Resting on their stately pedestals like exhibits at the Met, late Viennese sculptor Franz West’s candy-colored abstract sculptures may strike a serious pose but still exude nose-thumbing absurdity. (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street location through Dec 13th).
Franz West, Untitled (10 Sculptures), papier-mache, plaster, polyester, gauze, paint, plastic, metal and wood in eleven parts, dimensions variable, 1990-1997.
Working from torn billboard posters, Johannesburg-based artist Kay Hassan created this monumental untitled piece at Jack Shainman Gallery over ten years ago. Explaining that it represented dispossessed people, Hassan points to the eye in the middle as a symbol of looking and praying for justice. (Through Nov 15th).
Kay Hassan, Untitled, paper construction, 268 ½ x 132 inches, 2001-03.
A FedEx worker seems to have delivered more workers in Josh Klein’s recent sculpture at Untitled Gallery on the Lower East Side. The phrase ‘no sick days’ in the title suggests that actual human workers would be a liability. (Through August 1st).
Josh Klein, (foreground) No Sick Days (Fedex Worker’s Head with Fedex Cap), 3 3D-printed sculptures (two seen here) in plaster with inkjet ink and cyanoacrylate, cast urethane foam packing peanuts, vinyl, cardboard, MDF, 27 x 27 x 35 inches, 2014.
Exposed in its confining crib, this body-sized stick of butter (actually beeswax) by American sculptor Robert Gober is perfectly formed but slightly repulsive. Scattered apples, meticulously crafted in wood are all-American (recalling apple pie or Johnny Appleseed) but suggest that temptations lurk from the earliest days of life. (At Matthew Marks Gallery’s 523 West 24th Street location).
Robert Gober, Untitled, wood, paint, beeswax, 50 ½ x 53 ¼ x 28 inches, 1993-2013.
There aren’t many artworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that could be described primarily as ‘fun.’ Anish Kapoor’s ‘Untitled’ from 2007 falls into that category by creating a surprising visual experience as tiny, polished stainless steel tiles on a concave form reflect viewers’ images as a blurry multitude of shapes. London-based Kapoor’s best known works in the US (Chicago’s Cloud Gate, for example) make viewers aware of their surroundings. At the Met, Kapoor’s piece is surprisingly intimate and thoroughly amusing. (On view in the 2nd floor Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries).
