Ben Sanders in ‘Elysian Redux’ at Asya Geisberg Gallery

Taking an 80s aesthetic as inspiration, Ben Sander’s steel vase is a surprisingly sturdy support for an abstract design of floating shapes and heavily textured lines of lavender paint. Sander’s accompanying 2-D work behind likewise balances the substantial – thick marks resembling giant paint strokes – with unanchored shapes including ping pong and Wiffle balls to offer an amusing musing on taste. (At Chelsea’s Asya Geisberg Gallery through June 25th).

Ben Sanders, Blue Tube Dude, enamel and oil on steel, 16 x 6 inches, 2016 in front of ‘Untitled,’ acrylic on magnet-inlaid MDF, rubber, ping pong balls, Wiffle ball on enameled steel, 28 x 34.5 inches.
Ben Sanders, Blue Tube Dude, enamel and oil on steel, 16 x 6 inches, 2016 in front of ‘Untitled,’ acrylic on magnet-inlaid MDF, rubber, ping pong balls, Wiffle ball on enameled steel, 28 x 34.5 inches.

The Propeller Group at James Cohan Gallery

Vietnam-based artists The Propeller Group make a surprising connection between brass bands in New Orleans and Vietnam in a mesmerizing video created for the New Orleans biennial, Prospect 3. Here, a funeral band wades into the Mekong Delta, making an elaborate journey as they accompany the dead toward the afterlife. (At James Cohan Gallery on the Lower East Side through May 15th).

The Propeller Group, installation view of The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music (2014) at James Cohan Gallery, April 2016.
The Propeller Group, installation view of The Living Need Light, The Dead Need Music (2014) at James Cohan Gallery, April 2016.