Tag: nicole eisenman

Nicole Eisenman at Print Center New York

Known as a painter, Nicole Eisenman’s forays into sculpture over the past few years have earned her accolades in gallery shows and the 2019 Whitney Biennial; now, her decade-long experimentation with printmaking is the subject of an informative and visually gratifying show at the Print Center New York.  Emphasizing process and creativity, a series of eight prints made during stages of the creation of the 2012 etching ‘Watermark’ illustrate her progress.  Here in the final version, Eisenman brings us into the intimacy of her family home, complete with her mother, father and her two children who read books at center.  We see the scene through Eisenman’s eyes as she eats from a bowl and looks out over a room alive with unspoken thoughts.  (On view through May 13th).

Nicole Eisenman, Watermark, etching and aquatint, ed of 25, printed and published by Harlan & Weaver, New York, 2012.

Nicole Eisenman’s ‘Abolitionists’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Nicole Eisenman’s monumental painting ‘The Abolitionists in the Park’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery in late spring/early summer was a highlight of Chelsea gallery tours; you can see it again in the Met Museum’s permanent collection, a recent acquisition thanks to the Green Family Art Foundation Gift.  At over 10 feet tall, it towers over visitors, inviting us into a scene of protesters gathered outside City Hall in downtown Manhattan during the summer of 2020.  Featuring an array of characters, from figures in shades of blue eating pizza to an entirely red-toned figure lounging in front, Eisenman meets and disrupts expectations of large-scale history painting while taking the genre up to the present moment. (On view in the Mezzanine gallery).

Nicole Eisenman, The Abolitionists in the Park, oil on canvas, 127 x 105 inches, 2020-22.

Nicole Eisenman at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

Things don’t look good for this couple, whose lives have literally come crashing together in this monumental painting by Nicole Eisenman at Chelsea’s Hauser and Wirth Gallery.  Though the flying cyclist and tumbling cat rescuer look as if they’re going to be injured, their faces are impassive, lacking even a hint of regret or fear and the title – Destiny Riding Her Bike – reveals that resistance would be useless.  In a profile article in The New Yorker, Eisenman connected the scene to their own romantic partnership; swirling patterns and intense colors in the landscape speak to the intensity of this couple’s relationship.  (On view through July 29th).

Nicole Eisenman, Destiny Riding Her Bike, oil on canvas, 127 x 105 inches, 2020.

Nicole Eisenman in ‘If Only Bella Abzug Were Here’ at Marc Straus Gallery

Masks populate the mask-like features of ‘Whatever Guy,’ a portrait by Nicole Eisenman of a zoned-out and alienated character. (At Marc Straus Gallery through July 29th).

Nicole Eisenman, Whatever Guy, oil on canvas, 2009, 82 x 65 inches, 2009.
Nicole Eisenman, Whatever Guy, oil on canvas, 2009, 82 x 65 inches, 2009.

Nicole Eisenman at Anton Kern Gallery

The woman at the center of Nicole Eisenman’s portraits ‘Weeks on the Train,’ (the writer Laurie Weeks) is casually posed, but commands an unusually large amount of room. The space creates an aura around her and gives her a sense of approachability that eludes the two oddballs seated in front of her. (At Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea through June 25th).

Nicole Eisenmann, Weeks on the Train, oil on canvas, 82 x 65 inches, 2015.
Nicole Eisenman, Weeks on the Train, oil on canvas, 82 x 65 inches, 2015.