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.