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.

Mark Thomas Gibson at Fredericks Freiser Gallery

A monster’s human mask falls away in Mark Thomas Gibson’s ‘Washed Up,’ or is a disguise being applied? Either way, to judge by the quivering, fearful eyes, it seems like the game’s up and this creatures underlying monstrous identity will soon be revealed. (On view at Fredericks Freiser Gallery through Oct 14th).

Mark Thomas Gibson, Washed Up, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 inches, 2017.

Blane De St Croix at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery

Brooklyn artist Blane De St Croix’s trips to the Arctic Circle have resulted in this huge (24 foot long) sculpture titled after the run-off of a melting glacier. It brings to mind a fossilized sea creature or a ship’s hull, turning a still-familiar form into a relic. (At Chelsea’s Fredericks Freiser Gallery through June 14th).

Blane De St. Croix, Dead Ice, mixed media, aqua resin, eco expoxy and recycled material, 288 x 132 x 84 inches, 2014.