‘Monsalvat’ at Bureau Gallery

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Bureau Gallery’s exhibition space is so small (one of the tiniest in the city), it’s hard to find room to take a photograph of ‘Monsalvat,’ a sprawling exhibition of work by over fifty artists. Inspired by the Arthurian tale of the Fischer King, artist/curator duo Merkx & Gwynne recreate a version of the king’s castle here, complete with mystical relics (including the grail) crafted by stand-out young artists. (On the Lower East Side through Feb 17th).

Installation view of ‘Monsalvat’ at Bureau Gallery, Feb 2013.


Nari Ward at New Museum

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Nari Ward’s installation of 300 abandoned baby strollers culled from Harlem streets in 1993 is a far cry from the banks of stroller parking around the city’s more family-friendly neighborhoods today. Here, surrounded and entwined by flattened fire hoses (they were first displayed in an abandoned fire house) and displayed to the sounds of Mahalia Jackson’s ‘Amazing Grace,’ they’re emblems of a gritty, made-do urban existence. (At the New Museum’s Studio 231 space next door to the museum through April 21st)

Nari Ward, ‘Amazing Grace,’ installation view at Studio 231, New Museum, approx 300 baby strollers and fire hoses, 1993.


Zwelethu Mthethwa at Jack Shainman Gallery

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South African photograher Zwelethu Mthethwa’s mother had a hope chest, a custom made box gifted to her when she married and left her childhood home. Likened to a time capsule, women keep the chest their entire lives. In Mthethwa’s ‘Hope Chest’ series, we don’t get a look inside the boxes, but what we do see – the lives and circumstances of everyday South Africans – are just as fascinating. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through Feb 23rd).

Zwelethu Mthethwa, Untitled (Hope Chest series), digital c-print, 2012. Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery.

Hendrik Kersten at Danziger Gallery

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A picture of a woman with a plastic bag, bubble wrap or toilet paper rolls on her head is going to get nothing but laughs, right? Not if it’s one of Dutch photographer Hendrik Kerstens’ portraits of his daughter, Paula, who manages an ethereal elegance while wearing a stack of doilies that evokes the elaborate collars worn by sitters in Old Master paintings. (At Danziger Gallery, Chelsea, through Feb 16th).

Hendrik Kerstens, ‘Doily,’ pigment print, 2011. Courtesy of Danziger Gallery.
Hendrik Kerstens, ‘Doily,’ pigment print, 2011. Courtesy of Danziger Gallery.

Joseph Stashkevetch at Von Lintel Gallery

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Facility with any particular medium isn’t necessarily a prerequisite for making outstanding artwork any more, which makes Joseph Stashkevetch’s detailed nature scenes all the more enjoyable. Created by sanding away the surface of his rag paper and adding to it with conte crayon, his drawings have an engaging soft focus. Both Stashkevetch’s effort and the geological process he describes are astounding. (At Von Lintel Gallery through Feb 23rd).

Joseph Stashkevetch, Sonata IV Presentation, conte crayon on rag paper, 60 x 60 inches 2012.