Julia Felsenthal at JDJ Gallery

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Julia Felsenthal is the first to acknowledge that many artists before her have painted the sea, while also observing that, even in her own production, each rendition is different.  The Brooklyn and Cape-Cod based writer and painter tempts viewers to stop in front of each of her small watercolor on gouache studies of sky and water at JDJ Gallery in Tribeca to appreciate the various effects of light, mist, cloud, sunrise, water depth and more.  Sublime in power yet compact in form, Felsenthal’s waterscapes speak to the endless beauty and fascination of the ocean.  (On view through July 21st).

Julia Felsenthal, Glinting Sea, watercolor and gouache on paper, 12 x 9 inches, 2022.

Markus Linnenbrink at Miles McEnery Gallery

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Stripes run across the walls, down the paintings and around a ball-like sculpture in Markus Linnenbrink’s explosively colorful show at Miles McEnery Gallery in Chelsea. Painted in two days, a dripping horizontal pattern across the gallery wall sets off Linnenbrink’s signature candy-colored works in epoxy resin and leads the eye back into the gallery toward a variety of work created by building up or cutting into layers of solidified epoxy resin.  In the foreground, a ball made from layers of cast resin encases discarded ephemera from everyday life gathered by friends and family of the artist, a happy emblem of experiences accumulated along life’s way. (On view in Chelsea through July 22nd).

Markus Linnenbrink, COLDWORLDGOODMANBITEBACK, epoxy resin, pigments, objects, 36 inches diameter, 2023.

Jacquelyn Strycker in ‘New Voices: On Transformation’ at Print Center New York

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Jacquelyn Strycker uses the risograph mechanical copying/printing process to create abstractions that look like sewn textiles, a fruitful juxtaposition of the machine made and handmade that makes her work a standout at the opening of Print Center New York’s engaging new group show of work by emerging artists.  This piece’s profusion of pattern came from Strycker’s decision to embrace complexity.  Sometimes printed on handmade and Japanese papers or, in this piece titled ‘Dream House,’ made using cotton stuffed with Poly-fil, the resulting forms resemble a curious mix of quilt, garment and architecture.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 25th).

Jacquelyn Strycker, Dream House, sewn risograph on cotton stuffed with Poly-fil, 2023.

Quentin James McCaffrey at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

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Never much more than a foot high, Quentin James McCaffrey’s small paintings at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery encourage viewers to draw close and peer into imagined domestic interiors that act as portals into other times and places. Here, ‘Mirror with a View’ presents us with a mirror (or is it a painting of a mirror’s reflection?) that reflects not us but a view of a landscape through a door, a painting of clouds on the domed ceiling and four paintings that lead the eye into other landscapes.  Though McCaffrey offers a profusion of exits via paintings, ceiling and door, the diminutive size of each limits our fantasy escape, instead underscoring the tantalizing possibilities of illusion.  (On view through July 7th).

Quentin James McCaffrey, Mirror with View, oil on canvas over wood panel, 16 x 13 x 1 ½ inches, 2023.

Kristen Sanders at Asya Geisberg Gallery

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At what point in human development did we become self-aware? This question absorbs Kristen Sanders in new paintings featuring mask-like faces in pre-historic natural environments at Asya Geisberg Gallery in Chelsea.  Interested both in the initial development of human consciousness and its current potential for manifestation via AI, Sanders visages look as if they’ve been peeled from contemporary mannequins and abandoned in ancient shell-strewn, rocky coastal scenes.  In this haunting image of a floating head titled ‘Middle Paleo,’ long lines across the face could reference the first deliberate marks made in sand by protohumans (a Sanders preoccupation), drips of a strange liquid or slash marks.  The ambiguity is provocative, highlighting the figure’s artificiality and strangeness and acknowledging the difficulty of reconciling such vastly distant eras of human development.  (On view in Chelsea through July 8th).

Kristen Sanders, Middle Paleo, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 inches, 2022.