In this towering mash-up of American vernacular imagery that includes Ronald Reagan’s caricatured head at top, tree stumps carved into baseball bats, faces and an elephant foot and two large baseballs, Ivan Witenstein creates a portrait of America from precariously balanced kitsch. (At Derek Eller Gallery through Jan 3rd).
Ivan Witenstein, Rails to Trails, wood, acrylic, oil, enamel, wood burning, 93 x 75 x 31 inches.
Created from recycled materials, Rob Fischer’s ‘Good Weather (Glass House)’ on view at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery offers bare bones living with a utilitarian kitchen and basic loft bedroom as well as an opportunity to commune with your surroundings, whether urban more info
or rural. (Through April 19th).
Rob Fischer, Good Weather (Glass House),’ glass, steel, screenprint ink, acrylic and latex paint, construction adhesive, wood floor, lights, wires, 175 x 223 x 126 inches, 2014.
Three panels of painted concrete covered in shattered safety glass by Davina Semo at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery rest on the floor like they were just brought in from a war-zone. Minimalist stripes in safety orange appear to have suffered heavy attack but survive to bear witness. Together they’re titled, ‘You said we’re skipping the prelude: start the insults.” (Though August 16th).
Berlin-based Greek artist Despina Stokou makes her New York debut with ‘Conversations on the Dirty Dozen,’ an unmissable mixed media wall installation featuring a nude surfer and scrawled text. The haphazard look of Stokou’s writing channels Cy Twombly’s energetically repeated words and marks and Matt Mullican’s automatism, and looks as if it would involve insane ramblings. In fact, the words trail off with a piece of tongue-in-cheek art world advice (from an artist who is also a curator) reading “I used to be an artist too, you know. If you don’t watch out you’re going to end up a curator.” (Stokou is part of ‘Sweet Distemper,’ organized by Isaac Lyles at Derek Eller Gallery through August 16th).
