athanasius Kircher’s cat organ, which elicited sounds made by cats, British artist Oliver Beer created ‘Cat Orchestra,’ a musical instrument crafted from 37 found objects in the form of hollow cat vessels.  Now on view at Almine Rech Gallery’s Tribeca space, the piece’s sound is activated by a keyboard that turns on microphones in each vessel to produce resonances that together form an ethereal musical performance.   Motivated to find music where it’s least expected, Beer awakens viewers to possibilities everywhere.  (On view through April 27th).

Oliver Beer, installation view of Cat Orchestra, 37 hollow cat vessels and sculptures, plinths, microphones, speakers, audio equipment, dimensions variable, 2024.

Francesca Woodman at Gagosian Gallery

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Known for small-scale black and white photographs that focus on her own body in rooms that look uninhabited and neglected, Francesca Woodman has influenced generations of photographers attracted by the ethereal and enigmatic quality of her work and its psychological charge.  In a show of the artist’s photographs from 1975 – 1980 at Gagosian Gallery’s 24th Street Chelsea location, the gallery walls are lined with intimate images, interrupted by the monumental ‘Blueprint for a Temple (II),’ featuring contemporary women as caryatids on an ancient Greek temple.  Notes and additional shots of the Greek key pattern in New York rental apartment bathrooms are positioned around the edge of the partial temple, connecting an ancient sacred space with the modern bathroom, two places Woodman identified as, ‘offering a note of calm and peacefulness.’  (On view through April 27th).

Francesca Woodman, installation view including Blueprint for a Temple (II), 1980. March 2024.

Kaloki Nyamai at James Cohan Gallery

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Nairobi-based artist Kaloki Nyamai’s New York solo debut at James Cohan Gallery introduces an artist who uses acrylic paint, stitching and photo transfer to create complex surfaces that suggest complicated histories.  This painting’s title, ‘The one who stole my heart,’ features a figure leaning back into a man whose outward-looking eyes connect with our gaze.  In contrast to the couple’s intimate, relaxed moment, partially visible figures in the background raise their arms in what could be celebration or protest.  Elsewhere, photo transfers contrast happy moments of communal activity with news articles about political unrest as Nyamai juxtaposes the lives of individuals with larger social happenings.  (On view through May 4th).

Kaloki Nyamai, Ula wosiee ngoo yakwa II (The one who stole my heart), mixed media, acrylic, collage stitching on canvas, 2024.
Kaloki Nyamai, (detail) Ula wosiee ngoo yakwa II (The one who stole my heart), mixed media, acrylic, collage stitching on canvas, 2024.

Zaria Forman at Winston Wachter

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Zaria Forman’s monumental polar landscapes, rendered in intricate detail in pastel, have afforded her national recognition and the chance to work with NASA as an artist.  In her latest solo show at Winston Wachter Gallery in Chelsea, Forman continues to capture the beauty of ice in renderings of an Icelandic glacial lagoon.  Fragments of ice washed ashore and resting on black volcanic sand look like jewels, while bubbles trapped in ice form a dynamic, abstract composition.  Forman’s focus is on the specifics of landscape vs the climate changes impacting it, and her work offers a moment to appreciate the sublime as it presently exists.  (On view in Chelsea through March 30th in SoHo).

Zaria Forman, Fellsfjara, Iceland, No. 5, April 22nd, 2022, soft pastel on paper, 40 x 51 1/8 inches, 2023.
Zaria Forman, (detail) Fellsfjara, Iceland, No. 5, April 22nd, 2022, soft pastel on paper, 40 x 51 1/8 inches, 2023.