Mark Handforth at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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Known for adopting materials that resemble urban infrastructure (streetlamps, signage) and manipulating them with apparently Herculean effort into whimsical sculpture, Mark Handforth scales down the size but delivers on delight in a show of new work at Luhring Augustine Gallery in Tribeca.  Tall burnt matchstick sculptures and deliciously candy-colored aluminum columns accompany ‘Harlequin Star,’ a sculpture that appears to be a guardrail casually folded into a star shape with a neon accent.  Handforth has commented on the recurring stars in his work, identifying the shape as something “so recognizable that [it] cease[s] to exist.”  Though its ubiquity may make it mundane, Handforth harnesses unexpected materials and light to make this star a standout.  (On view through July 28th).

Mark Handforth, Harlequin Star, aluminum, prismatic foils and LED light, 80 x 68 x 28 inches, 2023.

Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner Gallery

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Giant steel flowers, undulating yellow and black polka dot pumpkins and a selection of over thirty vibrantly patterned paintings by Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner Gallery deliver the delight and pleasure expected of the iconic Japanese artist’s work.  The daughter of plant nursery owners, nature has always played a role in Kusama’s over 60-year career; via flowers and plants, Kusama’s latest New York show presents a message of love for life, even as select painting titles allude to dark times and the difficulties of family life.  Three steel sculptures titled ‘I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers’ is a natural background for selfies, enlisting gallery-goers in spreading Kusama’s upbeat message.  (On view in Chelsea through July 21st).

Yayoi Kusama, I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers (foreground), stainless steel and urethane paint, 98 x 111 x 106 inches, 2023.

Seth Price at Petzel Gallery

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Seth Price starts many pieces in his show of new work at Petzel Gallery by working with an AI to generate an image, which he prints onto a surface and embellishes with paint, applied by brush or his own body.  He photographs what he’s created, then uses software to add virtual objects to the digital image.  Finally, he prints these later additions back onto the original painting in a back and forth digital/analogue process that foregrounds the collaboration between artist and machine.  The depth in many images is created by metallic, cylindrical shapes that disrupt easy reading of a flat, painted surface and create visual interest in this arrestingly unusual body of work. (On view in Chelsea through June 3rd).

Seth Price, Weeptober, acrylic paint, generatively produced image reverse-transferred into acrylic polymer, and UV-print on aluminum composite, 96 x 76 1/8 x 1 inches, 2022-23.

Takako Yamaguchi at Ortuzar Projects

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Situated between landscape painting and pattern-driven abstraction, Takako Yamaguchi’s new paintings at Ortuzar Projects in Tribeca are a beautiful and dynamic stylization of nature.  This coastal scene features two swirls of clouds or waves, rising up to form an Ionic column over a tranquil sea.  Below, the painting’s sense of space is complicated by a band of crisp wave forms while a glowing metal leaf triangle at top right further disrupts a realistic, 3-D rendering of space.  Titled ‘Pivot,’ the painting’s constant perspectival shift rewards continued looking.  (On view through June 13th).

Takako Yamaguchi, Pivot, oil and metal leaf on canvas, 60 x 40 inches, 2022.

Daniel Gordon at Kasmin Gallery

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Unlike classic Dutch still life, Daniel Gordon’s ‘Philodendron with Sardines and Lobster’ at Kasmin Gallery lacks the typical superabundance of a table piled high with fruit, meats and other delicacies, allowing for a more focused appreciation of the artist’s detailed, hands-on production of each item on display. After finding or taking a photograph of each object he intends to depict, Gordon prints images of the object, cutting and gluing them over forms that are placed into an arrangement of similarly crafted objects and then photographed to produce the final image.   Because they’ve originated in photographic images, lobster, fish, plant and vase on the one hand look believable as a flat image and yet are obviously 3-D renderings.  The space of the image is temporarily unclear, the medium blurred, creating pleasurable moments of uncertainty. (On view through June 3rd).

Daniel Gordon, Philodendron with Sardines and Lobster, pigment print with UV lamination, 49 7/8 x 40 inches, 2023.