Tag: lehmann maupin

Nari Ward at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Shining copper panels shaped like the squares of a sidewalk, marked with outlines of candles and other items left by mourners on a street memorial are beautiful reminders of the terrible cost of the pandemic and of racially-motivated violence in Nari Ward’s latest solo show at Lehman Maupin Gallery.  Downstairs, four text-based works in one of his signature materials – hanging shoelaces – cite songs, poetry and the Emancipation Proclamation.  ‘What’s Going On,’ references Marvin Gaye’s 1971 song, inspired by US involvement in Vietnam and the civil unrest in Watts.  In the past, Ward has collected shoelaces from museum visitors to make word-based installations, establishing an association with the personal that brings the text closer to home.  (On view in Chelsea through June 4th).

Nari Ward, What’s Going On, shoelaces, 78 x 81.5 x 1 inch, 2022.

Helen Pashgian at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Visitors to Light and Space artist Helen Pashgian’s show of new work at Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery are invited to sit on benches to appreciate disk-shaped sculptures that appear to hover over pedestals in the gallery, while other pieces require movement to be appreciated. The second scenario applies with this untitled cast epoxy with formed acrylic sphere, which reveals or conceals bands of color as the visitor moves before it.  Designed to reveal how perception of a single object or phenomenon can shift, Pashgian’s invites viewers to delight in the nuances of seeing.  (On view through Jan 8th).

Helen Pashgian, Untitled, cast epoxy with formed acrylic elements, 7 inches diameter, 2020.

Arcmanoro Niles at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Arcmanoro Niles’ first solo show at Lehmann Maupin Gallery opens with this oil, acrylic and glitter image of a contemplative man, raising his eyebrows at the viewer or maybe at life itself. Titled ‘Hey Tomorrow, Do You Have Some Room For Me: Failure Is A Part Of Being Alive,’ the show looks hopefully to the future while acknowledging the challenges and temptations of life now. With this image, Niles takes a scene from everyday life and turns it electric with red and pink tones and glitter accents; at the bottom and right, he adds sketchily drawn figures that represent the pleasuring seeking id, begging the question of how these interlopers will effect the tranquil domestic life pictured. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 27th.)

Arcmanoro Niles, I Thought Freedom Would Set Me Free (And You Gave Me A Song), oil, acrylic and glitter on canvas, 70 x 50.5 x 2 inches, 2020.

Shirazeh Houshiary at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Painting from a self-described ‘birds eye view,’ London-based artist Shirazeh Houshiary applies layers of water and pigment along with colored pencil lines to her canvas in a labor-intensive process that lends a sublime effect to her monumental abstractions.  In this detail image from the over 17 feet long ‘Feel,’ now on view at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, vivid contrasts of red and black are a portent for unknown events of obvious consequence.  (On view through May 28th.  Masks and social distancing are required).

Shirazeh Houshiary, Feel, Pigment, pencil, and black aquacryl on canvas and aluminum, 74.8 x 212.6 inches, 2019.

Billie Zangewa at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Titled ‘Wings of Change’ rather than ‘winds,’ Billie Zangewa’s new body of work at Lehmann Maupin Gallery speaks to the importance of personal renewal and of hope in the face of difficult times.  Created by hand-stitching pieces of silk together on larger, fragmentary surfaces, perfection is not the goal.  Rather, each work acknowledges life’s messiness (all were made during the pandemic) and features Zangewa and her son continuing to build their life together at home.  (On view in Chelsea through Nov 3rd).

Billie Zangewa, Heart of the Home, hand-stitched silk collage, 53.5 x 43.25 inches, 2020.