Jennifer Zackin & Sandford Biggers, ‘a small world’ at The Jewish Museum

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Jennifer Zackin & Sandford Biggers, 'a small world,' video still, 2012.
Jennifer Zackin & Sandford Biggers, ‘a small world,’ video still, 2012.

If you’re at The Jewish Museum to visit the Vuillard show, don’t miss the chance to see a side exhibition of a single work – Sanford Biggers and Jennifer Zackin’s memorable video ‘a small world’ from ’99 – ’01.  Zackin grew up in a New York Jewish American family and Biggers an African American family in LA; the video piece pairs home movies from each artist’s family side by side.  Similarities between their experiences beg the question of how viewers might expect race and geography to influence a middle class upbringing. (Extended through October 14th).

Matthew Brandt at Yossi Milo Gallery

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Matthew Brandt, Bees of Bees 5 (detail), gum bichromate print with honeybees on paper, 2012.
Matthew Brandt, Bees of Bees 5 (detail), gum bichromate print with honeybees on paper, 2012.

Whether he’s burning trees to make charcoal or soaking a photograph of a lake in lake water to get an abstracted effect, Matthew Brandt uses his subject matter to create an image of that subject.  When bee colony collapse led to his discovery of hundreds of dead or dying bees on the California coast, he collected the bees and photographed them in his studio, printing them with an emulsion made of the bees.   The resulting prints are huge and swarming with bees (like the one in this detail), but chilling when a closer look reveals that they are in various states of decomposition. (At Yossi Milo Gallery through August 31, 2012).

Joan Brown in ‘Viva la Raspberries’ at Harris Lieberman

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Joan Brown, Mary Julia y Manuel, enamel on canvas, 1976.
Joan Brown, Mary Julia y Manuel, enamel on canvas, 1976.

Apart from its large size and bold color, Joan Brown’s ‘Mary Julia Y Manuel,’ from 1976 stands out for its romantic drama, played out on a bright red stage before a swirling San Francisco Bay.  Mary Julia, model and poet, holds a similar pose to Goya’s supposed lover, the Dutchess of Alba and her name is paired with Brown’s ex-husband Manuel, making this nighttime scene ring with tension. (‘Viva la Raspberries’ is at Harris Lieberman, Chelsea, through August 17th).

Davina Semo in ‘Sweet Distemper’ at Derek Eller Gallery

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Davina Semo, You Said We're Skipping the Prelude; Start the Insults, reinforced concrete, safety glass, enamel paint, 2011
Davina Semo, You Said We’re Skipping the Prelude; Start the Insults, reinforced concrete, safety glass, enamel paint, 2011

Three panels of painted concrete covered in shattered safety glass by Davina Semo at Chelsea’s Derek Eller Gallery rest on the floor like they were just brought in from a war-zone.  Minimalist stripes in safety orange appear to have suffered heavy attack but survive to bear witness.  Together they’re titled, ‘You said we’re skipping the prelude: start the insults.” (Though August 16th).

Walter Robinson in ‘Claxons,’ at Haunch of Venison

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Walter Robinson, 'Dallas BBQ,' acrylic on canvas, 2001.
Walter Robinson, ‘Dallas BBQ,’ acrylic on canvas, 2001.

Walter Robinson’s ‘Dallas BBQ’ arouses a different kind of desire than his erotically charged paintings (resembling romance novel covers from the 60s) at Chelsea’s Haunch of Venison.  ‘Here’s the beef’ this small but powerful canvas shouts as it evokes the danger of a cholesterol bomb and the pleasures of one of America’s favorite indulgences. (Through August 17th).