Sally Gall’s gorgeous, boldly colored photos bring to mind flowers, sea creatures and fungi; in fact, the billowing organic shapes are laundry items, photographed from under a drying line. The show wonderfully affirms the beauty in the everyday. (At Julie Saul Gallery through Oct 22nd)
Tony Matelli pioneered his hyper-realistic sculptures before the social media era, yet they seem made for photographing and sharing. This bronze sleepwalker is a major traffic-stopper on the High Line not just as an art object in its own right but as a catalyst for audience interaction. (In ‘Wanderlust’ on the High Line through March 2017).
Starting with a solarized photo of water in which the dark tones have turned light, Brooklyn artist Eric Cahan scans and prints each image, attacking it with bleach and altering it in Photoshop. In a time when web users spend just seconds looking at images, Cahan’s practice questions what abstract art should offer the viewer. (At Benrubi Gallery through Aug 22nd).
Installation view of Eric Cahan, ‘Data Mining’ at Benrubi Gallery, July 2015.
Iconic early performance artist Robert Whitman adapts the idea of the ‘talkie’ film to visual art in his latest series, ‘Soundies,’ for which he presents an image and an accompanying sound. The show is great fun, but would anyone want to live with a dripping tap, even as art? (At Pace Gallery’s 57th Street location through May 2nd).
Robert Whitman, Dripping Faucet, color photo, mp3 sound element, wall label, 2015.
Calling it ‘the strongest expression of grief he has ever seen,’ Alfredo Jaar is showcasing an image by the late Dutch photojournalist Koen Wessing as part of his latest NY solo show. Wessing’s image depicts the reaction of two Nicaraguan women to news that their father has been killed in the revolution in 1978. Gradually, their images disappear in an increasingly bright blast of light, often used by Jaar as a metaphor for blindness. (At Galerie Lelong through March 28th).
Alfredo Jaar, Shadows, installation with LED lights, aluminum, video projection and six lightboxes with black and white transparencies, 2014.
