Visitors expecting more of Christian Marclay’s enormously popular video work will get a shock from his latest solo show – a selection of paintings in which silkscreened, Roy Lichtenstein-like cartoon text meets Abstract Expressionist splashes of color. (At Paula Cooper Gallery through Jan 18th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Christian Marclay, Actions: Whaak Plop Plooch Sooosh (No 4), screenprint and acrylic on canvas, 2013.
‘Souci’ (worry) was French conceptual artist Sophie Calle’s mother’s last word, uttered several years ago on her deathbed as she told her daughter not to worry about her. Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery is now showing a selection of Calle’s projects directly or indirectly relating to her mother, including one for which she traveled to the North Pole to bury her mother’s jewelry. While not as powerful as Calle’s last show, it’s a must-see for fans. (Through Nov 16th).
Sophie Calle, installation view of ‘Absence’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, Oct 2013.
When iconic Minimalist/Conceptualist artist Sol Lewitt moved to Italy in the 70s, his palette veered dramatically toward the colorful, evident here in what the New York Times has called ‘2,448 sq ft of visual sumptuousness.’ The huge installation is one of the approximately 1,200 wall drawings the artist conceived of in his lifetime, and is an arresting blast of color and form. (at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through October 12th.
Sol LeWitt, installation view of ‘Wall Drawing #564: Complex forms with color ink washes superimposed,’ (1988) Paula Cooper Gallery, Sept 2013.
In a more intimately-scaled followup to Swiss-American artist Ugo Rondinone’s powerful installation of stone characters at Paula Cooper Gallery this spring, the artist revives his recurring clown figure as a performer at City Hall Park. Even asleep, this character is imposing and mysterious with his colorful nylon costume, collar of feathers and thick shawl. (Through December 13th).
Ugo Rondinone, dog days are over, performance, 1996/2013.
Wayne Gonzales’s past paintings of crowds looked like they were made from surveillance camera footage zeroing in on particular individuals who appear in multiple paintings. Here, in a crowded California parking lot, a recurring SUV turns from being an everyday car to a suspicious vehicle by virtue of being depicted repeatedly from different angles. (At Paula Cooper Gallery’s 534 West 21st Street location through April 27th).
Wayne Gonzalez, Untitled, acrylic on canvas, 2012.
