Tara Donovan’s ‘Colony’ is a standout in Pace Gallery’s group exhibition, ‘Grounded,’ which gives the floor to artwork created to be displayed on the ground. Donovan’s signature premise – an accumulation of ordinary small things makes an excellent big thing – is now art-making orthodoxy, but no one does it quite like Donovan. (At Pace Gallery’s 534 West 25th Street location through Feb 22nd.)
Tara Donovan, Colony, pencils, 2004.
Sometimes using as much as a mile of thread, Stockertown, PA based artist Emil Lukas creates an ambiguous and intriguing sense of space in two-dimensional wall pieces like ‘Red Gas,’ seen here in detail. (At Sperone Westwater on the Lower East Side through Feb 22nd).
Emil Lukas, Red Gas (detail), thread over wood frame with nails, 16 x 14 inches, 2013.
Known for fabric sculptures like those pictured here, LA-based artist Lara Schnitger is now allowing fans a more intimate appreciation of her work with a couture line – Sister of Arp. The clothes will, she says, “play with themes of motherhood, feminism, fashion and sculpture.” (At Anton Kern Gallery, Chelsea, through Feb 15th.)
Lara Schnitzer, installation view of ‘Sister of Arp’ couture clothing at Anton Kern Gallery, January 2014.
Known for his careful arrangements of consumer objects on shelves, New York artist Haim Steinbach samples readymades of a different kind in this text piece. Though the size of the greeting suggests it’s being offered at high volume, its punctuation implies a curtness lacking warmth. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 8th).
Haim Steinbach, ‘hello. again.’, text in matte black vinyl letters, dimensions variable, 2013.
Liz Glynn’s latest solo show is full of loot. Before visitors reach this suspended, damaged vessel, they pass Ming porcelain, Julius Caesar’s robes and more, all comically rendered in paper mache and suggesting alternate takes on history. (At Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through Feb 8th).
Liz Glynn, Vessel (Ravaged, Looted and Burned,) hardwood with bronze and steel hardware, rope, 86 x 246 x 73 inches, 2013.
American photographer Andrew Moore’s latest series, Dirt Meridian, zeros in on the 100th meridian, a longitudinal line that has demarcated the start of the American West. In his haunting photos, Moore considers the area ‘lost in time,’ yet at the center of global forces including climate change, energy exploration and more. (At Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery through Feb 15th).
Andrew Moore, Homesteaders Tree, Cherry County, Nebraska, archival pigment print, ed 1 of 5, 46 x 58.25 inches, 2013.
Beijing-based artist Li Hongbo has applied the concept behind Chinese paper gourd decorations – made of paper glued together – to classical sculpture to shocking effect in his latest sculpture series at Chelsea newcomer Klein Sun Gallery. What at first appear to be marble sculptures reveal themselves to be flexible stacks of paper when activated by a gallery staff member. (Through March 2nd).
Li Hongbo, Bust of Marseilles, paper, 23 5/8 x 14 1/8 x 13 ¾ inches, ed of 2, 2012.
Based in LA, artist Anna Sew Hoy has more interesting purposes for trench coats than wearing them. This one, titled ‘Black Noir/beige tan’ recalls a line drawing or futuristic garb for a sci-fi thriller; but held aloft by two precious and strange objects – a resin, finger-shaped hook and a ceramic hanger – it evokes appealingly idiosyncratic storylines. (At Louis B. James Gallery on the Lower East Side through Jan 26th).
Anna Sew Hoy, Black Noir/beige tan, trench coat seams, glazed stoneware, and resin finger hook, 2013.
Titled ‘Du’ or the informal version of ‘you’ in German, German-born, Brooklyn-based artist Anke Weyer’s latest show of abstract oil paintings hint at human shapes and active figures. Here, ‘Sweat, Tears and Fire’ summons frenetic activity worth of Weyer’s dynamic style. (At Canada through Jan 26th).
Anke Weyer, Sweat, Tears and Fire, oil on canvas, 72 x 56 inches, 2012.
Japanese artist Tomoo Gokita’s stark black and white portraits of anonymous women (sometimes accompanied by male companions with zig-zag patterned heads) belies their ambiguous identities. ‘Sham Marriage’ deliciously includes a hand-like shape pointing off-stage. (At Chelsea’s Mary Boone Gallery through March 1st.)
Tomoo Gokita, Sham Marriage, 90” x 72,” acrylic gouache, charcoal, gesso/linen, 2013.
Grids of black, hanging chains, squares of painted, cast concrete and slender brass poles leaning against the wall demonstrate New York artist Davina Semo’s affinity for both gritty and slick industrial materials. With titles suggesting interpersonal relationships (‘What is it one person can offer another’ hangs on the back wall in this picture), Davino creates an idiosyncratic style at once personal and distant. (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through Feb 15th).
Davina Semo, installation view of ‘Ruder Forms Survive,’ at Marlborough Gallery, January 2014.
This portrait of Marillyn A. Hewson, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Lockheed Martin Corporation by Scottish artist Michael Fullerton comes with a wall text briefly summarizing positions she’s held at the company. Political commentary seems inevitable but apart from a hint in the title of this conventional-looking portrait, ‘The Mistress,’ is up to our interpretation. (At Greene Naftali Gallery through Feb 8th).
Michael Fullerton, The Mistress, oil on linen, 2014.
New York based artist and avid surfer Emilio Perez is known for dynamic abstractions resembling landscapes or water. In his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong, Perez’s 40 foot long, untitled painting on Masonite carries the eye around the corner on what looks like a long gush of water or fabric. (Through Feb 1st).
Emilio Perez, Untitled, stencil painting on masonite, 9 x 40 feet, 2013.
Brooklyn’s McCarren Park – equally popular among Williamsburg hipsters and brawling youth – has been renovated to the tune of millions in recent years; New York artist Marc Glanzglass’ beautifully austere steel fence titled, ‘McCarren Fence,’ acknowledges the preciousness of the place as well as its divisions. (At Mitchell Innes & Nash in Chelsea through Feb 1st).
Marc Ganzglass, McCarren Fence, steel, 2013.
Alex Prager has explained that living in LA, she doesn’t have a lot of experience with crowds. Her latest body of photos and her film ‘Face in the Crowd,’ makes a break with the norm though as Prager directs actor Elizabeth Banks and hundreds of other actors on constructed sets as they play out scenes of crowd dynamics from the thrilling to the terrifying. (At Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery through Feb 22nd).
Alex Prager, still from ‘Face in the Crowd’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, January, 2013.
Vancouver photographer and filmmaker Stan Douglas continues a theme from his last show – the influence of Afrobeat on the NY music scene of the 70s – with his latest film ‘Luanda-Kinshasa,’ on view at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. Watching the video in its entirety – and music lovers may want to – could take six hours as the scenes run in non-sequential loops. (Through Feb 22nd).
Stan Douglas, still from Luanda-Kinshasa, Jan 2013, David Zwirner Gallery.
New residential buildings are springing up on 10th Ave like weeds, making this billboard-sized domestic scene by LA artist Jonas Woods strangely appropriate. The personality of each plant is enhanced by quirky pots – most of which resemble creations by Wood’s wife, ceramic artist Shio Kusaka. (On the High Line at 18th Street through Feb 3rd.)
Jonas Woods, Shelf Still Life, print on vinyl, 25 x 75 feet, 2013.
Italian-born artist Domenico Zindato works on each of his meticulous paintings outdoors, at his home in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Inspired by his trips to India and Morocco, Sufi music and more, Zindato’s colorful, pattern-rich scenes invite entrée into a magical, alternate universe. (At Chelsea’s Andrew Edlin Gallery through Jan 18th).
Domenico Zindato, detail of Untitled, ink and pastel on paper, 2009.
Known for her faux naïve painting style, Dutch artist Lily van der Stokker offers art customers an added bonus – socks, too! (At Koenig & Clinton in Chelsea through Jan 18th).
Lily van der Stokker, Complicated Cheap and Socks, acrylic on wood, 2012.
San Francisco-based photographer Michael Light – known for his aerial photographs of the American West – needs considerable distance not just to capture the natural and manipulated landscape but to fit in a train so long it seems like part of the environment. (At Danziger Gallery through Jan 18th).
Michael Light, Union Pacific Freight Train Heading West, Near Rock Springs, WY, pigment print, 2007.
This swashbuckling Puss in Boots was created on 36 former library card catalogue cards, sourced from eBay by New York artist Matthew Weinstein. One of the topmost cards originally directed readers to a commentary on Dante’s Divine Comedy. Now it plays host to a new creation. (At Carolina Nitsch Gallery through Jan 18th).
Matthew Weinstein, piece from ‘The Splendid Outcast,’ featuring card catalogue cards re Dante’s Divine Comedy, ink on paper, 2013.
Has this couple managed a mind-meld between her warm personality and his cool-colored tranquility? Or do they remain at opposite ends of a spectrum? Titled ‘The Anniversary,’ this embroidery on a found photograph by British artist Julie Cockburn grants suggestive new lives to forgotten pasts. (At Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 25th).
Julie Cockburn, The Anniversary, hand embroidery on found photograph, unique, 2013.
Cesar’s process art fills Upper East Side gallery Luxembourg & Dayan in a mini-retrospective ongoing until the end of this month. Here, ‘Compressions’ of heavy-duty fabrics that bring that bring to mind commerce (jute sacks) and work clothes (corduroy) contrast a shiny plastic ‘Expansion’ which seems to exist for visual pleasure. (Through Jan 31st).
Cesar. On walls: three Mural Compressions (Jute Sack, Wool Blanket & Corduroy – all 1976.) On floor: Expansion N35/15, polyester reinforced with fiberglass, mauve lacquer, 1972.
Twice a day, a New Museum employee starts up and moves a motorcycle to maximum speed, its rear wheel causing a huge, cast-iron flywheel to spin for over two hours after the performance ends. Chris Burden’s contraption – The Big Wheel from 1979 – contrasts the freedom of an individual on a bike with an industrially sized wheel, visibly demonstrating both labor and energy harnessed. (On the Lower East Side through Jan 12th).
Chris Burden, The Big Wheel, three-ton, eight-foot diameter, cast-iron flywheel powered by a 1968 Benelli 250cc motorcycle, 1979.
From 1944, the year of his first solo show in New York, Hans Hoffman’s ‘Seated Woman’ imported a sense of movement, bold colors and a Cubist approach to the human body to the budding New York School. (At Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 25th).
Hans Hoffman, Seated Woman, oil on panel, 1944.
“The whole surface of the world is a potential drawing,” said LA artist Ingrid Calame in a recent interview. “How do you represent something as huge as the world?” Calame answers her question by mapping a small section of the world and making it feel large. For this room-sized installation, Calame visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway pits, tracing the stains and tire tracks and reproducing them here in a blaze of electric colors. (At Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery through Feb 8th.)
Ingrid Calame, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pits, #4, #7, #9, #26, #32, #33, #35, #37, #39, #40, as installed: 13’ 5 ½” x 41’ 9” x 30’, pigment on wall, 2013.
Built from materials reclaimed from shipwrecks off Florida’s Key West, this pigeon coop houses birds trained by New York artist Duke Riley to fly from Havana to Key West bearing cigars in carefully crafted slings. Grids of painted bird portraits detail the fates of the participants, who were named after filmmakers who had brushes with the law, or historical smugglers. (At Chelsea’s Magnan Metz Gallery through Jan 11th).
Duke Riley, installation view of ‘See You At the Finish Line,’ at Magnan Metz Gallery, Dec, 2013.
Idiomatic phrases like ‘jumping through hoops’ or ‘afraid of her own shadow’ inspired London-painter Sophie von Hellerman’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Greene Naftali Gallery, which includes this huge canvas installation, ‘Throwing Stones in a Glass House.’ In her signature, washy style (pigments are applied directly to unprimed canvas), von Hellerman presents characters who don’t look like they could do much harm with stones resembling mud-clumps, but who conjure unease nonetheless. (Through Jan 4th).
Sophie von Hellerman, Throwing Stones in a Glass House, pigment and acrylic emulsion on canvas, 2013.
This monumental, eight-part painting may be an abstraction, but it was inspired by the winter colors of southern Bavaria, where artist Sean Scully spends time. (At Chelsea’s Cheim & Read Gallery through Jan 11th).
Sean Scully, Night and Day, oil on aluminum, 110 x 320 inches, 2012.
How could an avant-garde mid-century painter keep up with the trends in abstract minimalism while still making representational work? This clever 1967 canvas by Sylvia Plimack Mangold has the artist looking down for an answer and finding a ready-made grid of wood – a Minimalist-approved material – that has an inherently physical relationship to the viewer. (At Alexander and Bonin Gallery through Jan 4th.)
Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Floor 1, acrylic on canvas, 1967.
The elegant simplicity of Modernist art icon Constantin Brancusi’s sculptures is on display at Chelsea’s Paul Kasmin Gallery, where the gallery has partnered with the Brancusi Estate to showcase five posthumously created cast bronze sculptures. Based on a Hungarian artist who modeled for Brancusi several times, this sculpture of Mllm Pogany displays the otherworldly charm of her saucer-like eyes, hands folded against her head and cascades of hair down her back. (Through Jan 24th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Mademoiselle Pogany II, polished bronze, 17 5/8 x 11 3/8 x 11 7/8 inches, 1925-2006.
In her large-scale vitrines, German artist Josephine Meckseper brings together a replica of Brancusi’s endless column, underwear modeling mannequins and more to question how appropriating historical and contemporary artifacts can create new meaning. (At Andrea Rosen Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 18th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Josephine Meckseper, Title TBD, pigment prints on anodize aluminum, acrylic on wood, concrete, aluminum, bronze and stainless steel in stainless steel and glass vitrine, 2013.
Most prominent in post-war in France for his ‘accumulations,’ the artist Arman was also an avid collector of art from other cultures. Paul Kasmin Gallery’s select show of pieces from Arman’s African collection features this mask from the Makonde of Tanzania, a type worn by young men in their initiation ceremonies. (In Chelsea through Jan 11th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Face Mask: likomba, Makonde, Tanzania, wood, teeth, fiber, 24 x 10 x 9 inches with base. From the collection of Arman.
Jack Shainman Gallery brings together sculptures from the past twenty-six years by major Spanish artist Susana Solano this month, including these evocative rattan forms, which suggest miniaturized housing (foreground) or a gargantuan thimble (back). (In Chelsea through Jan 11th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Susana Solano, Bura III (foreground), rattan, 2004-2005. Bura II (background), painted iron and rattan, 2001-2005.
Even inside a gallery, these pristine glass sculptures by American artist Roni Horn subtly change as the light from the skylights passes through them. Their title references dreams while their surfaces resemble pools; they’re objects to transport you. (At Hauser & Wirth Gallery through Jan 11th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Roni Horn, Untitled (“A dream dreamt in a dreaming world is not really a dream…but a dream not dreamt is.”), solid cast glass with as-cast surfaces, 10 parts, unique (series 5), 2012.
In Eleven Rivington’s brightly lit Lower East Side space, Brooklyn painter TM Davy presents a series of small, candle lit paintings. Studies from life made in and around his home, their intimate nature belies their bright, public display. (Through Jan 5th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
TM Davy, from the series ‘Candela,’ oil on linen, 10 x 8 inches
Had your grandmother gotten inventive with displaying her glassware, it might look something like Tony Feher’s ‘Parlor Trix.’ Known for simple installations made using every day materials, Feher delivers more visual delights in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co. (Through Jan 18th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Tony Feher, Parlor Trix (detail view of installation), glass, galvanized steel wire and chrome-plated steel chain, 2013.
Only the birds and Jesus are left at the Better Donut Drive In, in one of American photographer Michael Eastman’s photos of seen-better-days small town America. Nostalgia, sadness and hope come together in a picture with themes as powerful as its color contrasts. (At Barry Friedman Gallery through Jan 11th. Check the gallery’s website or call ahead for holiday season opening hours).
Michael Eastman, Jesus Donut, digital C-print, 60 x 48 inches, 2008.
London-based artist Raqib Shaw turns the martyrdom of Sebastian into high drama in this painting of the saint bound with flowering vines and besieged by a cloud of beastly cherubs. Even the blood-red poppies are as threatening as they are beautiful. (At Pace Gallery through Jan 11th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Raqib Shaw, St Sebastian of the Poppies, oil, acrylic, glitter and rhinestones on Birch wood, 60,” 2011-12.
Visitors expecting more of Christian Marclay’s enormously popular video work will get a shock from his latest solo show – a selection of paintings in which silkscreened, Roy Lichtenstein-like cartoon text meets Abstract Expressionist splashes of color. (At Paula Cooper Gallery through Jan 18th. Check website for holiday season opening hours.)
Christian Marclay, Actions: Whaak Plop Plooch Sooosh (No 4), screenprint and acrylic on canvas, 2013.
Low lighting, almost black paintings, homemade lava lamps and furniture made of pretzel shapes give New York artist Catharine Ahearn’s solo show at Ramiken Crucible the feeling of a cartoonish robbers’ den in Bavaria. For sheer inventiveness, it’s a standout on the Lower East Side gallery scene. (Through Dec 22nd).
Catharine Ahearn, Couch, rebar, aquaresin, acrylic, salt, 2013; and Lamp, rebar, aquaresin, acrylic, salt, 2013.
Mariano Sardon not only gives us portraits, he tells us how we look at them. The Buenos Aires-based Argentinian artist shows a picture of a face to viewers while a camera records their eye movements. The information from many viewers is then mapped onto the face, which is drawn before our eyes following the sequences of the gazes. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 21st).
Mariano Sardon, from the series ‘150 Gazes looking around them,’ digital video, 2012.
In her latest show at LES gallery Reena Spaulings, Brooklyn-based artist K8 Hardy moves away from her signature subversive fashion photos toward sculpture made from found and scavenged materials. Her sense of fun remains, however, as seen with this intentionally (?) narcissistic mirror and a twerking stick figure. (Through Dec 22nd).
K8 Hardy, Twerk Team (foreground sculpture), wood liquid latex, acrylic paint, plastic tubing, synthetic fabric and (against wall) Kate, tinted glass mirror, 2013.
Brooklyn and Austin-based artist Jeff Williams both makes and unmakes his sculpture, applying muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide to decay the steel slats of this cutting board, sourced from an artist residency at Skowhegan. In the background, a giant steel clamp pinches wooden beams in a crushing embrace. (At Jack Hanley Gallery through Dec 21st).
Jeff Williams, installation view of NEW/USED/WET/BROKEN at Jack Hanley Gallery, November 2013.
Technology makes Shinichi Maruyama’s ‘Nudes’ series modest; by layering thousands of frames together, the New York-based Japanese photographer diverts attention from the body to the motion of a dancer. (At Bruce Silverstein Gallery through Dec 21st).
Shinichi Maruyama, Nude #8, archival pigment print, 2012.
This unassuming little painting by Berlin-based American artist Ryan McLaughlin conjures a cruise line advertisement for or by kids, a water conservation poster or some other public service message. It’s simple, earnest and charming. (At Laurel Gitlen Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd.)
Ryan McLaughlin, Wasserbetriebe, oil on canvas on MDF, 25 ¾ x 17 ¾ inches, 2013.
Placed end to end and titled ‘Copy Me,’ two identical cast steel sofas by German conceptual artist Rosemarie Trockel are oddly and improbably long. Their oxidized patina creates a homey color but their material makes them uninviting, a fact that seems to be acknowledged by a protective plastic cover only casually placed over the sofas. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery through Dec 21st).
Rosemarie Trockel, Copy Me, cast steel and plastic, 31 ½ x 165 3/8 x 28 inches, 2013.
Inspired by a giant hamburger painting by Andy Warhol, the group show ‘Double Hamburger Deluxe’ at Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery explores Warhol’s approach through comparison to pieces like Tony Matelli’s bronze lilies, a meticulously hand-crafted, editioned sculpture that never fails to astound. (Through Dec 21st.)
Tony Matelli, Arrangement, painted bronze, 2012.
Spanish artist Jaume Plensa experiments with an international aesthetic with a nineteen-part installation of sculptures created from die-cut stainless steel letters from nine alphabets in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong. Faceless humans perched on floating boulders create an immaterial ‘every man.’ (Through Dec 14th.)
Jaume Plensa, Talking Continents (installation view), stainless steel, 19 components, varying dimensions, 2013.
By spray painting over and removing pasta shapes on canvas, Scott Reeder creates tongue-in-cheek paintings that resemble austere abstraction, or in the case of this painting (seen in detail) a constellation composed of alphabet soup letters. (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 22nd.)
Scott Reeder, detail from ‘Untitled (Pasta Painting),’ oil and enamel on canvas, 96 x 108 inches, 2013.
British artist Gary Hume made his name by painting hospital doors like these in the 90s, as England controversially debated public vs private health care. Here, he had doors constructed that lead in to a second gallery housing attractive glossy enamel paintings featuring disquieting subjects, including versions of an off center wheel derived from a sniper’s sight that reference conflict in Iraq. (At Matthew Marks’ 522 W. 22nd Street location through Dec 21st.)
Gary Hume, Installation view of ‘The Wonky Wheel,’ at Matthew Marks Gallery. Wheel: The Wonky Wheel (Red), enamel on aluminum, 2013. Door: How to Paint a Door, gallery door, 2013.
Highly celebrated, Ukraine born, Long Island-based painter Ilya Kabakov departs from the collage style of his other paintings in this recent work titled ‘The Window into my Past,’ in which a history painting not only dominates the wall but the minds of these young students. (At Pace Gallery on 57th Street through Dec 21st).
Ilya Kabakov, The Window into my Past, oil on canvas, 2012.
New York based Chinese artist Gu Wenda draws on scholarly Chinese painting for these nine and a half feet tall, ink on rice paper on board drawings, each featuring a landscape and calligraphy and relating to his recent project proposal for a landscaped garden rich with symbolism. (At Chambers Fine Art in Chelsea through Dec 21st).
Gu Wenda, installation view of ‘Central Park’ at Chambers Fine Art, Nov, 2013. (In the foreground: Central Park – Concept #1: Winter Snow, chinese ink, rice paper mount on wooden board, 2008).
Titled ‘Curio Logic,’ New York based artist Emily Noelle Lambert’s solo show at Lower East Side gallery Lu Magnus presents works on paper showing what look like shelves of curios. Culling images from old sketchbooks, drawings and even remnants of her students work, she reworks the imagery into enticing story fragments. (Through Dec 22nd).
Emily Noelle Lambert, ‘May You Be Filled Collection,’ mixed media on paper, 2009.
Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene is known for traveling around the world to capture still, exquisite images of young people; her latest solo show at Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery zeros in on girls closer to home, photographing them with pets to study the interaction between them. (Through Dec 21st).
Hellen van Meene, Untitled #390, from the series ‘Dogs and Girls,’ 16 x 16 inches, 2012.
British artist Alexandre Singh’s theatrical performance ‘The Humans’ – an elaborate tale of creation, then divine meddling in human fate – was called ‘one of the outstanding achievements’ of the Performa 13 performance art biennial this November. Metro Pictures in Chelsea gives us a close-up on the eccentric characters in the play with busts including Singh’s ‘Wife’ character. (At Metro Pictures through December 7th).
Alexandre Singh, Wife, bronze, 2013.
Part of an exhibition by British artist Sarah Morris inspired by Rio de Janeiro, this graphically slick painting evokes the iPhone’s sliding on/off switches, an active game board or abstracted commuters moving rapidly through the city grid, all of which make for an urban landscape painting that evokes a city on the move. (At Petzel Gallery through Dec 21st).
Sarah Morris, Hybrid Solar Eclipse (Rio), household gloss paint on canvas, 2013.
Yayoi Kusama’s star is still shining in New York, where her Whitney Museum show in 2012 attracted throngs, and now an exhibition including two more trademark ‘infinity rooms’ is drawing thousands of visitors a day to Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. In this room, mirrors, low lights and polka-dotted tentacles coming from floor and ceiling create a hallucinatory effect. (Through Dec 21st).
Yayoi Kusama, Love is Calling, wood, metal, glass mirrors, tile, acrylic panel, rubber, blowers, lighting element, speakers, and sound, 2013.
For Brooklyn-based artist Eileen Quinlan, photography is not about passive recording. In a series of 24 images pinned directly to the wall, she degrades the surface of her negatives by both allowing the developing process to go awry and scratching with steel wool to create abstractions that emphasize the medium as a process. (At Miguel Abreu Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 8th).
Eileen Quinlan, installation view of ‘Curtains’ at Miguel Abreu Gallery, Nov 2013.
Circular forms – a seemingly simple conceptual starting point with endless variations – dominate Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco’s latest solo show at Marian Goodman Gallery. The most compelling are these river cobblestones, sold roadside in Mexico as a building material, but here carved with abstract patterns to conjure tactile ancient artifacts. (On 57th Street through Dec 21st).
Gabriel Orozco, (foreground) Untitled, carved river cobblestone from the Guerrero coast, Mexico, 2013.
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.
Famed creator of the mobile and stabile, Alexander Calder, used light and shadow to envision scaled up versions of his sculpture. In an inspired display technique, Upper East Side gallery Venus Over Manhattan does the same, keeping the gallery dark so that maquettes cast dramatic shadows and the pieces take a step beyond Calder. (Through Dec 21st).
Alexander Calder, Morning Cobweb (intermediate maquette), sheet metal, bolts and paint, 1967.
New York-based painter Michael Cline updates both the portrait and still life traditions with eccentric arrangements of plants and flowers sprouting eyes, teeth and an ear. This arrangement, with its lights (electric and candle) and card reading, “…really rules the world” unnervingly suggests hidden surveillance. (At Horton Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 8th).
Michael Cline, Arranged Portrait, oil on linen, 2013.
Martin Creed’s exhibition at Hauser & Wirth’s 69th Street location includes portraits painted by leaping high in the air with a paintbrush, stacking sculptures based on mathematical ratios and room-altering minimal, monumental wall paintings. None seem to involve much effort on Creed’s part to create – this being his signature style – yet each will definitely create a reaction. (Through Dec 21st ).
Martin Creed, work no. 1782, toilet roll, unique, 2013 (foreground). Martin Creed, work no. 905, emulsion on wall, 2008 (background).
As construction continues apace on several new buildings in Chelsea, French artist Cyprien Gaillard’s first solo show at Barbara Gladstone Gallery – featuring sculptures made of excavator heads) feels particularly apt and a little too familiar. Fixed with calcite rods sourced in Iran and Utah, Gaillard reaches for international import, but his general point about destruction and progress stemming from the same tool is a little blunt. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery through Dec 21st).
Cyprien Gaillard, installation view of ‘Today Diggers, Tomorrow Dickens,’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, (excavator heads and banded calcite), November 2013.
Michael Williams’ latest paintings employ tacky techniques – inkjet and airbrush – and mingle dominant subject matter with incidental-seeming doodles. They stand out for their utter weirdness, demonstrating that there are rules of taste by breaking them. (At Canada Gallery through Dec 8th).
Michael Williams, Art Loft Eviction Sale, inkjet and airbrush on canvas, 2013.
Given its subject matter and size, Brazilian artist Sandra Cinto’s thirteen meter plus pen and acrylic rendering of roiling seas is surprisingly subtle. As gradations of blue and white fog recede, what look like mountain peaks turn into frosting peak waves in a decidedly elegant storm scene. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Dec 21st.)
Sandra Cinto, One Day, After the Rain, permanent pen and acrylic on canvas, 2012.
Ever see an artfully arranged piece of trash? A piece of soap balanced just-so on the edge of the sink? German photographer Thomas Demand had captured these moments and thousands more when he decided to apply his signature art-making technique to the scenes, recreating select photos as sculptures constructed entirely of paper and card then photographing them. The resulting series is a homage to the still, transformative moment. (At Matthew Marks Gallery’s 526 West 22nd Street location through Dec 21st.)
Thomas Demand, Daily #18, framed dye transfer print, 2012.
Fran Siegel’s monumental aerial view of Los Angeles defies standard views of the city that emphasize the grid, instead glorying in the expansive notion of the place as a fragmented network of systems and communities. (At Lesley Heller Workspace on the Lower East Side through December 1st.)
Fran Siegel, installation view of ‘Overland 16,’ cyanotype, ink, pencil and pigment on cut paper, 96” x 140,” 2013.
In the Chelsea tradition of bigger is better, New York based artist and designer KAWS presents two huge sculptures – each over 18 feet high – at Mary Boone Gallery that show his signature COMPANION figures in states of distress. The gallery has been packed with visitors…but many fans don’t necessarily make for a good show. Why do you think these works such a draw? (In Chelsea through Dec 21st).
KAWS, Along the Way, 216” x 176” x 120,” wood, 2013.
LA-based artist Kristin Calabrese’s exhibition at Lower East Side gallery Brennan and Griffin aims to consider our mortality; here, the beauty of the flowers has faded but a gorgeous sunset in the distance offers succor. (Through Dec 8th).
Kristin Calabrese, Depth of Field, oil on canvas, 78 x 66 inches, 2013.
Despite ceramicist Peter Voulkos’ huge influence on contemporary ceramic art, New York hasn’t been treated to a solo presentation of his work since 1997. Through this week, 57th Street gallery Franklin Parrasch breaks the dry spell with a sampling of work from the 50s to the 90s from a single private collection. (Through Nov 23rd).
Peter Voulkos, Iron Head, ceramic, 1990.
Known for making artwork relating to lesser-known facts about historically important figures, Brooklyn & Philadelphia artist Terry Adkins turns his sights to George Washington Carver & Yves Klein in his Lower East Side show. Using apple pickers to refer to Carver’s efforts to move away from the ubiquity of cotton, and blown glass to recall Yves Klein’s fiery, transformative performances, Adkins invites us to read meaning into his subtly reworked histories. (At Salon94 Bowery and Salon 94 Freemans on the Lower East Side through Jan 11th).
Terry Adkins, installation view of Nenuphar at Salon94 Bowery, November, 2013. Sculpture in foreground: Terry Adkins, Harvest Montgomery, blown glass, apple picker, fiberglass and aluminum pole, 2013.
Though created from paint, this folksy character’s shirt and pants have the texture of rough-hewn fabric, perfectly in keeping with his Johnny-Appleseed-like barefooted nature wanderer persona. By New York painter Benjamin Degen and titled ‘Kleos,’ it suggests that like the ancient Greeks, this home-grown oddball is also seeking a glory of sorts. (At Chelsea’s Susan Inglett Gallery through Dec 7th).
Benjamin Degen, Kleos, oil on canvas over panel, 2013.
Rod Penner’s tiny photo realist renderings of desolate scenes from the American rural landscape summon nostalgia and intrigue in equal parts. (At Ameringer, McEnery, Yohe in Chelsea through Nov 23rd).
Rod Penner, Ranch View Motel/Vaughn, NM, acrylic on canvas, 2013.
Iran-born, London-based artist Shirazeh Houshiary offers twisting columns of anodized blocks as a contrast to the minutely detailed, veil-like patterns covering abstract paintings like the diptych in the background here. Like twisters or stepping feet, they literalize an unidentified and unseen force. (At Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side location through Dec 28th).
Shirazeh Houshiary, Eddy, anodized aluminum, 2013 (foreground) and Echo, pencil, pigments and black aquacryl on canvas and aluminum, 2013 (background).
British artist Terry Haggerty’s updated Op Art never stops moving when you are in front of it. The simplest device – twisting and tapering the end of parallel lines – turns this installation in Sikkema Jenkins & Co’s back gallery into a dizzying experience. (In Chelsea through Nov 16th).
Terry Haggerty, forward/reverse, latex paint on walls, 2013.
New York based-Scandinavian artist Simen Johan’s latest photos from his ongoing series, ‘Until the Kingdom Comes’ are stronger than even, offering seamless images of animals inserted into landscapes that would be alien to them, as with these giraffes (shot in a U.S. zoo), whose heads are lost in the fog of landscapes from Turkey, Bali & Iceland. (At Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery through Dec 7th).
Simen Johan, Untitled #172, digital c-print, 2013.
‘Self Portrait as Afterparty’ continues Brooklyn-based painter Julie Heffernan’s ongoing quasi-self-portrait series, here in a post-apocalyptic scenario in which she eschews plates of spaghetti to gather sacks of game. An abandoned dinner, piles of rocks, some of which have smashed the chairs, and a picture of an exploding volcano suggest that the end of the world has come but this goddess-like survivor can fend for herself. (At Chelsea’s PPOW Gallery through Nov 16th).
Julie Heffernan, Self Portrait as After-party, oil on canvas, 2013.
You don’t have to be into fashion to appreciate the spectacle that is ‘The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier’ at Brooklyn Museum. A moving catwalk, mannequins with animated faces, and more turn the normally sleepy Brooklyn Museum into a carnival celebrating Gaultier’s extravagant, gender-bending vision, which germinated in childhood when he fashioned a conical bra for his teddy, some 30 years prior to his designs for Madonna’s ‘Blond Ambition’ tour. (At Brooklyn Museum through Feb 23rd).
Jean Paul Gautier, ‘Nana’ from 1957; ‘chest of drawers with integrated vanity,’ prototype, 1992; and “Black Swan Collection,” modele Saut de l’Ange, Haute couture fall/winter 2011-12.
Born in Arizona to Native American parents, raised by his adoptive German-American parents in Wisconsin and based on the Bowery for the past 23 years, Brad Kahlhamer still draws on his varied background in art that blends Native American iconography and a graffiti-like graphic sensibility in this haunting portrait of an apparition-like character. (At Jack Shainman Gallery’s 24th Street location through Nov 16th).
Brad Kahlhamer, The Way They Looked The Way They Lived, ink spray paint, acrylic and ballpoint pen on cloth, 2013.
For his latest New York solo show, New Jersey based artist Willie Cole turns a whimsical arrangement of women’s shoes into a towering, 6 foot tall bronze sculpture recalling a Yoruban deity; a literalized example of power dressing. (At Chelsea’s Alexander and Bonin Gallery through Nov 16th)
Willie Cole, The Sole Sitter, bronze, 2013.
Brazilian artist Marepe continues to use everyday materials, simply transformed to achieve big effects. In his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery, he transforms two bikes into a stationary creature with human head and fish-like tail, a hybrid that suggests literal and figurative possibilities for forward movement. (Through Dec 14th).
Marepe, Cabeca Ciclica, bicycles and wood, 2012.
Leipzig-based painter Christoph Ruckhaberle’s stylized dance scene against a blue sky and green grass sets up a comparison with Matisse’s 1909 ‘Dance,’ but knowingly offers us subjects whose weightiness and modesty are grounded in the everyday, despite the peppy wallpaper. (At Chelsea’s Zieher Smith Gallery through Nov 16th).
Christoph Ruckhaberle, Untitled, acrylic and oil on canvas, 2013.
Ceramics are increasingly visible in Chelsea galleries this fall, particularly in a show of artists who use clay in innovative ways at Ricco Maresca Gallery. These sculptures by Carole Seborovski merge natural forms with abundantly decorated surfaces in intriguingly odd combinations. (Through Nov 16th ).
Carole Seborovski, Summer of Love (foreground), clay, medium/low fire glaze, platinum/gold luster, ceramic decals, and gold leaf, 2011.
Explaining that his carefully color-calibrated combinations of shapes are meant to evoke both fragmentation and interconnectedness, Philadelphia-based artist Odili Donald Odita applies his characteristic geometric abstractions directly to the walls creating an optical AND physical impact. (At Jack Shainman Gallery through Nov 16th).
Odili Donald Odita, Rain Forest acrylic latex wall paint, dimensions variable, 2013.
‘Souci’ (worry) was French conceptual artist Sophie Calle’s mother’s last word, uttered several years ago on her deathbed as she told her daughter not to worry about her. Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery is now showing a selection of Calle’s projects directly or indirectly relating to her mother, including one for which she traveled to the North Pole to bury her mother’s jewelry. While not as powerful as Calle’s last show, it’s a must-see for fans. (Through Nov 16th).
Sophie Calle, installation view of ‘Absence’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, Oct 2013.
Titled ‘The Connoisseur,’ this painting by New York based German artist Thomas Eggerer begs the question of what the central figure is so delicately gathering. Multiple outlines of the man suggest he’s involved in an ongoing process, while a fiery background and dark skies convey a sense of foreboding and urgency. (At Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery through Nov 9th.)
Thomas Eggerer, The Connoisseur, acrylic on canvas, 2012.
Art critic Blake Gopnik once called New York ceramic artist Arlene Shechet’s abstract sculptures ‘so bizarrely shaped they could be science-fair models of germs.’ The sculptures in the artist’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Sikkema, Jenkins & Co are just as quirky, conjuring natural and manmade forms and challenging us to puzzle them out. (Through Nov 16th).
Arlene Shechet, ‘Not to Mention,’ glazed ceramic, painted plywood base, 2013.
Brooklyn-based artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor is known for scenes of people in the landscape and decrepit interiors, all meticulously crafted from wood veneer. In her latest solo show at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery, she wields her signature technique and adds paint in service of depicting nature mangled by humans. (through Nov 30th).
Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Transparent Eye, wood veneer, shellac and oil on panel, 2013.
Italian artist Olivio Barbieri’s photographs of European mountain ranges are often breath-taking, but he takes something else away in his latest series, namely large sections of the mountain that he substitutes for snow-like areas of white. Barbieri explains that he’s interested in the hiker’s point of view, including ‘mirages and hallucinations.’ (At Yancey Richardson Gallery’s new 22nd Street location through Nov 2nd).
Olivio Barbieri, Alps – Geographies and People #11, archival pigment print, 2013.
Like British YouTube phenomena The Slow Mo Guys, German artist Martin Klimas recognizes the power of slowing down a dramatic event to stimulate our curiosity. Both have recently captured paint flying up from the surface of a speaker (the subject of Klimas’ show at Foley Gallery). But selections from Klimas’ previous body of work – depicting smashing figurines, on view in the back room – steal the show by adding the suggestion of accident and the happy intervention of chance. (At Foley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Nov 3rd).
Martin Klimas, Untitled (Pink and Green), pigment print, 2006.
Renowned American sculptor Richard Serra’s exhibitions at Gagosian Gallery’s 21st and 24th Street spaces in Chelsea opened this weekend, immediately proving to be the must-see shows of the moment. Though the 24th Street installation departs from his previous body of curving steel plates with its angular severity (watch for photos in upcoming days), the 21st Street place offers a single, huge, undulating steel installation that will delight fans of Serra’s more recent spiraling sculptures.
Richard Serra, installation view of ‘Inside Out’ at Gagosian Gallery, Oct 2013.
Inspired by a news story about a dolphin that swam into Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal and died the same day from the pollution, New York artist Alexis Rockman conjured this vision of the canal as a cauldron of contamination in which the strong adapt to survive. (At Sperone Westwater on the Lower East Side through Nov 2nd).
Alexis Rockman, Gowanus, oil on wood, 2013.
One of the highlights for me of last weekend’s 2013 Fashion District Arts Festival was discovering Susan Siegel’s fantastical oil paintings of domesticated animals playing the role of well-appointed Gainsborough-like ladies and gents in lush natural settings. Siegel excels at giving her subjects subtly readable personalities in works that gently poke fun at the excesses of 18th century self-fashioning.
Susan Siegel, Solitary Goat (Blue), 30” x 24”, oil on canvas, 2011.
Seattle-based ceramic artist Akio Takamori’s sleeping women rest in round bundles on low pedestals, their eyes open slightly, seemingly observing us while we’re spying on them in their sleep. Colorful and curvy like Matisse figures, it’s as if drawings have materialized in three dimensions. (At Chelsea’s Barry Friedman Gallery through Oct 30th.)
Akio Takamori, Sleeping Woman in Red Dress with Orange Hair, stoneware with underglazes, 2013.
Brooklyn-based artist Angel Otero adds towers of ceramic and steel to a selection of his trademark textured paintings created with oil skins in his latest body of work at Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Lauded for suggesting ‘secrets unearthed,’ not ruins but ‘ideas to build on, models to live by,’ in a recent piece by The Village Voice’s Christian Viveros-Faune, Otero’s fired steel and glazed porcelain ‘Slot’ sculptures evidence a remarkable drive to alter his materials. (Through Nov 2nd).
Angel Otero, installation view, ‘Gates of Horn and Ivory’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Sept, 2013.
On the heels of a well-received show at Anton Kern Gallery, LA-based painter Jonas Wood presents giant plant paintings against a wallpaper of basketballs at Lever House this fall. This juxtaposition of sports and plants (each of which has been sampled from another source, including his own earlier paintings) brings together two of Wood’s interests and pits a speedy sport against the slower pleasures of horticulture. (At Lever House between 53rd and 54th Streets on Park Ave through Jan 4th).
Tonight is the public reception for Richard Serra’s most recent New York sculpture show at Gagosian’s 21st and 24th Street spaces in Chelsea. Glimpses like this one of the installation, which has been ongoing since Sept at least, suggest that the exhibitions will be as impressive as ever. (Through Jan 25th).
In a radical departure from his monochromatic paintings created by teams of assistants from ash collected from Buddhist temples, Shanghai-based artist Zhang Huan has created a series of oil paintings from his own hand of skulls meant to represent Tibetan Death masks. Titled ‘Poppy Fields,’ they at first resemble abstract swirls of bright color, which materialize into slightly cartoonish skulls on closer inspection. (At Pace Gallery, 534 West 25th Street, through Oct 26th).
Zhang Huan, detail from the ‘Poppy Field’ series, oil on linen, 2011.
