Angolan artist Keyezua’s ‘Fortia’ series (translated as ‘Strength’) features female figures in handmade masks and dramatic red gowns posing in an eroded landscape outside Luanda. Citing her father’s disability and early death, the artist aims to explore how her own identity developed as a young woman experiencing loss. (In ‘Refraction: New Photography of Africa and its Diaspora’ at Steven Kasher Gallery in Chelsea through June 2nd).
A Christmas cactus tangos with a dramatically dark black tulip in the foreground of Inka Essenhigh’s ‘Party of the Flames and Flowers,’ a standout painting in the artist’s solo show at Miles McEnery Gallery in Chelsea. Personified flowers compete to show off their beauty in an intriguing venue that mysteriously appears to be undersea. (On view through May 25th).
This 1980 painting on hand-woven linen by video art pioneer Beryl Korot (seen in detail) demonstrates the language she devised, based on the grid of woven cloth. The text is based on the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis, an account in which language fragments. For Korot, Babel offers a chance to consider the ways that language and technology relate to human behavior. (On view at Bitforms through May 20th).
Mylar, balloon-shaped sculptures are the centerpiece of Tomas Saraceno’s stunning ‘Solar Rhythms’ exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea – a show that envisions fossil fuel free flight via balloon. Reflected light decorates the gallery in ethereal patterns that connect our earthly realm to the wonderous possibilities of life in the air. (On view through June 9th).
When it comes to perspective in his paintings, David Hockney famously takes the road less traveled by adopting multiple viewpoints in one image. In this vibrantly colored painting of Garrowby Hill in Yorkshire, on view at Pace Gallery through the weekend, Hockney eliminates the corners of his canvas, introducing a technique that guides viewers on an enticingly colorful and quirky journey into an expanding landscape. (On view at Pace Gallery’s 25th Street Chelsea location through May 12th).
