Martin Klimas at Foley Gallery

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Like British YouTube phenomena The Slow Mo Guys, German artist Martin Klimas recognizes the power of slowing down a dramatic event to stimulate our curiosity.  Both have recently captured paint flying up from the surface of a speaker (the subject of Klimas’ show at Foley Gallery).  But selections from Klimas’ previous body of work – depicting smashing figurines, on view in the back room – steal the show by adding the suggestion of accident and the happy intervention of chance.  (At Foley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Nov 3rd).  

Martin Klimas, Untitled (Pink and Green), pigment print, 2006.

Richard Serra at Gagosian Gallery

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Renowned American sculptor Richard Serra’s exhibitions at Gagosian Gallery’s 21st and 24th Street spaces in Chelsea opened this weekend, immediately proving to be the must-see shows of the moment.  Though the 24th Street installation departs from his previous body of curving steel plates with its angular severity (watch for photos in upcoming days), the 21st Street place offers a single, huge, undulating steel installation that will delight fans of Serra’s more recent spiraling sculptures.  

Richard Serra, installation view of ‘Inside Out’ at Gagosian Gallery, Oct 2013.

Alexis Rockman at Sperone Westwater

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Inspired by a news story about a dolphin that swam into Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal and died the same day from the pollution, New York artist Alexis Rockman conjured this vision of the canal as a cauldron of contamination in which the strong adapt to survive.  (At Sperone Westwater on the Lower East Side through Nov 2nd).  

Alexis Rockman, Gowanus, oil on wood, 2013.

Susan Siegel at the 2013 Fashion District Arts Festival

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One of the highlights for me of last weekend’s 2013 Fashion District Arts Festival was discovering Susan Siegel’s fantastical oil paintings of domesticated animals playing the role of well-appointed Gainsborough-like ladies and gents in lush natural settings.  Siegel excels at giving her subjects subtly readable personalities in works that gently poke fun at the excesses of 18th century self-fashioning.  

Susan Siegel, Solitary Goat (Blue), 30” x 24”, oil on canvas, 2011.

Akio Takamori in ‘Clay Bodies’ at Barry Friedman, Ltd

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Seattle-based ceramic artist Akio Takamori’s sleeping women rest in round bundles on low pedestals, their eyes open slightly, seemingly observing us while we’re spying on them in their sleep.  Colorful and curvy like Matisse figures, it’s as if drawings have materialized in three dimensions.  (At Chelsea’s Barry Friedman Gallery through Oct 30th.)

Akio Takamori, Sleeping Woman in Red Dress with Orange Hair, stoneware with underglazes, 2013.