Olive Ayhens at Bookstein Projects

Olive Ayhens meets the abundance of people and buildings in New York with a profusion of recorded detail in her new series of ink and watercolor paintings at Bookstein Projects. Painted in a topsy turvy style combining multiple perspectives, Ayhens’ dynamic cityscapes look as if the buildings are in movement, perhaps shuffling down the sidewalk shoulder to shoulder like New York’s notably absent human residents. Painted in her new West Village neighborhood during the pandemic, Ayhens work reflects a sense of jittery nervousness via its architecture.  (On view on the Upper East Side through Jan 7th.  Note holiday hours and closures).

Olive Ayhens, Orange Luxury, watercolor and ink on paper, 23 x 30.5 inches, 2020.

Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

Buildings and monuments in the U.S. capital inspired Rotterdam & Benin-based artist Meschac Gaba’s latest synthetic-hair sculptures. Including (right to left) the White House, the U.S. Capitol and St John Episcopal Church, the sculptures represent a merger of African craft and sites of power. (On view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through July 28th).

Installation view of Meschac Gaba at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, June, 2017 featuring at right, ‘White House,’ braided wig of synthetic hair, 35 x 20 x 14 inches, 2017.

Eleanor Ray at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects

In her typically understated manner, Eleanor Ray treats the dramatic Icelandic landscape of Isafjordur as almost secondary to its town’s orderly buildings. Long shadows suggest a day drawing to a close or just beginning yet Ray’s painting argues for the importance of this solitary moment. (At Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects on the Lower East Side through Jan 8th).

Eleanor Ray, Isafjordur, oil on masonite, 7 ¼ x 8 3/8 inches, 2016.
Eleanor Ray, Isafjordur, oil on masonite, 7 ¼ x 8 3/8 inches, 2016.

Amy Casey at Foley Gallery

Walks and bus rides through Cleveland’s post-industrial landscape inspires Amy Casey’s amazingly intricate acrylic paintings. Here, the built environment mobilizes into twisted chains that evoke jewelry or a train set. (At Foley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Oct 30th).

Amy Casey, (detail) Swirlsnap, acrylic on panel, 48 x 48 inches, 2016.
Amy Casey, (detail) Swirlsnap, acrylic on panel, 48 x 48 inches, 2016.

Tony Smith at Matthew Marks Gallery

Titled ‘Playground,’ this piece by architect turned modernist sculptor Tony Smith was inspired by ancient mud-brick buildings. Two public installations of the sculpture in Beverly Hills, CA and Rochester, NY entice visitors to go through the opening but in New York, visitors to Chelsea’s Matthew Marks Gallery are invited to appreciate at a little more of a remove. (Through April 18th).

Tony Smith, Playground, steel, painted black, 64 x 128 x 64 inches, 1962.