John O’Connor’s enticingly colorful drawings at Pierogi Gallery’s Chelsea popup take viewers down the rabbit hole into surreal scenarios told with endlessly inventive typography and icons. Here, the eye-grabbing ‘Car Crash’ pictures a fictional multi-car pileup in which cars of lesser value crash into increasingly more expensive vehicles, starting with a Honda Civic and reaching a Lotus and continuing with fictional cars (Dukes of Hazzard, Flintstones). O’Connor explains that the spiraling drawing represents the transfer of kinetic energy from car to car, a stand-in for a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. At the center of this dynamic, pulsing vortex is a worm hole, ready to transport cars, viewers and all into another place and time. (On view at 524 West 19th Street through Feb 10th).
Sydney G. James at Jane Lombard Gallery
Based on her mural that was destroyed by vandals in Miami in 2021, Sydney G. James’ ‘Serving Tee Liberation’ at Jane Lombard Gallery is a painted act of resistance. Posing with a look of sage calm, James’ friend and frequent model wears a t-shirt that announces and celebrates female autonomy, a riposte to the slogans in red text on white backgrounds which reflect past derogatory comments aimed at the artist. The painting pays homage to James’ friend Scheherazade W. Parrish, a writer and artist who wears a different text-bearing t-shirt daily during Black History Month. Via murals, painting, text and video, James’ show expresses resilience and acknowledges the support of family and community that make strength possible. (On view in Tribeca through Feb 17th).
El Anatsui, Garnett Puett and Lyne Lapoint in ‘Echoes of Circumstance’ at Jack Shainman Gallery
Material generates form in ‘Echoes of Circumstance,’ a visually rich group exhibition at Jack Shainman Gallery of work by three artists (El Anatsui, Garnett Puett and Lyne LaPointe) whose work is driven by the non-traditional art materials they employ. Hawaii-based 4th generation beekeeper Puett partners with bees who create honeycombs around steel structures, resulting in surreal forms. Also using a (handmade) beehive, Canadian artist Lyne LaPointe’s ‘The Song of the Queen Virgin’ presents a mystical figure shrouded in fabric. Internationally renowned Ghanaian artist El Anatsui draws inspiration from Kente cloth to make patterned, wall-mounted textiles of aluminum liquor bottle caps stitched together by copper wire. (On view in Chelsea through March 2nd.)
Mujeres Muralistas Soi Noma in ‘The Precious Life of a Liquid Heart’ at the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art
This seven-foot painting on canvas by Soi Noma, a collective of female mural artists from the Shipibo-Conibo community in Lima, Peru adds a blast of color to the small but impactful group exhibition ‘The Precious Life of a Liquid Heart’ at the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art in Tribeca. Addressing water crisis in Latin America and the spiritual importance of rivers and water bodies to indigenous communities, the show includes work by artists who decry environmental damage and others who focus on an appreciation of the natural world. Soi Noma’s ‘Manifesto against Contamination’ mixes both approaches, employing kene, geometric patterns that express world views of the community, and images of animals to picture a come-back from contamination caused by oil companies. (On view through Feb 10th).
Tony Matelli in ‘Friends of the Pod’ at Broadway Gallery
‘Friends of the Pod,’ an enjoyable group exhibition at Broadway Gallery in Tribeca featuring artists linked to a podcast hosted by advisor Benjamin Godsill and Vanity Fair art columnist Nate Freeman opens with this wonderfully weird assemblage by Tony Matelli. Anyone who knows Matelli’s sculpture knows to mistrust what they see; the master of trompe l’oeil has produced realistic human bodies and floral arrangements that appear to float upside down as well as pieces of what look to be classical statuary that include pieces of fruit and vegetables. Traditionally understood in European painting as a warning of mortality, perfect fruits and flowers point to the inevitability of what will come next. Matelli’s veg avoids this fate while triumphing over a human head that no longer stands upright. (On view through Feb 3rd).