Mark Dion’s latest show is for the birds, which is to say that the centerpiece, a huge cage housing a selection of books related to birds and their predators along with several zebra finch and canaries, is intended as a gift to our feathered friends. The birds seem to be more concerned about nest building and communicating with each other than in reading, leaving the literature to humans and reinforcing Dion’s point that it’s always about us. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through April 16th).
It’s important to know but hard to guess how New York artist Lisa Oppenheim sources the materials she uses to make her images – in this case, swirling clouds or monstrous faces that emerge from book matched wood. Using a thin sheet of veneer from Eastern Red Cedar, the artist created a camera-less photogram, which she then framed in Eastern Red Cedar and in birch, a wood used to imitate cedar. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 20th).
Lisa Oppenheim, Landscape Portraits (Eastern Red Cedar)(Version I), set of four silver gelatin photograms in Eastern Red Cedar and Birch frames, 51 5/8 x 55 inches, 2015.
This two-part sculpture by Dutch artist Mark Manders looks
like a portrait of a girl with a split personality; it’s actually a recent
addition to Manders’ years-long project to create an ongoing ‘self-portrait’ in
the form of scaled-down built environments, stylized animals and androgynous
human figures. Here, bronze figures
painted to look like unfired clay occupy a gallery wrapped in plastic sheeting,
as if the creative process has just halted. (At Tanya Bonkadar Gallery in
Chelsea through Dec 19th.)
Mark Manders, Room with Unfired Clay Figures, painted
bronze, iron, wood, offset print on paper, 93 3/8 x 141 ½ x 51 inches,
2011-2015.
Toronto-based artist Roula Partheniou makes her NY debut in a group show inspired by Gertrude Stein’s text ‘Tender Buttons’ in which strange objects come together and ordinary objects are not as they seem. Here, a selection of dated items – an old board game, floppy disks and a film canister – speak to technology’s quick transformation of everyday stuff. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through July 31st).
Roula Partheniou, Packed Boxes with Clutter, acrylic and enamel paint on wood and MDF, flocking on foam balls, 54 x 28 x 28 inches, 2015.
In her latest photo series, ‘In the Company of Mothers,’ British artist Hannah Starkey portrays young urban moms as tender, nurturing and chic – perfect for celebrating Mother’s Day today. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through May 25th)
Hannah Starkey, Untitled, July 2012, c-print, 2012.
