Tag: nature

Luiz Zerbini at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

So large it’s an immersive experience just to stand in front of it, Brazilian artist Luiz Zerbini’s painting ‘Dry River’ at Sikkema Jenkins & Co juxtaposes an organizing grid against abundant plant forms.  Drawing inspiration from diverse sources including Brazilian tower blocks and his own personal garden, Zerbini’s practice revels in the abundance of natural design while prompting viewers to consider how human planning does (or does not) coexist harmoniously. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 15th).

Luiz Zerbini, Dry River, acrylic on canvas, triptych: 118 1/8 x 236 ¼ inches, 2022.

John Riepenhoff at Broadway

While traveling the world in his various roles as art dealer, artist, art activist, art impresario, and beer and cheese maker, John Riepenhoff has made time to appreciate the night sky from a variety of vantage points, from urban rooftops to wilderness.  In the latest from his ongoing series of sky paintings created in the dark of night and now on view at Broadway in Tribeca, he continues to configure the heavens in surprising ways, filling canvases with vertical dashes or elliptical forms that suggest a view from inside a rain storm. Blooms of purple-reddish color and scattered flecks of orange or yellow light further encourage appreciation for the wonders of nature.  (On view through July 15th).

John Riepenhoff, Skies, acrylic, flashe and oil on linen, 44 x 50 inches, 2022.

Robyn O’Neil at Susan Inglett Gallery

‘American Animals,’ an uncannily orderly yet apocalyptic vision of the heads of white men subsumed by waves of water or hair, dominates Robyn O’Neil’s current solo show at Susan Inglett Gallery.  Known for drawings that feature multitudes of middle-aged men wreaking various kinds of havoc, O’Neil suggests with this enormous drawing that the men are receiving their comeuppance, perhaps from a feminine force engulfing them with hair or from nature, overcoming them with waves of water.  Who are the men?  Why is their response to calamity so strangely passive?  O’Neil keeps us guessing with provocative questions. (On view in Chelsea through June 4th).

Robyn O’Neil, American Animals, graphite on canvas, 103 x 140 inches, 2020 – 2022.

Xiao Wang at Deanna Evans Projects

In an Instagram post, Brooklyn-based artist Xiao Wang wrote, “I consider adding highlights as one of the most joyful moments in painting.”  The pleasure is all ours in observing the light as it illuminates the gingko leaves and rests on his model’s cheek in this standout piece from the artist’s solo show at Deanna Evans Projects. Featuring moody, nighttime paintings populated by young people, semi-obscured by plants and bouquets, the new paintings make nature an active participant in each scene.  (On view in Tribeca through May 28th).

Xiao Wang, Streetlight, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches, 2021.

David Aipperspach at Chart Gallery

The paintings in Philadelphia-based artist David Aipperspach’s current solo show at Tribeca’s Chart Gallery, ‘Prologue to a Garden Dark’ anticipate the slow end of a summer’s day by blending light and color from different times in a single scene. At the show’s entrance, a small painting tracks the path of the sun as it sinks though a grid of darkening colors, acting as a Rosetta stone for the same color shifts that appear in rectangles of stacked colors inset in the paintings.  Acting as ‘clocks,’ the rectangles break into tranquil scenes, acting as abrupt reminders of the passage of time.  (On view through April 30th in Tribeca).

David Aipperspach, 4-7pm, oil on canvas, 84 x 72 inches, 2021.