A stolen sign from Gagosian Gallery’s Berlin location excites speculation on how artist Marc Bijl came by it and why. Gagosian Gallery’s polished reputation is at odds with the scrappy silver-taped board on which its sign now rests, suggesting a reversal of fortunes for this abducted fragment. (At Marc Straus Gallery through July 31st).
Marc Bijl, Collateral Image, stolen Gagosian Berlin sign, found poster, tape, acrylic on board, 43 x 60 ¼ inches, 2006.
The wreckage of international consumer culture continues to inspire sculptures by Italian artists Bertozzi & Casoni, now on view at Sperone Westwater on the Lower East Side. Here, storks nest in stick and tin can nests atop a dismal pillar of old tires and old drums. (Through July 31st).
Bertozzi & Casoni, Composizione n. 12 (Cicogne), glazed ceramic, 137 ¾ x 63 x 60 5/8 inches, 2008.
For his first show in the US, Oslo-based artist Eirik Saether suggests strange, hybrid identities with furry cast feet and hand-stitched skirt. (At 47 Canal on the LES through July 31st.)
Eirik Saether, Staplass (Throat infection), printed silk and textile acrylic on fleece blanket; steel cast polyurethane, fur, dog collar, steel chain, polyester, printed denim, 2015.
In colors that suggest political banners, Dusseldorf-based artist KRIWET created this bold ‘comic strip’ in 1970, using letters to create mental pictures. It is part of the group exhibition ‘All Watched Over’ at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery, which muses on the power of futuristic technology to improve life. (Through Aug 7th)
KRIWET, Comicstrip, 1970.
Ceramic artists Amy Bessone and Matthias Merkel Hess meet in Salon94 Freemans for a two-person show juxtaposing her female torsos, shaped as empty vessels (maybe vases?), and his containers derived from everyday items like paint buckets and wastebaskets. Bessone’s containers pick up on the long association between vessels and the female body in art history, and provocatively change Hess’s work by their proximity. (On the Lower East Side through August 21st).
Installation view of Torsos and Buckets, featuring work by Amy Bessone and Matthias Merkel Hess, July 2015.
Given that Marlborough Gallery’s first show in its Lower East Side space was themed on pizza, an exhibition titled ‘Marlborough Lights’ had to happen sooner or later. Here, Josh Smith’s jack o’ lantern basketball lights the way back to Sadie Laska’s magically glowing, alien-like creature and Oscar Tuazon’s blocky, street-light-like lamp. (Through Aug 1st).
Josh Smith, Illuminated Jackal Lantern Basketball, ceramic, wooden stool, light bulb, socket and wire, ceramic: 8 ½ x 8 ½ inches, 2015.
Cardboard boxes are an inspired background for Berlin-based artist EVOL’s spray paintings of elements lifted from gritty urban facades. (At Jonathan LeVine Gallery in Chelsea through July 25th).
EVOL, Berliner Luft, spray paint and mixed media on cardboard, 28 11/16 x 36 9/16 inches, 2015.
How do you make a show that’s the ‘antithesis of a white male abstract painting show?’ With inclusiveness and anti-status quo intentions, artist and curator Mae Fatto has hung work by female (and male) artists who push the idea of what abstract art should be – from Wilder Alison’s banner-like work hanging from the rafters to Annabeth Marks’ soft-shaped intense blue canvas to Ana Cardoso’s acrylic and digital print panels stretching up the gallery walls. (At Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side through July 31st).
Installation view of ‘Old Truths and New Lies’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery, July 2015.
Toronto-based artist Roula Partheniou makes her NY debut in a group show inspired by Gertrude Stein’s text ‘Tender Buttons’ in which strange objects come together and ordinary objects are not as they seem. Here, a selection of dated items – an old board game, floppy disks and a film canister – speak to technology’s quick transformation of everyday stuff. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through July 31st).
Roula Partheniou, Packed Boxes with Clutter, acrylic and enamel paint on wood and MDF, flocking on foam balls, 54 x 28 x 28 inches, 2015.
An overturned boat on an inverted ocean, a neon shape grouped with three dried tobacco leaves and nests made by pet finches are three standout works in Marianne Boesky Gallery’s summer group show ‘Ordering Nature,’ organized by Kelly Woods. Whether they’re seen as collaborations with or manipulations of nature, the show’s ephemeral artworks tread lightly on the natural world, evoking wonder. (On the Lower East Side through July 31st).
Installation view of ‘Ordering Nature’ at Marianne Boesky Gallery’s 20 Clinton Street address on the Lower East Side, July 2015.
Wall mounted sculptures made of cast marble dust by Hudson, NY artist Conor Backman at James Fuentes Gallery feature faux-lichen, suggesting salvaged architectural fragments with hints of possible historical significance. (On the Lower East Side through July 24th).
Conor Backman, installation view at James Fuentes Gallery, July 2015 (foreground: Monday and Sunday, marble dust, resin, cast aquaresin, 2015).
Inspired by his own experiences and memories, New York-based Japanese artist Atsushi Kaga displays over 100 paintings and sculptures in his current show at Jack Hanley Gallery featuring his alter ego, an adventuresome bunny. The creature’s cute quips are engaging, as is his friendship with the bear, though a sad sense of isolation pervades. (On the Lower East Side through July 31st.)
Atsushi Kaga, Like this?, acrylic on board, 15 x 19 cm, 2014.
After a stand-out show featuring paintings of sporty girls at Kerry Schuss Gallery last fall, Jane Corrigan is back on the Lower East Side with three large canvases at Feuer/Mesler. It’s hard to tell if the ragtag subject of ‘Gatherer’ is eyeballing us or her scattered carrots with a wild look; either way, the effect is disarming. (Through July 31st.)
Jane Corrigan, Gatherer, oil on canvas, 70 x 50 inches, 2015.
‘Up-Youth,’ a group exhibition at Chelsea’s Klein Sun Gallery presented with the Times Art Museum in Beijing, features this piece by Li Bo, whose fragmented bike on flat sections of concrete suggests a jittery ride for disappearing national symbol. (Through August 8th).
Li Bo, White in Dark Grey No. 3, mixed media, 2010-12.
Titled after a Willie Nelson ballad about lost love, ‘Hello Walls’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street space dwarfs the viewer with huge wall paintings by big-name artists. Here, Ugo Rondinone’s fuzzy target at the show’s entrance acts like a pulsing beacon to draw visitors into the gallery while Michael Craig-Martin’s take-away cup is so big it feels architectural. (Through July 31st).
Installation view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location, Michael Craig-Martin on left, Ugo Rondinone on right, July 2015.
The neon color and curvy, wave-contoured form of Greg Bogin’s shaped canvas ‘Sunny disposition (oasis)’ is a summery-feeling merger of beach culture and minimal abstraction. Like Martin Puryear’s Phrygian cap sculptures which it resembles, it suggests freedom, but more of a sand-between-the-toes variety. (At Marlborough Gallery Chelsea through July 31st).
Greg Bogin, Sunny disposition (oasis), synthetic paint and urethane on canvas, 72 x 73 inches, 2014.
California Light and Space artist De Wain Valentine pushed his chosen medium of polyester resin by finding a way to make larger pours and bigger pieces in the ‘60s; with their huge size, pieces like ‘Circle Gold-Rose’ from 1970 become actors in the room, changing the environment with shifting color. (At David Zwirner Gallery through August 7th).
De Wain Valentine, Circle Gold-Rose, cast polyester resin, 70 3/8 x 70 x 4 7/8 in, 1970.
Using paint, fabric and Plexiglas, New York artist Ruth Root paints and sews her way toward charmingly idiosyncratic understandings of what abstract painting can be in her latest show at Chelsea’s Andrew Krep Gallery. (Through August 14th).
Ruth Root, Untitled, fabric, Plexiglas, enamel paint, and spray paint, 104 ½ x 63 ¼ inches, 2014-15.
Painter and Yale associate dean Sam Messer has long collaborated with writer Jonathan Safran Foer on artworks; here in a piece from 2008 titled ‘All the Animals,’ he paints Safran Foer, vegetarian and author of ‘Eating Animals,’ surrounded by playful (and grateful?) barnyard muses. (At Chelsea’s Fredericks & Freiser Gallery through July 31st).
Sam Messer, All the Animals, oil on canvas, 74 x 82 inches, 2008.
The title of Mona Hatoum’s ‘Stool III’ ignores the drama happening on top of the furniture as a blood-red glass form looks ready to shift weight and crash to the floor. Referred to in other of Hatoum’s artwork as cells and looking like internal organs, the precipitously arranged red shape implies an impending crisis. (At Chelsea’s Alexander and Bonin through July 24th).
Mona Hatoum, Stool III, painted metal and glass, 30 ½ x 16 x 14 ½ in, 2014.
Summer stripes dominate at Marian Goodman Gallery this summer where Gerhard Richter uses software to create patterns of thousands of lines in an eleven meter long digital artwork that runs perpendicular to richly colored wood columns by Anne Truitt. Beyond, Sol LeWitt’s 1985 ‘Wall Drawing #459 adds more bold color to the room with a shape-shifting asymmetrical pyramid. (On 57th Street through July 31st).
Installation view at Marian Goodman Gallery, June 2015.
Brookyn-based sculptor Carolyn Salas’ wonky minimalism hides a surprise – what appear to be metal sculptures are Aqua-Resin covered in graphite and Styrofoam cut-outs are Hydrocal. Stepping down the production values on ‘metal’ sculpture and upping the ante on Styrofoam make for a light-hearted game changer. (At Chelsea’s Koenig & Clinton through July 10th).
Carolyn Salas, installation view at Koenig & Clinton, June 2015.
The Gulf War, AIDS crisis, Savings and Loan collapse and more inspired Chicago Imagist artist Roger Brown’s paintings from the 80s and early ‘90s, including ‘Landscape with Dollar Sign,’ in which a huge dollar sign materializes from the clouds over two tiny human figures like a doomsday omen. (At DC Moore Gallery through July 31st).
Roger Brown, Landscape with Dollar Sign, oil on canvas, 48 x 72 inches, 1991.
French artist Antoine Catala contributed a standout piece to the New Museum’s Triennial last spring by commissioning an ad agency to work on a campaign to promote empathy in an info-saturated age. With similar humor, the man absorbed in his cell phone here is not only acting distant but has the word stitched onto his body in happy, puffy letters. (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through July 31st.)
Antoine Catala, Feel Images (Distant), digital photograph on suede fabric, cotton, wood, batting, 72 x 48 x 5 ¼ inches, 2015.
Known for graphite-on-paper drawings of trees, Massachusetts-based artist Sandra Allen creates an almost abstract, immensely powerful image from the trunk of a tree in ‘Ballast’ from 2009. (At Danese Corey through July 31st).
Sandra Allen, Ballast, graphite on paper, 11 x 18.5 feet, 2009.
Whether they’re painted subject matter on the shelves of a particularly cluttered design shop, or sculptures in the round, Paul Wackers’ ceramic forms revel in the possibilities of color and form. (At Chelsea’s Morgan Lehman Gallery through July 18th).
Paul Wackers, Untitled, low fire clay, glaze, under glaze, 13 ¾ x 14 x 12 ½ inches, 2015 (foreground). Nachtwinkel (Night Shop), acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 72 54 inches, 2015 (background).
On the occasion of Sally Mann’s memoir, ‘Hold Still,’ Edwynn Houk Gallery is exhibiting a selection of work by the artist best known for photos of her children. In this picture from 2004, Mann veils our view of her daughter Virginia, whose beauty is nonetheless apparent. (In the 57th Street area through July 10th).
Sally Mann, Virginia #36, gelatin silver enlargement print with varnish, 50 x 40 inches, 2004.
This painting from Jacob Lawrence’s 1941 series about the Great Migration of African-Americans from the rural south to the industrial north starkly describes how discrimination also took place in the north. (At the Museum of Modern Art through Sept 7th).
Jacob Lawrence, from the Great Migration series, tempera, 1941.
New York artist Richard Dupont inaugurates Tracy Williams Ltd‘s new Lower East Side location with sculptures and drawings of distorted bodies that recall both digital effects and fun-house mirrors. (Through July 29th).
Richard Dupont, Lauren, Marylene 1, bronze (polished), 30 x 17.5 x 8 inches, 2014-15.
In the spirit of Sherry Levine’s iconic rephotographing of Walker Evans 1930s photos, Lisa Ruyter’s latest paintings reproduce photos from the Farm Security Administration’s archive of images shot during the Great Depression. In Ruyter’s words the images are, ‘a record of what was already being lost to Americans even as it was being constructed, an American dream of self-determination, independence and freedom.’ (At Eleven Rivington through July 3rd).
Lisa Ruyter, Russell Lee: Mother and child of agricultural day laborers family encamped near Spiro. Sequoyah County Oklahoma, acrylic on canvas, 78.74 x 39.37 inches, 2014.
Self-identity and national identity are tightly bound in Cuban artist Yoan Capote’s politically inflected artworks. Here, Capote peeks out from behind his sculpture of Castro, made from door hinges gathered from Havana households, suggesting either an open or closed door. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through July 10th).
Yoan Capote, Immanence, mixed media including hinges, wood doors, metal armature, 120 x 180 x 180 inches, 2015.
Major Ab Exp school artist Lee Krasner’s huge ‘Comet’ signals the celestial realms in surprising color and washes of pure white light in a standout piece from 1970 in ‘Abstraction’ at Chelsea’s Robert Miller Gallery. (Through July 31st).
Lee Krasner, Comet, oil on canvas, 70 x 86 inches, 1970.
A stylized nose, heavily made-up eyelashes and explosively arranged red hair are nearly submerged beneath expressionist flowers in Ellen Berkenblit’s ‘Color Forms,’ in which her character both merges and clashes with the landscape. (At Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea through July 3rd).
Ellen Berkenblit, Color Forms, oil on canvas, 94 x 76 inches, 2013.
Flotsam from the digital world materializes in Olaf Breuning’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Metro Pictures gallery, which is crowded with large wall-paper covered MDF panels that reference thought bubbles, emoticons, motivational slogans and more. (Through July 31st).
Olaf Breuning, installation view of ‘The Life,’ at Metro Pictures, June 2015.
Is digital technology making physical bodies less important? LA artist Peter Harkawik addresses this very contemporary concern with a sculpture that is both a musical instrument and a paean to the human body. Colors on the armature reference brands (like Home Depot orange) while a carefully rendered hand, ear, scrunched bottle and more signal the human touch. (At Derek Eller Gallery through July 10th).
Peter Harkawik, (detail of ) Everything But (Klondike Blue/Pepto Bismol Pink, UPS Brown, Pluot Purple/Home Depot Orange, Risperdal Green/Tiffany Blue, Post-It Note Yellow/Wiffle Ball Yellow, T-Mobile Pink/John Deere Green, Aquafresh Blue, Tiffany Blue), mechanically polished cast stainless steel, electropolished cast stainless steel, 316 stainless steel, 308 stainless steel, carbon steel, Imron fleet paint, SAE F-55 felt, hardware, rubber mallet, 68 x 60 x 16 inches, 2015.
Lee Ufan continues his decades-long practice of bringing basic natural and man-made materials into new relationships with the viewer with his latest work at Chelsea’s Pace Gallery. Here (foreground), a piece subtitled ‘the cane of titan’ draws mythical Greek giants into the mix, proposing that we’ve stumbled upon an astonishing yet casually placed artifact. (Through June 27th).
Lee Ufan, Relatum – the cane of titan, steel and stone, 2015.
Faux fur pom poms and cute stuffed penguins move in response to gallery visitors, creating rough portraits in Israeli-American artist Daniel Rozin’s solo show at Bitforms on the Lower East Side. (Through July 1st).
Daniel Rozin, Pom Pom Mirror, 928 faux fur pom poms, 464 motors, control electronics, video camera, custom software, microcontroller, wooden armature, 48 x 48 x 18 inches, 2015.
Known for massive sculptures of men in blue power suits and seated nudes, the late Bay Area artist pushed the limits of her medium. Chelsea visitors can take the measure of this huge figure, who looks a little startled to have landed on the floor of Nancy Hoffman Gallery. (Through June 27th).
Viola Frey, Falling Man in Suit, ceramic, 74 x 89 x 73 inches, 1991.
This mystery object (Exercise machine? Seesaw? Giant snowshoe?) by Diane Simpson is a humorous stand-out in Sikkema Jenkins’ summer group show of minimalism-inspired objects. It depicts an oversized sombrero. (In Chelsea through July 24th).
Diane Simpson, Sombrero, acrylic paint, MDF, polyester spunbond fabric, metallic cord, 34 x 90 x 25 inches, 1995. (Background wall cover: Matt Keegan, double-wall cardboard, dimensions variable, 2015).
Anna Betbeze’s process of cutting, tearing and burning Flokati rugs while coloring them with acid dyes leaves a textile that both attracts and repulses. Hanging from the wall like a sagging pelt in Susan Inglett Gallery’s summer group show ‘Body/Image,’ this piece looks as if it could once have been alive. (Through July 31st).
Anna Betbeze, Playtime, acid dyes, ash on wool, 144 x 118 inches, 2015.
Clashing juxtapositions of patterns and color, a doubled figure (or tripled if you include the shadow), flatten shapes and simplified figures quote canonical 20th century artists from Magritte to Picasso, suggesting we look to the past to see the present in this surreal scenario by Chicago artist Jonathan Gardner. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery through June 28th).
Jonathan Gardner, The Shadow, oil on linen, 36 x 22 inches, 2015.
British artist Paul Winstanley’s paintings of empty art studio spaces in colleges around the UK are improbable subject matter for such pleasingly still, light-infused minimal compositions. Come September, they’ll fill with bodies, activity and color but at the moment, the tranquility is a pleasure. (At Mitchell-Innes & Nash in Chelsea through July 19th).
Paul Winstanley, Art School 40, oil on panel, 56 5/8 x 37 3/4inches, 2015.
New York photographer Gillian Laub’s photographs of segregated high school dances in small-town Georgia (which continued until 2010) have appeared twice in national publications but still have the power to shock. They form the core of her current solo show at Benrubi Gallery in Chelsea, along with this image of two men who chose public humiliation – walking the streets with signboards for hours a day – over jail time. (Through June 27th).
Gillian Laub, Public Shaming, 2013.
What do your windows say about you? London-based artist Caragh Thuring’s new paintings were inspired by the window displays of Dutch homes she photographed, which she sees as self-portraiture and a unique portal between public and private spaces. (At Simon Preston Gallery on the Lower East Side through June 21st).
Caragh Thuring, Sharp Sand, oil, gesso, pigment, graphite on linen, 84 x 60 inches, 2015.
At age 92, just two years after his previous major multi-gallery solo show, Ellsworth Kelly is back at Matthew Marks’ Chelsea galleries (all four locations) with works so bold that a New Yorker critic was prompted to call this Kelly’s ‘all-time most thrilling gallery show.’ Here, an elegantly minimal blue shape could be a stylized arrow pointing upwards, the measure of an angle and much more. (Through June 20th).
Ellsworth Kelly, Blue Angle, painted aluminum, 90 x 150 x 4 1/8 inches, 2014.
Huge whispering heads with combined features of several people tower over visitors to Tony Oursler’s latest solo show at Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side space. Inspired by his wariness of facial recognition technology, Oursler creates hybrid faces composed not of a unified whole but of identifiable parts ready to be stored as info in a database. (Through June 14th).
Tony Oursler, CV (15), wood, LCD screens, inkjet print, sound, performed by Jason Scott Henderson and Joanna Smolenski, 106 x 71.5 x 30.5 inches, 2015.
Late Bay Area painter Joan Brown’s self-portrait at age 31 includes her dog and third husband (artist Gordon Cook) standing outside the San Francisco Opera House. Hovering on a sidewalk that recalls a conveyor belt and an inverted red carpet, Brown and her partner pause stiffly in an urban landscape curiously devoid of other people. (At George Adams Gallery in Chelsea).
Joan Brown, Gordon, Joan and Rufus in Front of S.F. Opera House, oil on canvas, 2 panels, 80 x 30 5/8 inches and 80 x 60 inches, 1969.
New York abstract painter Jacqueline Humphries imports the digital world into her latest paintings, bringing the painting surface in and out of focus with swirls of silver and purple and using overlays of dots to suggest ellipses or colons thereby signaling interrupted communication or expectation. (At GreeneNaftali in Chelsea through June 20th).
Jacqueline Humphries, :::, oil on linen, 100 x 111 inches, 2014.
Photos taken just last year on a road trip between Zurich and Tehran are the subject of Tehran born, Zurich-based artist Shirana Shahbazi’s solo show at LES gallery On Stellar Rays, but her printing technique (two-color lithography) and age-old scenery create timeless, captivating scenes. (Through June 14th).
Shirana Shahbazi, Wuste, two-color lithography on Zerkall Butten paper, 20 ¼ x 26 inches, 2014.
A sandblasted garden sculpture decorated with bronze sausage is a gratifying opener at Marlborough Gallery for fans of Tony Matelli’s offbeat humor and meticulous craft. But it’s the inverted, nude Adam and Eve sculptures in the back gallery that make the show unmissable. (In Chelsea through June 20th).
Tony Matelli, Warrior (detail), concrete and painted bronze, 55 x 21 x 17 inches, 2015.
Titled after actions including ‘pitch,’ ‘slide,’ ‘cram,’ and ‘swap,’ Lee Lozano’s paintings from the mid 60s merge serene minimal abstraction with forceful angles and directional lines that give each canvas suggestive power. (At Hauser & Wirth through July 31st).
Lee Lozano, Lean, oil on canvas, three parts, 78 ¼ x 123 ¼ x 1 5/8 inches, 1966.
‘All I’m doing is putting Brancusi’s Endless Column on the ground instead of in the sky,’ explained Minimalist sculpture Carl Andre in reference to ‘War & Rumors of War,’ a sculpture composed of 90 Australian hardwood timbers. The piece opens Paul Kasmin Gallery’s exhibition of two elegant Brancusi sculptures and works by the major American mid-century artists they inspired. (In Chelsea through June 20th).
Carl Andre, War and Rumors of War, 90 Australian hardwood timbers, overall: 35 ½ x 149 x 138 inches, 2002.
Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles creates an awkward space for viewers, who are invited to climb onto a platform of wooden eggs under a canopy of bullets. Titled ‘Amerikkka,’ the piece’s extra consonants suggest racial discord in a loaded and fragile environment. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through June 27th).
Cildo Meireles, Amerikkka, 20,050 painted wooden eggs and 31,695 bullets, 158 x 236 x 118 inches, 1991/2013.
New Delhi-based photographer Pablo Bartholomew’s photos of 1970s counterculture in Bombay, New Delhi and Calcutta include plenty of languid hanging out, none as charming as this sunny scene with friends. (At Thomas Erben Gallery in Chelsea through June 20th).
Pablo Bartholomew, Hanging out at Sunder and Ammu’s with Poli, Sheena, Jai and the kids, Calcutta, 1978, silver gelatin print, 1978.
Believe it or not, Michael Heizer’s ‘Potato Chip’ sculpture is not the heaviest sculpture in Chelsea right now (Richard Serra’s ‘Equal’ at David Zwirner Gallery has it beat), though at 18 tons, it may be the most incongruously titled. Still, it makes a hefty impact as visitors take the measure of the artwork with their own bodies. (At Gagosian Gallery’s 24th Street space through July 2nd).
Michael Heizer, Potato Chip, 18-ton granite rock in steel frame, 172 x 106 ¾ x 92 inches, 2015.
Known for constructing mini-models of everyday architecture from the southern United States, Beverly Buchanan captures the look and feel of a place in scraps of wood, metal and plastic. (At Chelsea’s Andrew Edlin Gallery through June 13th).
Beverly Buchanan, Sculpture House, wood, copper, acrylic and plastic, 14.75 x 18 x 16 inches, 2012.
Jessica Jackson Hutchins’ newspaper-covered sofa scattered with rough ceramic forms was a standout of the 2008 Whitney Biennial. Here, her first show at Chelsea’s Marianne Boesky Gallery opens with another couch more boldly occupied by a huge ceramic shape that the Portland, OR based artist refers to as a whale. (On view through June 6th).
Jessica Jackson Hutchins, installation view of ‘I Do Choose,’ with ‘Ultrasuede Wave,’ in foreground, sofa, oil stick, glazed ceramic, 2015.
Artists don’t make road trips like they used to…Brooklyn-based photographer Matthew Jensen left his car parked and instead turned to Google Street View to make this 2009 piece in which he chose an image from each state (apart from Hawaii, which had not yet been mapped). The artists states, ‘The sun used to be the only thing to touch the entire earth and now Google does as well.’ (At Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery through June 20th.)
Matthew Jensen, The 49 States, 49 chromogenic prints, each 16 x 16 inches, 2009.
New York artist Leidy Churchman considers what it means to be above it all, replicating a promotional picture for 432 Park Ave, the hemisphere’s tallest residential building (for now). Known for more its exclusivity than its architectural merit, Churchman turns the tower’s top floors into a glowing Olympian retreat. (At Chelsea’s Murray Guy through June 6th).
Leidy Churchman, Tallest Residential Tower in the Western Hemisphere, oil on linen, 72 x 60 inches, 2015.
Grace Kelly, Venus and U.S. First Ladies are the elevated subjects of NY sculptor Keith Edmier’s enticing if eclectically-themed solo show at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery. Here, an orchid developed for former first lady Laura Bush and replicated in dental acrylic is equally attractive and creepy, its waxy appearance and unnatural color suggesting embalmed beauty. (Through June 20th).
Keith Edmier, The Pink Orchid c. 1875-90 (Blc. Laura Bush ‘First Lady’ AM/AOS), dental acrylic and acrylic paint on Tennessee marble base, 15 x 11.5 x 8 inches, 2015.
Do you think Hope Gangloff’s friend Yelena likes patterns? With abundance that recalls Matisse post-Morocco, the upstate painter gives us an explosion of color and design to delight the senses. (At Chelsea’s Susan Inglett Gallery through June 6th).
Hope Gangloff, Yelena, acrylic and collage on canvas, 82 x 45inches, 2015.
Some books electrify the reader, some illuminate our understanding; few do so as literally as in South Korean artist Airan Kang’s glowing volumes now on show at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea. (Through June 13th).
Airan Kang, installation view of ‘The Luminous Poem,’ May 2015.
First, a tangle of barbed wire, then a looser, smoother mass of looping lines in bronze greets visitors to Christopher Wool’s latest solo show at Luhring Augustine in Chelsea. In contrast to the inherently dangerous barbed wire, the larger sculptures are freer, suggesting unraveling string or cooked spaghetti dried out, as well as drawn lines unleashed into three dimensions. (In Chelsea through June 20th).
Christoher Wool, installation view at Luhring Augustine Gallery, May 2015.
Few these days think that the gods are responsible when an earthquake or tsunami hits, but British/Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare pictures the wrath of Zeus (background) and Poseidon (front right) to comment on climate change in his latest solo show at James Cohan Gallery. Placed directly on the floor in their bold (signature Shonibare) fabrics, the gender-bending divine dancers emanate power.
Yinka Shonibare, installation view of ‘Rage of the Ballet Gods’ at James Cohan Gallery, May 2015.
Known for videos and drawings channeling disillusioned angst, Cameron Jamie takes a new direction with ceramics that suggest natural forms and which are simultaneously object and pedestal. Undulating stalagmites at bottom have a fecal quality while resembling curving bodies; the top form in the foreground brings to mind vertebra or coral. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery on West 24th Street through May 30th).
Cameron Jamie, installation view of untitled, glazed ceramic sculptures, May 2015.
Traditionally, Chelsea galleries are closed today – the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend but a sea-change may be coming; it’s the last day to catch David Shrigley’s show at Anton Kern Gallery, which contrary to the tongue-in-cheek signage, will be open today. (Through May 23rd).
David Shrigley, installation view at Anton Kern Gallery, May 2015.
Canadian artist Brent Wadden’s hand-woven ‘paintings’ embrace imperfection, incorporating second-hand fibers and mismatched seams on large panels in enticing colors and dynamic patterns. (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes and Nash through May 30th).
Brent Wadden, Tangerine Teal, hand woven fibers, wool, cotton and acrylic on canvas, 107 x 84 inches, 2105.
Strange objects – a fish, emu egg shells, pills – in resin fill super-sized glasses scattered on the floor of Danish artist Nina Beier’s New York solo debut at Metro Pictures. In the foreground, a snake curls around a ruler, an enigmatic image inspired by stock photo images that suggests a nasty surprise for the incautious drinker. (Through May 23rd).
Nina Beier, Plunge, snake, ruler, resin, martini glass, 24 ¼ x 13 1/8 x 13 1/8 inches, 2015.
Conceived of in 1966 and only realized in 2007, Lucas Samaras’ ‘Doorway’ reverses Yayoi Kusama’s mirrored interiors by putting mirrors on the exterior to reflect visitors and surroundings. At Pace Gallery, these include banks of photos from the artist’s life and a frieze of self-portraits in which Samaras in a flowing white beard and long hair resembles Rip Van Winkle or, after 40 years of using himself as subject matter, god of the selfie. (Through June 27th).
Lucas Samaras, installation view, Pace Gallery, May 2015.
Hank Willis Thomas is banking on Hillary Clinton getting the Democratic nod for president; so much that he was inspired to open up a conversation about the role of women in an update on his famous ‘Unbranded’ series, for which he removed logos and text from ad images to reflect on the naked images used by corporate America to move products. Now he’s selected one hundred images of white women from the past one hundred years. The show at Jack Shainman’s two Chelsea locations is even getting a boost with advertising of its own at the 8th Ave and 23rd Street subway station. (Through May 23rd).
Ad for Hank Willis Thomas’ show ‘Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915 – 2015.
Eight blocks of forged steel weighing 35 tons each are a solid totemic presence in David Zwirner Gallery’s ground floor 20th Street space. As the title, ‘Equal,’ conveys, each is the same but stacked to suggest different sizes and astounding weight. (Through July 24th).
Richard Serra, Equal, forged weatherproof steel, eight identical blocks, each: 60 x 66 x 72 inches, 2015.
It’s not unusual to see second hand clothing as an art material in New York galleries, but no one quite turns it into the unique sculptural and painting surface that LA-based Japanese artist Aiko Hachisuka does. Here, in her installation on the Lower East Side at Eleven Rivington, columns covered in printed fabrics make dramatics statements from close and far. (Through May 17th).
Aiko Hachisuka, installation view at Eleven Rivington, April 2015.
Known for her deep engagement with the natural world through her art, New York/Florida artist Michele Oka Doner creates hybrid plant/animal/human figures in her impressive solo show at Marlborough Gallery’s 57th Street location. Here, a gilded cast-bronze figure has the textured surface of weathered wood while a tree-like wax-covered figure at rear stands in contrapposto. (Through May 16th).
Michele Oka Doner, Interior Life, gilded cast bronze, 58 x 14 x 8 ½ inches, 2014.
Pamela Joseph’s censored paintings of iconic artworks, including the rendition of Matisse’s Blue Nude pictured here, look like humorously overzealous attempts to stop objectification of female bodies. In fact, Joseph is recreating the distortions imposed by Iranian censors on art books in Iran. (At Francis M. Naumann Fine Art on 57t Street through May 22nd).
Pamela Joseph, Censored Blue Nude by Matisse, oil on linen, 30 x 48 inches, 2014.
Art and science perform a beautiful dance in Tim Hawkinson’s ‘Gimbled Klein Basket,’ a rotating bamboo lattice depicting a Klein bottle, a single sided object with no boundaries invented by 19th century mathematician Felix Klein. (At Pace Gallery’s 510 West 25th Street location through June 27th).
Tim Hawkinson, Gimbled Klein Basket, bamboo, motor, pulley, drive belt, 9’ 2” x 11’ 8” x 4’ 6,” 2007.
When Japanese pop art icon Yayoi Kusama last showed at David Zwirner Gallery, audiences waited on line for hours to enter a mirrored chamber. Two years later, the octogenarian artist is reviving another crowd pleaser, a version of her 2002 ‘obliteration room,’ in the form of a mini-suburban home that viewers will cover with stickers supplied by the gallery. (In Chelsea through June 13th).
Yayoi Kusama, installation view of ‘The obliteration room,’ furniture, white paint, dot stickers, dimensions variable, 2002 – present.
Saying her art practice is about ‘mistranslating the history of ancient objects,’ Brooklyn-based sculptor Sarah Peters ‘misinterprets’ Akkadian rulers, Greek busts and more with stunning results in several bronze heads at LES gallery Eleven Rivington. (Through May 17th).
Sarah Peters, Portrait of a Bearded Man with Triangular Base, bronze, 17.5 x 7 x 13 inches, 2015.
Both identity and longevity are illusory, Judith Henry’s photos seem to say. Masked and standing in front of paintings that she made in response to others, Henry takes a photo, then uses the painting as a surface for the next work. (At Bravin Lee in Chelsea through May 16th).
Judith Henry, Blue Rectangle, archival pigment print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Bright White, 19 x 24 inches, 2014.
A November sun ignites the tree tops and illuminates a field of jittery stalks in this watercolor by American painter Charles Burchfield at DC Moore Gallery in Chelsea. Painted late in life when Burchfield’s scenes had become more dream-like, the brilliance of the sun belies the impending dormancy of the natural world as winter approaches. (Through June 13th).
Charles Burchfield, November Sun Emerging, watercolor, charcoal, and chalk on joined paper, mounted on board, 37 ¾ x 31 7/8 inches, 1956-59.
British ceramic artist Andrew Lord riffs on Gauguin’s ceramics and the colors of the New Mexico sunset in three multi-part sculptures at Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery. Here, a female figure with flowing hair becomes one with a pot, making her body a vessel but also suggesting the spiritually imbued function of a canoptic jar. (Through May 30th).
Andrew Lord, detail from ‘at sunset, Carson Mesa (Gauguin),’ 13 glazed ceramic sculptures in 14 parts, 2013.
Mariah Dekkenga’s vibrantly colored untitled abstraction is a standout in The Hole’s ‘post-analogue’ painting group show on the LES. Developed in Adobe Illustrator and transferred to canvas by hand, Dekkenga’s paintings feature obviously hand-applied thick paint as well as blurs and gradients that suggest the digital. (Through May 24th).
Mariah Dekkenga, Untitled (6), oil and acrylic on linen, 32 x 64 inches, 2015.
Inspired by 17th jewelry from the court of ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and 19th century nature illustrations, Australian/US artist Timothy Horn ups the ante on his brooch-like sculptures by creating them in extra large scale. Here, mirror blown glass ‘pearls’ the size of large eggplants hang among lichen in a piece over five feet tall. (At PPOW Gallery in Chelsea through May 23rd).
Timothy Horn, Tree of Heaven 5 (Lichen), nickel-plated bronze, mirror blown glass, 66 x 45 x 6 inches, 2015.
With unconventional materials like the food-substitute Soylent, baby seats and dog chews, LA artist Nancy Lupo’s scupltures at Chelsea’s Wallspace are oddly attractive. (Through May 9th).
Installation view of Nancy Lupo at Wallspace, April 2015.
Titled ‘Outer Loop,’ Marlborough Gallery’s pairing of sculpture by Matthew Ronay and embroidered works by Tony Cox suggests that Chelsea gallery-goers haven’t yet seen it all. Cox’s cool-colored textiles suggest meditative abstractions while Ronay’s vibrant constructions defy description; together, their colorful wackiness charms. (Through May 9th).
Matthew Ronay, Stacked Ellipsoid Cairn with Pearl, basswood, dye, gouache, shellac-based primer, 28 ½ x 23 x 23 inches, 2015.
Iconic early performance artist Robert Whitman adapts the idea of the ‘talkie’ film to visual art in his latest series, ‘Soundies,’ for which he presents an image and an accompanying sound. The show is great fun, but would anyone want to live with a dripping tap, even as art? (At Pace Gallery’s 57th Street location through May 2nd).
Robert Whitman, Dripping Faucet, color photo, mp3 sound element, wall label, 2015.
Before she even set foot in Central Park to create a site-specific artwork commissioned by the Public Art Fund, Paris-based artist Tatiana Trouve poured over maps of the park’s utilities. Inspired by the many unseen arteries connecting the park’s lights, water supply and more, she measured all 212 pathways in the park, designating each with a separate spool on towering racks. (Through Aug 30th).
Tatiana Trouve, installation view of ‘Desire Lines,’ at Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park, 60th Street and 5th Ave, through Aug 30th.
Washington DC-based artist Jonathan Monaghan’s ‘Pavilion’ births giant contemporary Faberge eggs with surfaces composed of luxury goods and upholstery, demonstrating how money begets money. (At Bitforms on the LES through May 3rd).
Jonathan Monaghan, The Pavilion, animated HD film, 3 min, seamless loop, 2014.
Since 2009, Brussels-based Belgian artist Hans Op de Beeck has been painting black and white watercolors during the night, as a contrast to days spent in a busy studio making art that includes CGI animations, video, installation and more. Empty of people and highly atmospheric, the watercolors are a peaceful and evocative contrast to the digital realm. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea through May 2nd).
Hans Op de Beeck, Seascape, Cloudy Sky, black and white watercolor on Arches paper in wooden frame, 51 ½ x 100 ¼ x 1 ½ inches, 2014.
Teenagers were a recurring subject for Russian-born New York photojournalist Nina Leen, who, as one of the first female contract photographers for LIFE magazine, photographed now-nostalgic images like this one of fashionable hair-dos for young ladies in 1947. (At Daniel Cooney Fine Art in Chelsea through May 16th).
Nina Leen, Popular Teenage Shoulder length Hairstyles, 12 x 10” vintage gelatin silver print, 1947.
Inspired by ceramic traditions from Islamic Fritware to Wedgewood figurines, New York artist Francesca DiMattio irreverently combines them all in towering ceramics that recall totemic human figures. (At Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side through May 7th).
Francesca DiMattio, (foreground) Fetish Sculpture, glaze on porcelain and stoneware, 87 x 20 x 20 inches, 2015. (background) Chandelabra II, glaze and luster on porcelain and stoneware, epoxy, steel frame, 120 x 96 x 96 inches, 2015.
Unwary gallery-goers are likely to think they’ve walked into Klein Sun Gallery during installation when they see Beijing & Sydney-based artist Shen Shoamin’s paintings propped against the wall and encased in bubblewrap. The plastic is an illusion, however, painted on over blurry images of Warhol-derived soup cans to create the artist’s own take on art-world consumerism. (Through May 2nd).
Shen Shoamin, Handle with Care No 10 and No 12, oil on canvas, each 35 x 23 ¼ inches, 2014.
Fourteen arresting sculptures from the past 10 years by Daisy Youngblood at McKee Gallery include ‘Venus,’ one of several sensitive and dynamic renderings of primates. (In the 57th Street gallery district, through May 30th).
Daisy Youngblood, Venus, low-fire clay and hair, 2007.
Brooklyn sculptor Eric Fertman takes portraiture in a new direction with quirky biomorphic figures that make the digestive tract, for example, fun to think about. Even the tilting ‘Broken Man’ in the foreground appeals to the eye as he enacts an electric-yellow death dance. (At Susan Inglett Gallery in Chelsea through April 25th). Eric Fertman (foreground, yellow)
Broken Man, ash, paint, plywood, stain, steel, 75 x 40 x 36 inches, 2105.
Inspired by both somatic movement, which conceives of movement from within the body, and Latin American votive offerings, Janine Antoni’s new work features body parts from inside and out, presented as free-standing objects of spiritual value. (At Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine Gallery through April 25th).
Janine Antoni, to compose, polyurethane resin, ed of 3 and 1 artist’s proof, 35 x 20 x 24 inches, 2014.
The color, transience and fragility of flowers inspires British painter Lucy Mackenzie; here, a drawing of late summer flowers in colored pencil on paper is a last hurrah for summer. (At Nancy Hoffman Gallery in Chelsea through May 2nd).
Lucy Mackenzie, September Flowers, colored pencil on paper, 4 ¾ x 4 ¾ inches, 2015.
How much uniqueness is possible in uniform, corporate culture? Japanese artist Tomoko Sawada makes herself surprisingly malleable in photos that mimic job application ID photos. The master of disguise works wonders within narrow parameters…which one would you hire? (At Pace MacGill on 57th Street through April 25th).
Tomoko Sawada, Recruit/Grey, one hundred chromogenic prints hinged to board each image and paper, 2 x 1 5/8 inches mount, 27 3/8 x 23 ½ inches, 2006.
One day while cleaning, artist Pieter Schoolwerth exclaimed in frustration, ‘This vacuum sucks!’ This unintended truism launched the idea for a show – can a vacuum do anything other than suck? Schoolwerth’s paintings and installation at Miguel Abreu Gallery show humans sucked into another dimension, speaking from the void and holding a vacuum hose like a mic. (Through May 3rd).
Pieter Schoolwerth, installation view of ‘Your Vacuum Blows, which Sucks,’ at Miguel Abreu Gallery, March 2015.
Admiringly called ‘expertly constructed, aggressively psychedelic and curiously weird’ recently by the New York Times, Steve DiBenedetto’s latest abstract canvases flirt with representation but elude it, hinting at a half-understood world beyond. (At Derek Eller Gallery through April 25th).
Steve DiBenedetto, Catholic Deli, oil on linen, 60 x 72 x 1.375 inches, 2012 – 15.
For creepy, nothing quiet matches young French artist Renaud Jerez’s bug-eyed, chicken-footed, PVC skeleton at James Fuentes Gallery on the Lower East Side. Similar sculptures in the New Museum’s Triennial, cobbled together and slightly burnt characters, suggest post-apocalyptic survivors. (Through April 26th).
Renaud Jerez, TJS 1, burnt PVC pipe, aluminum, cotton, string, satellite cable, web cams, duct tape, plastic tubing, polyester and denim clothing with rubber feet, 79 x 29.5 x 32 inches, unique, 2015.
Laylah Ali’s new ‘Acephalous’ series features her signature creatures – slim cartoonish humans with something insect-like about them – but with heads and bodies separate. Here, a sympathetic mermaid/insect in green engages with a desperate-looking head-with-tail in a mysterious yet captivating exchange. (In Chelsea at Paul Kasmin Gallery through April 25th).
Laylah Ali, detail of Untitled (Acephalous series), gouache, acrylic, watercolor, and pencil on paper, 14 x 56 inches, 2015.
