Titled ‘Quaint Abstractions,’ new ball-point and Gelly roll pen drawings by pseudonymous New York artist Butt Johnson are mind bogglingly precise. Now that deskilling has become an art world buzzword, is meticulously rendered artwork quaint? (At CRG Gallery on the Lower East Side through Feb 21st).
Butt Johnson, Study for Regression Towards the Mean, ballpoint ink on metallic foil paper, 8.5 x 11,” 2013.
Pleasure starts to look like panic in Katherine Bradford’s large painting of beach-goers frolicking in turquoise waters when you learn its title, ‘Fear of Waves.’ Themed on swimmers and water, the show’s paintings entice as they demonstrate a range of moods from the ominous to the magical. (At Canada New York on the Lower East Side through Feb 14th).
Katherine Bradford, Fear of Waves, oil on canvas, 84 x 72 inches, 2015.
In 11R’s serendipitous pairing of ceramics by Jennie Jieun Lee and multiple exposure photograms by Mariah Robertson, each artist creates visual interest by defying convention. Robertson punctuates gorgeously-hued abstractions by cutting her photo paper into a rough, tapering point. Lee crafts vessels from glaze-splashed curls of clay. (At 11R on the Lower East Side through Feb 7th.)
Installation of ceramic by Jennie Jieun Lee and Mariah Robertson, 11R, January 2016.
In the 60s, New York painter Janet Fish reveled in painting reflections she observed on everyday objects and packaged foods. Here, a package of plantains turns mundane supermarket fare into a canvas demonstrating light at play. (At Chelsea’s DC Moore Gallery through Feb 13th).
Janet Fish, Plantains in a Box, oil on canvas, 44 x 44 inches, 1969.
Beijing-based artist Li Hongbo’s installation at Klein Sun Gallery creates a powerful creature from prosaic materials, if you interpret a snaking line of giant binder clips as a dragon. Textbooks flap like birds in the air above, pave a pathway below, and are carved into the shape of students at desks in the back of the gallery, all begging the question of how education might have the power to shape a society. (In Chelsea through Feb 13th).
Li Hongbo, installation view of ‘Textbooks’ at Klein Sun Gallery, January 2016.
Penelope Umbrico continues to mine Flickr’s vast on-line archive of images for collage-like assemblages that gently and beautifully point out the homogeneity of our camera-driven visual culture. Her latest show – and first at Chelsea’s Bruce Silverstein Gallery – zeros in on photos that have been copyrighted by amateur photographers against the back wall. In the foreground, screen shots of images tagged ‘full moon’ run on a scroll on and on along the gallery floor. (Through Feb 20th).
Installation view of ‘Penelope Umbrico: Silvery Light,’ at Bruce Silverstein Gallery, January 2016.
An Artforum critic recently identified a central quality of young New York painter Jennifer Packer’s style by explaining that her paintings capture a ‘state of perpetual becoming.’ In this painting dedicated to the artist’s late college painting instructor, flowers emerge explosively from a shadowy yet brilliant mass, existing as suggestions of color and form. (At Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co through Jan 23rd).
Jennifer Packer, Breathing Room, Flowers for Frank Bramblett, oil on canvas, 48 x 29 inches, 2015.
Sixteen years before his solo debut at LA’s Ferus Gallery, Andy Warhol was just another art student at Carnegie Tech. Here, the whimsical character, if not the elegantly wavering line of his later commercial illustrations is prefigured in a student assignment from 1946. (At Betty Cunningham Gallery on the Lower East Side through Feb 13th).
Andy Warhol, Kids on Swings, tempera on board, 31 x 26 7/8 inches, 1946.
Chinese landscape painting meets Monet’s haystacks in clever cultural hybrids by Queens-based Chinese artist Zhang Hongtu at the Queens Museum. (Through Feb 28th).
Zhang Hongtu, Monet, Study of Pi Ma Ts’un and Jie So Ts’un, oil on canvas, 2007.
Conveyor belts of alien-like creatures, tropical landscapes in day-glo colors, and a high-wire act define the turbulent interior life of this person by New York artist Erik Parker. A silhouette of a lone shepherd towards the bottom of the painting remains like a suppressed hope for simpler times. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery’s 297 Tenth Ave space through Jan 23rd).
Erik Parker, Tastemaker, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 80 inches, 2015.
New York artist Juan Fontanive conjures the delightful flickering motion of butterflies and hummingbirds in motorized frames that act as flipbooks for 72 screen printed images at Chelsea’s Danese Corey. (Through Feb 6th).
Juan Fontanive, Ornithology P, four-color screen print on Bristol paper, stainless steel, motor and electronics, 5 x 4.25 x 3/75 inches, 2014.
LA-based experimental film maker Pat O’Neill’s first New York solo gallery show includes film and sculptures like this surreal, suggestive assemblage. (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes & Nash through Jan 23rd).
Pat O’Neill, Safer than Springtime, fiberglass, aluminum, steel, paint, 48 x 39 x 30 inches, 1964.
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov’s new paintings include several that look like illustrations from a children’s storybook (recalling Ilya Kabakov’s former profession as an illustrator when he lived in the Soviet Union). Here, circular patterns layered over this painting’s surface look like snow, obscuring the cheery scenes beneath and suggesting a gradually advancing loss of sight. (At Chelsea’s Pace Gallery through Jan 23rd).
Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, The Six Paintings about the Temporary Loss of Eyesight (In the Room), oil on canvas, 44 x 77 inches, 2015.
Bill Viola explores his signature themes of rebirth, endurance and physical/spiritual transformation in ‘Inverted Birth,’ a large-scale video at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery. Here, black, red, white and clear liquids, perhaps symbolizing elemental materials of earth, blood, milk and water, pour away from the subject (as the video runs backwards) suggesting a reversal of time. (Through Jan 30th).
Bill Viola, installation view of ‘Inverted Birth’ at James Cohan Gallery, through Jan 30th.
Dutch artist Rachel de Joode creates a striking optical illusion at The Hole NYC with two flat photographic images mounted to PVC that momentarily appear to be 3-D. Part of The Hole’s excellent exhibition of art indebted to photographic processes, de Joode’s images of man-handled clay exist in a dimension of their own. (On the Lower East Side through Jan 16th).
Rachel de Joode, ‘Here I am and things that exist. Ow! XIV (foreground), archival inkjet print on PVC with pedestal, 60 x 34 x 14 inches, 2015.
Greg Smith’s handmade camera, crafted from linoleum, canvas,
digital camera parts and more is a standout in Yossi Milo Gallery’s exhibition
of camera related art. Mixing the
haphazard with digital know-how and a craft-oriented look, this tool is one of
a kind. (In Chelsea through Jan 23rd).
Greg Smith, Linoleum Camera, linoleum, canvas, gesso,
thread, paper, graphite, pushpin, lens, copper, epoxy, digital camera parts,
wood, hardware, 2014.
Nigerian American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola’s meticulous, patterned rendering of human skin both attracts admiration and repels understanding of her subjects. In her latest show at Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery, Odutola blocks an easy read on a wall of celebrity portraits by darkening the skin of Caucasian subjects. Here, she treats the skin of two nudes as a decorative surface for a dappled pattern of light and dark color. (Through January 30th).
Toyin Ojih Odutola, Quality Control, marker and pencil on paper, 64 ¾ x 41 15/16 inches, 2015.
Don’t be surprised if the smell of coffee and the sound of breaking ceramics greet you on a visit to Yoko Ono’s two-gallery show at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery and Galerie Lelong. The artist entices audience participation with free coffee and abundant materials. ‘Mend Piece’ suggests that fixing crockery will ‘mend the earth at the same time.’ (In Chelsea through Jan 23rd).
Yoko Ono, Mend Piece (Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, 2015/2016), ceramic, glue, tape, scissors and twine, dimensions variable, 1966/2015.
A velociraptor and protoceratops replica skeleton watch over an exhibition at Andrea Rosen Gallery of thought-provoking objects dedicated to the idea of perpetual adaptation and change. On the floor, Anne De Vries pictures crowds on odd-shaped, organic forms. To the right, Tetsumi Kudo’s plastic and polyester flower, references growth post-nuclear contamination. (In Chelsea through January 23rd).
Installation view of Asdzaa Nadleehe at Andrea Rosen Gallery, December 2015.
Young New York artist Tschabalala Self draws on the art historical tradition of the reclining nude to present a doll-like body composed of parts (including an extra leg). It’s a figure that looks to be made for changing. (At Thierry Goldberg Gallery on the Lower East Side through January 16th).
Tschabalala Self, Pieces of Me, oil and acrylic on paper, 60 x 44 inches, 2015.
Anthony Pearson’s organic and geometric forms, hand-scored in flat layers of tinted hydrocal, alternate between all-white and black compositions and lead the eye through a series of experiments in light and shape. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea through January 16th).
Anthony Pearson, detail of ‘Untitled (Four Part Etched Plaster),’ pigmented hydrocal and medium coated pigment hydrocal in four walnut frames, 12 ½ x 9 ½ x 1 ¾ inches, 2015.
Influential LA photographer James Welling merges photos of dancers, modernist architecture and landscapes in one of his most beautiful series to date. ‘Choreograph,’ currently on view at David Zwirner Gallery, derives its brilliant colors from intense Photoshop experimentation and its dynamism from the ghost-like images interacting on Welling’s unique stage. (In Chelsea through January 16th).
James Welling, 7809, inkjet print, 42 x 63 inches, 2015.
Frank Stella’s huge Wooden Star I sits under the stars on the Whitney Museum’s outdoor terrace; in league with a red and white Empire State Building behind, it’s like a giant Christmas ornament for the city. Tiny, 3-D printed versions by the artist are available for sale in the museum’s gift shop. (Through Feb 7th).
Frank Stella, installation view of Wooden Star I, 2014, at the Whitney Museum, Dec 2015.
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.
