Category: Hottest Show

Florencia Escudero in ‘A Love Letter to a Nightmare’ at Petzel Gallery

Under the rubric of ‘vamped Surrealism and Symbolism,’ Petzel Gallery’s summer group show considers contemporary artwork that channels the power of the subconscious.  At the gallery entrance, Florencia Escudero’s disembodied eyes and face greet visitors like a digital mirage.  Hand sewn and printed on satin and spandex, the sculpture’s material qualities are as evocative as the impossibly odd character herself. (On view in Chelsea Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 6pm through Aug 14th. Masks and social distancing are required.)

Florencia Escudero, Frog Licker, Hand-sewn, digitally-printed satin and silkscreened spandex, 3D-printed plastic, metal purse clasp, with hand-sewn velvet, foam, and spacer mesh base, and hand-sewn, digitally-printed satin, silkscreened spandex, foam, and spacer mesh parts, 6.5 x 13.5 x 5 inches, 2019.

Tony Cragg in ‘Spectrum’ at Lisson Gallery

Conflict is at the heart of Tony Cragg’s 1983 sculpture ‘Spectrum,’ from which Lisson Gallery’s new summer show takes its title.  Beautiful in its variety of color and inspired by the natural phenomenon of the color spectrum, it was assembled from sea plastic found on the shore, a decidedly ugly and unnatural phenomenon.  Part of a series, this iteration spreads objects out on the floor like a carefully presented anthropological display that implicates throw-away culture.  (On view in Chelsea Mon-Thurs, 11am – 4pm through August 27th. Masks and social distancing are required and visitor numbers are limited to 10 at a time.)

Tony Cragg, Spectrum, plastic, 255 7/9 x 137 ¾ inches, 1983

Jeffrey Gibson at Socrates Sculpture Park

Jeffrey Gibson’s enormous structure at Socrates Sculpture Park initiates the park’s new ‘Monuments Now’ project, a series of sculptures focusing on the current hot-button topic of public monuments and their representation of US history.  Inspired by the pre-Columbian Mississippian earthen structures of Cahokia and wheat-pasted with eye-popping posters in bright colors that celebrate a queer sensibility, Gibson’s ziggurat dominates the park with joyous pulsing patterns.  Texts on each side read, ‘Powerful because we are different’ and ‘Respect indigenous land,’ strong messages to read against the backdrop of Mannahatta, as Manhattan was known prior to the arrival of Europeans. (On view in Queens through March 2021).

Jeffrey Gibson, ‘Because Once You Enter My House It Becomes Our House,’ Plywood, posters, steel, LEDs, and performances, 44 × 44 × 21 ft, 2020.

Guo Fengyi at Gladstone Gallery

Inspired by visions that came to her during her qigong practice, late Chinese artist Guo Fengyi created towering scrolls now on view in Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location.  The Drawing Center’s concurrent show of Guo Fengyi’s work has not reopened, but visitors can take in Gladstone Gallery’s handsome presentation in Chelsea.  Described by a 4 Columns critic as ‘like anthropomorphic burls in trunks of enchanted trees,’ each drawing depicts a mythical or spiritual character (from Santa Claus to Yamantaka) that emerges from or merges into dense swirls of drawn line.   (On view through Fall ’20.  Masks and social distancing are required.  Appointments are encouraged.)

Guo Fengyi, (detail of) Tang Dynasty Princess Wencheng, colored ink on rice paper, 157 ¾ x 27 ½ inches, 2004.

Katsu at The Hole NYC

Seven blank white canvases, spray paint and drone technology have turned The Hole NYC into one huge painting by New York street artist and tech pioneer Katsu.  Partnering with Tsuru robotics in Moscow, Katsu has developed ways to write by drone and recently, to enable drones to create abstract paintings with programmed randomness.  (On view through August 23rd).

Katsu, installation view of ‘Dot’ at The Hole NYC, July 2020