Tag: pattern

Celia Vasquez Yui at Salon94

Artist and activist Celia Vasquez Yui’s ceramic sculptures of animals in the Peruvian Amazon are arranged at Salon94 in a mini amphitheater, forming a gathering she calls the ‘Council of the Mother Spirits of the Animals.’ Speakers in the gallery play invocations sung by healers whose intention is to heal the assembled deer, monkeys, jaguars and other animals, encouraging them to hold their own against endangerment.  Here, two playful deer are ornamented with kene, elaborate abstract designs that speak to harmony in nature.  (On view on the Upper East Side through March 5th).

Celia Vasquez Yui, (right) Venado Blanco, coil-built pre-fire slip-painted clay and vegetal resins, 24 ¼ x 26 x 10 inches, 2020 and (left) Venado, coil-built pre-fire slip-painted clay and vegetal resins, 14 x 13 x 21 inches, 2021.

Robert Kushner at DC Moore Gallery

Celebrated Pattern and Decoration artist Robert Kushner wears his heart on his sleeve in his latest solo show titled ‘I Heart Matisse’ at DC Moore Gallery in Chelsea.  Strong pattern and bright color dominate still lives that include ceramics and textiles in his collection.  By mentally inhabiting Henri Matisse’s light-drenched South of France style, Kushner not only pays homage but celebrates optimism and pleasure in nature and creativity.  (On view through June 19th).

Robert Kushner, Birthday Party Steuben Vase and Oranges, oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, 2021.

Warren Isensee at Miles McEnery Gallery

In a recent review, New York Times critic Robera Smith praised Warren Isensee’s new abstract paintings at Miles McEnery Gallery for having ‘taken a sharp turn for the better’ citing a new energy that almost transcends paint on canvas.  Isensee’s ‘Skin and Bones,’ pictured here, leaps off the wall, turning color and shape into subject matter and sending the viewer’s eye bouncing around the picture’s lively geometry. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 28th.  Appointments are not necessary but masks and social distancing are required.)

Warren Isensee, Skin & Bones, oil on canvas, 50 x 50 inches, 2020.

Philip Taaffe at Luhring Augustine Gallery

Philip Taaffe’s latest body of work serves up an almost overpowering optical experience, even seen in detail, as in this segment of a painting at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine Gallery.  Inspired by natural history and Japanese paper-working technique that involves dipping folded paper in strong dyes, this mixed media artwork favors a grid format that suggests orderly structuring of knowledge even while unleashing wild coloring.  (On view through Dec 21st).

Philip Taaffe, detail from Interzonal Leaves, mixed media on canvas, 111 11/16 x 83 11/16 inches, 2018.

Nick Cave at Jack Shainman Gallery

Nick Cave’s mixed media sculptures at Jack Shainman Gallery look like soft, dyed fur, but the reality is more somber.  Patterns painted on short, sharp wires portray what the gallery reveals is a “…layered mapping of cataclysmic weather patterns superimposed onto brain scans of black youth suffering from PTSD as a result of gun violence.”  (On view on 20th Street in Chelsea through June 23rd).

Nick Cave, Tondo, mixed media including wire, bugle beads, sequined fabric and wood, 96 inches diameter, 2018.