Valerie Hegarty at Nichelle Beauchene

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Valerie Hegarty, Watermelon Tongue, canvas, stretcher, acrylic paint, modeling paste, paper, glue, foil, gauze, glue, thread, 2012.
Valerie Hegarty, Watermelon Tongue, canvas, stretcher, acrylic paint, modeling paste, paper, glue, foil, gauze, glue, thread, 2012.

This is one watermelon you do not want to eat…or be eaten by.  A giant lick of modeling paste extends from Valerie Hegarty’s repulsive ‘Watermelon Tongue,’ curbing the appetite and recalling ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ one inspiration for this painting.  Hegarty was also thinking of last year’s news reports of exploding watermelons in China, which were mistakenly sprayed with growth accelerator.  Now do you want to know where your food comes from?  (At Nichelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side, through October 20th).

3-D Form at the New Museum of Contemporary Art

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Ryan Whittier Hale, Cluster, video, color, sound, 00:27 min, 2012
Ryan Whittier Hale, Cluster, video, color, sound, 00:27 min, 2012

What’s at the cutting edge of visual art animation?  Check out the New Museum’s answer to that question – the on-line only exhibition, ‘3-D Form,’ which features four artists whose human characters dance, flirt and float as they occupy strange realms of cyberspace.  (Through October 17th.)

Ai Weiwei at Carolina Nitsch

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Ai Weiwei, Kui Hua Zi (Sun Flower Seeds), 2009.
Ai Weiwei, Kui Hua Zi (Sun Flower Seeds), 2009.

One thousand hand-painted, porcelain sunflower seeds made in Jingdezhen, China are on offer at Carolina Nitsch as part of a show of work (80s NYC photos and Qing Dynasty chairs) by dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.  Once a metaphor for the Chinese populace following their leadership as the sunflower follows the sun, these remnants of Weiwei’s five ton installation at Tate Modern suggest that it’s the artist who is followed so closely as his popularity continues to rise. (At Carolina Nitsch through Nov 3rd.)

Andrea Zittel at Andrea Rosen Gallery

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Andrea Zittel, A-Z Carpet Furniture: Cabin, nylon carpet, 2012.
Andrea Zittel, A-Z Carpet Furniture: Cabin, nylon carpet, 2012.

Why is one textile hung carefully on a wall for display while others are put on the floor for everyday use?  Andrea Zittel’s latest solo show, designed by her and crafted by weavers from around the country, digs into the question of why we want both beautifully designed objects with use value and objects to rever as fine art.  Zittel created this carpet to fill the floor of her yet-to-be-built 12 x 16 foot cabin. (At Andrea Rosen Gallery, Chelsea, through October 27th).

Toba Khedoori at David Zwirner Gallery

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Toba Khedoori, Untitled (mountains 2), oil on linen, 27 1/2 x 40 7/8 inches, 2011-12.
Toba Khedoori, Untitled (mountains 2), oil on linen, 27 1/2 x 40 7/8 inches, 2011-12.

Toba Khedoori is known for her monumental paintings on paper devoid of human subjects, but in her latest show at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery, she makes a major shift to small-scale oils on canvas.  The size change lessens the works’ dramatic impact but a mood of still isolation remains, prompting writer Julian Bismuth to compare each new work to, “…a puzzle piece removed from its set and held up to the light.” (Through October 27th).