Tag: france

Maria Calandra at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery

Red-orange skies appear to be ablaze in Maria Calandra’s landscape painting of Weir Island in Maine while her blue skies over Como, Italy are a tranquil color but feature roiling clouds.  Apocalyptic in their color and Mannerist in their elongated forms, Calandra’s paintings at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery are hallucinogenic visions that offer visual pleasure via their dynamic fluidity.  Here, Mont Sainte-Victoire, made famous by Paul Cezanne’s many images of the mountain near Aix-en-Provence, rises above a field of flowers and greenery that appears to be flowing up the mountain.  (On view in Chelsea through April 13th.)

Maria Calandra, Mont Sainte-Victoire, acrylic on linen, 2023.

David Hockney at Pace Gallery

Cloudy skies do little to dampen the luminosity of this iPad drawing by David Hockney, now on view in a solo show of the artist’s new work at Pace Gallery.  Created with the help of six iPads, this garden landscape scene is both disjointed – two different elevations combine at center, rain cloud patterns repeat – and harmonious thanks to continuous views of the flat, yellow-toned foreground.  Made lively by shifting clouds and rings spreading on the water, the scene’s combination of perspectives and vivid colors turns an otherwise mundane garden scene into a delight for the senses.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 25th).

David Hockney, 10th – 22nd June 2021, Water Lilies in the Pond with Pots of Flowers, six iPad paintings comprising a single work, printed on two sheets of paper, mounted on Dibond, 82 ½ x 78 ½ inches, 2021.

Barthelemy Toguo at Galerie Lelong

Part installation, part performance, Cameroonian-French artist Barthelemy Toguo’s ‘Urban Requiem’ begins with a room of charcoal drawings of African Americans killed by police and culminates in a gallery of heavy, wooden, torso-shaped stamps marked with messages.  Against the back wall of the show, prints made using the stamps advocate for peace and respect for human life.  The stamp in the foreground incites hope for ‘All the world’s futures.’  (On view at Galerie Lelong in Chelsea through May 11th).

Barthelemy Toguo, Installation view of ‘Urban Requiem’ at Galerie Lelong, April 2019.

Kader Attia at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

In an eighteen-screen installation set in a warren of cubicles at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, French-Algerian artist Kader Attia explores western vs non-western approaches to mental health in a series of monologues by European and African health professionals. The dehumanizing office environment contrasts the intimacy of each screening space, resulting in an unsettling experience that invites new discoveries. (At Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location through March 4th).

Kader Attia, Reason’s Oxymorons, 18 films and installation of cubicles, duration variable, 13-25 minutes, 2015.
Kader Attia, Reason’s Oxymorons, 18 films and installation of cubicles, duration variable, 13-25 minutes, 2015.

Tetsumi Kudo at Andrea Rosen Gallery

Cage-based artworks from the ‘60s to the early ‘80s by late, Paris-based Japanese artist Tetsumi Kudo at Andrea Rosen Gallery demonstrate human estrangement from nature. Despite the bright colors, a heart shape, plastic flowers and the label reading ‘Bonheur,’ happiness seems far from this abject couple’s experience. (In Chelsea through Nov 16th).

Tetsumi Kudo, Bonheur, painted cage, artificial soil, plastic flowers, cotton, plastic, polyester, resin, string, cigarettes, thermometer, Aspro tablets, circuit board, 21 x 11 x 14 inches, 1974.
Tetsumi Kudo, Bonheur, painted cage, artificial soil, plastic flowers, cotton, plastic, polyester, resin, string, cigarettes, thermometer, Aspro tablets, circuit board, 21 x 11 x 14 inches, 1974.