Tag: foam

Florencia Escudero in ‘A Love Letter to a Nightmare’ at Petzel Gallery

Under the rubric of ‘vamped Surrealism and Symbolism,’ Petzel Gallery’s summer group show considers contemporary artwork that channels the power of the subconscious.  At the gallery entrance, Florencia Escudero’s disembodied eyes and face greet visitors like a digital mirage.  Hand sewn and printed on satin and spandex, the sculpture’s material qualities are as evocative as the impossibly odd character herself. (On view in Chelsea Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 6pm through Aug 14th. Masks and social distancing are required.)

Florencia Escudero, Frog Licker, Hand-sewn, digitally-printed satin and silkscreened spandex, 3D-printed plastic, metal purse clasp, with hand-sewn velvet, foam, and spacer mesh base, and hand-sewn, digitally-printed satin, silkscreened spandex, foam, and spacer mesh parts, 6.5 x 13.5 x 5 inches, 2019.

Roger Hiorns at Luhring Augustine

Known for sculptures that initiate processes that yield attractive results (like an engine block transformed by gorgeous copper sulphate crystals), British artist Roger Hiorns goes for a gritty sci-fi feel in the back gallery at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine. Compressors pump air through grimy car parts creating billows of soap suds that make these quasi-organic figures appear sentient, if barely. (Through Oct 18th).

Roger Hiorns, installation view at Luhring Augustine Gallery, Chelsea, Sept 2014. All works: Untitled, plastic, compressor, and foam, 2014.

Red Grooms at Marlborough Gallery

Though New York artist Red Grooms created this gallery-filling installation replicating an alley near his downtown studio over twenty years ago – to bring some ‘quintessential New York funk’ to Marlborough Gallery’s London location – its shady hustle and bustle and maniacal truck driver still look contemporary. (At Marlborough Gallery’s Lower East Side location through March 23rd.)

Red Grooms, ‘The Alley,’ wood, foam, and mixed media, dimensions variable, 1984-5.

Ruby Sky Stiler at Nichelle Beauchene Gallery

Brooklyn-based artist Ruby Sky Stiler takes the seated nude to a new level with her ten-foot tall female figure.  Carved from foam, its stepped form nevertheless suggests weighty ancient architecture embellished with images of power-wielding women. (At Nichelle Beauchene on the Lower East Side through Oct 6th)  

Ruby Sky Stiler, Seated Woman, foam, acrylic resin, thermal adhesive, 2013.