Tag: self portrait

Lamar Peterson at Fredericks & Freiser

Is Lamar Peterson sick of painting? As he clutches his stomach in apparent discomfort in this tongue-in-cheek self-portrait, the artist appears to have taken in too much from the dishes of paint littering his bed. His sheets navigate the borders between hard-edge abstraction and messy representation, creating an amusing portrait of the artist uncomfortably inhabiting both styles. (At Chelsea’s Fredericks & Freiser Gallery through March 14th.)

Lamar Peterson, Satin Sheets, oil on canvas, 85 x 57 inches, 2014.

David Kramer at Thierry Goldberg Gallery

Dreaming of escape to a summer rental property, Brooklyn-bound artist David Kramer’s stayed in town prepping this show, which features paintings and a replica of a cabin’s front porch, littered with beer cans. The elephant in the room is this over 9 foot tall self-portrait of the artist as lumberjack whose imaginary might is coincidently paralleled in this image by a gallery staff member cleaning after opening night. (At Thierry Goldberg Gallery on the Lower East Side through October 5th).

David Kramer, Self-Portrait as a Lumberjack, mixed media, 113 x 56 x 26 inches, 2014.

Naotaka Hiro in ‘East Side to the West Side’ at Flag Art Foundation

Split down the middle and at the sides, this cast body in aluminum by LA artist Naotaka Hiro, succinctly describes a divided psyche, even summoning an animal body. The cast negative space between the legs resembles a phallus but was created by absence, making this enigmatic artwork strikingly poignant. (At Flag Art Foundation in Chelsea through August 8th).

Naotaka Hiro, Four-Legged (Toe to Heel), aluminum, wood, 18 x 20 x 65 inches, 2014.

Julie Heffernan at PPOW Gallery

‘Self Portrait as Afterparty’ continues Brooklyn-based painter Julie Heffernan’s ongoing quasi-self-portrait series, here in a post-apocalyptic scenario in which she eschews plates of spaghetti to gather sacks of game.  An abandoned dinner, piles of rocks, some of which have smashed the chairs, and a picture of an exploding volcano suggest that the end of the world has come but this goddess-like survivor can fend for herself.  (At Chelsea’s PPOW Gallery through Nov 16th).  

Julie Heffernan, Self Portrait as After-party, oil on canvas, 2013.