Tag: sikkema jenkins

Leslie Hewitt at Sikkema, Jenkins & Co

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.

Paula Wilson at Sikkema Jenkins

Paula Wilson’s slice of the city street, created in tapestry at Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop and Museum, is a stunner in Sikkema Jenkins’ current summer group show.  Surprisingly erotic architectural details and graffiti are a lively and provocative contrast to boarded up buildings that look as if they’ve seen better days.  (In Chelsea through July 12th.)  

Paula Wilson, ‘Between Two,’ silkscreen pigment, acrylic, felt, paper, canvas, wood block prints, spray paint, steel rod, wood hangers, 2010.

Kara Walker at Sikkema Jenkins

Over the past few years, Kara Walker has moved away from her signature antebellum figures seen in silhouette enacting various barbarisms on each other.  In the back galleries of Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins, they return with vigor and malice, begging the question of what’s changed since they made Walker’s name in the mid-90s.  (Through May 22nd).  

Kara Walker, Wall Sampler 1, cut paper and paint on wall, dimensions variable, 2013.

Jorge Queiroz at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Lisbon-based artist Jorge Queiroz barely allows a human figure to materialize in this psychologically intense painting, but his indistinct human presence turns the abstract shapes in the background into suggestions of places and objects of significance.  (At Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co through March 2nd).  

Jorge Queiroz, Waiting on the Room, oil stick and vinyl ink on canvas, 2012.

Mark Bradford at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

Mark Bradford, We May Be Running Out of a Past, mixed media collage on canvas, 102 x 144 inches, 2012.
Mark Bradford, We May Be Running Out of a Past, mixed media collage on canvas, 102 x 144 inches, 2012.

Mark Bradford is back with more of the mixed media collage/decollage canvases that have made his reputation as a leading contemporary abstract artist, like this mixed media on canvas piece, ‘We May Be Running Out of a Past.’  His latest solo show at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co opened this evening, showcasing eight huge, vibrantly colored pieces that don’t evidence a new direction for the artist but do explain his popularity. (Through Dec 15th .)