Glenda Leon at Bienvenu Steinberg & Partners

Cuban artist Glenda Leon’s conceptual artwork varies from a grid of colorful used soaps decorated with line drawings made from hair, to a textile depicting the molecular structure of controlled substances that appear to be constellations in the night sky; in its own way, each piece makes poetic reference to the human body.  Both soap and textile works are included in her current solo show at Bienvenu Steinberg and Partner in Tribeca, along with this Remington typewriter, its keys covered with pieces of chewed gum.  Coming from the mouth, origin of the spoken word, to arrest the written word that might otherwise be created with this typewriter, the gum represents a form of sticky control.  (On view in Tribeca, through June 30th).

 

Glenda Leon, Chewed Words, 2018-2021.Remington Portable #3 typewriter, chewing gum.

Jennifer Dalton in ‘Summer School’ at FLAG Art Foundation

Jennifer Dalton’s contribution to FLAG Foundation’s summer group show stays with visitors in a unique way. Custom-printed gum balls invite chewing, once you’ve decided between, ‘Tell Me Everything’ or ‘Don’t Tell Me Anything.’  The balls act as mini-personality test – are you prepared for a long story, or would you rather not know? (At FLAG Art Foundation through August 12th).

Jennifer Dalton, Decision Analysis, doubled gum ball machine, custom printed, 42 ½ x 17 x 7 ½ inches, 2014.

Irving Penn at Pace Gallery

From the 1940s onward, the fashion world embraced the elegance of iconic photographer Irving Penn’s highly visible commercial work, but it sometimes took longer for his personal projects to gain traction. In the iPhone era, his investigation of the wonderful in the banal seems prescient, especially in this particularly charming shot of an eerily face-like wad of chewing gum found on the city street. (At Chelsea’s Pace Gallery through March 5th).

Underfoot XXXIII, New York, gelatin silver print, image 19 1/8 x 18 ¾ inches, 2000.
Underfoot XXXIII, New York, gelatin silver print, image 19 1/8 x 18 ¾ inches, 2000.