Poised like Venus lying in the grass or hiking semi-nude with a walking stick and an open flannel shirt, Pennsylvania-based artist Rebecca Morgan’s self-portraits are skillfully crafted, hilarious takes on rural stereotypes. Here, she changes gears, donning a ‘depression blanket’ to ward off the chill and the mental state her far-away look suggests. (At Chelsea’s Asya Geisberg Gallery through March 29th).
Rebecca Morgan, Depression Blanket, oil and graphite on panel, 28” x 22,” 2014.
Exposed in its confining crib, this body-sized stick of butter (actually beeswax) by American sculptor Robert Gober is perfectly formed but slightly repulsive. Scattered apples, meticulously crafted in wood are all-American (recalling apple pie or Johnny Appleseed) but suggest that temptations lurk from the earliest days of life. (At Matthew Marks Gallery’s 523 West 24th Street location).
Robert Gober, Untitled, wood, paint, beeswax, 50 ½ x 53 ¼ x 28 inches, 1993-2013.
Color Field painter Sam Gilliam’s unstretched canvas from 1970 is a standout in Michael Rosenfeld Gallery’s current exhibition ‘Beyond the Spectrum: Abstraction in African American Art, 1950-1975’ for taking the space of a painting into the space of the gallery. Like a huge paint rag or a giant apron, this piece from 1970 evokes an object with use-value, hung momentarily on the wall. (In Chelsea through March 8th).
Sam Gilliam, One Thunder, acrylic on unstretched canvas, 70 x 23 x 11 inches, 1970.
Known for her lovingly painted renditions of architecture and industrial equipment created in a single, long sitting, Josephine Halvorson has turned her attention to her more immediate surroundings in her new Massachusetts home. Using paint to render a door covered with chipped paint, Halvorson’s knowing play with her material is a pleasure to experience. (At Sikkema Jenkins & Co through March 1st).
Josephine Halvorson, Woodshed Door, oil on linen, 70 x 35 inches, 2013.
Powered by small fans at the bottom of wall-mounted glass tubes, Ping-Pong balls play a solitary game as they whiz up and down in Ohio-based artist Erwin Redl’s mesmerizing installation at Chelsea’s Bitforms Gallery. (Through March 15th).
Erwin Redl, Levitate (thirty-one), suspended glass tubes, fans, Ping-Pong balls, microprocessor, 11 x 31 x 1 ft, 2014.
