Tag: mask

Sanford Biggers at Marianne Boesky Gallery

‘Meet me on the Equinox,’ the title of Sanford Biggers’ show at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea deliberately evokes a point of convergence between different places or ideas, appropriate for new work that combines objects from a mix of cultures.  Pieces like this marble, wood and textile sculpture titled The Repatriate, continue Biggers’ interest in combining artifacts with different backgrounds, in this case a mask that is itself a collage of various African masks, a wooden platform inspired by bases of roadside shrines in Asia and beyond, and quilts that recall stories of textiles used to send messages on the Underground Railroad.  As its title suggests, Biggers explains that he was thinking of objects with identities that have been altered by context; as ownership changes, identity continues to evolve.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 14th).

Sanford Biggers, The Repatriate, green marble and antique quilts on custom cedar plinth, 73 x 24 x 24 inches overall, unique within a series, 2023.

John Edmonds at Brooklyn Museum of Art

At first glance, one figure dominates John Edmonds’ photograph ‘Two Spirits,’ a standout in his gorgeous solo show at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.  However, a soft area on the model’s light-bathed right shoulder and the shifting finger and thumb of his left hand testify to the film’s double exposure, a technique that adds to the abundant doubling taking place in the image. While the title is a term referring to nonbinary people, and Dan masks traditionally can shift identity when worn in performance, Edmonds brings to mind a third doubling by citing Ibeji, the Yoruba deity associated with twins.  (On view through Aug 8th.  Masks, social distancing and advance tickets required).

John Edmonds, Two Spirits, archival pigment photograph, 2019.

Hung Liu in ‘Prayers to Urns’ at Nancy Hoffman Gallery

As a new year approaches and many hope for better times ahead, west coast painter Hung Liu marks time in a personal and captivating way in two new paintings at Nancy Hoffman Gallery.  Every twelve years, at the start of the Chinese zodiac and in the Year of the Rat in which she was born, the artist creates a self-portrait paired with an important symbolic animal or object.  In 2020, the most recent year of the rat, the artist marks her 72nd year with an image of herself draped in and masked by the US flag, a contrast to the red scarf she wears in her 1972 portrait as she lived through China’s Cultural Revolution.  To the right, she repeats a five-stroke Chinese character to recall the prisoner’s act of marking time in strokes on the wall.  (On view through Jan 2nd in Chelsea.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Hung Liu, Ray Year I: Counting Down, oil on linen, mixed media on wood, 64 x 100 inches, 2020.

Jack Whitten at Hauser & Wirth

Pain and promise are embodied in one of the most beautiful and sobering artworks in Hauser & Wirth’s exhibition of late artist Jack Whitten’s paintings from the ‘90s.  A tribute to the children killed in the 1995 mass shooting, ‘Mask III:  For the Children of Dunblane, Scotland’ memorializes lost lives in a blaze of color created with chips of acrylic paint fashioned together in Whitten’s signature collage-like technique.  Honoring the dead and acting as witness, Whitten galvanizes his audience to resist what’s wrong and unify for higher purpose.  (On view through Jan 23rd).

Jack Whitten, Mask III: For the Children of Dunblane, Scotland, acrylic and recycled glass on canvas, 1996.

Viola Frey in ‘The Circle’ at Nancy Hoffman Gallery

Late California-based sculptor Viola Frey’s huge standing man is a highpoint of the Whitney’s current exhibition rethinking the presence of craft in fine art; three tondos by the iconic artist at Nancy Hoffman Gallery are a more human-scaled exploration of humanity.  This strikingly colorful, theatrical character whose face resembles a tragedy mask, holds a circular form that appears to be a plate or similar artwork, suggesting a tongue-in-cheek portrait of an artist.  (On view in ‘The Circle’ through Jan 30th).

Viola Frey, Untitled (Mask with Pink and Orange Arms), ceramic, 26 inch diameter, 2001-02.