Hannah Whitaker at Marinaro

New York photographer Hannah Whitaker departs from her usual complex, multiple exposure images in recent straight photographs at Marinaro that employ grids and gradients to create what looks like a digital environment for a lone female character.  Here, a shaft of light illuminates a sliver of her model’s otherwise dark body, suggesting that we’re seeing a fragment of what’s before us.  Imagined as a sister to digital avatars like Siri or Alexa, Whitaker’s new figure questions who our AI characters are and why they’re designed as they are.  (On view in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood through Jan 24th.  Masks and social distancing are required.)

Hannah Whitaker, Orange Eye, Slit, UV printed onto MDF with hand painted edges, 21 x 15 inches, 2019.

Brian Alfred at Miles McEnery Gallery

Would New York be better without the people?  An empty subway entrance at West 4th Street, Rockefeller Center buried by snow and a deserted Coney Island beach – all scenes included in Brooklyn-based painter Brian Alfred’s latest show at Miles McEnery Gallery – suggest that if the city’s human inhabits would step aside, the views would improve.  Here, two city bridges silhouetted by a gorgeous sunrise or sunset may or may not be busy with traffic, but they appear as tranquil as the country-side.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 5th).

Brian Alfred, Two Bridge(s), acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches, 2019.