Ever struggle to print something from the computer? Wade Guyton heroizes the process, creating his artwork by devising images on his computer, then battling to run his linen supports through large printers. The untitled piece on the left started as an x typed on his screen; the multi-panel piece on the right as the word ‘us.’ (At the Whitney Museum through 1/13.)
Elegant and sinister at the same time, Jeff Zimmerman’s hand-blown and hand-shaped glass light sculptures from 2009 are now on view as part of the Museum of Art and Design’s ‘Playing with Fire: 50 Years of Contemporary Glass.’ If you enjoy learning and sharing about contemporary art and design, consider volunteering as a MAD Docent; training begins this spring.
Ellie Murphy’s ‘Omega Female’ is a standout in ‘To Be A Lady,’ a diverse group show of work by 45 female artists at the 1285 Avenue of the Americas Art Gallery. Using acrylic yarn, cotton, and steel in one of her signature large yarn sculptures, Murphy creates a figure as totemic as it is folksy, suggesting a anthropomorphized sea creature with long tentacles as well as a prairie settler with brown braid and print-patterned, pillow-like head. (Through Jan 18th).
In a 20-year retrospective of his work at Chelsea’s Metro Pictures Gallery, Gary Simmons’ ‘Stardust, Blizzard’ from 2006 is a standout. Simmons turns two terms for cocaine into beautiful but haunting text images using his signature, hand-smearing technique. (Through Jan 19th.)
In advance of Ghanaian artist El Anatsui’s show of monumental works at the Brooklyn Museum opening early next month, Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery is currently showing elegant new, quasi-textile artworks created from the artist’s signature material – metal sourced from recycled liquor bottles. (through Jan 19th).
