Dana Lixenberg at Grimm Gallery

Dutch photographer Dana Lixenberg’s iconic photos for Vibe magazine in the 90s of Tupac Shakur & Biggie appear at the center of schematic mural at Grimm Gallery that demonstrates the incredible currency that photos can have.  Radiating from the center, remakes of Lixenberg’s photos of the two music legends appear in the foam of a latte, on tattoos and via The Simpsons characters among other iterations.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 29th).

Dana Lixenberg’s photos featured in a centerfold from Lixenberg’s Tupac Biggie, design by Linda van Dursen (Roma Publications, 2018).

Michiko Kon at Robert Mann Gallery

Inspired by Surrealist Meret Oppenheim’s performance ‘Cannibal’s Feast,’ Japanese photographer Michiko Kon’s food-based sculptural creations from the 90s fascinate and disturb in equal measure.  This photo, currently on view at Robert Mann Gallery, showcases a boot crafted from ark clam shells and a real fish head.  By evoking luxury goods popular in pre-crash 90s Japan and creating them in perishable materials, Kon updates the vanitas genre for more recent times.  (On view through Oct 19th).

Michiko Kon, Ark Shells and Boot, platinum palladium print, 20 x 16 inches, 1996.

Gianni Versace in ‘Heavenly Bodies’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Gianni Versace’s 1991-92 jacket, featuring a Madonna and child embroidered in crystals, draws on the gold tile and opulent patterning of Ravenna’s Byzantine architecture.  Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s stunning ‘Heavenly Bodies’ Costume Institute exhibition, the garment joins icons from the Met’s collection in a contemporary reinterpretation of opulence.  (On view on the Upper East Side through Oct 8th).

Gianni Versace, Jacket, autumn/winter 1991-92, green silk tulle, embroidered polychrome silk thread, gold silk and metal thread, polychrome faceted crystals, green seed beads, and gold metal hardware.

Yvonne Jacquette at DC Moore Gallery

New Yorker painter Yvonne Jacquette fell in love with the aerial view while on commercial flights, eventually chartering her own aircraft to make art from the sky. After a trip to Hong Kong in the early 90s, she incorporated various views of Hong Kong harbor into this piece, including a floating restaurant, speeding cars and reflections of neon on the water. (At DC Moore Gallery through Dec 17th).

Yvonne Jacquette, Hong Kong Harbor with Floating Restaurant V, oil on canvas, 64 ¼ x 91 ½ inches, 1992-93.
Yvonne Jacquette, Hong Kong Harbor with Floating Restaurant V, oil on canvas, 64 ¼ x 91 ½ inches, 1992-93.

Dan Flavin at David Zwirner Gallery

Though Minimalist artist Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light tubing sculputres are well-known, his editioned work on paper is less often exhibited.  At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street Chelsea location, this scrolled handmade paper is a cylinder on a different scale but one whose color is as electric as his signature works.  (Through March 1st).  

Dan Flavin, untitled, double-sided color aquatint printed in violet and yellow on Twinrocker handmade paper, rolled and stitched, 7 3/8 x 30 x 8 1/8 inches, 1994.