Known for adding paint, tile or other materials to the surface of her photographs, Michele Abeles shifts gears in her current show at 47 Canal, offering a surprisingly unmanipulated selection of images reflecting on macabre Halloween traditions. Most of the show’s pictures of ghoulish lawn decorations come across as straightforward documentation of bizarre but unsurprising phenomenon. A few images break through to another level, however, making an inflatable demon or a casually placed, dismembered body part freshly strange. Here, natural materials on the ground contrast sharply with the glowing white paper skeleton, creating a jarring contrast that illuminates the artificiality of the bones. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 3rd. Appointments are encouraged and masks and social distancing are required.)
