Brooklyn-based artist Ruby Sky Stiler takes the seated nude to a new level with her ten-foot tall female figure. Carved from foam, its stepped form nevertheless suggests weighty ancient architecture embellished with images of power-wielding women. (At Nichelle Beauchene on the Lower East Side through Oct 6th)
Ruby Sky Stiler, Seated Woman, foam, acrylic resin, thermal adhesive, 2013.
Considering the profuse detail of the 2-D collages, floor covering and pencil-studded ceiling of his installation at Chelsea’s Lyons Wier Gallery, it comes as no surprise that Greg Haberny was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. The frustration of a childhood defined by medicines and misdiagnoses comes through loud and clear. (Through October 5th).
Greg Haberny, installation view of ‘Burn all Crayons’ at Lyons Wier Gallery, Sept 2013.
To some, Leslie Hewitt’s conceptual photography will be maddeningly vague, to others, enticingly elusive. Propped against the wall as if it were an object or sculpture, it displays one book with its spine facing us – James Baldwin’s essays on race, ‘The Fire Next Time.’ This incendiary text rests next to a cooling lemon, an art historical symbol of mortality and moderation. (At Sikkema Jenkins & Co in Chelsea, through Oct 5th).
Leslie Hewitt, Untitled (Perception), Still Life Series, digital c-print in custom maple frame, 2013.
New York artist Adam Marnie presents a mediated flash-back with his solo show at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery by removing the bottom two feet of drywall from the gallery’s walls, recalling the scene after Hurricane Sandy last October. Nearby interlocking cubes recall 60s minimalist ideas about art being a physical experience; but what happens to interpretation if the physical space of the gallery is altered by disaster? (Through Oct 5th).
Adam Marnie, Inward Object I, maple, wood putty spray paint, 2013.
British artist Phil Collins set up a phone booth in a German homeless shelter and offered its guests a deal – in exchange for free local and international calls, they allowed the artist to record their conversations and commission songs from the transcripts. At Tanya Bonkadar Gallery, visitors are invited to listen to the results in individual sound booths. (In Chelsea through October 19th).
Phil Collins, installation view of ‘my heart’s in my hand and my hand is pierced, and my hand’s in the bag, and the bag is shut, and my heart is caught,’ sound installation, 2013.
