Is Red Grooms a ‘zany genius’ or ‘so much kitsch?’ The New York Times pondered the question in a 2018 profile of the New York-based creator of ‘sculpto-picto-ramas’ – sculptures of New Yorkers and their habitats. Now, visitors to Marlborough Gallery’s exhibition of Grooms’ work from ’74 to the present have the opportunity to consider anew Grooms’ affectionately eccentric characters, such as this dog-walker from 1981. (On view in Chelsea through May 8th).
Seated figures and seats themselves comprise the surprisingly engaging theme of Marc Straus Gallery’s summer group show, which includes Red Grooms’ 1974-5 ‘The Minister of Transportation.’ Long arms languidly crossed and propped up on a skinny knee, the art-deco styled ‘minister’ offers a small case of cigarettes as he puffs away himself atop a parade float featuring images of vehicles on the ground, in the sky and on the water. (On view on the Lower East Side through July 28th).
Though New York artist Red Grooms created this gallery-filling installation replicating an alley near his downtown studio over twenty years ago – to bring some ‘quintessential New York funk’ to Marlborough Gallery’s London location – its shady hustle and bustle and maniacal truck driver still look contemporary. (At Marlborough Gallery’s Lower East Side location through March 23rd.)
Red Grooms, ‘The Alley,’ wood, foam, and mixed media, dimensions variable, 1984-5.
