Inventive use of materials is everything in Karla Black’s huge installation, ‘Includes Use’ at David Zwirner Gallery. Mixing powder paint and plaster, Black covers the gallery floor with a beach of cocoa-like powder separated into curving organic shapes by frilly tucks of toilet paper. The artist resists the term ‘feminine’ to describe her work, but with glitter as the finishing touch, the effect is decidedly pretty. (In Chelsea through March 26th).
British artist Jonathan Callan’s serene white mountain range encases a selection of books on nature (including ‘All About Lions,’ and ‘Bird Neighbors’) in plaster, suppressing knowledge of nature in favor of imitating it. (In ‘The Suspended Line’ at Josee Bienvenu Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 28th).
Jonathan Callan, Range, paper and plaster, 33.85 x 21.25inches, 2012.
Resting on their stately pedestals like exhibits at the Met, late Viennese sculptor Franz West’s candy-colored abstract sculptures may strike a serious pose but still exude nose-thumbing absurdity. (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street location through Dec 13th).
Franz West, Untitled (10 Sculptures), papier-mache, plaster, polyester, gauze, paint, plastic, metal and wood in eleven parts, dimensions variable, 1990-1997.
New York artists Mira Dancy and Sarah Peters compliment each other’s interest in picturing female bodies in a joint show at Asya Geisberg Gallery that pairs Dancy’s energetic expressionist painting with Peter’s pleasingly strange mannerist sculptures. Here, an erotically posed nude in shades of pink, peach and a vivid yellow contrast a composed character exuding thoughtful calm. (In Chelsea through Nov 26th).
Mira Dancy, Dream of the Unicorn Tapestry, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 40 inches, 2014 (left) and Sarah Peters, Portrait with Long Neck, plaster, 13 x 9 x 8 inches, 2014 (right).
John Ahearn’s plaster sculptures have memorably captured moments of New York street life for decades. Chelsea’s Alexander and Bonin Gallery is showing Ahearn’s portrait sculptures from the 1980s, made in his South Bronx studio. Here, a couple share a tight embrace that suggests struggle as much as devotion. (Through Feb 22nd).
Luis and Virginia Arroyo, acrylic on plaster, 19 ¾ x 25 ¾ x 10 3/4, 1980.
