Terry Haggerty at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

It’s risky to take too long a look at Sikkema Jenkins & Co’s gallery wall – British abstract artist Terry Haggerty’s mural can literally upend your balance as his painted lines appear to twist and bend in space.  The optical surprises continue in painted wooden panels that invite us to try to make out the multiple viewpoints depicted in each piece.  Whether you walk away with a headache or invigorated by the effort of wrestling with your perceptions, the show is worth engaging.  (On view in Chelsea through June 30th).

Terry Haggerty, Untitled, acrylic on wall, dimensions variable, 2019.

Claudia Comte at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

Swiss artist Claudia Comte makes walls the focus of her latest solo show at Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery, nodding to US politics, cave paintings and installations like Sol LeWitt’s rule-based wall drawings.  Destined to be popular on Instagram as selfie-backdrops, the show reinforces Comte’s wish to make art not just for the art world elite but for everyone.  (On view on 24th Street through Feb 16th).

Claudia Comte, back wall: The Morphing Scallops (black on white) and right wall: Half Circles in a Grid (black on white) acrylic wall painting, dimensions variable, 2019.

Duke Riley at the Queens Museum of Art

Located in the same room as the Queens Museum’s model of New York City’s water system, Duke Riley’s ‘That’s What She Said’ is a commissioned work warning against misuse of a precious natural resource. To the left, an Egyptian goddess creates the waters that flow down into a landscape destroyed by power plants and the indifference of its inhabitants. (Through Jan 1, 2017).

Duke Riley, installation view of ‘That’s What She Said,’ at the Queens Museum of Art, July 2016.
Duke Riley, installation view of ‘That’s What She Said,’ at the Queens Museum of Art, July 2016.

Cey Adams at Jane Lombard Gallery

Designer Cey Adams – former street artist and Founding Creative Director of Def Jam Recordings – memorializes victims of random gun violence in this site-specific mural at Chelsea’s Jane Lombard Gallery. (Through August 12th).

Cey Adams, Fallen Stars of Random Gun Violence in America, latex, spray paint, site-specific mural, 252 x 104 inches, 2016.
Cey Adams, Fallen Stars of Random Gun Violence in America, latex, spray paint, site-specific mural, 252 x 104 inches, 2016.