Tag: myth

Ali Banisadr at Sperone Westwater Gallery

From amid sweeping and energetic forms in Ali Banisadr’s painting ‘Myth’ emerge odd faces that suggest a camel (upper left) a clown with a tall, spotted cap (middle left) and a cast of slightly sinister characters. The Iranian born, NY-based artist explained that the paintings in his current show at Sperone Westwater Gallery were inspired by politics in the US; he suggests both mass migration and a barbed wire fence in the sky and a mass of menacing figures in the foreground. (On the Lower East Side through June 24th.)

Ali Banisadr, Myth, oil on linen, 66 x 88 inches, 2016.

 

Kyle Staver at Kent Fine Art

Kyle Staver’s large paintings at Kent Fine Art update legends and classical mythology with panache and humor, but her small terracotta studies stand out for their immediacy. Here, Venus tries unsuccessfully to persuade Adonis not to venture out on his ill-fated hunt in a compressed action scene that casts Venus as a solid earth-mother and Adonis as an ungainly and heedless youth. (In Chelsea through Oct 22nd).

Kyle Staver, Venus and Adonis Study (after Titian), terracotta, 13 x 10 ½ inches, 2016.
Kyle Staver, Venus and Adonis Study (after Titian), terracotta, 13 x 10 ½ inches, 2016.

Kyle Staver at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects

A faintly suggested head of blond hair and delicate facial features on Ganymede as he is abducted by Zeus – an eagle with a wizened expression – succinctly tell an ancient tale in Kyle Staver’s graphically simple, wonderfully imagined reworking of the Greek myth. (At Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects on the Lower East Side through Oct 11th).

Kyle Staver, Ganymede, oil on canvas, 68 x 58 inches, 2015.