New York Art Tours

Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu, ‘Manuscripts of Tradition’ at Jack Shainman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show March 4, 2026March 3, 2026No Comments

In vivid color or stark black and white, self-taught Nigerian artist Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu’s new paintings and drawings at Jack Shainman Gallery continue to dazzle with their hyper-realism. Dedicated to celebrating Igbo tradition through her work, Chiamonwu includes foods, architecture and symbolic items from her culture in joyful portraits. In this graphite and charcoal drawing titled ‘Mgbeorie (Woman born in Orie Market Day),’ she refers to the Igbo tradition of naming children after the market day on which they were born, while the shell earring nods to objects passed down in families over time. (On view in Tribeca in Jack Shainman Gallery’s 346 Broadway location through March 28^th).

Ifeyinwa Joy Chiamonwu, Mgbeorie (Woman born in Orie Market Day), graphite and charcoal on paper, 36 x 31 ½ inches, 2025.

Agnieszka Kurant, ‘Recursion’ at Marian Goodman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show March 2, 2026February 24, 2026No Comments

“What would a chameleon do when confronted with its own reflection?” This question, posed decades ago by an expert in control systems, inspired Agnieszka Kurant’s ‘Recursivity 3,’ a standout sculpture in her current solo show at Marian Goodman Gallery that features a chameleon whose color changes based on information provided by AI. Using various sets of AI-gathered data, Kurant considers aspects of human and animal life from new angles, for example, via a video featuring new language based on patterns of thousands of existing tongues and a panel with designs that are constantly altered by data gathered from wild animals via GPS, drones and other technologies. Like the chameleon, humanity’s behavior is shaped by information gathered in real time and by future predictions; Kurant turns the flood of data into a portrait both complicated and illuminating. (On view through March 21^st).

A bronze sculpture of a chameleon on a twisting branch, placed in front of a mirror. — Agnieszka Kurant, Recursivity 3, bronze, museum glass, liquid crystal pigments, heat sinks, Peltier elements, artificial intelligence, custom software, computer, AC, custom pedestal, 33 7/8 x 29 ½ x 51 1/8 inches, 2024/26.

Kurt Kauper, ‘Housekeeping’ at Ortuzar Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 27, 2026February 24, 2026No Comments

Though Kurt Kauper’s realist oil paintings are intended to be open-ended, allowing viewers to apply their own interpretations to his sometimes-surreal scenarios, the artist makes sure there’s plenty to fuel speculation. In this painting from Kauper’s series ‘Watching Men,’ part of his solo at Ortuzar Gallery that pictures men preparing themselves to face the world by brushing their teeth or combing their hair, for example, it’s tempting to consider what’s on this thoughtful man’s mind. Just as he faces the direction of the arrow in the bike lane next to him, his scarf matches the road markings and the nearby construction barriers. Though the barricades seem to symbolize impeded progress, the man appears to be at the moment of breakthrough as he emerges from shadow into light. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 28^th).

A man in the foreground appears to walk down the street toward a park with a light colored building behind and construction barriers to his left. — Kurt Kauper, Watching Men #13, oil on dibond, 12 x 12 inches, 2025.

Alexis Rockman, ‘Feedback Loop’ at Jack Shainman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 25, 2026February 24, 2026No Comments

For sheer beauty, no other current Chelsea show can beat Alexis Rockman’s watercolor and acrylic landscape paintings, part of his exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery. Attracted by washes of bright watercolor and acrylic, visitors are drawn into environments around the world that have experienced climate change-related fires or agricultural burns. Oil and cold wax paintings in the main gallery juxtapose towering, burning landscapes with diminutive humans in boats on rivers in the foreground, helpless witnesses to the devastation. A final gallery of ‘field drawings’ from the Great Lakes region were created from a kind of paint made with local materials – sand from the lakes or coal dust from a power plant – which he used to picture local fish, birds and more. Part elegy at what is being lost, part appreciation of the beauty that remains, Rockman’s new work is a powerful reminder of the fragility of nature. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 28^th.)

Bird of paradise flower in foreground, blurry fire in the background of this washy watercolor. — Alexis Rockman, Osa Peninsula, watercolor and acrylic on paper, 18 x 24 inches, 2025.

Zarina, ‘Beyond the Stars’ at Luhring Augustine Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 23, 2026February 17, 2026No Comments

Born in Aligarh, India ten years before partition, Zarina Hashmi’s uprooting at an early age prefigured a nomadic life of artmaking in Thailand, Germany, Paris, Japan, New York and beyond. Luhring Augustine’s survey of several decides of the artist’s print-centered work reflects the artist’s recurring themes of home and displacement through pieces picturing abstracted maps of countries and cities in which she lived, as well as abstract work recalling architecture. In this thickly textured cast-paper wall-sculpture titled ‘Marrakesh,’ Zarina, who went by her first name, suggests the earthen building tradition of Morrocco and a recurring stepped form in Islamic architecture. (On view in Tribeca through March 28^th).

A cast-paper form like a ziggurat or plant, colored brown. — Zarina, Marrakesh, cast paper, 22 x 19 ½ inches, 1988.

Jeff Koons, ‘Porcelain Series’ at Gagosian Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 20, 2026February 17, 2026No Comments

Meticulously crafted in flawlessly smooth mirror-polished stainless steel, Jeff Koons’ large-scale new sculptures from his ‘Porcelain Series’ at Gagosian dazzle and dominate viewers, making the spacious gallery feel full. Towering renderings of Aphrodite, the Three Graces and Diana are rooted in Greek and Roman myth but take their forms from diverse sources ranging from mass-produced collectibles to elite objects by Sevres or Meissen, continuing Koons’ practice of flattening distinctions between pop culture and ‘high art.’ Here, a kissing couple in courtly dress express desire for each other as the sculpture itself becomes an oversized object of desire, undergoing a scale shift that intensifies both romance and market appeal. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 28^th).

A sculpture of two kissing people in 18th century dress in highly polished and painted steel. — Jeff Koons, Kissing Lovers, mirror-polished stainless steel with transparent color coating, 88 x 77 x 55 inches, 2016-25.

Eva Robarts, ‘Bikes, Bolts and Brooms’ at Nicola Vassell Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 18, 2026February 17, 2026No Comments

Titled ‘Bikes, Bolts and Brooms,’ Eva Robarts show of new sculpture at Nicola Vassell Gallery makes familiar objects feel both strange and wonderful by clustering them in colorful accumulations. A rainbow of overlapping V-shaped bike frame segments and monochromatic panels made of roughly woven, crushed flat broom handles convey a certain amount of energy just by their tilting, dense arrangement of forms. In the back room, this combination of a scythe and truck mirror titled ‘Dancers’ strikes a darker, dangerous note. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 21^st).

Eva Robarts, Dancers, scythe, trucking door mount mirror, steel hardware, 35 x 54 x 33 inches, 2021.

Alfred Jensen, ‘Diagrammatic Mysteries’ at 125 Newbury

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 16, 2026February 11, 2026No Comments

Numbers, signage and text in late American Expressionist painter Alfred Jensen’s thickly painted canvases suggest dry, instructional diagrams while at the same time attracting attention with bold color and form. Now on view at 125 Newbury in Tribeca, a selection of Jensen’s work from the late ‘50s to the mid-70s titled ‘Diagrammatic Mysteries’ reaffirms the simultaneous significance and impenetrability of the work, backed up by a quote from iconic Minimalist Donald Judd in a gallery handout – “The theories are important to him and completely irrelevant to the viewer.” Freed from the need to uncover Jensen’s meanings, visitors can discover pleasure in the works’ formal qualities and suggestive text, patterns and sequences. (On view through Feb 28^th).

Abstract image with prominent circular and rectangular forms in a variety of saturated colors, white and black. — Alfred Jensen, Physical Optics, oil on canvas, 7’2” x 12’ 9”, 1975.

Caroline Slotte in ‘One Way or Another,’ HB381 Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 13, 2026February 11, 2026No Comments

Vintage ceramics become contemporary in recent work at HB381 by Finish artist Caroline Slotte and British artist Paul Scott, makers who live in different countries but share an expertise in remaking found ceramic plates, dishes and more. Scott, who was once Slotte’s professor at Norway’s Bergen Academy of Art and Design, transfers current imagery onto vintage pottery in vivid cobalt blue color. Slotte’s approach is subtractive, involving power tools that remove blue glaze from scenes featuring Chinese or European landscapes to achieve a quasi-pointillist effect. Both artists employ the element of surprise as viewers register familiar ceramic objects that been radically altered, prompting reconsideration of inherited forms and their current relevance. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 28^th).

A large serving dish with a nature scene, altered to look indistinct. — Caroline Slotte, Ceramic Wall Plate from the Series ‘Fade,’ reworked ceramic, 18.25 x 14.5”, 2025.

Joseph Jones at Chapter NY Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 11, 2026February 10, 2026No Comments

Primed by countless social media posts to see cats as cute and entertaining, visitors to Joseph Jones’ solo show at Chapter NY Gallery encounter meticulously detailed paintings of the animals that slow down our rapid-view consumption and complicate our enjoyment. Two of three paintings cropped to show human arms holding a gorgeous, white-furred cat prominently feature a wristwatch, perhaps making us aware of how long we pause to examine each work. Though the show includes paintings of tiny but bold flower blossoms and one sympathetic-looking dog’s head, human/cat interactions dominate. One cat wearing a yellow hood looks accusatorily outward as if horrified to be forced into such a getup while another manifests in a rainbow of color like a feline leprechaun. Jones’ paintings probe human attitudes to felines – from plaything to enigma – in ways that invite careful looking. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 21^st).

A person in a gold track suit top is holding a white cap in their arms. — Joseph Jones, Gold cat, oil and acrylic on linen, 2026.

Jacqueline Qiu, ‘Burying Flowers’ at Chart Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 9, 2026February 3, 2026No Comments

Described by Chart Gallery as ‘emotional landscapes,’ Jacqueline Qiu’s detailed and delicate tapestries are inspired by daily life and experiences. Working with a frame that keeps the vertical warp taut, Qiu threads in a weft using a variety of materials from paper yarn to mohair that yield dynamic, undulating forms. Titled ‘Burying Flowers,’ a nod to both a scene in a classic Chinese novel in which a character respects the beauty of flowers by burying them and an archaeological site in Iraq where Neanderthals were thought to have included flowers in a burial, Qiu’s vibrant textiles honor the ephemerality and beauty of the natural world. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 14^th.)

A handmade textile with an arch of greenery over a bowl-shaped area of floral forms. — Jacqueline Qiu, Well, handwoven tapestry on floor loom using cotton, silk mohair, vintage mohair, indigo dyed paper yarn, pipe paper yarn, shosenshi paper yarn, linen, rayon, acrylic, and beads, acrylic dowel, 48 x 44 inches, 2024.

A closeup image of a textile featuring abstract flowers. — Jacqueline Qiu, (detail) Well, handwoven tapestry on floor loom using cotton, silk mohair, vintage mohair, indigo dyed paper yarn, pipe paper yarn, shosenshi paper yarn, linen, rayon, acrylic, and beads, acrylic dowel, 48 x 44 inches, 2024.

Shaunte Gates, ‘The Night Before: Poppies and Parachutes’ at Marc Straus Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 6, 2026February 3, 2026No Comments

Drawing on influences as diverse as his uncle’s trove of recorded Hollywood movies and Greek and Roman mythology, DC-based artist Shaunte Gates wields a sophisticated collage technique that pictures heroic hybrid characters in a maelstrom of imagery. New work at Marc Straus Gallery in Tribeca includes recurring Greek columns and white parachutes, suggesting a collapsing old order and either an escape from danger or an incoming invasion. Here, Gates’ ‘The Messenger, The Archer, The Lover no II’ features a purposefully striding leg and a composite image of the hunting goddess Artemis, complete with quiver and dog. Seen from below, the figures dominate, their actions full of portent and importance. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 28^th).

A dense collage featuring a striding leg in a Timberland-style boot, a goddess and more figures. — Shaunte Gates, The Messenger, The Archer, The Lover no II, acrylic paint, photo, pulled paper, collage, thread on wood panel, 2026.

A figure of the goddess Artemis collaged from different pictures. — Shaunte Gates, (detail) The Messenger, The Archer, The Lover no II, acrylic paint, photo, pulled paper, collage, thread on wood panel, 2026.

Katelyn Ledford, ‘Verso’ at Fredericks and Freiser Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 4, 2026February 3, 2026No Comments

Apparitions materialize on the backs of paintings while art smocks reveal the imprint of saintly heads in Katelyn Ledford’s skeptically mystical works at Fredericks and Freiser Gallery. Possessed of great skill in fooling the eye, Ledford paints what look to be the verso of framed artworks, suggesting that meaning might be found in what would normally be hidden from view. Messages like, ‘Keep looking’ or ‘free’ so convincingly appear to be rendered in masking tape that identifying the actual material – acrylic and oil – comes across as a revelation. Recurring clown faces, which the artist regularly dons on her social media, suggest a performative aspect to the painterly skill that entertains and delights her audience. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 7^th).

Katelyn Ledford, Free, acrylic and oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, 2025.

Esteban Cabeza de Baca, ‘Pollinators’ at Garth Greenan Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show February 2, 2026January 27, 2026No Comments

Though based on the east coast, Esteban Cabeza de Baca roots his artworks in his parents’ Mexican heritage and his childhood upbringing near the California / Mexico border. In this painting in his latest solo show at Garth Greenan Gallery, the artist employs New Mexico soil along with dyes made of cochineal from insects and indigo along with acrylic and spray paint, merging contemporary and ancient materials. A Maize god featured on Mayan artifacts inspired the green, human-plant hybrid figure pictured here on a segment of a wall which has broken away and is hovering in space at the center of this painting. Accepting human figures onto its open plant-palm, the deity offers a chance to exist in communion with nature, a recurring theme of Cabeza de Baca’s work. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 21^st).

Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Portals to the Lunar Maize God, New Mexico soil, acrylic, and spray paint on cochineal and indigo dyed canvas, 72 x 72 inches, 2025.

Cheryl Molnar, ‘The Overview’ at C24 Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 30, 2026January 27, 2026No Comments

The Malibu coast comes alive with dynamic curving shapes yet feels slightly foreboding in Cheryl Molnar’s collages of cut paper, photos and drawings on birch panel at C24 Gallery. The sky’s swirling lines evoke an Edvard Munch-like ‘scream of nature’ while a disused pier with roller coasters suggests a tourist spot fallen on hard times. The red and white patterns of beach umbrellas break-up the straight lines of the boardwalk while appearing to move like pin-wheels in the wind. Cheer and unease compete in a masterfully crafted confrontation between human entertainments and nature’s sublime. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 21^st).

Malibu beach scene with red and white umbrellas, a swirling sky and cliffs in the background. — Cheryl Molnar, Malibu, gouache and mixed media collage on wood panel, 48 x 72 inches, 2019.

Detail of previous image, focusing on walkway along beach with umbrellas either side and cliffs in distance. — Cheryl Molnar, (detail) Malibu, gouache and mixed media collage on wood panel, 48 x 72 inches, 2019.

Nicolas Party, ‘Dead Fish’ at Karma Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 28, 2026January 27, 2026No Comments

Nicolas Party’s last major NY solo show alluded to the devastating effects of climate change with a huge mural of a raging forest fire; imagery of dead fish in his current exhibition at Karma again suggests a relationship of precarity with the natural world. Inspired by Renoir’s still life paintings of fish and Goya’s tonally darker paintings of the same subject matter (both created during wartime), Party presents a small oil on copper painting and a 14-foot-high mural featuring a pile of fish, a symbol of mortality more stark for its isolation at the center of the artwork. The shift in scale from the show’s diminutive oil on copper paintings to the vast wall piece unsubtly directs viewers back to a feeling of thought-provoking unease that pervades Party’s practice. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 14^th).

Several dead fish lie in a pile at the center of a blank area. — Nicolas Party, Dead Fish, soft pastel on wall, 173 x 206 inches, 2026.

Mary Bauermeister, ‘Stoned’ at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 26, 2026January 21, 2026No Comments

Late German artist Mary Bauermeister addressed natural, mathematical and spiritual order in artworks composed of stones that she collected from beaches around the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Now on view at Micheal Rosenfeld Gallery, a selection of the artist’s work from the late 1950s to 2018 includes her first stone work from 1962 and pieces from the same decade including this large assemblage, ‘Stone Arrow/Error,’ which seems to indicate a colossal downturn or alternatively, a suggestion to look down to the earth. Composed of small to tiny water-smoothed pebbles arranged by size to suggest a recession into infinity at the center, the pattern of stones is broken by a white area of canvas at the bottom. Here, a drawing of a hand drawing the hand that places the stones suggests an awareness of self-awareness that leads the viewer to ponder our frames of reference when it comes to creativity and the natural world. (On view through Jan 31^st at Michael Rosenfel Gallery in Chelsea).

A canvas shaped like a giant downturned arrow, covered with rows of very small stacks of rounded pebbles. — Mary Bauermeister, Stone Arrow/Error, stones, casein tempera and ink on plywood wrapped in painted canvas and particle board coated with sand, in two parts, 66 ¾ x 49 ½ x 4 ¾ inches, 1964-66.

Detail of an artwork composed of rows of stones and a drawing of a hand drawing a picture of a hand. — Mary Bauermeister, Stone Arrow/Error, stones, casein tempera and ink on plywood wrapped in painted canvas and particle board coated with sand, in two parts, 66 ¾ x 49 ½ x 4 ¾ inches, 1964-66.

Dan Flavin, ‘Grids’ at David Zwirner Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 23, 2026January 21, 2026No Comments

Perfectly timed to contrast New York’s drab winter landscape, David Zwirner Gallery’s show of iconic light artist Dan Flavin’s fluorescent ‘Grids’ series offers a hugely enjoyable immersion in color. Installed in the gallery as they were in Leo Castelli’s space in 1987, the show starts with three grids on loan from the Guggenheim, Princeton University Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art placed end to end across a corner. Casting and blending their colors, this work from 1977 and the show’s other pieces transform the space of the gallery, engaging with architecture by bathing it in light. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 21^st.)

Two people stand in front of a sculpture made of a grid of colorful fluorescent tubes. — Dan Flavin, untitled (for you, Leo, in long respect and affection) 2, blue, yellow, pink and green fluorescent light, 8 ft square across a corner, edition 3 of 3, 1977.

Nicole Cherubini, ‘Hotel Roma’ at Friedman Benda Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 21, 2026January 21, 2026No Comments

Three towering arrangements of curving stacked forms in Nicole Cherubini’s first solo show at Chelsea’s Friedman Benda Gallery represent Greek mythology’s Three Graces in a decidedly updated style. Cherubini’s versions partially preserve the white expanses of flesh on ancient marble trios while adding expressionist drips and splashes of color and terracotta material as if to partially cloth the normally nude characters. In past work, Cherubini has treated sculpture and support as equally important; here for Grace number three, a long bench-like form extends away from the figure like the train of a dress or elements of a landscape. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 21^st).

A stack of sculptural ceramic forms with a bench-like shape extending back into the gallery. — Nicole Cherubini, 3, earthenware, terracotta, sculptural clay, glaze, epoxy resin, Magic Sculpt, acrylic paint, steel rod, hardware, 87 ¼ x 146 x 26 ½ inches, 2025.

Lynn Geesaman at Yancey Richardson Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 19, 2026January 13, 2026No Comments

An almost eerie stillness pervades Lynn Geesaman’s 1999 photograph at Parc de Jeurre, an estate with gardens southwest of Paris, in a show of the late photographer’s strikingly beautiful photos from the 90s and early ‘00s at Yancey Richardson Gallery. Here, no breeze sways the orderly rows of trees broken by the trunk of an older tree in the foreground. The contrast between the strict planning of the planting and a sense of unpredictability represented by the soft, almost abstracting focus is typical of the show’s selection of Geesaman’s work and lends the photographs a surprising, dreamlike quality. (On view in Chelsea through Feb 28^th).

A landscape planted with rows of trees and one lone tree in the foreground. — Lynn Geesaman, Parc de Jeurre, France, lifetime chromogenic print, image: 28 x 27 7/8 inches, 1999.

Faith Ringgold at Jack Shainman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 16, 2026January 13, 2026No Comments

Faced in the early ‘90s with racist neighbors who tried to stop her from building a studio on her Jones Road property in Englewood, NJ, Faith Ringgold responded with ‘Coming to Jones Road,’ a series of fabric artworks that celebrated the history of Black people moving to New Jersey. A mini survey of work by Ringgold at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Tribeca space includes, among several pieces from the series, ‘Aunt Emmy and Baby Freedom’ a work featuring a baby who has arrived in the North via the Underground Railroad. Based on Ringgold’s great grandmother, an anchor of the family, the character Aunt Emmy beams down on Baby Freedom, a child embodying the notion expressed in the work’s text that ‘Every last one was born to be free.’ (On view through Jan 24^th in Tribeca.)

A woman with grey hair smiles down at a baby in her arms against a colorful garden background. — Faith Ringgold, Coming to Jones Road Part II #3 Aunt Emmy and Baby Freedom, signed and dated lower right, Faith Ringgold May 2010, acrylic on quilted fabric, 47 x 35 inches, 2010.

A woman with gray hair smiles down at a baby in her arms against a colorful background. — Faith Ringgold, (detail) Coming to Jones Road Part II #3 Aunt Emmy and Baby Freedom, signed and dated lower right, Faith Ringgold May 2010, acrylic on quilted fabric, 47 x 35 inches, 2010.

Marcia Marcus, ‘Mirror Image’ at Olney Gleason Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 14, 2026January 13, 2026No Comments

Described as ‘startlingly fresh’ in her New York Times obituary last March, Marcia Marcus’ work from the 60s to the 90s – now at Olney Gleason Gallery – is immediately attractive for its flat, realist style and intense, confident engagement with the viewer. In a piece from the ‘60s, Marcus stands at a distance from her young daughters and husband as if belonging only loosely to their world; later, in 1980, we see her blond head posed behind a large sculpture of a Greek deity, as if for protection. In the painting pictured here, created as part of a print commission for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Marcus looks like a19^th century literary heroine with her romantic pose before a flowery field, and is again nestled intimately with an ancient sculpture. Wearing a dress emblazoned with an ancient head, and standing before a Greek ruin, Marcus blends past and present to question contemporary attraction to and involvement in history. (On view through Feb 14^th).

A woman wearing an ancient white dress stands before a bronze sculpture of a man with flowers and ruins in the background. — Marcia Marcus, Painting for Olympic Poster aka Olympic Painting (Self-portrait), oil on canvas, 1974.

Kandy G Lopez, ‘Textile Truths: Faces of Resilience’ at ACA Galleries

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 12, 2026January 6, 2026No Comments

Kandy G Lopez’s innovative fiber portraits combine confident, supremely stylish subjects with an intricate technique that inspires amazement, making them an immediate draw at Chelsea’s ACA Galleries. Taking her subjects from Instagram or personal encounters and working from photographs, Lopez crafts colorful, textured images from yarn, spray paint and hook mesh, creating almost abstract surfaces dense with material up close which resolve into crisp detail from a distance. Here, a man in a camo pattered outfit towers over visitors, his foot extending beyond the frame, a detail that Lopez has likened to paint dripping from a canvas. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 17^th).

Portrait of a man in a camo outfit, arms folded. — Kandy G Lopez, Isaiah Michael, yarn and spray paint on hook mesh, 103 ¾ x 60 ¼ inches, 2025.

Man's torso, created from string on mesh. — Kandy G Lopez, (detail) Isaiah Michael, yarn and spray paint on hook mesh, 103 ¾ x 60 ¼ inches, 2025.

Louise Bourgeois, ‘Gathering Wool’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 9, 2026January 6, 2026No Comments

Though Hauser and Wirth Gallery’s current exhibition of work by Louise Bourgeois focuses on the late artist’s abstract sculpture, many pieces incorporate found objects or include an element of representation that gives each work an extra charge. Viewers first encounter a darkened gallery dominated by a metal submarine-like shape in two parts – one moving slowly in an out of the other on rails – meant to evoke mother/child dependency. Less unnerving but still pointing to the female body, one of the artist’s Poids sculptures features a humerously minimal assemblage of curving forms – a tire and two liquid-filled glass bowls positioned on an arched steel rod – that suggest a stooped, subservient form. Here, an untitled pink marble sculpture offers another spherical shape, this one with a chubby arm emerging from one side as if breaking out into independent life. (On view in Chelsea through April 18^th).

A marble sphere sits on top of a roughly carved marble block. A child's chubby upper arm comes from the sphere. — Louise Bourgeois, Untitled (With Hand), pink marble, 31 x 30 ½ x 21 inches, 1989.

Nicole Eisenman, STY at 52 Walker

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 7, 2026January 6, 2026No Comments

Including just five major paintings and a 3-part sculpture group, Nicole Eisenman’s solo at 52 Walker is selective but powerful, presenting new work that comments on art world practice and a political climate hostile to artists. In one piece, an artist stands painting in a foxhole while a tank rolls by overhead; elsewhere, a painter in a beret has dropped enough paint on the studio floor and walls to create a bunker that isolates as much as it protects. The show’s largest work pictures an art opening crowded with generic abstract sculptures and young people, one of whom pickpockets a worshipful collector while a pig in a military uniform (echoing a sculpture at the 1920 Berlin Dada exhibition) hovers overhead. Here, a cartoonish man on the right bids on a painting of an auction scene while a mustachioed, beret-wearing artist on the left looks grimly on, a painting of a painting of a painting that questions the reality of anything we see in art market practice. (On view through Jan 10^th in Tribeca).

Nicole Eisenman, The Auction, oil on canvas and linen, 105 x 137 inches, 2025.

Alfred Stevens, ‘The Japanese Robe’ in ‘Fanmania’ at the Met Museum

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 5, 2026January 2, 2026No Comments

Exploding volcanoes, mock naval battles, bullfights and more are subject matter for the delicate fans and artworks picturing fans in the Met Museum’s absorbing exhibition ‘Fanmania.’ Here, Belgian artist and friend to Degas, Eva Gonzales, Berthe Morisot, Manet and other major 19^th century Parisian painters Alfred Stevens pictures a well-heeled young beauty in a bourgeois living space – the kind of subject matter that made him successful. Dressed in a Japanese kimono in a style adapted to French tastes and holding a fan, the figure demonstrates Stevens’ attraction to Japanese art and decorative objects, which he collected from the late 1850s. (On view at the Met Museum through May 12^th).

A European woman stands before a mirror in a blue kimono holding a fan. — Alfred Stevens, The Japanese Robe, ca 1872, oil on canvas.

Danielle Mckinney, ‘Haze’ at the Met Museum

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show January 2, 2026December 27, 2025No Comments

Is she melancholy or momentarily thoughtful? It’s hard to think that Danielle Mckinney’s chic lady would be down for long with her vibrant yellow dress and painted nails. Sleeping, waiting, lounging, or smoking, Mckinney’s solitary, introspective characters look like they’re contemplating the next move. In this piece titled ‘Haze’ at the Met Museum, Mckinney’s recently hung canvas seems to point to an upcoming waiting period as museum-goers anticipate the museum’s new Tang Wing, scheduled for completion in 2030. (On view at the Met Museum).

A woman in a yellow dress sits on a sofa smoking in a dark room — Danielle Mckinney, Haze, oil on linen, 2024.

Issy Wood, ‘Tour Management Study’ at the Met Museum

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 30, 2025December 27, 2025No Comments

In what feels like a final hurrah before the commencement of the Met Museum’s 4-year construction of the Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art, newly hung contemporary paintings by Matthew Wong, Qiu Xiaofei, Cady Noland and other sought-after contemporary artists have offered an intriguing foretaste of what’s to come. Here, a large canvas by British artist and musician Issy Wood juxtaposes a watch face, clusters of bells and a car’s leather seat in an enigmatic but evocative suggestion of time, music and movement. (On view at the Met Museum).

A painting of a row of sleigh bells, a clock face and a leather car seat put three different images in close proximity. — Issy Wood, Tour management study, oil on velvet, 2023.

George Henry Durrie’s ‘Red School House (Country Scene)’ at the Met Museum

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 27, 2025December 27, 2025No Comments

Regardless of the actual weather, you can always enjoy a white Christmas in 19^th century Connecticut painter George Henry Durrie’s peaceful paintings of snow-decked country scenes. The Met Museum’s ‘Red School House (Country Scene) features a one-room schoolhouse that has become an epicenter of activity as kids play, men chop wood and a farmer carries produce to market. (On view at the Met Museum).

A winter scene of man on a sleigh going past a red school house. — George Henry Durrie, Red School House (Country Scene), oil on canvas, 1858.

19th century painting of a farmer with goods on a sleigh in the foreground and a red building (schoolhouse) in the back right. — George Henry Durrie, (detail) Red School House (Country Scene), oil on canvas, 1858.

Fernand Leger, ‘Typographer’ at the Met Museum

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 22, 2025December 17, 2025No Comments

Sotheby’s iconic sale last month of Leonard Lauder’s collection is now history, but the collector’s taste in Cubist masterpieces can still be appreciated in the Met Museum’s installation of works he gifted by Picasso, Braque, Gris and Leger. Here, Fernand Leger’s huge, abstracted painting features a worker dressed in red and wearing a round cap typesetting large red and white letters. Part of a display that includes a cluster of works presented as they were displayed in Lauder’s own home, the multi-gallery installation gives invaluable insights into the development of early abstraction. (On view at the Met Museum on the Upper East Side).

An abstract painting with forms that suggest a figure in a round hat standing before two large letters. — Fernand Leger, Composition (The Typographer), oil on canvas, 1918-19.

Sigrid Sandstrom, ‘Penumbra’ at Anat Ebgi Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 19, 2025December 16, 2025No Comments

Hung end to end down the long wall of Anat Ebgi’s Tribeca gallery space in an enveloping plane, Swedish artist Sigrid Sandstrom’s abstract canvases are an immediate draw. Reminiscent of mid-20^th century color field painting, the works are set apart by inclusion of a small sphere that changes our understanding of the space of the painting. Titled ‘Penumbra,’ after a grey area perhaps caused by an eclipse, the show’s paintings toggle between clear washes of color and cloudy forms, each offering a dynamic visual experience. (On view through Dec 20^th in Tribeca).

Sigrid Sandstrom, installation view of ‘Penumbra’ at Anat Ebgi Gallery, Tribeca, Dec ’25.

Friedrich Kunath, ‘Aimless Love’ at Pace Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 17, 2025December 16, 2025No Comments

Two paintings of airplanes silhouetted by the sun are the first and last images in LA painter Friedrich Kunath’s solo show at Pace Gallery, suggesting a brief layover on an ongoing journey. In between, romantic, dramatically lit landscapes include a huge breaking wave on a beach, a misty highway running through forest and a country road through fall foliage. Explaining in a video that his paintings ‘create permission to feel,’ Kunath’s pretty scenes contain short, evocative text quotes from music or other sources that speak to complicated interpersonal relationships. Behind the large breaking wave, the text ‘If it comes, let it. If it goes, let it.’ appears in purplish clouds on the horizon while here, a double exposure of a sunrise or sunset includes the phrase ‘You told that joke twice.’ (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20^th).

A sunrise or sunset over water with two suns. — Friedrich Kunath, You Told That Joke Twice, oil on canvas, 96 x 72 x 1 ½ inches, 2024-2025.

A cloudy sky with text trailing down through the sky reading 'You told that joke twice.' — Friedrich Kunath, (detail) You Told That Joke Twice, oil on canvas, 96 x 72 x 1 ½ inches, 2024-2025.

Judy Pfaff, ‘Light Years’ at Cristin Tierney Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 15, 2025December 10, 2025No Comments

‘Wow’ is always an appropriate response to Judy Pfaff’s exuberant installations and sculpture, their joyful excess of materials and form always eye-catching, sometimes overwhelming. Her first show with Cristin Tierney Gallery features a 40’ long installation of acrylic sheets fixed with neon, polyurethane foam, recycled plastic and umbrellas along one wall of the gallery’s new Tribeca space. Opposite, three sculptures incorporating waving segments of plastic carpet pierced by neon (made with collaborating neon artist Joe Upham) transform impoverished materials into artworks with engaging visual complexity. (On view through Dec 20^th).

An abstract arrangement of a waving plastic carpet and neon lights. — Judy Pfaff, CARPETRIGHT, steel, recycled plastic carpet, neon, T5 fluorescent light, 74 x 68 x 41 inches, 2025.

Analia Saban, ‘Flowchart’ at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 12, 2025December 10, 2025No Comments

A paint-flecked puffer jacket hanging at the entrance to Analia Saban’s latest solo exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery feels a little out of place, at least until closer inspection reveals it to be made of white-veined black marble. Known for her inventive use of materials and for work that mediates between hand making and computer technologies, Saban’s coat represents another analogue / digital merger. A video posted to her Instagram account features the artist standing next to a giant milling robotic arm with the unfinished piece nearby, an artistic collaboration between human and machine that recalls how clothing (including the original puffer coat) is made. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 18^th).

A black puffer jacket that looks like a coat but is made of marble hangs on the wall. — Analia Saban, Puffer (Patagonia, Nero Marquina), Nero Marquina marble, 31 ½ x 19 1/5 x 12 1/5 inches, 2025.

Meg Lipke, ‘Matrilines’ at Broadway Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 10, 2025December 9, 2025No Comments

For energy and pleasure, few current Tribeca exhibitions can best Meg Lipke’s exhibition of fiber-stuffed shaped paintings at Broadway Gallery. In her works’ vibrant color and inventive form, Lipke expresses kinship to her artistic forebears, pointing out Howardena Pindell’s late ‘60s soft grid composed of rolled up canvas segments, Ree Morton’s inventive combination of painting and objects and Elizabeth Murray’s shaped canvases as influences. Here, the huge 8’ x 16’ ‘Slanting Grid’ could easily dominate the gallery but acts more subtly, its pastel tones and mostly soft forms drawing in visitors while three triangles at bottom and its insistent rightward lean direct attention away. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 13^th).

A stuffed grid of fabric in pink and green/blue color mounted on the wall. — Meg Lipke, Slanting Grid, acrylic and fabric dye on muslin, fiber and thread, 96 x 192 x 7 inches, 2020 – 2025.

Closeup of the stuffed grid painting above. — Meg Lipke, (detail of) Slanting Grid, acrylic and fabric dye on muslin, fiber and thread, 96 x 192 x 7 inches, 2020 – 2025.

Jacob Hashimoto, ‘The bittersweet fall into actuality’ at Miles McEnery Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 8, 2025December 3, 2025No Comments

Jacob Hashimoto’s new wall-mounted paper and bamboo sculptures at Miles McEnery Gallery have tantalizing titles (‘The problem with bubbles’ and ‘It was all possible until it wasn’t’) but are resolutely abstract. Inspired by structures from circuit-boards to cells, Hashimoto has described his work as an open system that allows viewers in, validating a variety of experience. Nevertheless, he seems to be edging closer to representation with this multi-colored, riotously patterned construction titled, ‘The bittersweet fall into actuality.’ Anchored in a form suggesting a tree, the artist’s step towards ‘actuality’ is still enjoyably open to interpretation. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20^th).

An artwork composed of layers of small paper disks with abstract patterning. The entire pattern suggests a tree at the center with surrounding abstract patterns. — Jacob Hashimoto, The bittersweet fall into actuality, acrylic, paper, bamboo, wood and Dacron, 60 x 48 x 8 ¼ inches, 2025.

Detail of the artwork showing abstract patterns of green, white and brown on circular disks. — Jacob Hashimoto, (detail) The bittersweet fall into actuality, acrylic, paper, bamboo, wood and Dacron, 60 x 48 x 8 ¼ inches, 2025.

Lauren Satlowski, ‘Not All Clues Are Paintings, But All Paintings Are Clues’ at Timothy Taylor Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 5, 2025December 3, 2025No Comments

LA artist Lauren Satlowski’s realist painting finds the point at which banality turns into something unsettling. New work at Timothy Taylor Gallery in Tribeca features cartoon characters in office mishaps, coffee mugs placed before strange, visceral forms and everywhere, spilled coffee. In this five-foot tall piece, ‘Skiing on Acid,’ Satlowski juxtaposes two skiers – one on a ceramic coffee mug labeled ‘purgatory’ and the other on a teeth-bitten Styrofoam cup dunked in a glass of water. Symbolic of escape yet conveying confinement, the setup seems to sabotage the mental exit strategy of a trapped worker. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 13^th).

A painting of a mug with a picture of a person skiing) placed on an oval serving tray next to a water-filled glass holding a styrofoam cup featuring a picture of a person skiing. — Lauren Satlowski, Skiing on Acid, oil and acrylic on linen, 60 x 72 inches, 2025.

Guanyu Xu, ‘Resident Aliens’ at Yancey Richardson Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 3, 2025December 3, 2025No Comments

Though they’re hard to read at first glance, it’s illegibility that draws viewers into Guanyu Xu’s photographs of apartment interiors at Yancey Richardson Gallery. At first appearing to be a digital collage, the images are of actual physical spaces temporarily hung with photographs and shot by Xu. Here, the floor and curving wall anchor the scene, which is hung with a photo of a window (partially covering a doorway), a photo of a bookshelf affixed to a radiator along with larger and smaller images that make space strange. The details draw us in – travel photos, personal snapshots and more express the particular character and interests of the apartment owner, each of whom lives in the US or China with varying immigration statuses. Titled ‘Resident Alien,’ the focus on intimate personal details in each photographed interior challenges the exhibition title’s cold terminology. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20^th).

A photograph of an apartment with printed photos of different sizes and subjects hung on the wall. — Guanyu Xu, DJ-08182018-01172022, archival pigment print, 2022.

Photograph of an apartment interior with many photographs of various sizes hung from the wall. — Guanyu Xu, (detail of) DJ-08182018-01172022, archival pigment print, 2022.

Joan Mitchell, ‘To Define a Feeling’ at David Zwirner Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show December 1, 2025November 26, 2025No Comments

After iconic Abstract Expressionist Joan Mitchell moved from New York to Paris in the late ‘50s, she began flinging, pouring and brushing paint onto her canvases, centering masses of pigment in compositions alive with movement. David Zwirner Gallery’s current show of Mitchell’s paintings from 1960-1965 zeros in on this period of stylistic innovation while celebrating the centenary of her birth with a selection of work gathered from private collections, the Joan Mitchell Foundation and museums including the Met. In the early 1960s, Mitchell aimed to paint not the particulars of a landscape or space but the feeling of it. Here, the rocky coast and trees of southern France, seen from the sailboat on which she lived for several weeks each summer, inspired her energetic forms and lush palette. (On view through Dec 13^th).

An abstract artwork with a mass of blue, green and purple color at center. — Joan Mitchell, Untitled, oil on canvas, 97 ¼ x 79 inches, c. 1965.

Ming Fay, ‘Midnite Porridge’ at Kurimanzutto

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 28, 2025November 26, 2025No Comments

Scaled up to several feet tall, even the most mundane fruits and seeds have uncanny intrigue, as evidenced by late New York artist Ming Fay’s mixed media sculpture at Kurimanzutto. Here, an unidentified green veg resembles a jester’s cap while behind, a huge bronze cherry symbolizes love. Fay created his first fruit sculpture during a period of his life in which he commuted between his home in downtown New York and a teaching gig at the University of Pennsylvania, experiencing abrupt contrasts between urban and rural environments. Inspired by nature but alluding to symbolic meanings (peaches associated with longevity, peppers referring to passion and prosperity), Fay’s scaled-up sculptures magnify delight in and interconnectedness with nature. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 13^th. Check holiday hours over the Thanksgiving weekend).

A sculpture of a green vegetable sits on a pedestal with sculptures of fruits behind. — Ming Fay, Untitled, mixed media, 25 x 7.5 x 7.5 inches, 1990s.

Chiharu Shiota, ‘Echoes Between’ at Templon Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 26, 2025November 26, 2025No Comments

Visitors to Berlin-based Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota’s latest solo show at Templon Gallery in Chelsea immediately encounter a tunnel-like path through hanging fiberoptic threads, an enchanting space that invites wonder. Tiny lights at the end of each thread affixed to the ceiling form walls of white light which open up to allow visitors to walk around a white chair placed at the center of the gallery. Known for employing everyday objects that may carry histories of use, Shiota arranges a flurry of butterfly-like fabric tufts above the chair, perhaps alluding to a person or spirit who is no longer there. Suggesting transformation and passage into another state of consciousness, wakefulness or life, the installation is a dramatic opener to a though-provoking show. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 22^nd).

A white chair sits in the center of a room, surrounded by hanging fiberoptic threads. — Chiharu Shiota, installation view of ‘Echoes Between,’ November 2025 at Templon Gallery, New York.

Alex Da Corte, ‘Parade’ at Matthew Marks Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 24, 2025November 19, 2025No Comments

Using prosthetics and costumes, Alex Da Corte has morphed into characters as varied as Marcel Duchamp and Mister Rogers. In his latest solo show at Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea, he embodies the artist Paul Thek in his iconic 1967 tomb and recreates artworks on the theme of hidden spaces by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Fluxus artist Robert Watts, and others. Here, Da Corte places a cast of his own body in a Pink Panther suit. Nearby, a furry head resting on the floor completes the costume, but Da Corte’s double rejects it in favor of pink face paint, as if more fully trying to embody Pink Panther’s elusive character. Posing in a way that recalls Duane Hanson’s ‘Housepainter’ sculpture, the piece introduces a range of ideas, from the personal (Da Corte’s brother is a professional house painter) to the art historical and beyond. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20^th).

Sculpture of a man wearing a Pink Panther outfit holding a paint roller in front of a partially painted pink wall. — Alex Da Corte, Housepainter II, foam, plywood, resin, silicone, fur, hair, steel, paint, hardware, muslin, glass, 2025.

Susan Hamburger, ‘Near Enemies’ at Asya Geisberg Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 21, 2025November 19, 2025No Comments

Historical European parade armor can be so fancifully decorated, it’s sometimes hard to take it seriously as a byproduct of military activity. New York artist Susan Hamburger picks up on the disconnect and runs with it, producing a series of wildly creative helmets at Asya Geisberg Gallery that push ornate design into the deliciously absurd. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 20^th).

A white helmet shaped like a bird-like face and decorated with floral motifs. — Susan Hamburger, Helmet (Feathers), papier mache, celluclay, paperclay, wood stand, 21” h x 13” w x 13” d, 2023.

Alex Katz at Gladstone Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 19, 2025November 19, 2025No Comments

Early in his ninth decade, iconic painter Alex Katz commented that he was streamlining his schedule to channel his efforts into painting. The energy expressed by the huge, vividly colored paintings in his solo show at Gladstone Gallery suggests that the strategy continues to be effective at age 98. Ten-foot-tall paintings feature patterns of dappled light expressed in orange paint on white canvas – a recreation of the optical effects of moving from bright sun outdoors into a darkened interior. Accompanied by a video by Matthew Barney of Katz alone in his studio climbing a ladder, painting or standing in contemplation, the show demonstrates Katz’s vigor and his appreciation of the possibility of intense visual experience in the natural world. (On view through Dec 20^th).

A doorway through which you can see 3 abstract orange and white paintings. Above the doorway is a screen with a man on a ladder painting the orange paintings. — Alex Katz, installation view at Gladstone Gallery, November 2025.

Jennifer Packer, “Dead Letter” at Sikkema Malloy Jenkins

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 17, 2025November 11, 2025No Comments

From the first painting in Jennifer Packer’s solo show at Sikkema Malloy Jenkins to the final piece, the artist pictures individuals in repose. Several figures lie on couches while nearby, their intimates read, smoke or simply look on. In other works, heads fill the canvas, appearing to be sleeping peacefully, though they are rendered in visceral, red tones. Packer’s first show of new work at the gallery since the unexpected death of her partner in 2021 poignantly pictures moments of absence and presence, usually in the same painting, while continuing her signature focus on the unique beauty and value of her subjects. Here, in a piece called ‘Melt,’ a figure slumps down with a bag by her feet, as if grateful to arrive in a peaceful place of rest. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 13^th).

A woman leans back against a chair, resting, with a shopping bag by her side on the floor. — Jennifer Packer, Melt, oil on canvas, 26 x 30 1/8 inches, 2025.

Kader Attia, ‘Shattering and Gathering Our Traces’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 14, 2025November 11, 2025No Comments

Born in the decade after Algerian independence, Kader Attia grew up in Paris and Algeria, forming a cross-cultural identity that continues to inspire his multi-disciplinary practice. For his latest show at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Attia presents collages of spliced together African and European cultural objects, suggesting complicated interrelationships. A film featuring a French supporter of the Algerian National Liberation Front, a French political scientist and the artist’s mother tells stories of colonial resistance alongside suitcases full of broken, light-reflecting mirrors that embody the notion of gathering and repair of shattered lives. In the gallery’s main room, the installation ‘Resonance’ allows visitors to gently ring the bells installed in a series of birdcages, communicating with each other without words. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 13^th).

A room with bird cages hanging from ropes from the ceiling. — Kader Attia, installation view of ‘Resonance’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, Nov 2025.

Katherine Bradford, ‘Communal Table’ at Canada Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 12, 2025November 11, 2025No Comments

Aiming to “bring some light and warmth to New York as winter closes in,” Katherine Bradford more than makes good on her intention with a solo show at Canada Gallery that mixes vibrant and cool colors in enigmatic images that invite contemplation. Here, ‘Communal Table’ not only pictures individuals gathered around a table but merges figures into the furniture’s flat surface. Is the blue head and torso at center the subject of a meeting? Do the hands reaching out in the head’s direction, including a pair of disembodied orange hands, seek to make a connection or revive an individual? Though it’s unclear why, both people and place are assembled with purpose. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 13^th).

Abstracted painting of a colorful table and colorful silhouettes of people around it. — Katherine Bradford, Communal Table, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 68 inches, 2025.

Marie Watt, ‘Thirteen Moons’ at Marc Straus Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 11, 2025November 11, 2025No Comments

Drawn into Marc Straus Gallery by the soft pink glow of a neon moon, visitors to Seneca Nation citizen Marie Watt’s exhibition are surrounded by the material richness of light glittering off metal cones and satin blanket edges. Embroidered blanket segments referring to Native American gifting practices and small, conical shapes sewn to garments worn for dance are Watt’s signature materials, harnessed to recall Indigenous histories and traditions. Likewise, the show’s title, ‘Thirteen Moons,’ refers to the thirteen months of the Haudenosaunee calendar, which are aligned with events in the natural world and appear in the neon text. ‘Sugar Maple Moon’ refers to the spring month when maple trees should be tapped, while corn moon, green bean moon, resting moon and others point to sources of nourishment or repose in a culturally specific interrelation of time and nature. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 20^th).

Circling rings of text. Text is the names of the months of the Haudenosaunee calendar. — Marie Watt, Time Piece, neon, diameter 84 inches, 2025.

Hortensia Mi Kafchin, ‘Paintings for Aliens Above’ at PPOW Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 10, 2025November 10, 2025No Comments

Recent work in Berlin-based Romanian artist Hortensia Mi Kafchin’s second solo show at PPOW Gallery, ‘Paintings Made for Aliens Above,’ supposes that human interaction with aliens is only a matter of time, though by the point of contact, humanity might not look as it does today. After undergoing gender transition surgery, Mi Kafchin confesses in a booklet accompanying the show that she’s tempted by a transhumanist urge toward further modifications. Here, her avatar poses in a Romanian folk costume, a cyborg in a barnyard. Recalling the happiness of childhood moments spent playing outdoors while longing for escape into the vast worlds pictured in the night sky beyond, Mi Kafchin recalls the past while looking with hopeful uncertainty to the future. (On view in Tribeca through Dec 20^th).

A robot-like person wearing a traditional Romanian dress stands in a barnyard. — Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Dobrogean National Costume, oil on canvas, 47 ¼ x 39 3/8 inches, 2024-25.

Robert Kobayashi, ‘Take It Easy, Kid’ at Susan Inglett Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 5, 2025November 4, 2025No Comments

Thickly textured panels by late downtown artist Robert Kobayashi at Susan Inglett Gallery look like paintings until closer inspection yields the delightful discovery that they’re made of meticulously collaged pieces of tin from old ceilings. A race car handcrafted years ago for his young daughter, a vase of flowers made of metal and actual oil on canvas paintings in a pointillist style show off Kobayashi’s range of production from the ‘70s to 2012 as he turned materials gleaned from his Little Italy neighborhood into artworks. Here, an image of an architectural fragment from a house in Honolulu channels a memory from the artist’s childhood at odds with the beauty of the decoration and the foliage behind. The setting is the home of Kobayashi’s sadistic childhood dentist, who left him with an abiding desire to protect his dental health. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 26^th).

A picture of an architectural detail from a porch with green and red foliage in the background. — Robert Kobayashi, Morning Light, ceiling tin, paint, nails on wood, 27 ¼ x 22 x 1 inch, 1982.

‘Surreal America’ at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 3, 2025November 3, 2025No Comments

An elongated head at the entrance to Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s ‘Surreal America’, painted c. 1947 by Russian-born painter and set-designer Pavel Tchelitchew substitutes a face for a cluster of glowing, interconnected lines recalling a synaptic network. Both picturing a real head – see the halo of fine hairs – and an abstracted representation of thought processes, the piece introduces the mix of styles that US-based artists employed as they adapted European Surrealism to their own ends. Virginia Berresford’s 1940 ‘Air Raid I’ strikingly pits a sole person’s hand against military aircraft overhead, finding surreality in an advancing existential threat. Paintings by Jackson Pollock, Hans Hoffman, and Adolf Gottlieb employ color and archetypal forms to plumb the depths of human experience while Betye Saar, Joseph Cornell, and Lee Bontecou construct their own mini-architectures with which to contain the world. (On view through Nov 8^th in Chelsea).

A head haloed with hairs and fronted by a network by neuron-like lines. — Pavel Tchelitchew, Portrait of Fidelma (Interior Landscape), oil on canvas, c. 1947.

A hand raise skyward toward incoming military aircraft. — Virginia Berresford, Air Raid I, oil on canvas, 1940.

Veronica Ryan, ‘Retrieval’ at Paula Cooper Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show November 1, 2025November 1, 2025No Comments

Three years after winning Britain’s biggest art prize Veronica Ryan’s evocative, small-scale sculpture invite intimate inspection at Paula Cooper Gallery. Despite the many accolades that have come her way in recent years, Ryan continues to craft humble, abstract sculptures from a combination of ephemeral and found materials that speak to the memories and associations held by everyday objects. Titled ‘Retrieval,’ the show includes objects covered in bandages and sacks of Himalayan salt crystals that open conversations about healing. Pillow-like forms, pincushions and a giant doily speak to the labor and care shown by Ryan’s late mother, who embroidered the family’s pillowcases and made clothing. Here, two small towers created by stacking pie tins and held together by crocheted wool represent a structure made to house bundles of salt and ceramic seeds, symbols of healing and growth. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 22^nd).

Two circular columns of stacked materials inside of two close-fitting orange and a turquoise crocheted sacks. — Veronica Ryan, Totem, pie tins, crochet wool, plaster, thread, Himalayan salt, netting, air-dried clay, acrylic paint, pink totem: 35 x 12 x 9 inches, blue totem: 30 ¼ x 9 ¼ x 9 ¼ inches, 2024-25.

A circular column inside of two crocheted forms, supporting three small sacks. — Veronica Ryan, Totem, pie tins, crochet wool, plaster, thread, Himalayan salt, netting, air-dried clay, acrylic paint, pink totem: 35 x 12 x 9 inches, blue totem: 30 ¼ x 9 ¼ x 9 ¼ inches, 2024-25.

Scherezade Garcia, ‘Sea of Belonging’ at Praxis Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 29, 2025October 29, 2025No Comments

The sea is calm but overwhelming in Scherezade Garcia’s paintings at Praxis Gallery. Swells and currents represented by thick, multi-toned and almost calligraphic lines create a dynamic that competes with the opulent decoration worn by serene, even regal characters. Titles like ‘Splendor of a New World’ or ‘Map of the World’ harken to the historical arrival of Europeans in the Americas and the cultural intersections that resulted, represented in Garcia’s work by the combination of baroque forms and people with what she calls ‘cinnamon skin.’ Seeing water as a metaphor for transformation and movement, the artist’s opulent vision speaks to the beauty and possibilities of fluidity. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 1^st).

A person resting in water in a golden life preserver with elaborate clothing, hair and jewelry. — Scherezade Garcia, Splendor of a New World, Gold Paints acrylic, charcoal, pastel on linen, 72 x 54 inches, 2025.

A person with golden hair, an elaborate collar and jewelry. — Scherezade Garcia, Splendor of a New World, Gold Paints acrylic, charcoal, pastel on linen, 72 x 54 inches, 2025.

Hank Willis Thomas, ‘I AM MANY’ at Jack Shainman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 27, 2025October 22, 2025No Comments

A small bronze sculpture of two open hands, palms upward, in Hank Willis Thomas’ show at Jack Shainman Gallery is physically small but conceptually huge. Last week, Davidson College in North Carolina dedicated a monumental, site-specific version of the sculpture by Thomas as a memorial to the enslaved individuals who labored on and built the institution in the 19^th century. Other standout works in the show include quilt-like textile pieces featuring US flags and prison uniforms that suggest that the carceral state has become part of the fabric of the nation and screenprinted retroflective vinyl panels which reveal hidden images of protesters from various points in US history. (On view in Tribeca through Nov 1^st).

In the foreground, a bronze sculpture of two open hands emerging from a reflective surface. — Hank Willis Thomas, With These Hands, patina and polished bronze, 8 ½ x 18 x 24inches, 2025.

Chloe Wise, ‘Myth Information’ at Almine Rech Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 24, 2025October 22, 2025No Comments

Entangled bodies dominate the dark, shallow space of Chloe Wise’s new paintings at Almine Rech Gallery, recalling dynamic figures from the late Renaissance. Titles like, ‘This Offworld Impulse’ (picturing a reclining person, youthful and slim gazing skyward) and here, ‘Wake up, mutate and ascend’ both point to experience that transcends corporality. Taking inspiration from historical paintings featuring contact between the heavenly and earthly realms (she cites El Greco’s rendition of St Francis of Assisi receiving stigmata), Wise pictures people in contemporary clothes and hairstyles alongside partially visible figures in satin gloves or red stockings. Though modeled on historical characters experiencing the divine, Wise’s figures roll their eyes a little too far heavenward while striking self-conscious poses, rooting them in the here and now. (On view through tomorrow, Oct 25^th, at Almine Rech’s Tribeca gallery).

Central figure with head propped up by hand, many other hands and arms dropped around them. — Chloe Wise, Wake up, mutate and ascend, oil on linen, 72 ¼ x 60 ¼ x 1 ¼ inches, 2025.

Lawrence Weiner, AS OFTEN AS NOT at Gladstone Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 22, 2025October 22, 2025No Comments

Late conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner realized in 1968 that he could favor the idea of an artwork more than an actual physical object and went on to make hundreds of text-based artworks. Around thirty are on display at Gladstone Gallery through Saturday, a mini-retrospective that starts with his iconic ‘Declaration of Intent’ to physically create – or not – an artwork. Appearing on the wall just inside the gallery entrance in pale pink text, Weiner’s foundational principle is present but subordinate to bold statements in the main gallery, such as ‘SET AT THE POINT JUST BEFORE THE POINT OF NO RETURN’ or here, ‘AS OFTEN AS NOT,’ phrases that can take the mind to a place that an image cannot. (On view at Gladstone Gallery’s 21^st Street location in Chelsea through Oct 25^th).

Text on the wall in black bold font reading 'As Often as Not'. — Lawrence Weiner, AS OFTEN AS NOT, language and the materials referred to, dimensions variable, 2017.

Igshaan Adams, ‘I have been here all along, I’ve been waiting’ at the Hill Art Foundation

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 20, 2025October 20, 2025No Comments

A delicate line drawing of a rose at the entrance to Igshaan Adams’ exhibition at Chelsea’s Hill Art Foundation introduces intertwined themes of the beautiful and sacred in the South African artist’s show of intricately crafted textiles. In the main gallery, a huge rose in full bloom dominates the room, subtle in its light tones but impactful with its large size. Made by Adams and the community of makers he employs to weave textiles, beads and various tiny materials into one shaped fabric, the rose is at once a collective effort and a personal statement of spiritual devotion. Adams explains that for him, weaving puts him in the same mental state as prayer and the rose is symbolic of spiritual awakening, an emblem of the future waiting to be discovered. (On view in Chelsea through Dec 20^th).

A textile in the shape and form of a pink rose, mounted on the wall. — Igshaan Adams, Al-Hayy, cotton, twine; polypropylene rope; cotton braid; glass, wood, plastic, bone, shell and semi-precious beads; memory wire, polyester fabric strips; mohair, 79 ½ x 57 ½ x 1 inches, 2023.

abstract images of pinkish materials - a detail shot of a rose. — Igshaan Adams, detail of Al-Hayy, cotton, twine; polypropylene rope; cotton braid; glass, wood, plastic, bone, shell and semi-precious beads; memory wire, polyester fabric strips; mohair, 79 ½ x 57 ½ x 1 inches, 2023.

Gabriel Orozco, ‘Partituras’ at Marian Goodman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 17, 2025October 15, 2025No Comments

Are there visual artists who aren’t inspired by music? Galleries and museums regularly post playlists to accompany exhibitions and music references pop up constantly, suggesting that music is a presence behind much visual art produced today. That relationship steps to the fore in Gabriel Orozco’s show of paintings at Marian Goodman Gallery in Tribeca, a body of work for which he transcribed his improvisational piano playing as a system of multi-colored circular forms. Similar to previous painting series for which he followed a system of laying down and repeating circular forms then added color through a method inspired by a knight’s movement in chess, the artist generates the current paintings’ forms through a system. According to Orozco, the resulting horizontally oriented forms could be read and played by musicians or appreciated visually and aurally through Vimeo links on the gallery’s checklist. (On view through Oct 25^th).

painting of small abstract forms in an arrangement that looks like musical notes on staffs. — Gabriel Orozco, 30 de Octubre 2024, 16:40 hrs, Paris, tempera, gold leaf and graphite on canvas, 78 ¾ x 78 ¾ x 1 ½ inches, 2025.

Mona Kowalska, ‘Out of Body’ at Kerry Schuss Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 15, 2025October 15, 2025No Comments

After a life in the fashion industry, which began as a fit model in a Polish state-run clothing factory and progressed to running her beloved NYC-based brand ‘A Detacher,’ Mona Kowalska struck out as a visual artist. Six years later, her second solo show at Kerry Schuss Gallery in Tribeca demonstrates her continued interest in bodies, expressed through textiles. A sculpture of a thick and curvy, Smurf-like lower torso and legs crafted in impressively thick lengths of hemp rope rests near a dress and boots made in the same material. Nearby, a bowl-like wooden form attached to the wall and covered with black netting suggests a figure partially disguised by a face veil. Another mysterious visage emerges from two socks joined by a single string, a shaggy, wall-mounted sculpture made of goat hair that effects a fairy-tale-like merger of human and animal forms. (In view in Tribeca through Oct 25^th).

Mona Kowalska, Goathair Socks, goathair, cotton, 25.5 x 15.5 x 1.5 inches, 2019.

Gabriel Chaile, ‘Esto es America, o qual e o limite?’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 13, 2025October 13, 2025No Comments

It’s easy to miss a tiny black and white photo of protestors in Bozeman, Montana at the entrance to Gabriel Chaile’s solo show at Marianne Boesky Gallery, but the marchers inspired the Argentinian artist to arrange his monumental adobe sculptures as if they’re conducting their own demonstration. Known for anthropomorphic sculptures inspired by indigenous art in the Americas, Chaile created five enormous figures with large, stylized eyes, mouths and arms drawn flush with the vessel surface. Here, a sculpture mimics the form of an oven, the open space inside the round mouth suggesting community production of sustaining bread. Placed in a circular arrangement in the gallery (where Chaile created them in-place this summer), their powerful size and charming, fantastical quality prompt appreciation and respect for the relevance and beauty of indigenous cultural tradition. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18^th).

Gabriel Chaile, installation view of ‘Esto es America, o qual e o limite?’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery, Sept 2025.

John Wilson, ‘Witnessing Humanity’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 8, 2025October 8, 2025No Comments

At eight feet tall, John Wilson’s bronze bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. was intended to be “a Black image you could not ignore.” Much smaller, but still arresting, Wilson’s sculpture of King with an intensely focused gaze (a model for the final piece installed in Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Buffalo) dominates the first gallery of the artist’s powerful Metropolitan Museum of Art retrospective. Intimate charcoal drawings of the love between fathers and children, stylized portrayals of working people in Mexico and Paris, pictured incidents of racially motivated violence and art made in wartime show Wilson countering prevalent negative images of African Americans with depictions grounded in real-life that demonstrate beauty and respect for Black subjects. (On view on the Upper East Side at the Met Museum through Feb 8^th, 2026).

Large bronze bust of Martin Luther King Jr's head. — John Wilson, Maquette for Martin Luther King, Jr. (Buffalo, New York), modeled 1982, cast 2021, bronze.

Marina Adams, ‘Cosmic Repair’ at Timothy Taylor Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 6, 2025September 30, 2025No Comments

Titled ‘DIVAS’ and resembling Henri Matisse’s curvy cutout forms, Marina Adams’ acrylic painting at Timothy Taylor Gallery embodies the dynamism and bold tones of the late modern master while engulfing gallery visitors in over six feet of color. Inspired by textiles, Native American pottery, Hilma af Klint’s paintings and many more cultural predecessors, Adams canvases can look familiar but offer their own unique experience through their scale and vibrancy. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 25^th.)

abstract design of white, magenta, black, blue and yellow verticals across the canvas horizontally. — Marina Adams, DIVAS, acrylic on linen, 78 x 68 inches, 2025.

Jonathan Baldock, ‘Friends’ at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 3, 2025September 30, 2025No Comments

Below a sign made of hessian and felt reading ‘Never Be Cool,’ Jonathan Baldock’s ceramic sculpture ‘She’s Sassy’ at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery obeys the message with her fiery-red color and engaged stance. Other ceramic sculptures continue the British artist’s series of colorful mask-like faces while multi-media works reference the Bremen Town musicians as human, animal hybrids. Baldock’s bodies-as-vessels continue to explore the breadth of human identity, foibles and fun included. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 11^th).

Jonathan Baldock, She’s Sassy, glazed ceramic, 25 9/16 x 11 13/15 x 14 9/16 inches, 2025.

Celeste Rapone, ‘Some Weather’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show October 1, 2025September 30, 2025No Comments

The ‘morning bathers’ in Celeste Rapone’s painting in her solo show at Marianne Boesky Gallery are nothing like the idealized figures suggested by the title. While a gargantuan bird dominates a bird-bath, a female figure struggles into wakefulness by turning the garden hose on her slumped, semi-clad body. Inside, a discarded pair of underwear on the floor accents the orange-tones of goldfish in a flower vase, a quote from Henri Matisse’s tranquil still lives. Despite the order and attempted cheer of the bright-yellow living room interior, Rapone’s main character has some reckoning to do…when she comes around. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18^th).

Celeste Rapone, Morning Bathers, 72 1/8 x 72 inches, oil on canvas, 2025.

Pedro Reyes, new work at Lisson Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 29, 2025September 26, 2025No Comments

New stone, glass, silver and gold mosaics compliment stylized sculptures inspired by Pre-Columbian culture by Pedro Reyes in the Mexican artist’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Lisson Gallery. Adding bright notes of color and presenting a compact vocabulary of small-scale decorative forms, the small, wall-mounted mosaics recall architectural fragments. One piece featuring scrolling forms is titled ‘Mitla,’ a reference to the Zapotec archeological site rich with patterned architecture. Here, ‘Chaac’ recalls the Mayan deity associated with rain, thunder and lightning. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18^th).

Abstract pattern of silver lines on blue/green background. — Pedro Reyes, Chaac, silver and glass mosaic, 18 ¼ x 11 ½ x 1 ½ inches, 2025.

Sonia Boyce, ‘Improvise with What We Have’ at Hauser & Wirth Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 27, 2025September 26, 2025No Comments

What is music when you can’t hear it? ‘Silent Disco,’ a new video work by British artist Sonia Boyce at Hauser and Wirth Gallery in Chelsea, features headphone-wearing people dancing to music that the audience can’t hear. In an added twist, the dancers are listening to two separate channels, dancing near others who may or may not be hearing what they are. The dancers’ interactions, movements and obvious enjoyment become subject matter, positioning dance in a new light and maybe even tempting gallery visitors to join in with their own moves. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18^th).

A wall featuring three videos of people dancing and a patterned background. — Sonia Boyce, Silent Disco, 3-channel colour video with sound, duration 9:42 min, 2025.

Robert Longo, ‘The Weight of Hope’ at Pace Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 24, 2025September 24, 2025No Comments

A decade of monumental charcoal drawings by iconic Pictures Generation artist Robert Longo occupies all four of Pace Gallery’s public exhibition spaces, making the show one of the most impactful of the new fall season. The notion that behind every picture is another picture is intrinsic to Pictures artists and describes Longo’s practice of sourcing images from the media, repurposing fleeing moments in the news cycle as permanent marker of historic moments. The current exhibition includes images from Ukraine, fires in California, ISIS-destroyed sculpture at the ancient site of Ninevah and here, ice sheering off icebergs in Newfoundland. Beautifully crafted in meticulous detail with stunning use of the charcoal medium, each drawing is a powerful reminder of the events shaping the world now. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 25^th).

A man takes a photo of a 3-panel charcoal drawing of an iceberg in a gallery. — Robert Longo, Untitled (Iceberg for Greta Thunberg), charcoal on mounted paper, 2020.

Diana Cepleanu, ‘Now’ at Kaufmann Repetto

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 22, 2025September 16, 2025No Comments

Amid soft waves of hair and a dark, indistinct background, a face looms toward the surface of a self-portrait by Romanian artist Diana Cepleanu, arresting for its piercing eyes and a tangle of light and color across one cheek. Similarly, the artist’s seemingly abstract painting ‘Ray’ focuses on a curious manifestation of light, as if a beam was emerging from a natural environment to powerful effect. Three decades of work at Kaufmann Repetto in Tribeca introduces Cepleanu to New York as a painter who pulls the extraordinary from quotidian life. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 24^th).

A face looming forward with accents of light and color on the left side. — Diana Cepleanu, Self-portrait, oil on canvas, 15 x 15 inches, 2023.

An abstract depiction of a ray of light coming from a curving white form below. — Diana Cepleanu, Ray, oil on canvas, 21.7 x 19.8 inches, 2021.

Spencer Finch, ‘One Hundred Famous Views of New York City (after Hiroshige)’ at James Cohan Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 19, 2025September 16, 2025No Comments

Using glass, paint, light and other materials, Spencer Finch makes artworks that mimic natural effects, such as fog in an Emily Dickinson poem or the atmosphere of Monet’s Giverny. Now on view at James Cohan Gallery, his latest body of work pays homage to the decades-long influence of Japanese aesthetics on his practice. Watercolor paintings overlaying contemporary views of New York and Hiroshige’s One Hundred Famous Views of Edo from the mid-19^th century offer fragmentary but tantalizing glimpses of urban landscape. Here, Finch’s stained-glass panels installed over the gallery windows create the effect of light reflected in a New England pond, recalling moon-viewing traditions in Japan. (On view through Oct 4^th in Tribeca).

A room with a tall ceiling and arched windows with large panels of stained glass. small stacks of grey bricks are clustered on the floor of the gallery. — Spencer Finch, Moonlight (Reflected in a Pond), stained glass, dimensions variable, 2025 and on the floor, Fourteen Stones, concrete bricks, 2025.

Key Sekimachi, ‘A Personal Archive’ at Andrew Kreps Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 17, 2025September 16, 2025No Comments

Delicate-looking yet holding down an entire wall, Kay Sekimachi’s eye-grabbing monofilament sculpture has an ethereal presence that contrasts the smaller yet seemingly weightier woven pieces in her mini-retrospective at Andrew Kreps Gallery. Select works from the ‘50s to the ‘90s show Sekimachi’s inventive approach to weaving, which the 98-year-old fiber-artist has developed over an almost 80-year career. Having learned double-weave technique in the ‘50s from German American textile artist Trude Guermonprez, Sekimachi developed the practice to create sculptural works that could be hung to dynamic effect. (On view in Tribeca through Nov 1^st).

Kay Sekimachi, Large Green Monofilament (Study for Los Angeles Bonaventure Hotel Commission), green monofilament, 102 x 24 x 15 inches, 1972.

Maria Berrio in ‘Soliloquy of the Wounded Earth’ at Hauser and Wirth Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 15, 2025September 15, 2025No Comments

Along one wall of New York-based Columbian artist Maria Berrio’s solo show at Hauser and Wirth Gallery, she depicts three Cumbia dancers in the guise of the Fates from Greek mythology, known for spinning a thread that will start, influence and end the life of each human. What if this thread should be stolen from them, repurposed and deified, spun into banners and flags? Throughout the show Berrio follows this storyline while also foregrounding female figures who seem to counter the misuse of the thread: an oracle on a horse, a levitating female figure and this young woman who walks with a brilliantly abundant banner. Using her signature Japanese papers with watercolor painting, Berrio’s vibrant artworks offer a hopeful starting point for dreams. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18^th).

Maria Berrio, Songlines, collage with Japanese papers and watercolor paint on linen, 118 1/8 x 92 ¼ x 1 3/8 inches, 2025.

Samuel Fosso, ‘Autoportrait’ at Yossi Milo Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 10, 2025September 10, 2025No Comments

Shortly after leaving post-war Nigeria in the early 70s to join his uncle in Central Africa Republic, Samuel Fosso opened his own photo studio at the age of 13 and began making the photos that would rank him among the most important 20th century African photographers. Now on view at Yossi Milo Gallery, a selection of work from ‘75 to ‘78 demonstrates the teen’s inventiveness and records Fosso’s experience of contemporary pop culture through self-styling. In the gallery’s back room is work from the photographer’s 2008 ‘African Spirit’ series (also currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) for which Fosso dressed himself as important leaders in the African diaspora from Dr Martin Luther King to Angela Davis by way of tribute. (On view in Chelsea through Nov 8.)

A grid of 4 photos of a man dressed in different ways. — Samuel Fosso, work from the series ‘Autoportrait,’ installed at Yossi Milo Gallery, Sept 2025.

Austin Martin White in ‘Tracing Delusionships’ at Petzel Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 8, 2025September 8, 2025No Comments

Two forms lie in the foreground of this painting by Austin Martin White at Petzel Gallery, possibly representing an animal (red) and person (blue) though they’re so abstracted it’s hard to say. Loosely based on mid-century artist American Bob Thompson’s ‘La Mort des Infants,’ itself a version of French 17^th century Laurent de la Hyre rendition of the same theme, the figures are perhaps too horrific to picture, referring to slain children and mothers, victims of Biblical King Herod’s murderous decree that children under two be slaughtered. Informed by the recent, 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Thompson processed contemporary events through the lens of the past; here, White’s painting continues the tradition. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 18^th).

a woman stands looking closely at a large painting with a red and blue form (abstract) under a copse of trees. — Austin Martin White, the dream of the afternoon nap (after B. Thompson), acrylic medium, pigment, rubber, spray paint, vinyl, screen mesh, paper, 120 x 150 ¼ inches, 2025.

Post Times and 95 Gallon Gallery at the U-Haul Art Fair

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 6, 2025September 6, 2025No Comments

Led by the Armory Show, New York City is abuzz with art fairs this weekend, and one of the most unconventional is free, easy to get to and full of finds. Parked along 22^nd Street between 10^th and 11^th Aves, the U-Haul Art Fair consists of twelve U-Haul trucks and one 95-gallon trash can repurposed as an exhibition venue. Apart from circumventing a tight real estate market and generally slow art sales, the galleries and independent curators of the fair are enjoying high visibility with their location outside some of Chelsea’s biggest galleries. Participants range from LES gallery Post Times showing an absorbing assortment of mini-paintings by Minnesota artists Bruce Tapola and Melba Price to New York based artists Bradley Milligan’s and Dan Gausman’s bin housing Kian McKeown’s kinetic sculpture, ‘Cherry.’ (On view this weekend through Sunday, Sept 7^th).

U-Haul truck with a ramp, man inside looking at a row of small paintings. — Post Times Gallery at the U-Haul Art Fair.

rail holding small paintings, one of a girl with red pigtails. — Installation of paintings by Bruce Tapola and Melba Price at Post Times, U-Haul Art Fair.

People looking in a big trash can with a modified lid. — 95 Gallon Gallery at the U-Haul Art Fair.

white box with a motor turning two red balls around. Wall is marked by the red. — Kian McKeown, Cherry, at 95 Gallery Gallery, U-Haul Art Fair.

Red Grooms, Mimi Gross and The Ruckus Construction Company, ‘Dame of the Narrows’ at Brooklyn Museum

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 3, 2025September 3, 2025No Comments

‘Ruckus Manhattan,’ a legendary sculptural rendition of New York City’s iconic sites created in 1975 by Red Grooms, Mimi Gross and collaborators known as the Ruckus Construction Co., is so huge that it is only occasionally shown. Now, the artists’ version of the Staten Island Ferry has surfaced in the Brooklyn Museum’s main, ground floor gallery along with the group’s recreation of a Times Square adult bookstore and a small selection of supporting artwork by other artists reflecting on the city. Surrounded on the four walls of the museum’s large exhibition space by a mural of the harbor, a visit to ‘Dame of the Narrows’ is the next best thing to actually getting out on the water. (On view at the Brooklyn Museum through Nov 2^nd).

sculpture of a ferry and a pier in NY harbor in a large exhibition gallery — Red Grooms, Mimi Gross and The Ruckus Construction Company, Dame of the Narrows, mixed media, 1975.

Robert Wilson, ‘Animals’ at Winston Wachter Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show September 2, 2025August 26, 2025No Comments

Opening at Chelsea’s Winston Wachter Gallery just a week before his death at the age of 83, theater director, playwright and visual artist Robert Wilson’s show of video portraits of animals from the last two decades invites visitors to appreciate the wondrous beauty of snowy owls, a black panther, skunks, elks and more. The animals’ movements are limited, which invites gallery visitors to spend time observing their stately forms. Known for staging experimental theater works that stretch time and employ periods of silence, Wilson carries the effect into the video works to sometimes comic, sometimes ethereal effect. (On view through Sept 13^th).

a snowy owl perched on a branch against a white background of orange polka dots. — Robert Wilson, Snowy Owl (Orange Pantone Owl), seamlessly looped UHD video and audio, 43 in plasma screen, 2006.

Jennifer Tee in ‘The Calling of Home’ at Tina Kim Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 29, 2025August 26, 2025No Comments

Implicit in its title, Tina Kim Gallery’s summer group show ‘The Calling of Home’ presents work by four artists who address the notion of home as a complex space involving multiple geographies and cultural inputs. This tulip petal collage on paper by Jennifer Tee taps into traditions of Indonesian tampan textiles, which were gifted at ceremonies marking different stages of life. Woven by women in Lampung, located on the important historic trade route between Java and Sumatra, the fabrics often incorporated imagery of ships as a metaphor for movement. In Tee’s practice, boat imagery and the tulip petals she uses as her material point to her own family’s migration from Indonesia to the Netherlands in the 1950s; titled ‘Ship of Souls,’ this piece goes further to suggest passage into the spiritual realm. (On view in Chelsea through Sept 6^th).

Jennifer Tee, Tampan Ship of Souls, tulip petal collage on paper, framed dimensions: 78 ¼ x 69 5/8 x 2 inches, 2016.

Allison Katz, ‘Don’t ASK’ on the High Line

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 27, 2025August 26, 2025No Comments

Titled ‘Don’t’ Ask,’ painter Allison Katz’s 10^th Ave High Line billboard poses nothing but unanswered questions. Not only do we not find out why the chicken crossed the road, we might now wonder if the rooster was being followed, and why and what the bold double-yellow, do-not-cross road markings might mean in the relationship drama between rooster and hen. In the midst of Chelsea’s busy built environment, the billboard’s closeup on the visually pared-down scenario of birds and road acts like a giant magnifying glass, zooming in on what might be a curious happenstance or an element in a deeper narrative. Graphically bold and suggesting comedy, Katz’s set up is an enjoyable launching point for conversation or imagination. (through August in Chelsea).

Allison Katz, installation of ‘Don’t Ask’ at 18th Street and 10th Ave, July 2025.

‘Emily Singer Sargent: Portrait of a Family’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 25, 2025July 15, 2025No Comments

The Met Museum’s popular ‘Sargent and Paris’ exhibition featuring 19^th century American expat painter John Singer Sargent’s exquisite paintings of Europe’s social elite has closed, but the Sargent family continues to be a focus of attention in a small show in the American galleries featuring Sargent’s younger sister, Emily Sargent. The two were close and traveled and painted together, producing this pair of watercolors possibly made while in Cairo and included in the family heirs’ recent gift of 26 pieces by Emily Sargent. While Emily carefully delineates the market architecture, John’s more fluid approach evokes an almost spectral ambiance. (On view on the Upper East Side through March 8^th, 2026).

Corner of a market plaza in Cairo with arched architecture. — Emily Sargent, Courtyard Scene, Cairo, 1890s, watercolor, opaque watercolor and graphite on paper.

Corner of a market plaza in Cairo, 19th century. — John Singer Sargent, Marketplace, 1890s, watercolor, opaque watercolor and graphite on paper.

Met Museum medieval galleries – recent additions

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 22, 2025July 9, 2025No Comments

A group of arrestingly odd characters have turned up lately in the Met Museum’s Fifth Avenue medieval galleries; three dapper wise men, a mysteriously cloaked Mary and a half-dressed saint associated with the plague stop foot traffic with their large size and idiosyncratic details. A wall text points out that in Europe’s bustling cities c. 1500, sculptors enlivened familiar holy figures with details inspired by contemporary life. Here, a limestone rendering of St Catherine of Alexandria from Lorraine, France ca 1475-1525 reads a book as she dominates a figure representing the ruler she refused to marry, reflecting, “the promise that virtuous rulers will triumph over corrupt tyrants.” (On view at the Met’s Fifth Ave location in gallery 305).

A large hall at the met museum with a stone sculpture of a woman, left foreground, and a trio of sculptures in the background. — Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Workshop of Jan Crocq, Limestone with traces of paint, French, Lorraine, ca 1475-1525.

Agnieszka Kurant in ‘COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE’ at Marian Goodman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 20, 2025July 22, 2025No Comments

Fossilized auto paint from car production lines (aka ‘Detroit agate’), data mined from protesters using social media and the patterns of Namibian termite mounds are all materials for Agnieszka Kurant’s recent sculpture, now on view in Tribeca at Marian Goodman Gallery. Whether her source inspiration comes from the activity of generations of factory works, millions of social media users or termites, Kurant’s work points to contemporary means of mass data collection, the uses it’s put to and the new ideas and forms that it can be used to generate. Here, a living 75-year old bonsai tree is joined with a 3-D-printed version of its possible future self, an appendage that not only visually predicts how this juniper bonsai tree species will evolve in the future but impacts its present growth. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 22^nd. Note summer hours.)

A living bonsai tree intertwined with a 3-D printed bonsai. — Agnieszka Kurant, Semiotic Life, 75-year old bonsai juniper tree, 3D-printed resin, enamel paint, ceramic flowerpot, soil, grow lamps, 22 x 30 x 15 inches, 2022/2025.

Elger Esser in ‘In Sequence’ at Bruce Silverstein Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 18, 2025July 29, 2025No Comments

Elger Esser’s serene, light-infused photographs often juxtapose nature’s vastness with humankind’s comparatively limited efforts to create the built environment. In two images from 2019, now in Bruce Silverstein Gallery’s summer group show ‘In Sequence,’ Esser restricts his view to a relatively small, yet deeply tranquil scene of water and trees. Printed on silver-coated copper plate, the photographs’ glow recalls 19^th century landscape photography and earlier northern European painting but surpasses precedents in the intense communication of mood via light. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 29th. Note summer hours.)

Elger Esser, Belle Ile sur le Risle I, direct print on silver-coated copper plate, ed of 3 + 1 AP (2/3), 13 x 16 7/8 in, 2019.

Elger Esser, Belle Ile sur le Risle II, direct print on silver-coated copper plate, ed of 3 + 1 AP (2/3), 10 3/8 x 13 inches, 2019.

Steve Keister, ‘Split Level’ at Derek Eller Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 13, 2025August 13, 2025No Comments

Steve Keister’s graphically bold mixed media creations at Derek Eller Gallery came about with the discovery that Styrofoam and cardboard packaging often come in shapes recalling Mesoamerican design. Using some of these pre-formed shapes as casts, Keister developed plaster molds that would allow him to make sculpture in ceramic slip. In combination with flat and heavily geometric paintings, the sculptural face seen here in ‘Contrapposto’ is a cultural hybrid, blending influences from Latin American design, western art and Modernism. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 22^nd.)

Abstracted, geometric human figure painted with attached sculpture of a head. — Steve Keister, Contrapposto, glazed ceramic and acrylic on wood, 30 x 24 x 4 inches.

Nathalie Khayat, ‘Unfolded Proximities’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 8, 2025August 5, 2025No Comments

With titles like ‘Clutch,’ ‘Trespass,’ and ‘Cradling,’ Nathalie Khayat’s new ceramic sculptures at Marianne Boesky Gallery suggest emotionally evocative human actions in clay form. Yet each centers on a merger of architectural solidity (aided by stoneware construction) and plant-like organic growth, upward and outward. Weighty and deliberate yet offering the notion of development within those restraints, Khayat situates her practice in the experience of living in the crossroads city of Beirut, where she has described a tenuous and fluid quality to life. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 15^th. Note summer hours.)

Nathalie Khayat, The Devouring of You, glazed stoneware, 21 ½ x 23 x 19 ½ inches, 2025.

Alicja Kwade in ‘Seasonal Drift’ at 303 Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 6, 2025August 5, 2025No Comments

303 Gallery’s summer group show ‘Seasonal Drift’ includes artwork by gallery artists that makes strange our notions of time and space. Simultaneous with her similarly themed solo exhibition at Pace Gallery, a few blocks to the north, Alicja Kwade’s contribution at 303, ‘Trial Turn’ from 2019, employs minimal materials – steel rings and bricks – to prompt us to consider our place in the universe. Typically elegant, the sculpture suggests oversized jewelry or the playfulness of hula hoops yet employs utilitarian (and ancient) building materials in a way that evokes gears or the functioning of machinery. Numbering 12, 24, 36 and 48 on the four rings, the bricks create a system like those we create to navigate and manage life. (On view through Aug 8^th).

Alicja Kwade, Trial Turn, unique, stainless steel, bricks, 2019.

Trevor Paglen, ‘Cardinals’ at Pace Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 4, 2025July 29, 2025No Comments

Secret satellites, cloud formations as analyzed by AI, and known but unidentified objects orbiting in space have been subject matter in artist and geographer Trevor Paglen’s always-illuminating photographic practice. The images on view in Paglen’s current small exhibition at Pace Gallery emerged from hours in the field but are less geared toward educating the public about classified government activity than foregrounding the believability of images he’s taken over the past 20+ years that include ‘novel aerial phenomena.’ Here, a gorgeous sky near a weapons testing facility in Utah plays host to a strange orb that, we are told, Paglen may or may not know the origin of. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 15^th).

Trevor Paglen, Near Dugway Proving Grounds (undated), dye sublimation on aluminum print, 32 x 40 inches, 2024.

Trevor Paglen, (detail) Near Dugway Proving Grounds (undated), dye sublimation on aluminum print, 32 x 40 inches, 2024.

Emily Sundblad, ‘The Adolescent Ocean’ at Bortolami Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show August 1, 2025July 29, 2025No Comments

If anything, the ocean can be thought of as old, though Emily Sundblad’s poetically titled solo show at Bortolami Gallery, ‘The Adolescent Ocean,’ offers a playful, alternative take. Sundblad’s vividly colored compositions assemble flowers, animals, and Munch-like lovers to suggest moods informed by many types of input – from the natural world to art history. In this painting, she even includes the word ‘Evocation’ at bottom right, though colorful flowers, waving palms, roiling waves and a flaming ship in the distance convey much with images alone. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 8^th).

Emily Sundblad, The Adolescent Ocean, oil and pastel on linen mounted on panel, 28 x 48 inches, 2025.

Whitfield Lovell in ‘Interlayered’ at DC Moore Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 30, 2025July 29, 2025No Comments

Whitfield Lovell’s immediately absorbing set of fifty-three charcoal-on-paper portraits in DC Moore’s summer group show ‘Interlayered’ pairs the faces of Black men and women with playing cards from a vintage deck, suggesting that as each card has its unique identity in a group, so do the individuals assembled here. Lovell typically finds his subjects in late 19^th and early 20^th century photos sourced from a variety of places, from flea markets to photo archives; isolated from their settings, each person has remarkable presence. Paired with cards, Lovell suggests that in life, alone or together, they might play and/or be played. (On view through Aug 6^th).

Whitfield Lovell, The Card Pieces, 53 charcoal drawings on paper with attached playing card, 12 x 9 inches (each), 2018 – 2022.

Dana James in ‘Friends in Both Places,’ at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 28, 2025July 22, 2025No Comments

Taking its title from Mark Twain’s comment about heaven and hell that he had ‘friends in both places,’ the artwork in Nicelle Beauchene Gallery’s summer group exhibition ranges from the sublime to the nightmarish in theme. Dana James’ painting ‘The Sandbox’ would seem to fall into the former category with its organic, curving forms and light palette, though darker areas and the contrast in two conjoined canvases between smoother and more gestural abstraction adds complexity to this enjoyable canvas. (On view through Aug 15^th. Note summer hours.)

Abstract image of curving forms. — Dana James, The Sandbox, oil, acrylic and pigment on canvas, diptych overall 48 x 30 inches, 2025.

Dustin Yellin, ‘If A Bird’s Nest is Nature, What is a House’ at Almine Rech Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 25, 2025July 22, 2025No Comments

Playfully describing his work as ‘window sandwiches,’ Brooklyn artist Dustin Yellin seals images from books and magazines, paint and street trash in layered glass sculptures that delight with their creativity and tiny details. Now on view in his solo show at Almine Rech Gallery, this image of a human figure with waterfalls for arms and a head that looks as if the sun is exploding from a volcano is host to dozens of little climbing, rafting and parachuting human figures. Blurring the line between man and nature, Yellin questions the role of the spirit in human life with the title ‘God Shaped Hole (Study).’ (On view in Tribeca through Aug 1^st. Note summer hours.)

Dustin Yellin, God Shaped Hole (Study), glass, epoxy, collage, acrylic paint, 19 ¼ x 8 1/8 x 6 ½ inches, 2024.

Marepe in ‘The Kids Are Alright’ at Timothy Taylor Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 23, 2025July 22, 2025No Comments

Growing up is complicated. Nevertheless, ‘The Kids are Alright,’ a sprawling, salon-style summer group show curated by Helen Toomer at Tribeca’s Timothy Taylor Gallery suggests by its title that obstacles can be surmounted. A textile piece by Anya Paintsil pictures a weeping child comforted by a loving mom, Dominic Chambers’ painting shows young people joyfully fly kites against an apocalyptically red background and Gehard Demetz’ wooden sculpture disturbingly positions a youngster at the center of a giant grinding device yet pictures the youth as entirely serene. Brazilian artist Marepe, known for repurposing found objects in his sculpture, contributes a cluster of hanging nets with openings through which one might have tossed the colorful plastic balls resting within. If life is a game, this piece suggests you need some luck to play it. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 1^st. Note summer hours.)

Marepe, Uteros [Wombs], net, aluminum, and plastic balls, 128 x 110 x 144 inches overall, 2023.

Mark Rothko in ‘Gottlieb/Rothko’ at 125 Newbury

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 21, 2025July 15, 2025No Comments

Before they teamed up in 1943 to famously educate a New York Times critic about developments in American modernism, writing, ‘We favor the simple expression of complex thought,’ Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb worked in a style vastly different from the models of abstraction each would come to pioneer. A joint show at 125 Newbury demonstrates, however, that they were edging closer to their signature styles in paintings of their friends and surroundings in the ‘20s and ‘30s. Here, Rothko’s bathers dominate a monochrome beach with their large, flat forms and, contrary to the summer weather, convey a chill with their hunched postures and turned backs. (On view in Tribeca through July 25^th).

three figures huddle on a beach — Mark Rothko, Bathers on the beach, watercolor, graphite on watercolor paper, 11 ¼ x 15 ¼ inches, 1934.

Sam Moyer, ‘Woman with Holes’ at Hill Art Foundation

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 18, 2025July 15, 2025No Comments

Sam Moyer’s monumental ‘Fern Friend Grief Growth’ is the anchor of her show at the Hill Art Foundation, an exhibition made richer by including artworks by major contemporary artists who share Moyer’s interest in pushing the possibilities of materials. This ‘stone painting’, as it was called when shown at The Parrish Art Museum last summer, employs painted plaster and segments of recycled marble to picture delicate plant structures that carry literal and (in the title) metaphorical weight. Nearby, Liz Glynn’s partial recreation of Rodin’s ‘Walking Man’ sculpture abandons the heaviness of the original bronze like a shed skin while her nearby stainless-steel tumbleweed sculpture is more solid and lasting than the original. From Isamu Noguchi’s ponderous ‘Woman with Holes’ to Robert Gober’s representation of an open window, the dynamic of contrast between weight and lightness generates continual interest. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 1^st).

Sam Moyer, Fern Friend Grief Growth, marble, acrylic on plaster-coated canvas mounted to MDF, 120 x 240 x 1 inches, 2024.

A fern leaf pattern made of canvas and stone. — Sam Moyer, (detail) Fern Friend Grief Growth, marble, acrylic on plaster-coated canvas mounted to MDF, 120 x 240 x 1 inches, 2024.

Robert Indiana, ‘The American Dream’ at Pace Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 16, 2025July 15, 2025No Comments

Robert Indiana’s 2013 Whitney Museum retrospective aimed to look beyond his popular ‘LOVE’ logo to a career that examined the complexities of American life. In spring of this year, Kasmin Gallery’s focus on the late artist’s early career and Pace Gallery’s current career-spanning show again argue for Indiana’s importance as a Pop artist who probed darker aspects of U.S. history and identity. At the exhibition entrance, the words ‘USA’ and ‘FUN’ are joined by the word ‘APOGEE,’ which suggests that the first two words represent notions alien to each other. Elsewhere the words EAT and DIE are provocatively conjoined in one work while another bears the phrase ‘A divorced man has never been the president.’ When Indiana focused instead on numbers, as he does in this series of ten monumental sculptures installed on Pace Gallery’s terrace, the meaning derived from his own personal experience, as he considered each digit as a reference to important events and places in his own life. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 15^th).

Robert Indiana, ONE Through ZERO (The Ten Numbers), cor-ten steel on painted aluminum base, conceived 1980, fabricated 2003.

Carmen Herrera, ‘The Paris Years’ at Lisson Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 14, 2025July 9, 2025No Comments

Before settling in New York in the mid 1950s, Carmen Herrera transformed her practice from biomorphic to geometric abstraction during a five year stay in Paris (1948-1953). Work from that time at Lisson Gallery in Chelsea sees her experimenting with variations on each style not in a linear progression toward purged form but rather with a varying vocabulary of geometric and curving shapes. Seen here, the largest piece she’d made to date, Early Dynasty’ (1953), employs just two colors in a play between foreground and background shapes that creates lively spatial complexity. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 1^st).

A pattern of non representational shapes in red and black on a canvas. — Carmen Herrera, Early Dynasty, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 x 1 ¼ inches, 1953.

Woomin Kim in ‘Soft Structures’ at Jane Lombard Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 11, 2025July 9, 2025No Comments

Jane Lombard Gallery’s summer group show ‘Soft Structures’ is an immediate ‘wow,’ enticing visitors with ten textile-centric artists’ inventive use of materials. At the show’s entrance, Woomin Kim’s huge soft sculpture of fingertips with wildly decorated nails charms with its humor and vibrant color. Nearby, Crystal Gregory’s knit cotton and silk netting, embedded with pewter and cast in concrete pits the various strengths of textile, metal and concrete while Elodie Blanchard creates pleasingly wonky ‘ceramic’ vessel forms from fabric, leather and mylar balloon. As summer group shows are increasingly replaced by solo shows in New York galleries, this exhibition argues for the vitality of the group showcase. (Curated by independent curator Jen Wroblewski. On view through Aug 8^th in Tribeca. Note summer hours).

a wall mounted sculpture featuring a cluster of fingertips made of different colors and patterns of fabric. — Woomin Kim, Sontop II, fabric, embellishment, fiberfill, 53 x 65 inches, 2024.

Closeup of a sculpture of decorated fingernails in many colors and patterns. — Woomin Kim, Sontop II (detail), fabric, embellishment, fiberfill, 53 x 65 inches, 2024.

Sally Gall, ‘Vertical World’ at Winston Wachter Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 9, 2025July 9, 2025No Comments

Inspired by a Grand Canyon rafting trip in 2021, New York photographer Sally Gall focused on the rugged landscapes of the Colorado Plateau to make ‘Vertical World’ a series of striking photos now on view at Winston Wachter Gallery in Chelsea. While Gall’s more recent photo series have featured man-made objects seen from surprising angles – laundry-lines from underneath that look like flowers, distant kites in the sky which appear to be flat, abstract designs – her new work gives attention to the natural colors and patterns of rock surfaces. The title of this piece, ‘Visitor,’ draws our attention to a small cactus in the foreground of the photo, a curvy interloper in the geometric barrenness of a vast wall of rock. (On view through July 18^th in Chelsea. Note summer hours.)

Sally Gall, Visitor, archival pigment print, 33 x 50 inches, 2022.

Claudette Schreuders, ‘Genesis’ at Jack Shainman Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 7, 2025July 2, 2025No Comments

Compact yet full-bodied, unexpressive yet communicating feeling, South African artist Claudette Schreuders’ figurative wooden sculptures have an uncanny presence in her current solo show at Jack Shainman Gallery. Medieval church figures, Baule sculpture and historic wooden representations of people in western dress made for the colonial tourist trade influence the form of Schreuders’ sculpture, but new pieces featuring the artist’s son, husband, dog and herself at work on a sculpture keep the subject matter close to home. In this sculpture, simply titled ‘Work,’ Schreuders invites us into her studio to witness the process of creation, a sustained intimacy between maker and made. (On view in Chelsea through Aug 1^st. Note summer hours.)

Claudette Schreuders, Work, jelutong wood and paint, 36 5/8 x 13 3/8 x 19 ¾ inches, 2025.

‘American Vernacular: Art and Objects by Unknown Artists’ at Ricco/Maresca Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 4, 2025July 2, 2025No Comments

Ricco Maresca Gallery’s summer group show, ‘American Vernacular: Art and Objects by Unknown Artists’ ignites curiosity with a selection of folk-art objects and quirky functional forms by unknown makers. Dominating one wall, a Venetian blind from the late 50s – early ‘60s post-dates McCarthyism but nevertheless suggests patriotic peeping. Nearby, a unique red, white and blue voting booth curtain documents the addition of a decorative touch to a polling station while a sample flag display featuring nesting flags predates Jasper Johns’ avant-garde flag paintings by c. forty years. (On view in Chelsea through Sept 13^th. Note holiday hours and summer hours.)

Artist Unknown, Monumental Venetian Blind / Flag, Painted metal strips, canvas webbing, 86 x 116 in., ca. 1958-64.

Artist Unknown, Unique Voting Booth Curtain (Miller and Davis Co. Minneapolis, MN), Paint on canvas (in museum standard custom white frame), 43 1/2 x 29 1/4 in., ca. 1920-30.

Artist Unknown, Salesman Sample Flag Display, Printed cotton (professionally mounted), 58 x 36 in., 1912.

Agus Putu Suyadyna, ‘Symbiotic Utopia’ at Sapar Contemporary

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Hottest Show July 2, 2025July 2, 2025No Comments

Can humans live in harmony with nature? Indonesian artist Agus Putu Suyadyna’s new paintings at Sapar Contemporary featuring an astronaut in various lush, natural environments suggest that the possibility is tantalizing but unrealized. Whether holding a sunflower or embracing a chimpanzee, the astronaut’s protective gear testifies to an alienation from the natural world that is compounded by the ominous reflection of a barren landscape in the visor of their helmet. Though the title of this painting, ‘Playful Nature is the Future’ suggests sympathy with the environment and pictures fertile fields in the background, viewers are confronted with a giant bubble prompting us to ask how fantastical our thinking about nature might be. (Curated by John Silvis. On view in Tribeca through July 7th. Note holiday hours and summer hours.)

Agus Putu Suyadyna, Playful Nature is the Future, acrylic on canvas, 78 ¾ x 70 7/8 inches, 2024.

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