Brooklyn-based artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor is known for scenes of people in the landscape and decrepit interiors, all meticulously crafted from wood veneer. In her latest solo show at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery, she wields her signature technique and adds paint in service of depicting nature mangled by humans. (through Nov 30th).
Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Transparent Eye, wood veneer, shellac and oil on panel, 2013.
Chinese artist Shi Zhiying’s oil paintings of vessels and stone carvings at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery were inspired by her travels in China, Cambodia and India. Strong tonal contrast and a grisaille color scheme impart a somber restraint that speaks to the spiritual import of her subject matter. (Through July 26th).
Shi Zhiying, Rock Carving of Thousand Buddhas, oil on canvas, 2013.
In 1846, Henry David Thoreau took soundings to measure the depth of Walden Pond, disproving local legends that claimed it was bottomless. A century and a half later, Spencer Finch’s soundings recorded location, depth and surface color at hundreds of different points on Walden Pond, creating a visual record of both surface and depths. (At Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery through June 15th)
Spencer Finch, Walden Pond (surface/depth), rope, cloth, twine, 298 watercolors on watercolor paper, 120 feet long, 2013.
London-based, Japanese artist Hiraki Sawa’s videos tend towards the whimsical, featuring tiny airplanes flying through his apartment or miniature rocking horses buried deep in flokati rugs. ‘Lineament,’ a new two-screen installation at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery takes a more serious turn as Sawa meditates on a friend’s sudden, profound memory loss with images of gears and an unraveling record suggesting erasure. (Through April 27th).
Hiraki Sawa, installation shot of Lineament, dual channel HD video with audio, 18:47 min, 2012.
Shinique Smith’s fabric sculptures bring to mind the way we fashion our identities through clothing, even when her bright bunches of used garments are bunched together and hung from the ceiling. Here, the artist turns her work jeans into a Hans Bellmer-esque assemblage of biomorphic shapes that touch on body image and the sensuous. (At James Cohan Gallery, Chelsea through March 16).
Shinique Smith, Soul Elsewhere, artist’s clothing, fiber-fil and rope, 2013.
