Canadian artist Brent Wadden’s hand-woven ‘paintings’ embrace imperfection, incorporating second-hand fibers and mismatched seams on large panels in enticing colors and dynamic patterns. (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes and Nash through May 30th).
Brent Wadden, Tangerine Teal, hand woven fibers, wool, cotton and acrylic on canvas, 107 x 84 inches, 2105.
Strange objects – a fish, emu egg shells, pills – in resin fill super-sized glasses scattered on the floor of Danish artist Nina Beier’s New York solo debut at Metro Pictures. In the foreground, a snake curls around a ruler, an enigmatic image inspired by stock photo images that suggests a nasty surprise for the incautious drinker. (Through May 23rd).
Nina Beier, Plunge, snake, ruler, resin, martini glass, 24 ¼ x 13 1/8 x 13 1/8 inches, 2015.
Conceived of in 1966 and only realized in 2007, Lucas Samaras’ ‘Doorway’ reverses Yayoi Kusama’s mirrored interiors by putting mirrors on the exterior to reflect visitors and surroundings. At Pace Gallery, these include banks of photos from the artist’s life and a frieze of self-portraits in which Samaras in a flowing white beard and long hair resembles Rip Van Winkle or, after 40 years of using himself as subject matter, god of the selfie. (Through June 27th).
Lucas Samaras, installation view, Pace Gallery, May 2015.
Hank Willis Thomas is banking on Hillary Clinton getting the Democratic nod for president; so much that he was inspired to open up a conversation about the role of women in an update on his famous ‘Unbranded’ series, for which he removed logos and text from ad images to reflect on the naked images used by corporate America to move products. Now he’s selected one hundred images of white women from the past one hundred years. The show at Jack Shainman’s two Chelsea locations is even getting a boost with advertising of its own at the 8th Ave and 23rd Street subway station. (Through May 23rd).
Ad for Hank Willis Thomas’ show ‘Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915 – 2015.
Eight blocks of forged steel weighing 35 tons each are a solid totemic presence in David Zwirner Gallery’s ground floor 20th Street space. As the title, ‘Equal,’ conveys, each is the same but stacked to suggest different sizes and astounding weight. (Through July 24th).
Richard Serra, Equal, forged weatherproof steel, eight identical blocks, each: 60 x 66 x 72 inches, 2015.
