Tag: light sculpture

Mark Handforth at Luhring Augustine Gallery

Known for adopting materials that resemble urban infrastructure (streetlamps, signage) and manipulating them with apparently Herculean effort into whimsical sculpture, Mark Handforth scales down the size but delivers on delight in a show of new work at Luhring Augustine Gallery in Tribeca.  Tall burnt matchstick sculptures and deliciously candy-colored aluminum columns accompany ‘Harlequin Star,’ a sculpture that appears to be a guardrail casually folded into a star shape with a neon accent.  Handforth has commented on the recurring stars in his work, identifying the shape as something “so recognizable that [it] cease[s] to exist.”  Though its ubiquity may make it mundane, Handforth harnesses unexpected materials and light to make this star a standout.  (On view through July 28th).

Mark Handforth, Harlequin Star, aluminum, prismatic foils and LED light, 80 x 68 x 28 inches, 2023.

Dan Flavin at David Zwirner Gallery

David Zwirner Gallery opened its new five-story, 30,000 square foot gallery with the perfect artwork to highlight architecture by Annabelle Selldorf.  Eight-foot square pieces from Dan Flavin’s 1966-71 ‘European Couples’ series (titled after Europeans he considered influential) turn light into an artistic medium, washing every white wall in color.  (At David Zwirner’s 537 West 20th Street location through March 16).  

Dan Flavin, untitled (to Janet and Allen), pink fluorescent light, 1966-71.

Judy Pfaff at Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery

Judy Pfaff, The Path to the Center Was Clearly Marked, honeycomb cardboard, pigmented expanded foam, melted plastics, fluorescent and incandescent light, 2012.
Judy Pfaff, The Path to the Center Was Clearly Marked, honeycomb cardboard, pigmented expanded foam, melted plastics, fluorescent and incandescent light, 2012.

Judy Pfaff’s new sculptures, on view at Chelsea’s Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery, channel Lynda Benglis’s neon colors and puffy forms, Louise Bourgeois’ or Yayoi Kusama’s profusion of phallic protrusions, and the commanding presence of a more recent wall-mounted Frank Stella.  Yet the profusion of optical seduction is typical Pfaff, as seen in pieces like ‘The Path to the Center was Clearly Marked’ (2012), an over 7ft wide tour de force created from honeycomb cardboard, pigmented expanded form, melted plastics, fluorescent and incandescent light. (Through November 10th.)