Tag: tribeca galleries

Cynthia Talmadge at Bortolami Gallery

The streetscape in this painting by Cynthia Talmadge at Bortolami Gallery is a rendition of the gallery’s actual Tribeca location, but created in a pointillist painting style, the place doesn’t quite seem real.  Appropriately, each picture depicts a scene in the imagined life of ‘Alan Smithee,’ a pseudonym used in place of a real film director’s name when (s)he has lost creative control of a film and disowns it.  Talmadge pictures Smithee in various Hollywood haunts (the Scientology Celebrity Center, the Beverly Hilton) and later in New York as he ditches his west coast lifestyle and disastrous film career in favor of a shot at Broadway.  Redemption eludes Smithee but the story – also told with details of Smithee’s life on the cover of various issues of Playbill – entices with its conflict between big dreams and dashed hopes.  (On view in Tribeca through Feb 25th).

Cynthia Talmadge, Maserati (39 Walker), oil and canvas with wood frame, 30 x 24 inches, 2022.

Ryan Sullivan at 125 Newbury

Ryan Sullivan’s abstractions invite viewers on a process of discovery in new work at 125 Newbury; what appear to be relatively straightforward non-representational paintings are in fact complicated images created by both chance and forethought.  Sullivan’s working technique is key.  Using pigment suspended in industrial grade resin, the artist makes the paintings ‘backward,’ by laying down the marks that will be seen on the surface, then continuing to add on the background layers, eventually moving the piece from its frame once set.  As much sculpture as painting, the untitled pieces foreground our own exploration of how to interpret what we’re encountering in each dynamic and complex composition.  (On view in Tribeca through Jan 28th).

Ryan Sullivan, Untitled, cast urethane resin, fiberglass, epoxy, 88 ¾ x 79 ¾ inches, 2022.

Tau Lewis at 52 Walker

Six monumental heads tower over visitors to Tau Lewis’ installation of totemic sculptures at 52 Walker in Tribeca, offering a conduit to encounter the divine.  Calling Lewis’ new pieces a ‘new mythology’ and a ‘corporeal arena for those who move between temporal and heavenly realms,’ the gallery presents itself as stage for interaction inspired by Yoruban mask dramas in which masks are worn and spiritually activated.  Too large for actual movement, the heads convey a powerful solidity while textures and colors created from Lewis’ use of salvaged textiles nevertheless suggest imminent movement and liveliness.  (On view in Tribeca through Jan 7th.  Note holiday closures this week.)

Tau Lewis, Homonoia, steel, enamel paint, acrylic paint and finisher, repurposed leather and suede, organic cotton twill, and coated nylon thread, 88 ½ x 68 x 26 ¼ inches, 2022.

Studio Job at R & Company

Too large even for the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, this hanging sculpture by Dutch design company Studio Job at R & Company in Tribeca pushes the scale of ornament to the max.  Inspired by the car that designer Job Smeets of Studio Job and his partner Rebecca Sharkey drove across the United States in 2019, the hanging bronze Cadillac Eldorado is one of several sculptures, including a huge light in the form of an Elvis jumpsuit and a breathtakingly dynamic Statue of Liberty set of drawers, that delight as they turn American pop icons into useful design objects. (On view through Jan 27th).

Eldorado, polished, hand-painted bronze, hand-formed glass, and silver and gold leaf, edition of 5 + 2 Aps and prototype, 2020-2022.

Allison Schulnik at PPOW Gallery

Set off against purple and pink walls at PPOW Gallery, Allison Schulnik’s paintings of night visitors to her property in Sky Valley, California convey the mystery and intrigue of the owls, bobcats and foxes that make the desert their home.  The animation ‘Purple Mountain’ – the title piece for the show, created from 675 gouache on paper paintings – features distant San Jacinto Peak in a blaze of glorious light conditions.  By contrast, this bobcat and other animals appear to have been glimpsed briefly in a flash of light against the dark of night; rendered in Schulnik’s signature impasto style, they convey a sense of immediacy and power through their expressive rendering. (On view through Dec 10th).

Allison Schulnik, Water Plate Bobcat #1, oil on canvas stretched over panel, 48 x 60 in, 2021.