Inspired by a sculpture in a David Cronenberg sci-fi horror film, Dora Budor’s enormous head houses a seating area – a lounge for contemplating the life of the mind and how it can be controlled. (At Ramiken Crucible through June 5th).
Lucas Blalock’s overt manipulation of this odd but banal scene begs the question of why anyone would want to represent chopped sausage at all, never mind as both a photo and a digital rendering. The effect is to put our minds between places –simultaneously in the digital realm and in a stranger’s kitchen. (At Ramiken Crucible on the Lower East Side through May 22nd).
By dividing Ramiken Crucible’s small Lower East Side space into narrow compartments littered with dingy Pepsi cans and wall mounted urethane furniture casts, LA artist Kaari Upson creates a claustrophobic habitat that’s grungy while also strangely tidy. A puffy urethane door and doorstop at the entrance recall the harmless oddness of Claes Oldenburg sculpture. (At Ramiken Crucible through Dec 14th).
Kaari Upson, Untitled, aluminum, 200 aluminum cans, 2014 (foreground). Kaari Upson, Door Stop, urethane, pigment and cement, 2014 (background).
New York artist Elaine Cameron Weir’s latest show ‘Venus Anadyomene’ at the Lower East Side gallery Ramiken Crucible offers an irresistible take on the ancient Greek tale of Venus rising from the sea. Real clamshells with customized neon bring to mind beach-side dive bars while incense rising over a flame adds a spiritual element. (Through April 6th).
Elaine Cameron Weir, installation view of ‘venus anadyomene’ at Ramiken Crucible, March 2014.
Low lighting, almost black paintings, homemade lava lamps and furniture made of pretzel shapes give New York artist Catharine Ahearn’s solo show at Ramiken Crucible the feeling of a cartoonish robbers’ den in Bavaria. For sheer inventiveness, it’s a standout on the Lower East Side gallery scene. (Through Dec 22nd).
Catharine Ahearn, Couch, rebar, aquaresin, acrylic, salt, 2013; and Lamp, rebar, aquaresin, acrylic, salt, 2013.
