Tag: deitch projects

Bisa Butler at Deitch Projects

A fabulously patterned rendition of Harriet Tubman’s portrait at the entrance to Bisa Butler’s show at Deitch Projects announces Butler’s supremely enjoyable textile practice and celebration of the achievements of Black Americans.  Basing her artworks on photographs by creatives including Gordon Parks and Jamel Shabazz, Butler lovingly embellishes her subjects using an array of rich materials, including cotton, silk, wool, velvet, and lace.  This portrait of Ahmir Questlove Thompson (original photo by Daniel Dorsa) incorporates glass beads, adding dimension and reflecting light to suggest the musical artist’s visionary quality.  (On view through June 30th).

Bisa Butler, The Passion of Questlove, from a photograph of Ahmir Questlove Thompson by Daniel Dorsa, cotton, silk, wool, velvet, lace, jet glass beads and vinyl quilted and appliqued, 36 x 23 inches, 2023.
Bisa Butler, (detail) The Passion of Questlove, from a photograph of Ahmir Questlove Thompson by Daniel Dorsa, cotton, silk, wool, velvet, lace, jet glass beads and vinyl quilted and appliqued, 36 x 23 inches, 2023.

Kennedy Yanko at Deitch Projects

A quote from John Cage at the entrance to Kennedy Yanko’s show at Deitch Projects declares that silence doesn’t exist; even if nothing at all can be heard, the sounds of the body’s systems functioning will advance themselves.  Yanko’s new sculptures likewise assert the aesthetic potential of humble materials: dried sheets of paint and found metal.  In their contrast between smooth and rough surfaces and complementary colors like the green and purple, sculptures like ‘An Ode to Hugs’ (pictured here) are driven by Yanko’s intuitive method and for her, the ‘livingness of her medium.’ (On view in SoHo through April 22nd).

Kennedy Yanko, An Ode to Hugs, paint skin, metal, 97 x 94 x 42.5 inches, 2023

Tyler Ballon at Deitch Projects

Below tiny members of a celestial choir, four earthly singers raise voices in praise in Tyler Ballon’s painting at Deitch Projects in SoHo.  Identifying ‘the Black church as a place of comfort and strength,’ Ballon also pictures scenes from the life of a pastor (a job both of his parents have filled) that honor this leadership role.  Other paintings feature loving relationships between friends and family and special moments including a graduation and a commemoration of Black lives lost.   (On view in SoHo through Jan 15th.  Note holiday hours and closures.)

Tyler Ballon, Songs Flung to Heaven, oil on canvas, 98 x 107 inches, 2021.