PPOW Gallery in Chelsea has some pretty pompous door greeters in the form of Judy Fox’s charmingly absurd, anthropomorphized ‘Large Octopus’ sculptures, subtitled ‘Dowager’ and ‘Elder.’ At around 2.5 and 3.5 feet high the duo are impressively large to be crafted in Fox’s signature terracotta & casein materials but small enough to present more of an amusement than a threat. (Through Dec 15th).
The Brooklyn Museum will open its doors tomorrow, a day after Sandy hit the city. In a cheeky, colorful display there, Moroccan-born, Paris-based artist Mounir Fatmi presents fifty skateboards covered in Islamic prayer rugs. Titled ‘Maximum Sensation,’ the installation begs the question of where we find heightened consciousness – in faith, sport or both? (On long-term installation in the Contemporary Art Galleries).
Nina Chanel Abney says she’s ‘living in an age of information overload,’ and her new paintings prove the point by piling up disguised references to mass media content, from politics to advertising. This detail – from an over 20-foot long mural titled ‘I Dread to Think’ – surprisingly jumbles race, religion and gender in two female deities. (At Kravets/Wehby Gallery and Anna Kustera Gallery on 21st Street in Chelsea through Nov 24th).
Mark Bradford is back with more of the mixed media collage/decollage canvases that have made his reputation as a leading contemporary abstract artist, like this mixed media on canvas piece, ‘We May Be Running Out of a Past.’ His latest solo show at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co opened this evening, showcasing eight huge, vibrantly colored pieces that don’t evidence a new direction for the artist but do explain his popularity. (Through Dec 15th .)
In the 90s, Zhan Wang caused a stir in China by intervening in the landscaping around new, modern buildings by replacing natural rock formations with his large, chrome-covered stainless steel scholars rocks. In the atrium of 590 Madison Ave, the ‘stones’ are in keeping with the glass wall and bamboo plantings, but they still have a ghostly, shape-shifting presence.