Nikki Maloof in ‘Don’t Look Now’ at Zach Feuer Gallery

Brooklyn painter Nikki Maloof stands out in Zach Feuer Gallery’s summer group painting exhibition with this tongue-in-cheek homage to the summer sun, which has tattooed her skin with burns and melded her blond hair with the saturated yellow sky. (In Chelsea through July 26th).

Nikki Maloof, Burn, oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches, 2013.

Kristen Morgin at Zach Feuer Gallery

Once loved, now up on blocks, this childhood relic looks like it’s headed for the dump if it doesn’t disintegrate first. However, like the rest of the work in this unassuming exhibition by LA-based sculptor Kristin Morgin, it’s an eye-teasing triumph made entirely of unfired clay. (At Chelsea’s Zach Feuer Gallery through May 3rd).

Kristen Morgin, Madonna with Tricycle, unfired clay, paint, ink, wood, wire, 20 x 16 x 28 inches, 2013.

Elaine Reichek at Zach Feuer Gallery

In this conceptual artwork from 1990, New York artist Elaine Reichek pairs a source photo of a Native American teepee with her own knitted version of it, picturing a marginalized culture with a marginalized craft.  Does the homey feel of knitted objects connect with the feelings conjured by this home?  Reichek’s unassuming objects ask complicated questions.  (At Zach Feuer Gallery through Dec 21st).  

Elaine Reichek, Painted Blackfoot, knitted wool yarn and oil on gelatin silver print, 1990.

Jon Kessler in ‘Jew York’ at Zach Feuer Gallery

Diversity is the message in Zach Feuer Gallery’s ‘Jew York’ summer group show featuring artists of Jewish descent; one of the standout pieces is kinetic sculptor Jon Kessler’s creepy ‘Magnum Opus,’ a noisy box with a rotating iPad set to show distorted portraits of onlookers.  Powered by a mechanical kid turning a crank, this mish mash of high-tech/low-tech and fakery repulses and amuses.  (In Chelsea through July 26th).  

Jon Kessler, Magnum Opus, mixed media, 2012.