The wreckage of international consumer culture continues to inspire sculptures by Italian artists Bertozzi & Casoni, now on view at Sperone Westwater on the Lower East Side. Here, storks nest in stick and tin can nests atop a dismal pillar of old tires and old drums. (Through July 31st).
Bertozzi & Casoni, Composizione n. 12 (Cicogne), glazed ceramic, 137 ¾ x 63 x 60 5/8 inches, 2008.
For his first show in the US, Oslo-based artist Eirik Saether suggests strange, hybrid identities with furry cast feet and hand-stitched skirt. (At 47 Canal on the LES through July 31st.)
Eirik Saether, Staplass (Throat infection), printed silk and textile acrylic on fleece blanket; steel cast polyurethane, fur, dog collar, steel chain, polyester, printed denim, 2015.
In colors that suggest political banners, Dusseldorf-based artist KRIWET created this bold ‘comic strip’ in 1970, using letters to create mental pictures. It is part of the group exhibition ‘All Watched Over’ at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery, which muses on the power of futuristic technology to improve life. (Through Aug 7th)
KRIWET, Comicstrip, 1970.
Ceramic artists Amy Bessone and Matthias Merkel Hess meet in Salon94 Freemans for a two-person show juxtaposing her female torsos, shaped as empty vessels (maybe vases?), and his containers derived from everyday items like paint buckets and wastebaskets. Bessone’s containers pick up on the long association between vessels and the female body in art history, and provocatively change Hess’s work by their proximity. (On the Lower East Side through August 21st).
Installation view of Torsos and Buckets, featuring work by Amy Bessone and Matthias Merkel Hess, July 2015.
Given that Marlborough Gallery’s first show in its Lower East Side space was themed on pizza, an exhibition titled ‘Marlborough Lights’ had to happen sooner or later. Here, Josh Smith’s jack o’ lantern basketball lights the way back to Sadie Laska’s magically glowing, alien-like creature and Oscar Tuazon’s blocky, street-light-like lamp. (Through Aug 1st).
Josh Smith, Illuminated Jackal Lantern Basketball, ceramic, wooden stool, light bulb, socket and wire, ceramic: 8 ½ x 8 ½ inches, 2015.
