Nick Cave, famous for his part-armor, part-costume sound-suits, meditates on gun violence in America in a sobering, symbol-laden show at Jack Shainman Gallery. Here, Cave nestles found sculptures of African heads amongst hands paired in prayer or raised in a solitary gesture of greeting, surrender or a caress. Flowers in the background offer hope of renewal. (On view at Jack Shainman’s two Chelsea locations through Dec 22nd).
Rachel Harrison’s latest solo show at Greene Naftali Gallery seems to step away from the overt politics of her most recent shows, instead questioning the value and role of art (as presented in an imagined conversation between several famous artworks featured in a gallery handout). In this piece, what appears to be a bald eagle in a bandana is held at gunpoint, a symbol of power reduced to a captive state as the color of money dominates. (In Chelsea through Jun 17th).
Last November, a former guard at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Ohio entered the Center shortly after it opened, shooting and spray painting artworks before killing himself. Rachel Harrison’s sculpture ‘Valid Like Salad,’ which features a portrait of Al Pacino in Scarface and indirectly questions who we validate as heroes, was one of the targeted artworks. Now on display at Greene Naftali Gallery, it is a chilling witness to our current epidemic of gun violence. (In Chelsea through June 18th).
