Brooklyn-based artist Joseph Zito’s forays into beekeeping inspired his recent series of hives, created in tandem with artist friends and currently on display at Lennon Weinberg Gallery in Chelsea. Here, painter Gary Mayer’s energetically painted box issues a warning, portraying a cluster of frenetic bees in a paradise of flowers on one side and dead bees experiencing colony collapse on the other. (On view through August 17th).
Light up wall decorations, picture frames and clocks are the hosts for Chadwick Rantanen’s unusual art project, which takes the form of adaptors that allow one battery to be used in place of another. With adaptors in the form of bees sticking out the back of this clock, the device is forced to keep its kitschy face to the wall. Resistance to tackiness and artistic innovation become the subject matter. (At Essex Street through May 16th).
