Richard Prince at Gagosian Gallery

“I was trying to imitate or channel what my kids were doing, because, you know, I can draw,” explains iconic appropriation artist Richard Prince of his new body of work ‘High Times.’  Titled after the counterculture magazine, which requested work from Prince for a 2016 cover, the new work is inspired by drawings from the late 90s that aim for immediacy and feeling that studied drawing couldn’t achieve for Prince.  Here, in a piece over 18 x 20 feet, Prince inkjet prints, paints and collages his way into a body of work that overwhelms with manic energy.  (On view at Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street location through Dec 15th).

Richard Prince, installation view of ‘High Times’ at Gagosian Gallery on 21st Street, November, 2018.

‘Shrines to Speed’ at Leila Heller Gallery

As summer travel season rolls around, ‘Shrines to Speed’ at Chelsea’s Leila Heller Gallery acts as something of a cautionary tale. Sylvie Fleury’s smashed and sliced car – covered in nail polish – rests near an ominous pair of van doors by Richard Prince and a crushed Fiat 500 by Ron Arad. All are enticing objects but each undermines the glamor of car culture. (In Chelsea through July 9th).

Sylvie Fleury, Skin Crime 6, crashed car, enamel, 31 x 29 x 141 inches, 1997 in foreground of installation view of ‘Shrines to Speed’ at Leila Heller Gallery, June 2016.
Sylvie Fleury, Skin Crime 6, crashed car, enamel, 31 x 29 x 141 inches, 1997 in foreground of installation view of ‘Shrines to Speed’ at Leila Heller Gallery, June 2016.

Richard Prince at Barbara Gladstone Gallery

Talk about a lonesome cowboy. This solitary bronze figure – cast from a cowboy mannequin and painted – stands completely alone in Barbara Gladstone’s 21st Street space. However, though it looks like a younger relative to the artist’s famously appropriated Marlborough ads from the 80s, a text by Prince calls him ‘a male version of Spiritual America,’ a controversial past work appropriating a photo of a nude Brooke Shields. Is Prince approaching a new taboo with this trigger-happy youngster? (In Chelsea through Oct 30th)

Installation view of ‘Cowboy’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery.