Inspired by the cave systems of Vinales, Cuba, Teresita Fernandez’s glimmering semi-abstract ceramic mosaic pictures a lush cave interior with the suggestion of human figures in elemental interactions with nature. (At Lehmann Maupin through Dec 31st).
Teresita Fernandez, Vinales (Subterranean), glazed ceramic, 72 x 144 x 1.5 inches, 2015.
Like Claes Oldenburg’s Ray Gun series, for which he gathered found objects that had a gun-like shape, Daniel Hesidence’s latest series of paintings – subtitled ‘Summer’s Gun’ – tempt his audience into a game of looking for and interpreting the various forms that take center stage against heavily textured backgrounds. Set among calming, green-tones, an arrow-head or skull-like shape dominates this image, suggesting a still partially buried archaeological find. (At Canada NY on the Lower East Side through Jan 6th).
Daniel Hesidence, Untitled (Summer’s Gun), oil on canvas, 59 x 78 inches, 2015.
Using skins of dried, peeled paint as a collage material, Angel Otero adheres color to his canvas in fleshy pinks and mustard yellows that recall deKooning’s sensuous Pink Angels tempered by a cooler palette. (At Lehmann Maupin on the Lower East Side through Dec 31st).
Angel Otero, Come Sleep with Me: We Won’t Make Love, Love will Make Us, oil paint and fabric collaged on canvas, 96 x 72 x 2.5 inches, 2015.
Stones gathered from an urban beach in Port Dickson, Malaysia rest alongside prints created from a huge variety of German potatoes in Australian artist Simryn Gill’s latest solo show at Tracy Williams, Ltd. Both projects suggest nature’s overlooked abundance. (On the Lower East Side through Jan 10th).
Simryn Gill, Foreground: Untitled, stones collected from one of the few remaining urban beaches in the town of Port Dickson, 8 wooden tables, 29 1/2 x 72 x 144 inches, 2015. Background: Let Them Eat Potatoes, 182 Louis Vuitton writing inks on Gmund paper, 24 x 17 inches each, 2014.
Gil Batle, Chrysalis, Carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 inches, 2014.
Ian Ruhter, Snow on Pines, Lake Tahoe, 30 x 40 inch pigment print, 2010.
Toledo-based artist Dan Hernandez combines scenes from early Renaissance paintings with 80s video game imagery to humorous effect at Kim Foster Gallery in Chelsea. Inspired by the flat sense of space and major size discrepancies between the characters in both genres, Hernandez creates epic battles between characters that stretch the idea of supernatural powers. (Through Jan 16th)
Dan Hernandez, Nocturne, mixed media on panel, 12 x 24 inches, 2015.
Eleanor Ray, San Marco Stairs, oil on panel, 6 x 5 ½ inches, 2014.
Sharon Lockhart, Milena, Jaroslaw, 2013, three framed chromogenic prints, 50 ¾ x 40 ¾ inches, 2014.
‘Vast’ is the only way to describe the scale of Chinese star artist Zeng Fanzhi’s latest paintings on view at Chelsea’s Gagosian Gallery. Titled ‘This Land So Rich in Beauty,’ the nearest and largest painting depicts a curiously glowing landscape mysteriously obscured by a thicket, suggesting that both wonders and danger lie just out of reach. (Through Dec 23rd).
Zeng Fanzhi, installation view of ‘Paintings, Drawings and Two Sculptures’ at Gagosian Gallery, November 2015.
Moataz Nasr, Elshaab (the people), 25 ceramic characters (detail seen here), 10.6 x 2.4 x 4 in each (approx.), 2012.
Keith Mayerson, installation view of ‘My American Dream,’ at Marlborough Gallery, Nov 2015.
Katy Grannan, Anonymous, Modesto, CA, archival pigment print on cotton rag paper mounted to Plexiglas, 55 x 41 inches, 2013.
Ruby Sky Stiler, Head, stained Baltic birch, 36 x 24 x 13 inches and Wave Head, stained Baltic birch, 46 x 30 x 15 ½ inches, 2015.
Miranda Lichtenstein, You!, archival pigment print, 40 x 26 ½ inches, 2015.
Mary Heilmann, Maricopa Highway, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 42 x 1 ½ inches, 2015.
Cynthia Daignault, installation view of Light Atlas at Lisa Cooley Gallery, oil on linen, overall dimensions variable, in 360 parts, 8 x 10 inches each, 2015.
Jean Tinguely, Untitled (Lamp), iron, feathers, light fixtures, light bulbs and electric motor, 33 ½ x 41 x 27 1/8 inches, 1982.
Nathan Vincent, installation view of ‘Let’s Play War’ at Emmanuel Fremin Gallery, Dec 2015.
Hayley Tompkins, Picture Pail IV, V and VI, metal pail, plastic bag, gouache and magazine page, 13 x 13 ¾ x 12 ¼ inches, 2015.
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Sliced Stradivarius – Rose, canvas, felt, wood, cord, hardware, painted with latex, 45 x 18 x 7 inches, 2003.
Cayce Zavaglia, Uncle Angelo, one ply cotton, silk, and wool thread on Belgian linen with acrylic, 8.75 x 7.75 inches, 2015.
Ryan Mrozowski, Untitled (Orange), acrylic on linen, 50 x 56 inches, 2015.
Peter Saul, George Washington Crossing the Delaware, acrylic/canvas, 64 x 82 inches, 2015.
Kota Ezawa, The Concert, LED lightbox, 28 x 25 inches, 2015.
Corinne Wasmuht, Pehoe P, oil on aluminum, 38.58 x 44.09 inches, 2015.
Peter Schuyff, Untitled, 79 x 71 inches, oil on linen, 2015.
Bjorn Braun, Untitled, sunflower seed, oat flakes, wheat,
juniper seed, peanuts, honey and flour, 2015.
Vibha Galhotra, Flow, nickel coated ghungroos, fabric, polyurethane coat, 129 x 93 ¼ x 112 ½ inches, 2015.
This two-part sculpture by Dutch artist Mark Manders looks
like a portrait of a girl with a split personality; it’s actually a recent
addition to Manders’ years-long project to create an ongoing ‘self-portrait’ in
the form of scaled-down built environments, stylized animals and androgynous
human figures. Here, bronze figures
painted to look like unfired clay occupy a gallery wrapped in plastic sheeting,
as if the creative process has just halted. (At Tanya Bonkadar Gallery in
Chelsea through Dec 19th.)
Mark Manders, Room with Unfired Clay Figures, painted
bronze, iron, wood, offset print on paper, 93 3/8 x 141 ½ x 51 inches,
2011-2015.
Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower No. 2, bamboo, rattan, metal wire, 30 ¾ x 85 ½ x 43 ¼ inches, 2015.
Holly Coulis, Fruit, Pitcher in a Corner, oil on canvas, 30 x 22 inches, 2015.
Hilary Harnischfeger, Bovina, ceramic, hydrostone, pigment, crushed glass, oil stick, paper, wood, 20 x 22 x 10 inches, 2015.
Mark Bradford, Waterfall, mixed media, dimensions variable, 2015.
Jeronimo Elespe, Fine, oil on aluminum, 14.96 x 9.84 inches, 2015.
Thomas Schutte, Stahlfrau Nr. 4, cast steel on steel table, 13 ¾ x 86 ½ x 47 ½ inches, 1999.
Shot on the fly through the window of a Toronto tattoo shop, this image by Josh Tonsfeldt stacks pictures – of the window itself, reflections on the glass, a man looking at a screen, and the same man using his skin as a surface. Printing on the cement-like material hydrocal lends a provocative, incongruous sense of permanence to a chance encounter. (At Simon Preston Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 20th).
Josh Tonsfeldt, Adrenaline Tattoo, UV cured pigment print on hydrocal, spray paint, epoxy resin, pigment inks, 32 x 48 inches, 2015.
Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (Silver Leaf), papier mache and silver leaf, 22 x 19 5/8 inches, 2015.
Zhang Huan, June 15, 1964, ash on linen, 9’ 5/16 x 122 ‘ 11/16”, 2013.
Andy Goldsworthy, Burrowing through a pile of leaves, Greenwich, CT, 15 Nov, 2013, time lapse video, running time 4:27 minutes, ed of 6.
Sheila Hicks, Baoli, natural linen, triple-dyed embroidery cotton, 114 x 63 x 8 inches, 2014.
El Anatsui, Telesma, mixed media, found aluminum and copper wire, 96 x 116 inches, 2014.
Benjamin Degen, Fast Swimmer, oil on linen over panel, 72 x 48 inches, 2015.
Yoon Ji Seon, Rag Face #15022, sewing on fabric and photograph, 24” x 16.5”, unique, 2015.
Beatriz Milhazes, installation view of ‘Marola’ at James Cohan Gallery, Oct 2015.
Karl Haendel, Radcliffe, pencil on paper with shaped frame, 67 ½ x 89 ½ inches, 2015.
Visitors who stray too far into Klein Sun Gallery get more
than they bargained for with Chinese video and performance artist Li Liao’s
performance piece, ‘Attacking the Boxer from Behind is Forbidden.’ Each afternoon, a boxer occupies half of the
gallery, sparring with anyone who gets close and giving visitors the chance to
consider how they’ll react to an unexpected situation that defies conventional
gallery behavior. (In Chelsea through Nov 14th).
Li Liao, performance view of ‘Attacking the Boxer From
Behind is Forbidden’ at Klein Sun Gallery, October 2015.
Joan Linder, Hooker 102nd Street Book, ink on moleskin notebook, 5 books, 5 ½ x 3 ½ inches when closed; 5 ½ x 105 inches when opened, 2013.
Svenja Deininger, Untitled, oil on canvas, 80 ¼ x 52 inches framed, 2015.
Christopher Adams’ ceramic plants appear at once fragile and
robust; the material of their thin, scrolling leaves suggests something
breakable, the vigorous growth at center hints at expansive potential. Garvey Simon Art Access in Chelsea is overrun
with variations on the plant in a range of glazes and finishes, making for a provocative
merger of biology and decoration.
(Through Nov 7th).
Christopher Adams, from the ‘Primordial Garden’ series,
2015.
A frenzy of gestural abstraction in the foreground of this
painting by Vermont-based artist Eric Aho crystalizes into a representational
image of a majestic mountain in the far distance, giving the impression that Aho
begins by almost being inside his subject matter…then gradually allows images
to materialize. (At Chelsea’s DC Moore
Gallery through Nov 14th).
Eric Aho, The Mountain, oil on linen, 90 x 80inches, 2014.
Martin Wittfooth, Dawn, oil on canvas, 54 x 120 inches, 2015.
Mernet Larsen, Nativity, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 74 x 31.5 inches, 2005.
Isa Genzken’s exuberant accumulations of glitzy and everyday
materials (where a pedestal wrapped in a sheet of shiny Mylar might meet
plastic chairs or a bouquet of flowers) have sobered up considerably with her
latest exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery.
Here, mannequins are the basic building block for her abstractions; some
appear to converse freely with each other, others appear to be in disguise or
are tied and bound. Several in police
vests and safety gear near the front door set a tense tone. (At David Zwirner Gallery through Oct 31st).
Isa Genzken, installation view at David Zwirner Gallery, October 2015.
Once a street artist, now an artist inspired by the
histories of the built environment, Jose Parla adds layers of posters, grime
and brightly colored paint to faux fragments of wall currently on view at Bryce
Wolkowitz Gallery and Mary Boone Gallery.
Considering that the block on which these galleries stand has been
largely rebuilt in the past several years, Parla’s treasuring of fragments from
the past has particular resonance.
(Through Oct 31st).
Jose Parla, installation view at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery,
Sept 2015.
Installation view of ‘Cowboy’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery.
Louis M. Eilshemius, Untitled (Figures in a Moonlit Landscape), oil on paperboard, 22 ½ x 26 ½ inches, c. 1905.
Fleeting clouds, rapidly sloping greenery and a mini-explosion of wind-whipped shrubbery in this coastal scene by Maureen Gallace keep the eye moving around the spare landscape. Perfectly timed to generate nostalgia for disappearing fair weather days, Gallace’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s 303 Gallery speaks the language of memory and longing. (Through Oct 31st). Maureen Gallace, Surf Road, oil on panel, 9 x 12 inches, 2015.
Digital technology allows us to picture everything in amazing detail, so how do you choose your subject matter as a professional photographer? Wolfgang Tillmans answers this question by continuing to zero in on the exceptional and mundane, picturing his day-to-day world (portraits of friends, laundry piles) and international travels in prints both tiny and monumental in a characteristic salon-style hanging which seems to evoke the randomness of life. (At David Zwirner Gallery through Oct 24th).
Wolfgang Tillmans, installation view of ‘New York Installation PCR’ at David Zwirner Gallery, September, 2015.
‘My sculptures speak of life…among spirits,’ says Warsaw-based sculptor Roman Stanczak, whose carefully destroyed bedside table at LES Bureau Gallery suggests a particularly haunted mental state. (Through Oct 25th).
Roman Stanczak, From 2nd to 3rd, wooden cupboard, wood chips, 22.75 x 38 x 39.25 inches, 2015.
From the heart of the Rust Belt to the heart of Chelsea, scenic designer turned fine artist Julie Schenkelberg has transplanted an installation begun in a disused church basement to Asya Geisberg Gallery. Furniture, dishware, wedding dresses and more combine to create a monument to memory and decay. (In Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Julie Schenkelberg, Swan Song, reclained lath, wood, marble, iron, paper, vintage furniture, dishware, figurines, natural debris, crushed reclaimed metal, light fixtures, vintage wedding dresses, bathtub, wallpaper, plaster, paint, dimensions variable, 2015.
Inspired by ma-lai flower garlands used in Thai ceremonies, Pinaree Sanpitak continues her interest in artwork related to the female body and experience with this installation of fabric that drains the color from the toile ‘flowers,’ leaving pure forms behind. (At Tyler Rollins Fine Art in Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Pinaree Sanpitak, ‘Ma-Lai: mentally secured,’ toile, 15 pieces, dimensions variable, 2014 – 15.
Sara Cwynar’s photo of stacked images of Nefertiti comes at a moment when it’s possible to see images of the ancient Egyptian queen at both the Brooklyn Museum and another Chelsea gallery, reinforcing the idea that much of what we’re seeing in daily life is an oft repeated referent to a distant original. The words ‘ERROR: ioerror’ appear scattered throughout suggesting a corrupting effect to so much mediation. (At Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery through Oct 24th)
Sara Cwynar, 432 Photographs of Nefertiti, collaged UV coated archival pigment prints mounted to Plexiglas and Dibond, 54 x 43 x 7/8 inches, 2015.
Edgar Allan Poe’s stern face dominates one very dark wall of graphite drawings by German artist Simon Schubert at the Lower East Side’s Foley Gallery; on the other, a series of white paper ‘drawings’ are folded to create the lines that picture a staircase with a ghostly figure. The sense of a benign, ghostly presence is palpable. (Through Oct 18th).
Simon Schubert, Untitled (Stairs with Figure), 39.5 x 27.5 inches, 2015.
‘You Matter,’ reads a sign in the window of William Villalongo’s current solo show at Susan Inglett Gallery, recalling the refrain from recent protests against police aggression. Inside, the Brooklyn-based artist presents the seasons as skeletons cloaked in glittering black female bodies and dominating lush landscapes – characters at peace and one with nature. (In Chelsea through Oct 17th).
William Villalongo, (detail from) Spring, acrylic, paper and velvet flocking on wood panel, 72 x 36 inches, 2015.
Brooklyn-based painter Keltie Ferris is known for abstract paintings that recall the city grid, so you’d think she’d relish LA’s road systems on her recent residency there. Instead, she turns her eye skyward in pieces like ‘oRiOn,’ a canvas that hints at a celestial hunter, outlined in vivid color and decorated in a shower of shooting stars. (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes and Nash through Oct 17th).
Keltie Ferris, oRiOn, acrylic and oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 2015.
For his latest show at Pace Gallery’s 534 West 25th Street location, Chuck Close continues to replicate mechanical processes by hand in huge self-portraits painted square by square in thin washes of red, blue or yellow paint. (Through Oct 17th).
Chuck Close, Self-Portrait IV, oil on canvas, 96 x 84 inches, 2014-15 (right) and Self-Portrait III, oil on canvas, 101 5/8 x 84 inches, 2014 (to the left).
Using copies of his birth certificate, pages from his address books and these photos, Chicago-based artist McArthur Binion creates a deeply personal abstract modernism. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through Oct 17th).
McArthur Binion, MAB: 1971: I, oil paint stick and paper on board, 15 x 15 inches, 2015.
Parakeets without owners occupy the upper reaches of Louis B James Gallery, while rubble shipped in suitcases from the Syrian/Turkish border is strewn on the floor, creating a situation that prompts meditation on freedom and migration by Austrian born, NY-based artist Martin Roth. (On the Lower East Side through Oct 18th).
Martin Roth, installation view of ‘untitled (debris)’ at Louis B. James Gallery, Oct 2015.
Will Ryman has arranged thousands of paint brushes into soft wavy walls and planted huge metal flower sculptures on the Park Avenue malls, so the political subtext beneath his recent sculpture ‘The Situation Room’ at Chelsea’s Paul Kasmin Gallery comes as something of a surprise. Wanting to respond to the famous photos of the Obama administration watching the SEAL raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound in 2011, Ryman recreated the scene in coal dust covered sculptures that appear suspended in time as if preserved by a fossil fuel-related Pompeiian disaster. (Through Oct 17th).
Will Ryman, The Situation Room, coal, fiberglass, wood, fabric, epoxy, 132 x 163 x 78 inches, 2014.
Originally inspired by a coffee stain on paper, Kyoto-based artist Teppei Kaneuji elaborated on this Dagwood-esque sandwich to the point of amusing absurdity. Here he combines pieces of wood and plastic food in a mix of ‘natural’ and ‘fake’ that conveys the fun of stacking blocks and the specter of excess calorie consumption. (At Jane Lombard Gallery through Oct 17th).
Teppei Kaneuji, Muddy Stream from a Mug (Sandwich), coffee, paper, wood, plastic objects, urethane resin, 19 ½ x 12 x 10 inches, 2015.
British artist Terry Haggerty takes his illusion-based painting a step further in his solo show at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co by literally projecting his signature undulating ribbons toward the viewer. The normally wall-hugging panels are painted on aluminum supports and appear as if they can’t quite be tamed. (Through Oct 17th).
Terry Haggerty, Double Back, acrylic on aluminum, 81.125 x 36 x 17.75 inches, 2015.
In 1973, the British government handed over the Chagos Islands to the US to use for military operations, claiming that they were uninhabited. Island resident Clement Siatous paints evidence to the contrary in a series of palpably wistful paintings inspired by memories from his childhood. Here, the Nordver removes citizens of Diego Garcia, leaving behind homes, animals and a cultural heritage. (At Simon Preston Gallery on the Lower East Side through Oct 18th. More info at http://newatlantisproject.com/)
Clement Siatous, Dernier Voyage des Chagossiens a bord du Nordvar anrade Diego Garcia, en 1973, acrylic on linen, 26 x 45.75 inches, 2006.
Paris-based Morgane Tschiember uses Tracy Wiliams’ new Lower East Side space to great effect with this handsome installation of compromised, suspended vessels set off by the huge wall painting ‘Falls.’ (Through Nov 1st).
Morgane Tschiember, installation view of ‘Almost a Kiss’ at Tracy Williams Ltd. on the Lower East Side, Sept 2015.
Enter LA artist Samara Golden’s full-gallery installation at Canada on the Lower East Side, and prepare to be jolted from the everyday – the floor under a catwalk is lined with mirrors and furniture fixed to the wall in a gravity-defying display the invites visitors to let loose from their moorings and play ‘what if.’ (Through Oct 25th).
Samara Golden, installation view of ‘A Fall of Corners’ at Canada Gallery, Sept 2015.
Beijing artist Zheng Lu learned the art of calligraphy from his literary family; respect for the written word has extended to his present practice in pieces like this, for which the artist laser cut characters from steel (that originally appeared in historically important texts) fusing them into this elegant, dynamic drip of water. (At Chelsea’s Sundaram Tagore Gallery through Oct 10th.)
Zheng Lu, Water Dripping – Splashing, stainless steel, 181.1 x 131.9 x 114.2 inches, 2014.
San Francisco Mission School artist Alicia McCarthy presents signature grids and more at Jack Hanley on the Lower East Side, including this pulsing lattice, marred (or made perfect?) by a blur of grey paint. (Through Oct 11th).
Alicia McCarthy, Untitled, gouache and spray and latex paint on wood panel, 96 x 96 inches, 2015.
Normally, this tiny art gallery exists on-line only as virtual gallery ‘Water McBeer,’ run by artist Henry Gunderson. On the occasion of Gunderson’s solo show in 247365 Gallery’s main space, it has stepped into the realm of the real to show miniature artwork by an impressive roster of artists including Carol Bove’s caterpillar, recognizable from bigger versions on the High Line. (Through Oct 11th).
‘In Appearance of Order,’ including work by Carol Bove, Ajay Kurian, Nathaniel de Large, and Jessie Stead, Sept 2015.
Addis Ababa-based artist Elias Sime carries away electronic components by the truck-full from Africa’s largest open-air market in order to create gorgeous installations like this colorful collage at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery. (Through Oct 17th).
Elias Sime, Tightrope 7, reclaimed electronic components and wires on panel, 8 ½ x 39 ¼ feet (estimated), 2009-2014.
Brooklyn art duo FAILE and artist friend BAST put a new spin on the old question, ‘what is art?’ by teaming up at the Brooklyn Museum to present a free arcade decorated in their signature posters. According to the museum text, they aim to relieve ‘the pressure of a traditional gallery environment,’ which they do in spades – it’s hard to remember you’re in a museum. (Through Oct 4th).
Installation view of the FAILE and BAST Deluxx Fluxx Arcade, Brooklyn Museum, September, 2015.
It comes as no surprise that British artist Billy Childish counts Van Gogh as an influence. By putting these sunflowers in a vessel that recalls Gauguin’s ceramics, Childish marries two artists who lived outside of conventional society in an image that pulsates with pattern. (At Lehmann Maupin’s West 22nd Street location through Oct 31st).
Billy Childish, Sunflowers, oil and charcoal on linen, 60.04 x 42.13 inches, 2015.
A faintly suggested head of blond hair and delicate facial features on Ganymede as he is abducted by Zeus – an eagle with a wizened expression – succinctly tell an ancient tale in Kyle Staver’s graphically simple, wonderfully imagined reworking of the Greek myth. (At Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects on the Lower East Side through Oct 11th).
Kyle Staver, Ganymede, oil on canvas, 68 x 58 inches, 2015.
Biomorphic abstraction becomes even more a treat for the eyes under the hand of Rhode Island based artist Bayne Peterson as he morphs materials like plywood died in layers and powdered granite into sensuously curvy sculptures at Lower East Side gallery Kristin Lorello. (Through Nov 1st).
Installation view of Bayne Peterson and Nadia Haji Omar at Kristin Lorello. Foreground: Bayne Peterson, Untitled (Greens, Wood and Stone), dyed plywood, dyed epoxy, powdered granite, resin, 10.5 x 6 x 8 inches.
You don’t necessarily have to visit Europe to marvel at the scale and detail of its cathedrals; German photographer Markus Brunetti brings the experience to New York in a show of stunningly detailed, 10 foot tall prints at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery. Here, he gives the Ulm Munster his signature treatment – photographing the building in minute detail, then creating a crystal-clear digital collage. (Through Oct 17th).
Markus Brunetti, Ulm, Munster, from the series FACADES, 62 15/16 x 32 5/8 inches OR 118 3/16 x 59 1/16 inches, archival pigment prints, 2007-2014.
If you need evidence that ceramics don’t need to have use-value, check out Japanese artist Takuro Kuwata’s latest show of amazing abstract forms at Lower East Side gallery Salon94. In the foreground here, Kuwata uses ‘ishihaze’ or ‘stone explosion’ technique by which he adds stones to his clay, which then erupt during firing. (On view through Oct 24th).
Takuro Kuwata, installation view of ‘Dear Tea Bowl’ at Salon94 Freemans, September 2015.
Titles like ‘Spring Shadow’ or ‘Noon Ashes’ evoke places and moods beyond the everyday in Julia Bland’s show of attractive, fabric-based constructions. Here, ‘Lines from Memory’ suggests a series of portals constructed from an arrangement of dyed textile and lattices. (At On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side through Oct 25th).
Julia Bland, Lines from Memory, silk, linen, wool, oil paint, and dye, 88 ½ x 83 inches, 2015.
Painter Mark Barrow and textile designer Sarah Parke collaborate on painted, hand loomed fabrics that are so labor intensive, they’ll blow your mind. Here, the duo dye fabric, then reweave either the warp or the weft into a different material, thread by thread. (At Elizabeth Dee Gallery through October 24th).
Mark Barrow and Sarah Parke, detail of Reweave 7, hand dyed linen, 19 x 17 inches, 2015.
One wall is not enough for Denise Kupferschmidt’s abstracted human figures at Eleven Rivington. On the gallery floor, two feet and a head lie like scattered afterthoughts while solid figures run along the wall as if rendered in an extra bold font. The effect is strong yet comic, drawing us into Kupferschmidt’s imagined population. (On the Lower East Side through Oct 18th).
Installation view of wall mural and sculpture by Denise Kupferschmidt at Eleven Rivington Gallery, Sept 2015.
It’s post-apocalypse in Trisha Baga’s imagination – Florida has mostly sunk into the sea and the array of artifacts left behind, including this Doritos bag and chips, have been rendered in ceramic and put on display. In the video at rear, peacocks pick at a seed portrait of Rosie O’Donnell. Baga’s rich imagination makes an unknown world all the stranger. (At Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through October 3rd).
Trisha Baga, Doritos bag with 4 doritos, glazed ceramic, 2 ¾ x 9 x 6 inches, 2015. Background: Peacock Museum. The Department of Education, video installation, 4 mirrors with fava beans, 18 min, 44 sec, each 23 ½ x 19 1/8 inches, 2015.
Like inedible confections, the surfaces and strange forms of San Francisco artist Ron Nagle’s tiny ceramic sculptures are delectations for the eye. But for every attractive, shiny surface, there’s an opposite impulse to reject clashing color combinations and oddly suggestive bodily forms. (At Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Ron Nagle, Long Good Friday, ceramic, porcelain, glaze, catalyzed polyurethane, epoxy resin, 3 ¾ x 2 ½ x 3 ¾ inches, 2015.
The pyramids meet a great big expressionist splash of paint in a recreation of a mural by Roy Lichtenstein from 1983, which brings together references from art history and Lichtenstein’s previous work in a size XXL jumble. Originally installed for six weeks at Leo Castelli Gallery before being painted over, Gagosian Gallery is currently hosting a redo, accompanied by paintings and sculpture that flesh out Lichtenstein’s subject matter, from a Picasso head to a piece of Swiss cheese. (In Chelsea through Oct 17th).
Roy Lichtenstein, Greene Street Mural, 1983 (replica, 2015).
From 17th century Dutch paintings of the countryside to sublime Hudson River views by mid 19th century Americans, landscapes unspoiled by development have been a favorite subject in art. Barnaby Furnas’s new paintings at Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery go back further in time, imagining the drama of a planet at the moment of creation, here on ‘The First Morning.’ (Through Oct 10th).
Barnaby Furnas, The First Morning (Fire Toads), acrylic, dispersing pigment, pencil, colored pencil on prepared linen, 99 1/8 x 104 inches, 2015.
Ken Price’s blob of shiny weirdness is an enticement to venture into Matthew Marks Gallery’s back gallery. A standout in this low-key exhibition of work by gallery artists, the shimmery, seductive surface contrasts the suggestion of an unknown organic substance moldering. (In Chelsea through Oct 24th).
Ken Price, Untitled, fired and painted clay, 18 x 17 x 16, 1996-2011.
This washed out figure is a faded but haunting recurring image in Andrew Kreps Gallery’s retrospective of work by San Francisco-based artist and graphic designer Robert Overby. Based on a 16th century Madonna by Albrecht Durer, Mary’s imposing, weirdly angled eye suggests an oddly provocative madness. (In Chelsea through Oct 31st).
Robert Overby, detail of ONE EYED-GRID, offset lithograph on paper on plywood, 18 ½ x 14 ¾ inches, 1975.
Inspired by a stone carving of the feathered dragon Quetzalcoatl, painter Philip Taaffe had the shape recreated in Spanish alabaster, which he then painted and printed. In the paper collage in the background, concentric circles give the illusion of a spiral echoing the coils of the serpent. (In Chelsea at Carolina Nitsch through Nov 7).
Philip Taaffe, Hodi Mihi, Cras Tibi (#2/8), hand carved Spanish alabaster, poppy seed oil, hand stamped and painted with oil paint, signed, numbered, dated below, 17 x 17 x 15 inches, 2015.
Sarah Sze’s installations have been characterized as organized chaos; her latest solo show aims to bring the mess and spontaneous decision-making of an artist’s studio into the gallery, yet the feeling of control is palpable. Torn paper, carefully spilled paint, and hanging sheets of plastic suggest a carefully arranged work in progress. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 17th).
Sarah Sze, installation view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, Sept 2015.
Dana Schutz’s ‘Fight in an Elevator,’ the title piece for her show at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery, recalls NFL player Ray Rice’s scandalous attack on his fiancée in a hotel elevator but levels the playing field as an abstracted man and woman give as good as they get in a futurist-inspired rumble. (Through October 24th).
Dana Schutz, Fight in an Elevator, oil on canvas, 96 x 90 inches, 2015.
Christian Marclay’s 24-hour video of collaged clock-related film clips from 2010 was so engaging that his subsequent photo projects and onomatopoeia paintings have sometimes seemed bland by comparison. The standout piece in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery corrects that trend, however, by animating words from cartoons in an eye-popping immersive installation that, though soundless, communicates loudly. (Through Oct 17th).
Installation view of Christian Marclay’s ‘Surround Sounds,’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, September 2015.
