Technique rather than subject matter (he’s painted portraits for over thirty years) drives interest in Chuck Close’s recent artwork. For this remake of his iconic ‘Mark’ (’78-’79), Close layered gesso on the paper and screenprinted a grid. Using a dowel with felt on the end, each square is hand stamped three times with different colors. Factor in a week’s drying time for each layer and it’s no wonder that edition of 40 is still being printed. (At Pace Prints, 57th Street through Nov 21st.)
Conceptual artist John Baldessari pairs song lyrics with images abstracted from canonical paintings in his latest series of paintings. The odd angle of this deer’s head gives its source away as an 1867 hunting scene by Gustave Courbet. The hunt looks more comical than gruesome in Baldessari’s version, though on reflection maybe both deer and fly should be spared. (At Marian Goodman Gallery, 57th Street, through Nov 21).
John Szarkowski, MoMA’s photography director for nearly 30 years, called Lee Friedlander’s nude photos, “… the most unblinkingly, unreservedly candid descriptions of other people’s bodies that serious photography has produced.” Pace Gallery proves his point with a show of photos from the late 70s to the early 90s that practically interrogate female bodies in their intensity. (On 57th Street through Dec 22nd).
Photographer Lee Friedlander returns to his roots by shooting reflective store windows with a 35mm camera in his latest series, titled ‘Mannequin.’ Here, a building’s façade tries to impose its grid on a Dolly-Parton-haired good-time girl while a curtain and rod at the top complicates ideas of public and private space. (At Pace/MacGill Gallery, 57th Street through Dec 22nd).
Andy Warhol’s Cow Wallpaper and Silver Clouds, originally created for a solo show at Leo Castelli Gallery in 1966, reunite in the final room of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s ‘Regarding Warhol’ exhibition for a jolt of interactive fun. Join Merrily on Sunday, Nov 18th (10am – 11:30am) for a small group tour of this blockbuster show. (Space is limited to six participants. $40pp. To make a reservation, please email merrily@newyorkarttours.com.)