Tag: bicycle

Arthur Simms at Martos Gallery

Known for sculptures made of materials wrapped in hemp rope, Arthur Simms makes a departure in this ’96 piece by encasing two bicycles in wire, allowing us to see the license plates, central structure and bucket-like portable toilet on this tricked out super vehicle.   On view in Simm’s select 30-year retrospective at Martos Gallery, this sculpture and other wrapped works were inspired by carts used by homeless New Yorkers as well as the carts used by market vendors in Simm’s home country of Jamaica.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 23rd).

Arthur Simms, Bicycle, bicycles, wire, wood, bottles, plastic, metal and objects, 67 x 93 x 30 inches, 1996.

Ricardo Brey in ‘Re: Bicycling’ at Susan Inglett Gallery

Susan Inglett Gallery’s excellent summer group exhibition, co-curated by David Platzker of Specific Object and Alex Ostroy of the cycling apparel brand Ostroy, celebrates the bike as revolutionary object.  From a late 19th century French poster depicting a woman in long dress enjoying the freedom of the road to Rodney Graham’s bike-powered, rotating psychedelic collage, the exhibition extols the power of the bike to take people in new directions.  Here, Ricardo Brey’s standout mixed media sculpture ‘Joy,’ connects bikes to heavenly paths and celestial orbits.  (On view through July 23rd).

celestial orbits. (On view through July 23rd).
Ricardo Brey, Joy, mixed media, 14 3/16 x 25 ¼ x 31 ½ inches, 2018.

.DRIFT in ‘Group Presentation’ at Pace Gallery

It’s not unusual to consider where and how our everyday consumer goods were manufactured, but Amsterdam-based design team Studio Drift goes deeper.  Via their ‘Materialism’ project – samples of which are now on view in Pace Gallery’s current tech-friendly group show – Drift practices a kind of reverse engineering by breaking down light bulbs, cell phones and water bottles, as well as historic weapons and this bicycle, into component parts which are then displayed as pleasingly tidy arrangements of colorful cubes.  Guessing what each piece represents is an engaging game that ultimately prompts viewers to question how much we know about the goods we consume.  (On view on 25th Street in Chelsea through April 24th).

.DRIFT, Bicycle, rubber, polyurethane, steel, aluminum, lacquer paint, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), polyoxymethylene (POM), gel, stainless steel, polycarbonate, brass, magnet and glass fiber sculpture: 7 7/8 x 31 ¼ x 13 3/16 inches, 2019.

Li Bo in ‘Up-Youth’ at Klein Sun Gallery

‘Up-Youth,’ a group exhibition at Chelsea’s Klein Sun Gallery presented with the Times Art Museum in Beijing, features this piece by Li Bo, whose fragmented bike on flat sections of concrete suggests a jittery ride for disappearing national symbol. (Through August 8th).

Li Bo, White in Dark Grey No. 3, mixed media, 2010-12.