Lumin Wakoa at Harper’s Gallery

Once small-scale and resolutely abstract, New York painter Lumin Wakoa’s latest paintings at Harper’s Gallery have grown explosively in size and dynamic allusion to the natural world.  Branching forms appear in many works, supporting abundant blossoms or snaking between zones of color that suggest the blinding sun, bright flowers or cool, blue oases. Here, intense yellow and orange flowers dematerialize into a mass of pleasurable tones while the work’s title, ‘Briefly Brilliant,’ suggests that there is a time limit on this glorious display. (On view in Chelsea through May 5th).

Lumin Wakoa, Briefly Brilliant, oil on linen, 82 x 70 inches, 2023.

Ho Jae Kim at Harper’s Gallery

Ho Jae Kim’s new paintings at Harper’s Gallery in Chelsea manifest a divine light perceived just beyond reach through archways or stage backdrops.  As he was preparing work for this show, this young Brooklyn-based artist’s step-father ended his own life, prompting Kim’s desire to help his family heal and appreciate the beauty of life.  Inspired by Dante’s vision of supernatural light as he ascended from the Inferno to Purgatory in ‘The Divine Comedy,’ Kim announces the arrival of hope through floods of bright color that counter the literal deep waters surrounding the marooned character in this painting.  (On view through May 6th).

Ho Jae Kim, Day 19: Wilson, oil, inkjet transfer, enamel and paper on canvas, 2023.

Alexander Guy at Harper’s Gallery

Scottish painter Alexander Guy made a hit on the ‘80s London art scene with his deadpan paintings, which ranged in subject from everyday objects to celebrity images.  In a career revival, Guy is now making his New York gallery debut at Harper’s Gallery in Chelsea with oil paintings showing an abundance of processed food, including a freezer stuffed with ice cream and pizza and a carefully arranged array of pink-colored foods from Tesco supermarket.  Here, a transatlantic in-flight meal overwhelms with its number of dishes and suggests that more is not necessarily more.  (On view through Jan 15th. Masks, social distancing and proof of vaccination required.)

Alexander Guy, GLA -> JFK (In flight meal), oil on canvas, 68h x 72.25w, 2021.