This oil on canvas rabbit from 1968 by Pop painter Don Nice shares wall space with a muffin and a chocolate glazed donut at Allan Stone Projects, but at almost four feet high, dare not be considered as dinner. Instead, like a nearby duck or a careful watercolor rendering of an onion, its isolation on the canvas is a bold statement of the here and now. (In Chelsea through April 22nd).
Inspired by his own experiences and memories, New York-based Japanese artist Atsushi Kaga displays over 100 paintings and sculptures in his current show at Jack Hanley Gallery featuring his alter ego, an adventuresome bunny. The creature’s cute quips are engaging, as is his friendship with the bear, though a sad sense of isolation pervades. (On the Lower East Side through July 31st.)
Atsushi Kaga, Like this?, acrylic on board, 15 x 19 cm, 2014.
In a move bound to irk art-lovers who want to see hands-on art making, British conceptual artist Jonathan Monk riffed on Jeff Koons’ fabricated rabbit sculpture by copying it, slightly deflated in 2009. Now, he’s presenting a remake of that piece, but he worked from photos rather than actual measurements of the original, suggesting a tiny measure of creativity or freedom from exactitude. (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through October 18th).
Jonathan Monk, A Copy of Deflated Sculpture No. 1, stainless steel, 40.5 x 23 x 15”, 2014.
Titled ‘Wonder,’ New York artist Kiki Smith’s latest solo show at Pace Gallery includes a magnified sculpture of hoarfrost (along with a rabbit), jacquard tapestries of a nude in a tree and soaring eagles all of which posit nature as a source of astonishment and pleasure. (In Chelsea at Pace’s 510 West 25th St location through March 29th).
Kiki Smith, installation view of ‘Wonder,’ in foreground, ‘Hoarfrost with Rabbit,’ stainless steel, 2014, at Pace Gallery, March 2014.
