Tag: tribeca

Mernet Larsen at James Cohan Gallery

Fascinated for decades by Post-Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne, painter Mernet Larsen applies her own delightfully eccentric perspectival distortions to her French forebear’s iconic imagery in new work at James Cohan Gallery.  Larsen diversifies the cast of characters in ‘The Bathers (after Cezanne)’ adding bikinis to figures more robotic than robust and emphasizing artificiality in the human figures that replace Cezanne’s stabilizing triangle of trees in the original. A diving figure heading into flat waves akin to the slats in Japanese Bunraku puppet theater (which allow figures to move through water) and a woman to the left literally holding up the top of the painting add dynamism and complexity.  By alluding to Cezanne but shifting away from his focus and results, Larsen emphasizes the choices behind a painting’s design and nods to the many iconic painters who have moved beyond inspiration to find their own unique results.  (On view in Tribeca through March 16th).

Mernet Larsen, The Bathers (after Cezanne), acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 59 ¼ x 39 ½ inches, 2023.

Gerald Lovell at PPOW Gallery

Tourist photos of Cala Deia in Mallorca tend to focus on the picturesque geometries of limestone houses rising on the island’s hills.  New York-based painter Gerald Lovell’s on-the-ground version of the age-old village at PPOW Gallery instead ushers viewers up a hilly street.  Embraced between a rocky outcrop on the right and the warm tan colors of the buildings on the left, greenery on one side and characteristic green shutters on the other, a pedestrian might feel the upward pull of the narrow lane toward more discoveries. Lovell’s current solo show features paintings of his friends as well as his recent travels and, he explains, celebrates the life he is getting to live.  (On view in Tribeca through March 9th).

Gerald Lovell, Portals (Cala Deia), oil on pastel, 60 x 48 inches, 2024.

Richard Mosse at Jack Shainman Gallery

Even in the dark, Jack Shainman Gallery’s new Tribeca space looks stunning, its vast hall accommodating Richard Mosse’s film ‘Broken Spectre, an extraordinary warning-cry against ongoing environmental devastation in the Amazon.  Shown on a 60’ wide screen and toggling between ariel views of the landscape, on-the-ground footage of people involved in rainforest clearing, mining and agri-business, and microscopic views of minute ecosystems on the forest floor, Mosse catalogues the destruction using technology – multi-spectral video, infrared film and UV microscopy – that provides unique views of the environment.  Alarming and beautiful, Mosse’s film is the culmination of two years of work in the Amazon and, along with Ben Frost’s powerful soundtrack, is a persuasive argument for action.  (On view in Tribeca through March 16th).

Richard Mosse, installation of Broken Spectre at Jack Shainman Gallery, 2024.

Constanza Schaffner at Luhring Augustine Gallery

Constanza Schaffner goes eye to eye with a friendly lion, laughs with abandon and basks in the light in new, fantastical self-portraits at Luhring Augustine Gallery’s Tribeca space.  Here, the shadow of a large flower falling over Schaffner’s face adds complexity to her appearance while the light from another planetary orb illuminates from behind.  Alongside her, her hair transforms into swirling glyphs and her uncovered shoulders come alive in a multi-color pattern of yellow, peach and blue tones that take her far from traditional portraiture into a place of inventive freedom.  (On view through March 2nd ).

Constanza Schaffner, Un canto que atravieso, oil on linen, 90 x 70 inches, 2023.

Madeline Hollander at Bortolami Gallery

Initially trained as a ballet dancer, Madeline Hollander incorporates movement into her artistic practice in surprising and delightful ways.  Her current solo show at Bortolami Gallery in Tribeca titled ‘Entanglement Choreography’ presents a grid of six mirrored pods on round pedestals which at first glance belie the magic of peering inside.  Each sculpture houses a tiny rotating dancing figure, abstracted like a Matisse nude, which at a certain angle appears to both float above the pod and be contained within it.  Nodding in the title to the notion in physics of quantum entanglement, when two separate particles demonstrate a connection with each other as if moving as if in a dance, Hollander’s partners manifest what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance.’ (On view in Tribeca through March 2nd).

Madeline Hollander, Entanglement Choreography VI (figs. 6, 12, 18, 24), 24 x 24 x 32 ½ inches, 2023.