Christopher Adams’ ceramic plants appear at once fragile and
robust; the material of their thin, scrolling leaves suggests something
breakable, the vigorous growth at center hints at expansive potential. Garvey Simon Art Access in Chelsea is overrun
with variations on the plant in a range of glazes and finishes, making for a provocative
merger of biology and decoration.
(Through Nov 7th).
Christopher Adams, from the ‘Primordial Garden’ series,
2015.
Paris-based Morgane Tschiember uses Tracy Wiliams’ new Lower East Side space to great effect with this handsome installation of compromised, suspended vessels set off by the huge wall painting ‘Falls.’ (Through Nov 1st).
Morgane Tschiember, installation view of ‘Almost a Kiss’ at Tracy Williams Ltd. on the Lower East Side, Sept 2015.
It’s post-apocalypse in Trisha Baga’s imagination – Florida has mostly sunk into the sea and the array of artifacts left behind, including this Doritos bag and chips, have been rendered in ceramic and put on display. In the video at rear, peacocks pick at a seed portrait of Rosie O’Donnell. Baga’s rich imagination makes an unknown world all the stranger. (At Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through October 3rd).
Trisha Baga, Doritos bag with 4 doritos, glazed ceramic, 2 ¾ x 9 x 6 inches, 2015. Background: Peacock Museum. The Department of Education, video installation, 4 mirrors with fava beans, 18 min, 44 sec, each 23 ½ x 19 1/8 inches, 2015.
Like inedible confections, the surfaces and strange forms of San Francisco artist Ron Nagle’s tiny ceramic sculptures are delectations for the eye. But for every attractive, shiny surface, there’s an opposite impulse to reject clashing color combinations and oddly suggestive bodily forms. (At Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Ron Nagle, Long Good Friday, ceramic, porcelain, glaze, catalyzed polyurethane, epoxy resin, 3 ¾ x 2 ½ x 3 ¾ inches, 2015.
Ken Price’s blob of shiny weirdness is an enticement to venture into Matthew Marks Gallery’s back gallery. A standout in this low-key exhibition of work by gallery artists, the shimmery, seductive surface contrasts the suggestion of an unknown organic substance moldering. (In Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Ken Price, Untitled, fired and painted clay, 18 x 17 x 16, 1996-2011.
