Italian artist Angelo Filomeno is known for making the macabre gorgeous. Here, a detail from a bright yellow silk support shows a pretty assortment of embroidered tropical fish; but decay is never far away, as evidenced by scuttling black beetles and a ravaged angelfish. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through Jan 31st).
Angelo Filomeno, detail from ‘Tropical Still Life in Yellow,’ embroidery and crystals on silk shantung stretched over linen, 78 x 39 inches, 2014.
When Alabama-based artist Pinky M M Bass’s sister was suffering from cancer, the artist started stitching internal organs on photos as a means of processing what was going on insider her sister’s body. Here, foods hover around the shoulders of this figure, waiting to make their way into the digestive tract. (On view at Chelsea’s Robert Mann Gallery through August 15th.)
Pinky MM Bass, Contemplating My Internal Organs, 1999-2006, embroidery on gelatin silver print, with platinum hanging hardware and Plexiglas.
Phrases like, ‘One is not born but rather becomes a woman,’ from feminist pioneer Simone de Beauvoir or actor Roseann Barr’s to-the-point observation that ‘Nobody gives you power you just take it,’ appear in Egyptian-born, Harlem-based artist Ghada Amer’s latest show at Chelsea’s Cheim and Read Gallery. Here, a bronze sculpture with text in Arabic extends the conversation to women in the Arab world. (Through May 10th).
Ghada Amer, foreground sculpture: The Words I Love the Most, bronze with black patina, 60 x 60 x 60 inches, 2012. Background painting on the right: The Big Black Bang – RFGA, acrylic, embroidery and gel medium on canvas, 102 x 132 inches, 2013.
Has this couple managed a mind-meld between her warm personality and his cool-colored tranquility? Or do they remain at opposite ends of a spectrum? Titled ‘The Anniversary,’ this embroidery on a found photograph by British artist Julie Cockburn grants suggestive new lives to forgotten pasts. (At Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 25th).
Julie Cockburn, The Anniversary, hand embroidery on found photograph, unique, 2013.
Dutch artist Michael Raedecker’s latest solo show summons opulence and decay in equal measure with his signature, embroidered paintings depicting chandeliers, suburban homes and palm trees. All are painted in silver and blue colors that walk the line between elegant and dreary. (At Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery through Oct 5th).
Michael Raedecker, Blink, acrylic and thread on canvas, 2012.
