Tag: skin

Toyin Ojih Odutola at Jack Shainman

Nigerian American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola’s meticulous, patterned rendering of human skin both attracts admiration and repels understanding of her subjects. In her latest show at Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery, Odutola blocks an easy read on a wall of celebrity portraits by darkening the skin of Caucasian subjects. Here, she treats the skin of two nudes as a decorative surface for a dappled pattern of light and dark color. (Through January 30th).

Toyin Ojih Odutola, Quality Control, marker and pencil on paper, 64 ¾ x 41 15/16 inches, 2015.

Romy Scheroder in ‘Museum Starter Kit’ at El Museo del Barrio

Trinidad-born artist Romy Scheroder explains that she was thinking of the strictures of colonial culture (wood) vs adaptation by the population (rubber bands) in her sculpture Skin (seen here in the background). Despite the serious subtext, two mirrored chairs delight in the foreground with a joyful dance. (At the Museo del Barrio through September 6th).

Romy Scheroder, Mirror, Mirror, found chairs, 2014.