Mark Dion’s latest show is for the birds, which is to say that the centerpiece, a huge cage housing a selection of books related to birds and their predators along with several zebra finch and canaries, is intended as a gift to our feathered friends. The birds seem to be more concerned about nest building and communicating with each other than in reading, leaving the literature to humans and reinforcing Dion’s point that it’s always about us. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through April 16th).
Some books electrify the reader, some illuminate our understanding; few do so as literally as in South Korean artist Airan Kang’s glowing volumes now on show at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea. (Through June 13th).
Airan Kang, installation view of ‘The Luminous Poem,’ May 2015.
Liu Wei’s three sculptures of fortress-like cities made of carved books, are high on towers of bedrock that appear to be splitting apart, suggesting both destruction and crystalline growth. (At Lehmann Maupin on the Lower East Side through April 18th).
Liu Wei, Library II-II, books, wood, iron, and hardware, 2013.
British artist Jonathan Callan’s serene white mountain range encases a selection of books on nature (including ‘All About Lions,’ and ‘Bird Neighbors’) in plaster, suppressing knowledge of nature in favor of imitating it. (In ‘The Suspended Line’ at Josee Bienvenu Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 28th).
Jonathan Callan, Range, paper and plaster, 33.85 x 21.25inches, 2012.
On the subway platform one day, Dutch photographer Reinier Gerritsen noticed a serendipitous arrangement in red in the bag, sweater and lips of three women reading on the 6 train. From this initial flash of inspiration, Gerritsen began his a series of photo collages, bringing together book readers in single compositions that memorialize the printed tome. (On view at Chelsea’s Julie Saul Gallery through Feb 7th).
Reinier Gerritsen, One Hundred Years of Solitude, pigment print, 40 ½ x 70 ¾ , 2013.
