Cardboard boxes are an inspired background for Berlin-based artist EVOL’s spray paintings of elements lifted from gritty urban facades. (At Jonathan LeVine Gallery in Chelsea through July 25th).
EVOL, Berliner Luft, spray paint and mixed media on cardboard, 28 11/16 x 36 9/16 inches, 2015.
How do you make a show that’s the ‘antithesis of a white male abstract painting show?’ With inclusiveness and anti-status quo intentions, artist and curator Mae Fatto has hung work by female (and male) artists who push the idea of what abstract art should be – from Wilder Alison’s banner-like work hanging from the rafters to Annabeth Marks’ soft-shaped intense blue canvas to Ana Cardoso’s acrylic and digital print panels stretching up the gallery walls. (At Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side through July 31st).
Installation view of ‘Old Truths and New Lies’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery, July 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.
An overturned boat on an inverted ocean, a neon shape grouped with three dried tobacco leaves and nests made by pet finches are three standout works in Marianne Boesky Gallery’s summer group show ‘Ordering Nature,’ organized by Kelly Woods. Whether they’re seen as collaborations with or manipulations of nature, the show’s ephemeral artworks tread lightly on the natural world, evoking wonder. (On the Lower East Side through July 31st).
Installation view of ‘Ordering Nature’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery’s 20 Clinton Street address on the Lower East Side, July 2015.
Wall mounted sculptures made of cast marble dust by Hudson, NY artist Conor Backman at James Fuentes Gallery feature faux-lichen, suggesting salvaged architectural fragments with hints of possible historical significance. (On the Lower East Side through July 24th).
Conor Backman, installation view at James Fuentes Gallery, July 2015 (foreground: Monday and Sunday, marble dust, resin, cast aquaresin, 2015).
