Used archery targets, repaired flea market antiques, still life paintings and more inform LA-based artist Ricky Swallow’s practice of putting everyday objects through a series of transformations. Here, bronze vessels cast from cardboard and applied with what looks like a ceramic glaze conjure lily pads and Aladdin’s lamp. (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through Aug 2nd).
Ricky Swallow, Staggered Vessel with Rings, patinated bronze, 2013.
I saw a dog enthusiastically enjoying this sculpture at Barbara Gladstone Gallery with its owner…that is, until it was scared away when the animatronic creature raised its head in response to a periodic drip coming from an easy-to-miss fake ventilation shaft. This piece by LA-based artist Piero Golia suggests that even a faux dog’s powers of perception are to be reckoned with. (At Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery, 24th St space, through Aug 2nd).
Piero Golia, The Dog and the Drip, animatronic dog, solenoids and sync device, 2013.
Australia-based artist Simryn Gill found a nine-volume set of books by Mahatma Gandhi in a library sale and transformed them into spheres. But like a book, the sculptures are intended to be held, prompting their audience to consider their subject in a new way. (At Tracy Williams, Ltd. through Aug 9th).
Simryn Gill, 9 Volumes from The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, paper, glue, 2008.
The artists in Lu Magnus Gallery’s summer group show ‘On the Grid’ mediate between technology and the handmade: Anoka Faruqee’s (background) pattern paintings look computer generated but are determined by intuitive hand painting, while Michael DeLucia’s (foreground) creates his patterned, wood sculptures on a screen, then brings them into reality. (On the Lower East Side through Aug 2nd).
Foreground: Michael Delucia, Double beam, plywood and construction enamel, 2013. background: Anoka Faruqee, Dusk, acrylic on linen, 2010.
Known for immersive environments including four conjoined Airstream trailers in his last solo show at 303 Gallery, British artist Mike Nelson has explained that his work is ‘ritualistic and votive.’ This minimalist, totemic character suggests the ease with which he transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary. (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 525 W. 19th Street location through Aug 9th).
Mike Nelson, Amnezi Skalk Kask, wood, plastic helmet and bones, 2012.
Sam Falls has a different take on beauty and the urban environment with his two huge (15 feet long) hangings created by putting abandoned tires on colored canvases and leaving them outside to age for several months. (At Chelsea’s Metro Pictures through Aug 2nd).
Sam Falls, Untitled (Large Blue, Glassel Park Los Angeles, CA), & Untitled (Large Orange, Glassell Park, Los Angeles, CA), both pre-dyed canvas and metal grommets, 2013.
Can a room full of benches inspire community-minded thinking? Francis Cape’s hand-crafted replicas of furniture from Shaker and other 19th century separatist communities, presented en masse at Chelsea’s Murray Guy Gallery, are objects whose value is rooted in their usefulness to many people – opposite of art as luxury commodity. (Through Aug 9th).
Francis Cape, installation view of Utopian Benches at Murray Guy Gallery, July 2013.
At eighty-two years old, Alice Mackler is enjoying a career revival with this show at the Lower East Side gallery Kerry Schuss, inspiring nods to Matisse’s odalisques (Time Out) and William Steig cartoons (Gallerist NY). (Through July 26th).
Alice Mackler, Untitled, glazed earthenware, 2013.
Lucas Samaras’ pin-encrusted cube is a standout in Susan Inglett Gallery’s ‘Specific Objects’ show, an exhibition inspired by a pivotal 1965 Donald Judd essay that came to define minimalism. The piece’s shape is its subject matter, but the pins introduce an element of danger that give it a charge. (In Chelsea through July 26th).
Lucas Samaras, Untitled, pins on wood, 1964.
New York artist Matt Hoyt was a star of the last Whitney Biennial with his tiny, meticulously crafted sculptures that resemble archeological finds or rare natural specimens but which remain a pleasing puzzle. This assortment (‘group 93’) appears in Casey Kaplan Gallery’s summer group show ‘Mind is Outer Space.’ (In Chelsea through Aug 2nd).
Matt Hoyt, Untitled (Group 93), two wooden shelves with polyurethane supports containing 11 component objects comprised of all or some of the following: various putties, plastic, metal, clay, krazy glue, pastel, oil, tempera, acrylic, and spray paint, 2010-2013.
An exhibition of architect Renzo Piano’s work, including models, photos, diagrams and reference books on Piano’s buildings takes visitors to Chelsea’s Gagosian Gallery on an around the world tour of marvelous homes, museums and in this picture, the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center, built on a peninsula in New Caldonia. (through Aug 2nd).
Installation view of Jean-Marie Tjibaou table in ‘Renzo Piano Building Workshop’ at Gagosian Gallery, July 2013.
Can you really shop for art online? Artnet.com, the VIP art fair and other web-based art businesses question of how necessary it is to see art in person before buying. In a daring tongue-in-cheek gesture, Winkleman Gallery devotes its summer group show to a huge exhibition in every media by its gallery artists…with all work displayed online on a bank of monitors lining the gallery walls. (In Chelsea through August 2nd).
Installation view of ‘Show Me the JPEG’ at Winkleman Gallery, June 2013.
It would be amazing enough if this sculpture by Willie Cole was made of shoes. It’s rendered more permanent and pushes the materials a step further by being crafted of bronze. (At Chelsea’s Alexander and Bonin Gallery through July).
Willie Cole, Shoonufu Female Figure, bronze, 2013.
Brooklyn-based Daniel Gordon presents one of his signature photo collages at Untitled Gallery on the Lower East Side, a selection of apples and pears that update Cezanne’s twisted perspectives on fruit by adding multiple digital perspectives against contemporary but dated background textiles. (Through July 26th).
Daniel Gordon, Pink Ladies and Pears, chromogenic print, 2012.
Disembodied hands snap photos at all angles from long tripods in ‘Truck Baby’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery on the Lower East Side. LA-based Samara Golden, known for disorderly installations of fantastical worlds, presents a more straightforward tableau here, in which anonymous hands record everything. (Through July 20th).
Samara Golden, installation view of ‘A Convocation of,’ foam, wood, acrylic, 2012 in ‘Truck Baby’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery.
Bayard’s mohair sculpture, hanging from the ceiling of the Lower East Side’s ‘On Stellar Rays,’ may look uncomfortably warm for this weather but it’s the most tactile object in a show that includes a flag painted in bacon fat and pigment by Michael Mahalchick, a meticulously constructed faux pile of twigs by Nathaniel Robinson and a sculpture painstakingly crafted by Susan Collis to look like an old discarded plank. (Through July 26th)
Installation view of ‘No Name’ at On Stellar Rays, June 2013.
At seven feet tall, Alex Israel’s shades are impressive. One coldly reflective lens propped against the wall in Metro Pictures’ summer group show ‘Noa, Noa’ seems designed less as sun protection than as proof of its wearer’s extreme fashionability. (In Chelsea through August 2nd).
Alex Israel, Lens, UV protective plastic, 2012-13.
Titled ‘Hereafter,’ LA-based artist Matthias Merkel Hess’s first New York solo show features a roomful of beautiful, handmade, ceramic objects that replicate everyday items…ones you might choose to be entombed with if you were buried in the ancient Egyptian manner. (At Salon 94 Freemans on the Lower East Side through August 9th).
Matthias Merkel Hess, installation view of ‘Hereafter’ at Salon 94, June 2013.
Taking Picasso’s 1937 anti-war masterpiece Guernica as inspiration, New York based French artist Anne-Lise Coste sets out in her recent freehand spray-paint paintings to question how to make an anti-war painting today. (At Eleven Rivington through August 9th).
Bogota-based artist Doris Salcedo continues to carefully craft sculpture that speaks to violence and oppression with what ‘A Flor de Piel,’ a blanket of treated, waxed and sewn rose petals which she refers to as this shroud or skin. (At Alexander and Bonin Gallery in Chelsea through July 26th).
Doris Salcedo, A Flor de Piel, rose petals and thread, 2013.
Further to yesterday’s post, this late 4th – 2nd century BC Greek bronze is another reason to visit the Met sooner rather than later. On view in the Greek and Roman galleries through Sunday, this remarkably detailed depiction of a boxer fresh from a fight even includes copper inlay to convey cuts to the face and ear as well as an altered alloy under one eye to suggest bruising.
Boxer at Rest, Greek, Hellenistic period, late 4th – 2nd century B.C., bronze inlaid with copper. Lent by Republic of Italy, 2013.
If you’ve been thinking of visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art, do it this weekend, before this major 17th century Velazquez portrait on loan from the earthquake damaged Galleria Estense, Modena returns home. Exuding ‘arrogance and sensuality’ (according to the Met), the painting demonstrates Velazquez’s deft realism and stunning economy of means. (On view through July 14th).
Diego Velazquez, Portrait of Duke Francesco I d’Este, oil on canvas, 1638.
One of Chelsea’s more unusual looking shows of the moment involves innovative display of old information. Berlin-based artist Simon Denny’s latest solo show at Petzel Gallery takes the 2012 version of the annual DLD tech conference as its subject matter, displaying posters that summarize event highlights (last year’s news) in analogue (obsolete?) style.
Simon Denny, installation view of ‘All you need is data: the DLD Conference REDUX rerun,’ at Petzel Gallery, June, 2013.
An art student discovered a cache of tiny sculptures left on the sidewalk for the trash truck; thirty years later, they’re renowned as the work of the anonymous outsider artist known as the Philadelphia Wireman. Invisible Exports enlivens a selection of them by showing them alongside a huge Vik Muniz photo from his Pictures of Junk series. (On the Lower East Side through July 13).
London-based Brazilian artist Alexandre da Cunha’s cement-mixer turned art-object brings to mind ancient bells or a new archaeological find. Supported by a concrete square on a plinth on the concrete gallery floor, it points to the labor involved in art-making and exhibiting. (At the Lower East Side’s Simon Preston Gallery through August 4th).
Alexandre da Cunha, Full Catastrophe (drum XIV), cement mixer drum, concrete, wooden plinth, 2013.
Berlin-based artist Frank Nitsche’s recent pared-down, monochrome abstractions reduce the urban world to minimal forms, a stark contrast to a column containing drink cans and plastered in stickers collected during his travels. (At Chelsea’s Leo Koenig Gallery through July 20th)
Frank Nitsche, KAY-25, oil on canvas, 2013 & GNL, mixed media installation, 2013 (column seen in detail).
Francis Upritchard’s medieval-looking characters ride, run, lunge and more as they engage in slightly ludicrous one-sided combat. Their expressions read as aloof, nauseous or perhaps both, which seems fitting for such convincingly-executed weedy warriors. (At Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery through August 9th)
Francis Upritchard, installation view at Anton Kern Gallery featuring ‘Rider,’ modeling material, wire, fabric, leather and shell buttons, 2012.
Guatamala City-based artist Dario Escobar’s sculpture ‘Obverse & Reverse (Cloud 11)’ may look like a scientific model, but this mobile of inside-out soccer balls offers a new take on the sport as ‘the beautiful game.’ (At Josee Bienvenu Gallery through July 18th).
Dario Escobar, Obverse & Reverse (Cloud 11), latex, leather, string and steel, 2013.
Martin and Erik Demaine, a father and son sculpture-making duo both teaching at MIT, printed Graham Greene’s 1954 short story ‘The Destructors’ on paper, then cut, scored and combined separate sheets to create these dynamic forms. (At Chelsea’s Guided by Invoices through July 13th).
Erik and Martin Demaine, 0363, Language Series, Destructors III, elephant hide paper, 2013.
This vegetable-strewn Steinway grand piano was the standout in Tanya Bonakdar Gallery’s otherwise spare summer group show, ‘ambient.’ It’s abundance is a foil to the hauntingly minimal musical piece ‘Natura Morta’ by Italian avant-garde composer and artist Walter Marchetti which experimental musician Alex Waterman played in the show’s first week. (In Chelsea through July 26th).
Walter Marchetti, Natura Morta, Steinway and Sons concert grand piano, selection of produce, 10-page handwritten manuscript of Walter Marchetti’s ‘Natura Morta,’ 1988.
Diversity is the message in Zach Feuer Gallery’s ‘Jew York’ summer group show featuring artists of Jewish descent; one of the standout pieces is kinetic sculptor Jon Kessler’s creepy ‘Magnum Opus,’ a noisy box with a rotating iPad set to show distorted portraits of onlookers. Powered by a mechanical kid turning a crank, this mish mash of high-tech/low-tech and fakery repulses and amuses. (In Chelsea through July 26th).
Jon Kessler, Magnum Opus, mixed media, 2012.
British sisters Jane and Louise Wilson planted yardsticks in scenes from an H-bomb testing facility in the UK (at back) and a building at Chernobyl then photographed them, seemingly taking the measure of atomic energy as a destructive force. In the foreground, a yardstick sculpture references a 1924 Rodchenko sculpture while suggesting that precision hasn’t helped this listing structure. (At Chelsea’s 303 Gallery through August 2nd).
Jane and Louise Wilson, installation view at 303 Gallery including ‘Altogether,’ Madeira wood, 2010.
Chinese artist Shi Zhiying’s oil paintings of vessels and stone carvings at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery were inspired by her travels in China, Cambodia and India. Strong tonal contrast and a grisaille color scheme impart a somber restraint that speaks to the spiritual import of her subject matter. (Through July 26th).
Shi Zhiying, Rock Carving of Thousand Buddhas, oil on canvas, 2013.
Willard Boepple’s 1981 stainless steel tower is a standout in Lori Bookstein Fine Art’s ‘Heavy Metal’ show for suggesting but denying utility with steps that look as if they’ve survived a hurricane or a cubist rendering. (Through June 29th).
Willard Boepple, Stephanie, stainless steel, 1981.
Raymond Pettibon tends to make large installations of small drawings, so this huge drawing depicting a Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Dodgers game, located next to the High Line at 10th Avenue and 18th Street, is an eye-opener. The picture goes beyond baseball to hint at East Coast/West Coast rivalries (the Dodgers moved to LA) that extend to music and more. (Through July 1st).
Raymond Pettibon, No Title (Safe he called…), print on vinyl, 2010.
If you missed Alexandre Arrechea’s sculptures of iconic New York City buildings on the Park Avenue mall this spring, you have another chance to enjoy the Cuban artist’s playful take on the city’s architectural landmarks. Located at the northwest corner of Union Square, this vivid red steel sculpture reimagines The Sherry Netherland hotel as an ouroboros.
Alexandre Arrechea, Sherry Netherland, steel, 2013.
Summer’s here and so is the Chelsea gallery group show. One of the best so far is ‘Mixed Media Message’ at Barbara Gladstone Gallery‘s 21st Street location, where curator Neville Wakefield assembles works that use unexpected materials, including Dylan Lynch’s acrylic on steel barrels, Tony Labat’s out-of-reach grill and Kaari Upson’s silicone mattresses. (Through August 2nd).
Chelsea’s ‘Jeff Koons moment’ draws to a close as this week at mega-galleries David Zwirner and Gagosian where Koons’ has shown his stainless steel balloon sculptures and new work inspired by antiquity. But this Hulk remains at Sonnabend Gallery through July, allowing one more chance to marvel at the meticulous detail of this bronze rendition of an inflatable toy.
Jeff Koons, Hulk (Friends), polychromed bronze, 2004-2012.
DNA testing and genealogical research led New-York based artist Laurel Nakadate to distant relations, who she photographed in thirty-one U.S. states over the last two years. A selection of seventeen photos on view at Chelsea’s Leslie Tonkonow Artworks and Projects, including this detail from a picture of ‘Tyler’ in Texas, were taken outside at night, setting an uncertain stage for a visit from a stranger. (through June 29th).
Laurel Nakadate, ‘Tyler, Texas #1’, from the Relations series, type-C print, 2013.
Paula Wilson’s slice of the city street, created in tapestry at Philadelphia’s Fabric Workshop and Museum, is a stunner in Sikkema Jenkins’ current summer group show. Surprisingly erotic architectural details and graffiti are a lively and provocative contrast to boarded up buildings that look as if they’ve seen better days. (In Chelsea through July 12th.)
Paula Wilson, ‘Between Two,’ silkscreen pigment, acrylic, felt, paper, canvas, wood block prints, spray paint, steel rod, wood hangers, 2010.
A small selection of photographs in Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery‘s back gallery by Sebastiao Salgado treats visitors to photos like this image of The Brooks Range in Alaska, part of the artist’s Genesis series in which he traveled the planet photographing untouched landscapes and people living traditional lifestyles. (Through July 3rd).
Sebastiao Salgado, ‘The Brooks Range, Alaska,’ from the series Genesis, silver gelatin print, 2009.
New York photographer Arne Svenson intended to capture the ‘quiet…most human moments,’ when he used a telephoto lens to photograph his downtown Manhattan neighbors through their apartment windows. He also succeeded in creating a loud storm of protest when they learned about the project, works from which are currently on view at Chelsea’s Julie Saul Gallery. Did he overstep the bounds of privacy? What do you think? (Through June 29th).
Arne Svenson, Neighbors #4, pigment print, 2012.
Garth Weiser continues to pursue the possibilities for contemporary abstraction with sumptuous metallic paintings like this one (seen in detail). Weiser applies copper leaf over layers of acrylic, then cuts into the surface using a razor creating patterns with color and texture. (At Chelsea’s Casey Kaplan Gallery through June 22nd).
Garth Weiser, detail of ‘WNYC sustaining member Haiku,’ copper leaf, acrylic, and dimensional fabric paint on paper, 2013.
In one of the Lower East Side’s standout shows of the moment, Margaret Weber meticulously deconstructs large sections of commercial carpeting to create two monumental wall hangings and a floor piece, changing a drab, industrial product into an airy, handcrafted textile. (At Ramiken Crucible, through June 23rd).
Margaret Weber, Trading Comfort for Freedom, industrial carpet, 2012.
Mark Shetabi’s white, pleasingly symmetrical airport baggage carousel evokes James Turrell’s models for sky-viewing structures (recently exhibited at Pace Gallery). But while both artists conjure a powerful moment of waiting and wondering, Shetabi’s clever take on minimalist forms is more anxious than sublime. (At Chelsea’s Jeff Bailey Gallery though June 22nd).
Mark Shetabi, Carousel, wood, polystyrene, modeling paste, acrylic, linen, sandpaper, old T-shirt, and Plexiglas, 2013.
At over nine feet tall, New York-based Erin Shirreff’s hot-rolled steel sculpture ‘Drop (no. 3)’ is imposing without being overbearing. The elongated shapes, hung from a steel rod, derive from paper scraps created by the artist and turn leftovers into the monumental main attraction. (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through June 23rd).
Erin Shirreff, Drop (no. 3), raw hot-rolled steel, 2013.
Brendan Fowler will show his ‘crashed’ photographs, for which he meticulously merges framed photographs into what looks like the disastrous results of careless art shipping, in MoMA’s ‘New Photography’ showcase in Sept. In the meantime, his solo show on the LES at Untitled Gallery ups the ante in terms of destruction and obfuscation as Fowler covers the photos and their frames with purple or black silkscreens. (Through June 16th).
Brendan Fowler, Shipper in Jail – Something Something Adris Hoyos Something, silkscreen on archival inkjet prints, silkscreen on frames, plexi, 2013.
For a commission at the Eastern State Penitentiary, now a Philadelphia-area museum, renowned glass artist Judith Schaechter showed excess and austerity at battle in a gloriously colorful, somewhat comic update of Pieter Breughal’s 1559 painting ‘The Battle of Carnival and Lent.’ (At Claire Oliver Gallery in Chelsea, through July 6th).
Judith Schaechter, ‘The Battle of Carnival and Lent,’ stained glass lightbox, 2012.
Known for highly conceptual sculpture and installations using traditionally non-art materials, New York artist Gedi Sibony takes a step towards legibility in his latest show, which offers carpet painted with five images (an acorn, snowflake, seedling, sun and butterfly) that evoke the seasons. Before them a scuffed, arc-shaped form recalls an empty stage – a platform signifying the potential to communicate. (At Chelsea’s GreeneNaftali Gallery through June 15th.)
Gedi Sibony, foreground sculpture: The Porcelains, wood and mixed media, 2013. 3 wall panels: Ceaseless Episodes of Blossom, carpet, primer, 2013.
To her repertoire of vessel shapes and flat ceramic wall pieces, Betty Woodman adds carpets created from ceramic off-cuts she calls ‘bones’ in her latest solo show at Salon94 Freemans on the Lower East Side. She uses every available piece of gallery real estate (ceiling next?) to immerse visitors in colorful exuberance in both 2-D and 3-D space. (Through June 14th).
Betty Woodman, installation view at Salon94 Freemans of ‘Windows, Carpets and Other Paintings,’ May 2013.
Las Vegas-based artist Tim Bavington has painted geometric, abstract canvases which translate musical notes into lines of color for years. Recent paintings on view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s new 24th Street location were inspired by The Who’s Quadrophenia album and let loose from his usual grid in swirling flowers of color. Too much like computerized music visualizations? (Through June 29th)
Tim Bavington, 5:15, synthetic polymer on canvas, 2013.
Union recruiter and self-taught artist Ralph Fasanella’s socially conscious paintings – like this piece, which conflates scenes related to JFK’s assassination with civil rights protests – resonate, even in today’s apolitical art world. (At Chelsea’s Andrew Edlin Gallery through June 22nd).
Ralph Fasanella, American Tragedy (detail), oil on canvas, 1964.
Greek-Italian artist Jannis Kounellis returns to Chelsea’s Cheim and Read Gallery for his first New York solo show since ’06 with work that continues to contrast individuals with larger societal structures. Here, a train track and steel beams conjure wide transportation networks; unworn clothing and hanging overcoats stand in for the individuals who conceive of them, build, operate and are served by them. (Through June 22nd).
Jannis Kounellis, installation view at Cheim & Read Gallery, May 2013.
Kristin Jensen’s ‘Vase Faces,’ are inanimate objects that appear to come to life, but the effect is more humorous homeyness than horror. Ghostly but not spooky, chubby-cheeked visages seem to emerge and disappear on these simple vessels to charming effect. (At Nichelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through June 9th).
Kristin Jensen, ‘Face Vases 1-4, with Prologue,’ porcelain with celadon glaze, 2013.
Exhibitions at three of Matthew Marks’ Chelsea galleries celebrate American art legend Ellsworth Kelly’s 90th birthday (which occurred earlier this week). The vibrant ‘Gold with Orange Reliefs’ is luxurious and organic, evoking lush fruits or a splendid sunrise. (Through June 29. This painting is at the 502 West 22nd Street location.)
Ellsworth Kelly, Gold with Orange Reliefs, oil and canvas and wood, three joined panels, 2013.
Andrew Kreps inaugurates its new space at 537 West 22nd (Petzel Gallery’s old spot) with a show by new gallery artist Christian Holstad, whose handcrafted objects (including trashcans, an abandoned stroller, a flock of chickens and bees like this one) invite mediation on the contemporary urban environment. (Through June 22nd).
Christian Holstad, installation view of ‘Christian Holstad: The Book of Hours,’ at Andrew Kreps Gallery, May 2013.
The summer group shows have started in Chelsea with Marlborough Gallery’s ‘Endless Summer II/Still Bummin,’ a sprawling exhibition featuring Kaari Upson’s balcony railing, floppy as if melting off a building in the heat. Nestled in the gallery’s corner with a torn parade photo by Christian Marclay, both suggest summer traditions coming undone. (through June 15th).
Christian Marclay, Untitled (from the series ‘Fourth of July’) torn c-print, 2005. Kaari Upson, Balcony Railing, latex, 2013.
Toward the end of her short life, Cuban-American artist Ana Mendieta imported sand and soil from locations important to her (Cuba, the Nile, etc.), to make sculpture that evokes organic materials, the female body and far-away locations. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through June 22nd).
Ana Mendieta, installation view of ‘Ana Mendieta: Late Works 1981-85,’ at Galerie Lelong, May 2013.
Public sculptures tend to depict moments of triumph, not regret. This makes Polish artist Goshka Macuga’s bronze rendition of Colin Powell, part of the High Line’s portrait exhibition ‘Busted,’ surprising and poignant as he shows the leader holding a vial of anthrax in his 2003 UN speech on weapons of mass destruction. (Through June 2014 at 22nd Street on the High Line.)
Goshka Macuga, ‘Colin Powell,’ bronze and concrete, 2009.
“I think that’s amazing, what people can do with the hands. It’s the same, and still they make it new,” says LA-based ceramic artist Shio Kusaka, regarding the tradition of ceramic making. No two of her vessels are alike, a point proved by 127 porcelain stoneware pots on show at Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery. (Through June 22nd.)
Shio Kusaka, installation view at Anton Kern Gallery, May 2013.
Known for digitally distorted, 3-D self-portraits, New York based artist Richard Dupont takes his artwork a step closer to painting by mounting this cast of an enlarged head and creating a ghostly portrait with disarming presence. (At Tracy Williams, Ltd. through June 28th.)
Richard Dupont, Untitled, cast pigmented resin and marble dust, 2013.
Japanese art star Yoshitomo Nara is back in New York with his trademark young, female characters, but they’ve matured and become decidedly less cute in his first show with Pace Gallery. This five and a half foot tall bronze sculpture has distorted features but a benevolent expression, suggesting she’s more supreme being than pouty kid. (Through June 29th).
Yoshitomo Nara, Setsuko the Cat, bronze, 2012.
Chadwick Rantanen’s new show, ‘Bins and Loops’ at the Lower East Side gallery ‘Essex Street’ pushes his materials like no other show up at the moment. Rantanen uses the hydrographic process, in which images are applied to produce surfaces via printed film, but stops short of applying the images, instead leaving them to float on the water’s surface in an abstract pattern that dramatically updates the idea of process art. (Through June 9th).
Chadwick Rantanen, ‘Bin,’ 11 polypropylene bin bottoms and 10 tops, hydrographic film, water, 2013.
Paul McCarthy continues to subvert classic fairy-tales with his ‘White Snow’ sculpture in black walnut at Chelsea’s Hauser & Wirth Gallery. Here, McCarthy explodes a kitschy figurine into a mirrored display of gaiety ten feet high. (Through June 1st).
Paul McCarthy, White Snow, Flower Girl, black walnut, 2012-13.
Jorge Macchi’s percussive sculpture ‘fan’ entices visitors into Chelsea’s Alexander & Bonin’s main gallery space, but once inside conveys danger as wobbling ceiling fan blades chip into the gallery walls. In a show devoted to mediations on time, it’s an ominous portent. (Through June 15th).
Jorge Macchi, ‘fan,’ metal ceiling fan, 2013.
Swiss conceptual artist Ugo Rondinone has converted Barbara Gladstone’s gallery into an elegant cave featuring plaster-covered walls and stacked stone anthropomorphs. Rondinone channels his own family’s past as cave dwellers to create this clan of simple bluestone characters whose titles (‘glad,’ ‘blessed,’ ‘shocked’) add to their surprising charm. (At Barbara Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street Chelsea space through July 3rd. See their larger cousins at Rockefeller Center through July 4th).
Ugo Rondinone, ‘soul,’ installation view at Barbara Gladstone Gallery, May 2013.
Cuban artist Kcho grew up traveling between his home on an island off the coast of Cuba and the mainland, and boats – ‘keys’ to unlocking the ‘door’ of the sea – are a frequently recurring subject. This one is a standout in the Museum of Art & Design’s ‘Against the Grain’ group exhibition of cutting edge art & design made from wood. (Through Sept 15th).
Kcho (Alexis Leyva Machado), R.E.C. (Rectifying the Course), wood, 2006.
Brooklyn-based artist Dave McDermott’s ‘The Purgatorial Moment (with Piano)’ evokes dread or nostalgia, depending on how your childhood music lessons went. Floating blocks of color and the slanting line of a player’s back suggest a zone of intense concentration in a tiny house filled with the effort of music making. (At the Lower East Side’s Thierry Goldberg Gallery through June 2nd).
Dave McDermott, ‘The Purgatorial Moment (with Piano), oil, canvas, wax, 23K gold, yarn on panel, 2013.
Amy Bessone’s pencil holder fists unite in vague protest in her current solo show at Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side. A nearby poster warns, ‘Don’t Truncate Me!’ Already truncated, the hands become resistance tchotchkes. (through June 14th).
Amy Bessone, installation view of ‘In the Green Room’ (foreground is ‘Number…(Numbers),’ ceramic, pencil, 2013).
Mark di Suvero’s huge new steel sculpture ‘Little Dancer’ at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery belies its title at 19 x 36 x 15 feet. Still, in comparison to the larger structure, spiraling forms hanging from the larger, angular structure are as graceful as tons of steel can get. (Through June 29th).
Mark di Suvero, Little Dancer, steel, 2010-12.
Mika Rottenberg’s acclaimed films evoke fascination and repulsion in equal measure as we watch eccentric characters labor to create ambiguous products in claustrophobic, factory-like settings. With jagged, candy-colored sheets of polyurethane resin propped against the wall at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, Rottenberg transforms her signature mix of sweet and grotesque into sculpture. (through June 22nd).
Mika Rottenberg, ‘Texture 1 & 3, Texture 2, part a, Texture 3 & 4,’ polyurethane resin, acrylic paint, installed dimensions variable, 2013.
Marianne Vitale’s ‘Diamond Crossing’ at Zach Feuer Gallery is one of the most minimal and therefore surprising installations in Chelsea right now and consists entirely of a five-ton section of decommissioned railroad track meeting in a junction. Like the burnt bridge and a bullet-riddled outhouse in her last show, it’s an iconic relic of the American landscape. (through June 15th).
Marianne Vitale, Diamond Crossing, steel, installation view, 2013.
British artist Marc Quinn has referred to his gargantuan bronze seashell sculptures as Venus’ pedestal (from Botticelli’s famous painting), a spiraling symbol of the world in motion, and a ‘symbol of a woman’s sex.’ Towering at over eight feet high, what they most symbolize (along with Jeff Koons’ and Paul McCarthy’s current Chelsea shows) is enormous production values. (At Mary Boone Gallery through June 29th).
Marc Quinn, Map of the Space-Time Continuum, bronze, 2013.
For a recent four year project titled ‘Neue Welt,’ Berlin and London-based photographer Wolfgang Tillmans traveled off the beaten track in what he called an ‘aimless’ journey to “…find subject matter that in some way or other speaks about the time I’m in.” A sampling from the resulting book is at Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, offering disorientingly diverse glimpses of people and places around the planet. (through June 22nd).
Wolfgang Tillmans, ‘young man, Jeddah, b,’ inkjet print on paper, clips, 2012.
Suspended above a steel and plywood table, a row of lanterns illuminates the dim space of Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, suggesting an evening summer party staged in a design museum. Yet titles like ‘Against the Night’ and ‘The Sun Comprehending Glass’ tie Glasgow-based artist Martin Boyce’s enigmatic sculpture to the outdoors. (Through May 25th).
Martin Boyce, Against the Night, perforated steel, steel chain, plywood, wood stain, wood oil, galvanized steel, wired electrical lights, 2013.
Cartagena, Spain, Shanghai, LA and Havana have hosted globe-trotting street artist JR and his ‘The Wrinkles of the City’ project, for which he interviews and photographs senior citizens, then blows up their images and applies them with glue to the city’s walls. Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery showcases the monumental Havana photos and an entertaining video through July 12th.
JR and José Parlá, The Wrinkles of the City, Havana, Cuba, Man with a Jerry Can, color print on metallic paper mounted on aluminum, 2012.
By lifting phrases like ‘This is it with it as it is,’ from Gertrude Stein’s 1914 book ‘Tender Buttons,’ LA-based artist Eve Fowler moves Stein’s creative language play into a more public realm, as seen here on the windows of Feature, Inc. on the Lower East Side. (Through June 2nd.)
Eve Fowler, from ‘A Spectacle and Nothing Strange,’ letterpress posters with texts from Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons (1914), 28 x 22 each, set of 21, 2011-12.
When his grandparents’ Missouri farmhouse burned, Josh Tonsfeld’s family salvaged some things and left the rest. In a creative act of excavation, the New York based artist returned to remove more objects from the debris, including this book, ruined furniture and correspondence, which he arranges in the gallery in a kind of provocative but inconclusive personal archeology of a past American life.  (At Simon Preston Gallery through June 2nd).
Josh Tonsfeld, Untitled, book, 2013.
Madrid-based painter Jeronimo Elespe’s tiny oil on aluminum paintings seem to be dematerializing before our eyes, as in this hazy view of a working artist titled ‘The Short Painter.’ Elespe works at night, capturing shimmering light and ghostly blue lines that speak of mysterious possibilities. (At Eleven Rivington’s 195 Chrystie location on the Lower East Side through June 14th).
Jeronimo Elespe, The Short Painter, oil on aluminum, 2011-13.
Wim Delvoye’s twisted Gothic tower and a bronze crucifix distorted into a Möbius band flirt with potentially provocative subject matter; ultimately, however, his spectacularly distorted swirls of laser-cut metal are all about the wow factor. (At Sperone Westwater on the Lower East Side through June 28th).
Wim Delvoye, Dual Möbius Quad Corpus, polished bronze, 2010.
In her latest photo series, ‘In the Company of Mothers,’ British artist Hannah Starkey portrays young urban moms as tender, nurturing and chic – perfect for celebrating Mother’s Day today. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through May 25th)
Hannah Starkey, Untitled, July 2012, c-print, 2012.
When Aiko Hachisuka doesn’t want a piece of clothing any more, she doesn’t just bag it for the thrift shop. The LA-based artist’s bulging cloth sculptures are made from clothing she’s folded, screenprinted, stuffed and stitched together in large, exuberant forms. (At Eleven Rivington on the Lower East Side through June 14th)
Aiko Hachisuka, Pro Weight, silkscreen on clothing and foam, 2011.
In 1846, Henry David Thoreau took soundings to measure the depth of Walden Pond, disproving local legends that claimed it was bottomless. A century and a half later, Spencer Finch’s soundings recorded location, depth and surface color at hundreds of different points on Walden Pond, creating a visual record of both surface and depths. (At Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery through June 15th)
Spencer Finch, Walden Pond (surface/depth), rope, cloth, twine, 298 watercolors on watercolor paper, 120 feet long, 2013.
Rodney Graham’s ‘Old Punk On Pay Phone’ may not be part of the Met’s much anticipated punk couture exhibition opening today; instead seen downtown at Chelsea’s 303 Gallery it begs the question of what punk counterculture means to this aging character, played by the 64 year old artist. (Through June 15th)
Rodney Graham, Old Punk on Pay Phone, painted aluminum light box with transmounted chromogenic transparency, 2012.
Each of LA-based artist Tim Hawkinson’s new sculptures at Pace Gallery is named after a girl-scout cookie, with this piece provocatively titled ‘Cartwheel.’ Featuring spinning wheels on each toe and the heel, this giant foot looks ready to roll around town popping eyes. (At Pace Gallery’s 508 W. 25th Street location through June 29th)
Tim Hawkinson, Cartwheel, fiberglass, steel, Bondo, motor & extension cord, 2013.
Austrian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Maria Petschnig terms her videos ‘raw’ and ‘psychological,’ terms which still apply to her videos and installation at On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side, as she transforms the white cube gallery into a dimly lit, wood-paneled maze punctuated by mattress sculptures featuring eerily unknowable lumps. (Through June 16th).
Maria Petschnig, Mycroft, mattress, jersey, polyester, padding, 2013.
Does greater technology result in greater progress? Machines and giant-sized virtual humans tower over futuristic cities in Washington D.C.-based painter Benjamin Edwards’ provocative new series ‘System,’ ominously answering in the negative and suggesting that chaos will overtake us. (At Kravets/Wehby Gallery through May 11th).
Benjamin Edwards, Toy, acrylic on canvas, 2012.
Austerely minimal and elegantly, Rachel Whiteread’s Untitled (Pair) from 1999 is based on the shape of a mortuary slab. One part is curved to allow bodily fluids to drain. The other is an upside down cast of the first part. Standing quietly side by side, they suggest partnership through eternity. (At Luhring Augustine through 6/16).
Rachel Whiteread, Untitled (Pair), bronze and cellulose paint, 1999.
“We cannot live alone.” “We need you.” “We are sick of our own similar faces.” These pleas and more come from the central actor in Yael Bartana’s riveting trilogy about a Polish leader who implores the over 3 million Jews who lived in Poland prior to WWII to return and transform 40 million Poles. Here, returnees establish a Kibbutz-like compound that looks uncomfortably like a concentration camp as they sit to learn Polish words like ‘Freedom.’ (At Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery through May 4th).
Yael Bartana, Mary Koszmary (Nightmares), one channel video and sound-installation, 16mm transferred to DVD color/sound, 10:50 min, 2007.
Andrew Kuo makes geometric abstraction emote in a series of paintings that map his feelings and experiences as blocks of color. This painting documents the breakup of a seven year relationship; the key to the large yellow patch reads ‘Everything has changed! (Except everything actually worth changing.)” It’s bookmatched with the thought in grey, “All I want is to be like how I was before.” (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through May 4th).
Andrew Kuo, I Forget (on 12/12/12), acrylic and carbon transfer on panel and laminated paper, 2012.
At over four feet tall, this huge earring may be designed for a giant…but what kind of giant would wear it, or the enormous black t-shirts sliced to ribbons and hung from the gallery walls? Amanda Ross-Ho blows up cheap fashions to attention-grabbing size, but her intention seems founded less criticism of the merchandise than in curiosity at what happens when banal products were presented as monumental. (At Chelsea’s Mitchell-Innes & Nash through May 18th).
Amanda Ross-Ho, Gone Tomorrow, aluminum and steel plated in gold and brass, 2013.
“When the eyes are shut, the eyes are extraordinarily open,” said iconic Italian Arte Povera artist Marisa Merz in 1974. Since the 80s, she’s made loosely formed sculptures of heads like this duo, whose gold covered eyes speak to a vision beyond the purely literal. (At Chelsea’s Barbara Gladstone Gallery through May 18th).
Marisa Merz, Untitled, two painted unfired heads and iron tripod, 1994.
Ajay Kurian explores the chemicals we consume using materials that range from melted gummy bears to microwaved bars of soap. The surprise in this attractive display is that these pretty ‘rocks’ contain traces of recycled nuclear waste. (At Jack Hanley Gallery on the Lower East Side through May 5th).
Ajay Kurian, Spiegel-Leben 2, plexiglass, epoxy clay, Gobstoppers, recycled nuclear waste, 2013.
I’ve been looking forward to globe-trotting street artist JR’s opening at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery next Tuesday, so spotting the artist and Jose Parla as they created this wall mural last Saturday on the gallery exterior was a treat. For their collaborative project, JR and Parla photographed and interviewed seniors including this stately woman. (‘The Wrinkles of the City’ opens May 7 and runs through July 12).
Is Ryan McGinley’s huge figure falling or floating? McGinley’s signature photos show young people living their lives with abandon. Here, his ambiguity is unsettling, but the gorgeous blue color on drab, early-spring 10th Ave is alluring. (At 18th Street and 10th Ave, presented by High Line Art, through April 30th)
Ryan McGinley, Blue Falling, print on vinyl, 2007.
In his latest New York solo show, British artist Richard Hughes turns drabness into whimsy by appearing to transform light posts into a pair of jauntily high-stepping legs. They’re actually meticulously created to look like the real thing, but that fact’s almost irrelevant to their enjoyment. (At Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery through May 18th).
Richard Hughes, Pedestrian (Hot Ste P), architectural grey board, fiberglass, stone resin, steel and paint, 2013.
On a pedestal of lava rock, Larry Bamburg stacked a 400lb redwood burl, then proceeded to add animal hoofs, turtle shells and more burls. The materials are evocative and the arrangement is a feat of balance but the real charge comes from nature used as both raw material and formal element. (At Simone Subal Gallery through April 28th)
Larry Bamburg, ‘Burls Hooves and Shells on a Pedestal of Lava Rock,’ wood burls, animal hooves, turtle and mollusk shells, lava rock, ratchet strap, 2013.
Indian artist Tallur L.N.’s huge sculpture is a standout in Chelsea on two counts: it courts religious reflection and you can hit it. Visitors are invited to pick up one of several nearby hammers and pound a coin into a log supported by a giant Buddha sculpture while making a wish. I’ve heard of the audience being invited to complete an artwork, but a divinity? (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through May 11th).
Tallur L.N., Chromathophobia, wooden log, granite and hammered coins, 2012.
Ryan Humphrey brings street life inside by making art from signage, brass knuckles, music and more in a show that includes paintings in the guise of caution tape, available by the piece or all together. A comment on desensitization or just plain desensitization? (At DCKT Contemporary on the Lower East Side through May 12th).
Ryan Humphrey, Tapes, acrylic on canvas, seven parts, 2013.
Israel-born, New York based artist Guy Ben-Ari makes his New York exhibition debut with a show that speaks to our access and remove from contemporary events. Here, hands hold a tablet showing an act of self-immolation caught on camera and witnessed by mostly passive spectators which include the tablet owner and finally, us. (At Scaramouche Gallery through April 28th)
Guy Ben-Ari, An Act of Protest Viewed Through a Tablet Device, oil on panel, 2013.
