Nature is vast, mankind is tiny in Cuban painter Tomas Sanchez’s landscapes. Here, a solitary cloud patrols a wooded terrain conspicuously absent of humans. (On view at Marlborough Contemporary through Feb 10th).
Paris-based Italian artist Beatrice Caracciolo’s ‘Tramontana’ refers in its title to a cold north wind, which appears to cause a landscape to hunker down in this expressive ink on paper artwork. (On view at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 3rd).
Though each painting in his first solo show at DC Moore Gallery is based on the torso of an eccentrically outfitted individual, Michael Stamm’s new paintings are remarkable diverse and inventive. Inspired by meetings with his therapist – with whom he avoided eye contact – Stamm’s headless characters offer enticing sartorial clues to identity. Here, the subject’s sweater contrasts a mountainous landscape above with licking flames below, connected by the French emblem translated, ‘it is established by God’s decree.’ (On view in Chelsea through Feb 3rd).
Kiyoshi Nakagami’s otherworldly abstractions, dramatically contrasting light and dark and rendered in pigment and gold dust, suggest a moment of cosmic creation or the beginning of an alien encounter. Scale and subject matter are hard to discern but the impact of Nakagami’s meticulously laid gold lines is profound. (On view at Ameringer McEnery Yohe gallery in Chelsea at the gallery’s temporary location on 19th Street).
What can a painting do that a photograph can’t? Carla Klein’s latest paintings, created from photos taken on visits to European greenhouses, set themselves apart by making familiar spaces seem strange. Frames and panels in the background look excessive, as if new spaces were propagating along with the plants. (On view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 15th).
