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.