‘Duality of Existence – Post-Fukushima’ at Friedman Benda

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Friedman Benda’s summer group exhibition, featuring contemporary Japanese art seen through a post-Fukushima Daiichi lens includes traditional architecture upended and mirrored by Takahiro Iwasaki and a mind-bending interactive installation by Kazuki Umezawa for which looking into an iPad at a digital print produces surprising results. (In Chelsea through August 8th).

Foreground: Takahiro Iwasaki, Reflection Models, wood, monofilament, 2014. Background: Kazuki Umezawa, AR image core involving all, digital print on tarpaulin sheet, 2 iPads, 2013.

Naotaka Hiro in ‘East Side to the West Side’ at Flag Art Foundation

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Split down the middle and at the sides, this cast body in aluminum by LA artist Naotaka Hiro, succinctly describes a divided psyche, even summoning an animal body. The cast negative space between the legs resembles a phallus but was created by absence, making this enigmatic artwork strikingly poignant. (At Flag Art Foundation in Chelsea through August 8th).

Naotaka Hiro, Four-Legged (Toe to Heel), aluminum, wood, 18 x 20 x 65 inches, 2014.

Alison Elizabeth Taylor in ‘The Fifth Season’ at James Cohan Gallery

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Brooklyn-based artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor’s more recent New York solo show in Fall ‘13 at Chelsea’s James Cohan Gallery was a gratifying chance to witness her wizardry with wood veneer in 2-D scenes of natural destruction; but her contribution to the gallery’s excellent summer group show – a western home invaded by a storm tossed tree – is a knockout. (Seen in detail.) (Through August 8th).

Alison Elizabeth Taylor, Kitchen (detail), wood veneer, oil, acrylic, shellac, 92 x 116 inches, 2014.

Tony Matelli in ‘Another Look at Detroit’ at Marlborough Gallery

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‘Another Look at Detroit’ is one of the summer’s major exhibitions, showing at powerhouse galleries Marlborough Chelsea and Marianne Boesky Gallery, but it starts off with this initially underwhelming weed by New York sculptor Tony Matelli located near the entrance of Marlborough. Look closer, however, and this meticulously crafted, painted bronze plant becomes an object of wonder. (Through August 8th).

Tony Matelli, Weed #293, painted bronze, 11 x 9 x 13 inches, 2014.

George Woodman in ‘Contrapposto and Other Stories’ at Jeff Bailey Gallery

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Made with a camera obscura, George Woodman’s photo ‘Grapes, a Mexican Bride, and a Classical Harvest’ uses old technology to create a scene that evokes nostalgia for different eras of history. (At Jeff Bailey Gallery through August 8th.)

George Woodman, Grapes, a Mexican Bride, and a Classical Harvest, gelatin silver print, 42 x 39.5 inches, 1999.