Tag: garth greenan

Esteban Cabeza de Baca at Garth Greenan Gallery

Drawing on inspiration from his Spanish, Mexican, Apache and Zuni ancestry and the landscape of the American Southwest, Esteban Cabeza de Baca manifests spiritual and political concepts in paintings and sculpture now on view at Garth Greenan Gallery.  The clay outline of a human form set before a mountainous landscape in this painting ‘Vessels’ also exists as a sculpture in gallery.  Painted or in three dimensions, it signals an in-between state of existence, for Cabeza de Baca, a freedom in pursuing decolonized thought.  (On view through March 13th. Masks and social distancing required).

Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Vessels, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches, 2020.

Howardena Pindell at Garth Greenan Gallery

After a devastating car accident left her with acute memory loss, Howardena Pindell reconstructed her life and memories from postcards and photos she’d gathered over the previous decades.  This mixed media collage (seen in detail) from 1980-81 marked the beginning of her Autobiography series, for which she combined printed images, paint and a compliment of her signature circular chads of material to regain her life.  (On view at Garth Greenan Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 14th).

Howardena Pindell, detail of Autobiography: Oval Memory #1, mixed media collage on paper, 13 x 32 x 3 inches, 1980-81.

Gladys Nilsson in ’36 Works on Paper’ at Garth Greenan Gallery

Critic John Yau hits the nail on head when he describes Gladys Nilsson’s ability to ‘keep the viewer looking in ways that are both pleasurable and challenging.’  In her 1984 watercolor ‘Lightly There,’ Nilsson sets up a seemingly flirtatious engagement between two masculine and feminine characters against a backdrop of folks high-mindedly going about their business, noses to the air.  Extra-long limbs – oddly allowing the man on the left to reach between his legs to pick up a tiny passenger – are just the beginning of the eccentric proportions and asymmetries of bodies, hair and facial features that lend Nilsson’s characters their intrigue and bait us to question what’s going on.  (On view in ’36 Works on Paper’ at Garth Greenan Gallery in Chelsea through August 9th).

Gladys Nilsson, Lightly There, watercolor on paper, 23 x 30 inches, 1984.

Peter Blake at Garth Greenan Gallery

Did Warhol just like Campbell’s soup?  Was Roy Lichtenstein simply enamored of blonds?  American pop art thrives on its ambiguous criticality towards consumption and mass media marketing, but iconic British pop art icon Peter Blake’s enjoyment of contemporary culture feels less ambiguous.  In a noteworthy show at Garth Greenan Gallery, for which a portion of Blake’s London studio has been packed up and reinstalled in Chelsea, the artist’s portraits of wrestlers, clowns, musicians and Marilyn-like woman are a tribute to the more and less famous.  (On view through May 18th).

Peter Blake, Mary Lin Monroe Fabulous Texan MM, acrylic, enamel and assemblage on board, 16 x 8 ¾ x 1 ½ inches, 2019.

Victoria Gitman at Garth Greenan Gallery

Vintage fur handbags by Victoria Gitman amaze with their abundant color and detail at Garth Greenan Gallery in Chelsea. With the contours of the purses cropped, Gitman’s arrangements resemble color field painting or Peruvian feather work. (On view through Feb 17th).

Victoria Gitman, Untitled, oil on board, 6 ¼ x 8 inches, 2017.