Adam McEwen’s escalator stairs, disassembled and scattered on Gagosian Gallery’s floor are readymades related to movement, though unlike Duchamp’s spinnable bike wheel mounted on a stool, they’re solidly in place. Dedicated to mass transit, their egalitarian nature contrasts an upside down image of a stretch limo, printed on cellulose sponge and hung on the wall behind. (On view at Gagosian Gallery’s 980 Madison Ave 5th floor gallery).
Like finding shapes in the clouds or interpreting a Rorschach inkblot, Roy Lichtenstein’s brushstroke head sculptures from 1987 build a portrait from a few well-placed marks. Though she’s derived from Pop Art and Abstract Expressionist painting techniques, this blond muse rejects painting altogether, manifesting as a 3-D bronze sculpture. (At Castelli Gallery through Jan 28th).
A tree acts as a pedestal for a climbing figure and as a screen to stop us from seeing him or her in this painting by British artist Hurvin Anderson. To continue the theme of seeing and not seeing, the painting mimics the effect of both a photographic positive and negative, offering an ethereal image that considers the limits of perception. (At Michael Werner Gallery on the Upper East Side through Jan 14th).
Mike Kelly makes a tongue-in-cheek jab at determining value in art by bringing two forms into a kind of balance in this pairing at Hauser & Wirth’s Upper East Side space. Part of Kelly’s Memory Ware series, for which he replicated a popular folk art form by covering objects and flat surfaces with beads, shells and other small keepsake items, this sculpture suggests that the force of personality on the right balances the abundance of work on the left. (Through Dec 23rd).
History and abstraction come together in Tomashi Jackson’s hanging panel at Jack Tilton Gallery as the young artist subtly explores ‘color perception’ in terms of abstract painting and race. Amongst mid-20th century geometric designs, Jackson inserts prints of documentary photos relating to landmark court cases disallowing racial segregation. (On the Upper East Side through Dec 23rd).
