Scherezade Garcia at Praxis Gallery

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Scherezade Garcia’s baroque paintings at Praxis Gallery of water-borne women are part of the ‘liquid turn’ or ‘blue humanities,’ explains Lesley A. Wolff in a gallery handout, a field of study that finds inspiration in the fluidity and transformative qualities of the sea. Characterized by their ‘cinnamon skin,’ which Garcia creates by mixing primary and secondary colors, and inspired by the artist’s female relatives, figures positioned directly in the water are a metaphor for ‘layered, fluid, transformative’ identities.  Surrounded by lush flower swags, ornate scrolling forms, decorative lace and gold – from decorative tiles at the top to a duck-shaped life preserver – each character’s ornate environment speaks to a complex, self-inventing identity. (On view through Nov 4th).

Scherezade Garcia, Harvest of the Sea, acrylic, pigment, charcoal, ink on linen, 84 x 180 inches, 2023.

Ugo Rondinone at Gladstone Gallery

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Lightning strikes three times in the same spot at Gladstone Gallery’s high-ceilinged 21st Street space in the form of bronze sculpture by Swiss New Yorker Ugo Rondinone.  Trees scanned, 3-D printed and cast in bronze have been inverted to resemble day glow yellow bolts of light; at the same time, they belong to the terrestrial realm by still clearly resembling trees.  As nature upends our expectations again and again through storms, floods and extreme temperatures, Rondinone questions the natural order.  (On view in Chelsea through Nov 9th.

Ugo Rondinone, installation view of ‘bright light shining’ at Gladstone Gallery, Oct ’23.

Melissa Joseph at Margot Samel

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Raised in rural Pennsylvania with little access to museums but within easy reach of her mom’s crafting supplies, New York artist Melissa Joseph developed a textile-based practice resulting in painterly portraits of family now on view at Margot Samel in Tribeca.  Three small pieces in needle felted wool on industrial felt, mounted on found silver plates, are the size of embroidery but use material more akin to impasto painting.  Here, Joseph’s extended family piles on to a living room seat, creating a tangle of bodies as familiar and comfortable as the material depicting them.  (On view in Tribeca through Nov 22nd).

Melissa Joseph, Auntie Loretta, needle felted wool in industrial felt in found silver platter, 10” diameter, 2023.

Enoc Perez at Harper’s Books

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Based on vintage Bacardi rum ads and travel brochures, Puerto Rican artist Enoc Perez’s paintings of his home country at Harper’s Gallery feature pristine beaches, bright blue pools and abundant tropical vegetation.  Created in a painting style akin to printmaking, for which the artist rubs paint onto canvas using an oil coated sheet of paper and a pencil, the details of each supposed paradise are rendered slightly indistinct.  Titled ‘Stockholm Syndrome,’ the paintings revel in an abundance of natural beauty yet withhold a richer appreciation of it, forcing the question of how much of each image is just marketing.  (On view in Chelsea through Nov 11th).

Enoc Perez, View of San Juan, P.R., oil on linen, 2023.

Jay DeFeo at Paula Cooper Gallery

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After completing her iconic 2,000+ lb painting ‘The Rose,’ in 1966, Bay Area artist Jay DeFeo delved into photography, creating the 70 photographs, collages and photocopies now on view at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea.  Like ‘The Rose,’ DeFeo’s photographs feature complex textures, moody tonal contrasts and nature-related imagery in straight shots of mushrooms on a fallen tree or chemigrams – abstract images created in the darkroom.  Among the representational works, a single resting hand seen from the side or a section of an illuminated lampshade pictured from below against a black background convey stillness while this powerful shot of rushing water embodies nature’s dynamism and power.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 28th).

Jay DeFeo, Untitled, gelatin silver print, 6 x 8 7/8 inches, 1973.