Tag: lisson

Wael Shawky at Lisson Gallery

Egyptian artist Wael Shawky talks of crafting history as a medium, referencing existing texts, historical paintings, poems and more to conjure a new creative product. His latest show at Lisson Gallery takes inspiration from histories of the Arabian peninsula from the 17th century to the present, particularly considering the rapid development of the region’s cities.  Here, a glass structure and a giant palm tree act like beacons atop two hills, situated on a larger blue/green structure alluding to traditional thick-walled Najd architecture in a striking installation alive with opaque allusions.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 19th).

Wael Shawky, The Gulf Project Camp: Glass Sculpture #1, glass, 29 ½ x 31 ½ x 78 5/8 inches, 2019.

Dona Nelson in ‘Painters Reply: Experimental Painting in the 1970s and Now’ at Lisson Gallery

Dona Nelson’s walk around frames turn painting into sculpture, insisting that viewers have access to (and equally value) both front and back.  In ‘Bells,’ blues and greens with a horizontal section of yellow suggest a sunset seen through a window while sections of white canvas deceptively imply transparency.  (On view in Lisson Gallery’s ‘Painters Reply:  Experimental Painting in the 1970s and now through Aug 9th.)

Dona Nelson, Bells, acrylic and acrylic medium on canvas, 80 x 80 inches, 2017.

Polly Apfelbaum in ‘Painters Reply: Experimental Painting in the 19702 and now’ at Lisson Gallery

Why paint?  In 1975, Artforum magazine posited the question to artists at a moment when enthusiasm for more contemporary approaches – from conceptual art to video – seemed to have pushed painting out of the vanguard.  Lisson Gallery’s summer group show visits responses then and now as painters pushed the boundaries of what could be considered painting.  Here, Polly Apfelbaum’s synthetic velvet and dye piece ‘Blue Joni’ takes painting off the stretcher and even off of the wall.  (On view in Chelsea through August 9th).

Polly Apfelbaum, Blue Joni, crushed four way stretch synthetic velvet and dye, 152.4 x 426.7cm, 2016.

Jeanette Mundt in ‘The Rest’ at Lisson Gallery

Jeanette Mundt’s vivid red poppies look anything but innocent in this painting, testifying to the power of the plant as a drug.  Painted from an on-line source, inspired by Van Gogh’s poppies and including a hidden image of a reclining woman, this rich and seductive image speaks to the possibility of multiple sources to reconfigure as a meaningful image.  (On view in ‘The Rest’ at Lisson Gallery through Feb 16th).

Jeanette Mundt, Heroin, oil on linen, 40 x 36 inches, 2018.

Jason Martin at Lisson Gallery

Nearly twenty years after his last New York solo show, British artist Jason Martin is back with limited palette paintings in swathes of oil paint as lush and thick as frosting. (On view at Lisson Gallery’s 24th Street location through Feb 24th).

Jason Martin, Untitled (Olive Green Deep/Graphite Grey), oil on aluminum, 220 x 178 cm, 2017.