How much uniqueness is possible in uniform, corporate culture? Japanese artist Tomoko Sawada makes herself surprisingly malleable in photos that mimic job application ID photos. The master of disguise works wonders within narrow parameters…which one would you hire? (At Pace MacGill on 57th Street through April 25th).
Tomoko Sawada, Recruit/Grey, one hundred chromogenic prints hinged to board each image and paper, 2 x 1 5/8 inches mount, 27 3/8 x 23 ½ inches, 2006.
As old buildings come down and new luxury condos go up along the High Line in Chelsea, an exhibition of American photographer Berenice Abbott’s WPA-sponsored ‘Changing New York’ photos from the 30s at Howard Greenberg Gallery puts the transformation in the context of the city’s constant evolution. This picture memorializes a modest business now replaced by the residential towers of Peter Cooper Village at the other (east) end of 23rd Street. (In the 57th Street area, through April 12th).
Berenice Abbott, Henry Maurer, 420-422 East 23rd Street, looking southeast, Manhattan, June 14, 1938, gelatin silver print; printed c. 1938, 7 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches.
New York ceramic artist Kathy Butterly’s new work at 57th Street gallery Tibor de Nagy demonstrates her inexhaustible ability to invent new, evocative forms for both standard vessels and abstract shapes. Though less than 9 inches high, the tiny artworks are powerful. (Through April 12th).
Kathy Butterly, Chatter (foreground), clay, glaze, 6 x 7 x 4 1/8 inches, 2013.
Highly celebrated, Ukraine born, Long Island-based painter Ilya Kabakov departs from the collage style of his other paintings in this recent work titled ‘The Window into my Past,’ in which a history painting not only dominates the wall but the minds of these young students. (At Pace Gallery on 57th Street through Dec 21st).
Ilya Kabakov, The Window into my Past, oil on canvas, 2012.
