Real and virtual space combine in provocative ways in Melissa Brown’s new paintings at Derek Eller Gallery. Inspired by routines that have been upended by the pandemic, Brown pictures include familiar New York haunts like the Met Museum but with digital distortions, and interior scenes that feature screens or mirrors to suggest portals into other worlds. Here, a hand shifts two balls around in front of the window of an empty train overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset – a frenetic activity in a strangely quiet place. (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 19th.)
