Tag: Jack Shainman

Richard Mosse at Jack Shainman Gallery

Even in the dark, Jack Shainman Gallery’s new Tribeca space looks stunning, its vast hall accommodating Richard Mosse’s film ‘Broken Spectre, an extraordinary warning-cry against ongoing environmental devastation in the Amazon.  Shown on a 60’ wide screen and toggling between ariel views of the landscape, on-the-ground footage of people involved in rainforest clearing, mining and agri-business, and microscopic views of minute ecosystems on the forest floor, Mosse catalogues the destruction using technology – multi-spectral video, infrared film and UV microscopy – that provides unique views of the environment.  Alarming and beautiful, Mosse’s film is the culmination of two years of work in the Amazon and, along with Ben Frost’s powerful soundtrack, is a persuasive argument for action.  (On view in Tribeca through March 16th).

Richard Mosse, installation of Broken Spectre at Jack Shainman Gallery, 2024.

El Anatsui, Garnett Puett and Lyne Lapoint in ‘Echoes of Circumstance’ at Jack Shainman Gallery

Material generates form in ‘Echoes of Circumstance,’ a visually rich group exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery of work by three artists (El Anatsui, Garnett Puett and Lyne LaPointe) whose work is driven by the non-traditional art materials they employ.  Hawaii-based 4th generation beekeeper Puett partners with bees who create honeycombs around steel structures, resulting in surreal forms.  Also using a (handmade) beehive, Canadian artist Lyne LaPointe’s ‘The Song of the Queen Virgin’ presents a mystical figure shrouded in fabric.  Internationally renowned Ghanaian artist El Anatsui draws inspiration from Kente cloth to make patterned, wall-mounted textiles of aluminum liquor bottle caps stitched together by copper wire.  (On view in Chelsea through March 2nd.)

Garnett Puett, (foreground) Forged Dance; Entropic Subconscious Matris (3), wax, forged steel, 40 ½ x 20 x 20 inches, 2019. … El Anatsui, (background) Skin of Earth, found aluminum and copper wire, 180 x 192 inches, 2006.
Lyne LaPointe, The Song of the Queen Virgin, antique handmade beehive, cotton mesh, ink, paper and varnish on linen in an artist frame, 83 x 44 ½ x 2 ¼ inches, 2022-23.

 

Meleko Mokgosi at Jack Shainman Gallery

Botswanan-American artist Meleko Mokgosi’s recent paintings at Jack Shainman Gallery, grouped under the title ‘Spaces of Subjection,’ dig into the formation of subjecthood – how does a person being pictured become who they are to viewers  Inspired in part by French philosopher Michel Foucault’s writings about identity formation as it derives from networks of societal influences, Mokgosi’s paintings picture individuals from various sources including studio photographs and advertising.  Here, he combines a photograph taken in Atlanta of Nelson and Winnie Mandela who were speaking in the US, an image of the Mandelas with Coretta Scott King and her children, and a young woman seated on the floor and a man in a tux from South African studio portraiture from the 1950s.  Known for being both subordinated by power and on the flip side, representing power, the Mandelas and Kings also exist in a power relationship with each other (enacted in Coretta Scott King’s 1986 trip to South Africa) that contrasts the presence of the two lesser-known figures. (On view through Dec 22nd).

Meleko Mokgosi, Spaces of Subjection: Black Painting V, oil on canvas, 96 x 72 x 2 inches, 2022.

Ashley Teamer in ‘We Buy Gold’ at Nicola Vassell Gallery

In a statement accompanying work from her Yale MFA studies (grad ’22), New-Orleans-based artist Ashley Teamer cites the batture – the constantly shifting land between low tide and the levee along the Mississippi River – as inspiration.  Her dynamic image collage ‘4912 St Bernard Ave’ in the group show ‘We Buy Gold’ at Nicola Vassell Gallery is a highlight of an exhibition described by its curator as being about change, slippage and breakthrough.  A figure in pink shoes and dress (like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz) appears to plunge down into a tangle of branches both photographed and drawn while above, among the clouds and in another realm, is another figure with their back to us.  Teamer tempts viewers to ask what will transpire next in this evocative story.  (Curated by Joeonna Bellorado-Samuels. The exhibition is also at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Chelsea space through Aug 11th.)

Ashley Teamer, 4912 St Bernard Ave, inkjet print, twine, oil pastel, graphite, 83 x 89 ½ inches, 2021.

Hank Willis Thomas at Jack Shainman Gallery

Race is “at the nexus of so many social currents and tensions,” wrote a Daily Beast reporter while engaging a 2015 exhibition by Hank Willis Thomas.  Yet Thomas’ polished stainless steel sculpture Nexus (in the foreground of this photo), now on view in his solo show at Jack Shainman Gallery, models colorblind mutual aid in the form of two individuals grasping hands.  Elsewhere, a bronze sculpture of two clasped hands in different colored patinas titled ‘Loving,’ celebrates a mixed-race marriage while the show’s largest piece, ‘Embrace’ depicts Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King’s arms enfolding each other.  A neon piece spelling out Thomas’ oft repeated phrase (honoring his murdered cousin’s last words) ‘Love Over Rules’ reinforces the artist’s message.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 29th).

Hank Willis Thomas, Nexus (in detail in the foreground), polished stainless steel, 96 inches tall, 2022.