Tag: purity

Rachel Lee Hovnanian at Leila Heller Gallery

A huge, flawless bar of soap in Carrara marble acts as an icon of purity in Rachel Lee Hovnanian’s current solo show at Leila Heller Gallery.  The third in a series of consecutive exhibitions by the artist at this Chelsea gallery, the show encourages introspection and the chance to ‘clean up’ some mental baggage.  Assistant by gallery staff, a visitor can write down something (s)he’d like to eliminate from her/his life on one of the cast plaster soaps stacked against the gallery wall, then smash the soap with a mallet.  (On view in Chelsea through July 20th).

Rachel Lee Hovnanian, PURE Marble Large, carrara marble, 15 x 10 ½ x 3 ¾ inches, ed of 8, 2018.

Subodh Gupta at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

The star of Subodh Gupta’s exhibition at Hauser & Wirth is this fountain, titled, ‘This is not a fountain,’ apparently in deference to Magritte’s pipe and Duchamp’s notorious 1917 urinal. Like those works, it begs the question of what’s original and what’s a copy. A constant flow of recycled water cascades over an accumulation of pots and pans used in daily life in India simultaneously suggesting individual lives and the sameness of a common culture. (In Chelsea through April 18th).

Subodh Gupta, ‘This is not a fountain,’ old aluminum utensils, water, painted brass taps, PVC pipes, motor, 2011-13.