Category: Don’t Miss

Attention all photo enthusiasts, don’t miss three shows set to close April 7th. Selections from Mitch Epstein’s series, ‘American Power’ may feel a little disjointed – images representing family and romantic power relations are shuffled in with photos depicting refineries, fuel processing plants and the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina – but are still a sobering visual essay on the cost exacted by American energy consumption. Justine Kurland’s subject matter is likewise tied to the American landscape, but her photos of mothers and their children posing nude in the wilds are idyllic scenarios suggesting a thwarted yearning for prelapsarian perfection. Meanwhile, over at 303 gallery, Karel Funk’s photorealist paintings (OK, it only looks like photography) prove it’s not just God who can count every hair on your head. Check out the lavish attention paid to the minutest detail of his male subjects, including the wispy locks on one magnificent hipster in the back gallery.

For more information on Mitch Epstein, see Sikkema Jenkins & Co, for Justine Kurland, see Mitchell-Innes & Nash and for Karel Funk, visit 303 Gallery’s website.

Exhibition closings come in waves; the next set is due to break on February 10th. Don’t miss Stan Douglas’s video ‘Klatsassin,’ a murder and revenge story set during a gold rush in 19th century British Columbia, at David Zwirner Gallery. Presented in Douglas’ characteristic looping format, with 850 possible permutations, the entire effort runs over 70 hours, both teasing and enticing viewers with an elusively juicy plot. Though their subject matter is decidedly less dramatic, at least two other shows merit a last minute trip to Chelsea. Dike Blair’s tiny, mundane, but mysterious still life paintings at D’Amelio Terras Gallery muster a murky noir feeling, while Charles Long’s elegant, white sculptures at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery recall Giacometti but were actually modeled on bird droppings, giving them pedigree in an art world long obsessed with bodily function.

Christmas is just around the corner, but amid the shopping and festivities, don’t forget that many gallery shows are slated to close right before the holidays. The most obvious must-see is John Currin’s racy, exquisitely rendered portraits at Gagosian Gallery’s uptown location. Meanwhile, don’t miss the huge show of late Warhols at the gallery’s two downtown spaces, where self-portraits in fright wigs butt heads with Mao and Jesus makes an appearance in monumental Last Suppers. For something out of the ordinary, catch Martha Camarillo’s photographs of horse-riding culture in the heart of inner city Philadelphia (as in, hanging out on the street on a horse), at the Jack Shainman Gallery. (All shows close December 22nd.)

A trio of shows south of the border (e.g. just beyond the Meatpacking District!) are a cinch to draw visitors below 14th Street this month with excellent offerings by young West Coast artists Evan Holloway and Jennifer Bornstein and Swiss legend Dieter Roth. Holloway at long last presents his first New York solo show after attracting attention in the 2002 Whitney Biennial for his abstract sculptures, while Bornstein departs from her usual photo and film-based work to present intimate portraits created by copperplate etching. Meanwhile Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art shows editioned graphics and objects by the master of odd art materials (including chocolate and sausage) as part of a two-gallery show also at Josee Bienvenu Gallery in Chelsea. (Evan Holloway’s and Jennifer Bornstein’s shows are open until Nov 18th, Dieter Roth’s is open until Nov 25.)

Find out more at: http://www.gavinbrown.biz, http://www.harrislieberman.com

It’s no wonder ‘Helter Swelter,’ Justin Lowe’s first New York solo show attracted reviews in The New York Times, the Village Voice and Time Out. This young collage artist turned the gallery itself into an artwork by creating a convincing, full scale corner store in the front room, parking an ice cream van in the hall, and covering the floor of the back room in fabulous psychedelic swirls of fabric. This meeting of life and art may not explain the mysteries of the universe, but the experience is unique enough for a visit. (Through July 28th)

Find out more at: 5be Gallery