Keith Haring at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

Keith Haring turned his signature energetic designs into a calligraphic abstraction in this untitled painting on a tarp (seen as a detail) from 1985, now on view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery. (In Chelsea through June 14th).

Keith Haring, detail of ‘Untitled,’ 60 x 60 inches, acrylic on muslin, 1985.

Peter Buggenhout at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

Belgian artist Peter Buggenhout presents a New York audience with two of his well-known ‘Blind Leading the Blind’ sculptures through the 19th of this month in Chelsea. Composed of wrecked industrial or construction materials covered in dust, and appearing to be the remnants of some long-ago disaster, they represent a chaotic but forgotten past. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 21st Street location, through April 19th).

Peter Buggenhout, installation view of ‘Caterpillar Logic II,’ March 2014, Barbara Gladstone Gallery.

Cyprien Gaillard at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

As construction continues apace on several new buildings in Chelsea, French artist Cyprien Gaillard’s first solo show at Barbara Gladstone Gallery – featuring sculptures made of excavator heads) feels particularly apt and a little too familiar.  Fixed with calcite rods sourced in Iran and Utah, Gaillard reaches for international import, but his general point about destruction and progress stemming from the same tool is a little blunt. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery through Dec 21st).  

Cyprien Gaillard, installation view of ‘Today Diggers, Tomorrow Dickens,’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, (excavator heads and banded calcite), November 2013.

Piero Golia in ‘Mixed Media Message’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

I saw a dog enthusiastically enjoying this sculpture at Barbara Gladstone Gallery with its owner…that is, until it was scared away when the animatronic creature raised its head in response to a periodic drip coming from an easy-to-miss fake ventilation shaft.  This piece by LA-based artist Piero Golia suggests that even a faux dog’s powers of perception are to be reckoned with.  (At Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 24th St space, through Aug 2nd).  

Piero Golia, The Dog and the Drip, animatronic dog, solenoids and sync device, 2013.

‘Mixed Media Message’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

Summer’s here and so is the Chelsea gallery group show.  One of the best so far is ‘Mixed Media Message’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery‘s 21st Street location, where curator Neville Wakefield assembles works that use unexpected materials, including Dylan Lynch’s acrylic on steel barrels, Tony Labat’s out-of-reach grill and Kaari Upson’s silicone mattresses.  (Through August 2nd).