Mira Dancy adn Sarah Peters at Asya Geisberg Gallery

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New York artists Mira Dancy and Sarah Peters compliment each other’s interest in picturing female bodies in a joint show at Asya Geisberg Gallery that pairs Dancy’s energetic expressionist painting with Peter’s pleasingly strange mannerist sculptures. Here, an erotically posed nude in shades of pink, peach and a vivid yellow contrast a composed character exuding thoughtful calm. (In Chelsea through Nov 26th).

Mira Dancy, Dream of the Unicorn Tapestry, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 40 inches, 2014 (left) and Sarah Peters, Portrait with Long Neck, plaster, 13 x 9 x 8 inches, 2014 (right).

Valeska Soares at Eleven Rivington

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A selection of 365 dust jackets mounted to linen supports by Brooklyn-based Brazilian artist Valeska Soares at Eleven Rivington muses on the passing of time. Not only do the titles refer to temporality, but dated fonts and designs act as a measure of change over a few decades. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 23rd).

Valeska Soares, installation view of ‘Any Moment Now,’ at Eleven Rivington, 195 Chrystie Street, November 2014.

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe at Marlborough Gallery Chelsea

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Known for fantastical, druggy, sci-fi environments created temporarily in art venues, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s current show at Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery continues their practice of “…using the room as the vehicle for an ethno-fictional display of the remnants of the built world.” This claustrophobic space – one of several distinctly different rooms in the installation – combines store display with tacky domestic furnishings and dated technology (on the floor) to question what might transpire here. (Through Nov 29th).

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, installation view of ‘Floating Chain (High-Res Toni) at Marlborough Chelsea, November 2014.

Shea Hembrey at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery

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Does it matter if artists make their own work or act as managers in a studio? Arkansas-based artist Shea Hembrey not only makes a point of hand-making his own work, he’s invented five fictional artist/makers for a solo show at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. Here, ‘Pawnee Calhoun’ explores physics with a ‘super collider anomaly’ made from altered hornets nests. (Through Dec 13th).

Pawnee Calhoun, untitled (supercollider anomaly), altered hornet nests, 28 x 35 x 21 inches, 2014.

E.M. Saniga at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects

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IT professor and artist E.M. Saniga explains that his professional focus – mathematical model building – and his passion for painting are not so dissimilar, both involving abstracting reality in inventive ways. Saniga’s recent series at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects was inspired by objects unearthed in an 18th century Quaker home and items from museum collections and the imagination. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 16th)

E.M. Saniga, ‘Early Shoes and Quaker Moths,’ oil on panel, 2012-2014.