Tag: 125 newbury

Lynda Benglis at 125 Newbury

Octogenarian artist and Process Art icon Lynda Benglis continues to explore organic abstraction in lively new works at 125 Newbury in Tribeca.  By placing sheets of abaca paper – from a type of banana tree native to the Philippines – on either side of forms made of bamboo reeds or aluminum wire, Benglis creates dynamic shapes that recall exoskeletons or chrysalises.  Titled ‘Skeletonizer,’ the show’s work references types of moths, appropriate to the dynamic sculptures that appear to climb the gallery walls. (Gallery opening hours change during the holidays. Check opening hours before visiting.  On view through Jan 13th).

Installation view of ‘Skeletonizer’ at 125 Newbury, Dec 2023.

Ryan Sullivan at 125 Newbury

Ryan Sullivan’s abstractions invite viewers on a process of discovery in new work at 125 Newbury; what appear to be relatively straightforward non-representational paintings are in fact complicated images created by both chance and forethought.  Sullivan’s working technique is key.  Using pigment suspended in industrial grade resin, the artist makes the paintings ‘backward,’ by laying down the marks that will be seen on the surface, then continuing to add on the background layers, eventually moving the piece from its frame once set.  As much sculpture as painting, the untitled pieces foreground our own exploration of how to interpret what we’re encountering in each dynamic and complex composition.  (On view in Tribeca through Jan 28th).

Ryan Sullivan, Untitled, cast urethane resin, fiberglass, epoxy, 88 ¾ x 79 ¾ inches, 2022.

Lucas Samaras in ‘Wild Strawberries’ at 125 Newbury

“I continuously shift my attention to things that bother or frighten me,” Lucas Samaras wrote in a statement from 1966.  These two angled chairs, covered in geometric patterns with yarn and resting on a bed of pins, signal discomfort and precarity despite their attractive colors.  Part of 125 Newbury’s inaugural show in Tribeca, titled ‘Wild Strawberries’ after a surreal and disturbing scene in Ingmar Bergman’s film by the same name, the chairs suggest a threat that’s unclear but palpably present.  (On view through Nov 19th).

Lucas Samaras, Two Chairs, mixed media, 19 x 16 ½ x 21 inches, c. 1970s.