Rackstraw Downes at Betty Cuningham Gallery

Concrete embraces nature in this painting of a ‘disprized’ location by New York artist Rackstraw Downes at Betty Cuningham Gallery.  From a seemingly unremarkable spot under a u-turn ramp, Downes considers what and how the eye really sees and how a ‘forgotten’ place might yield a bit of wonder.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 14th).

Rackstraw Downes, Under a U-Turn on the Ramp from the George Washington Bridge to the Rte. 9A North, oil on canvas, 23 ½ x 37 inches, 2013.

Rackstraw Downes at Betty Cunningham Gallery

To celebrate the publication of Rackstraw Downes’ writings since 1983, Betty Cunningham Gallery has curated an exhibition of his work, including this typically ordinary landscape made remarkable by whizzing wires and rising radio towers that strain to burst out of the frame. (In Chelsea through May 3rd).

Rackstraw Downes, At the Confluence of Two Ditches Bordering a Field with Four Radio Towers, oil on canvas, 46 x 48 inches, 1995. (Collection of Louis-Dreyfus Family).