Before you get to the giant inflated and conjoined rear ends, you have to pass under ‘Carnivaleyes’, a pair of 3 x 4 ½ foot wide peepers made from latex, fabric and rope by Nancy Davidson. Slightly risqué with their net-stocking-like lids, they seem a little vexed with their oddball neighbors in Davidson’s solo show at Chelsea’s Betty Cunningham Gallery. (Through October 6th). Check out Davidson’s odd bodies on her website.
Paul Pfeiffer continues to manipulate footage of sporting events in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery; though he makes welcome forays into new areas, the show’s most entertaining piece collages footage of basketball games from the 50s through the 90s, only with the players and ball digitally removed. What’s left are bright lights and a ghostly, swishing net as Pfeiffer turns a popular game into a magic act. (Through October 13th).
Books – in colorful grids on the floor, piled on a remainders table, preciously designed and placed far out of reach on high shelves and in many more guises – fill Friedrich Petzel Gallery’s biblio-centric group show, ‘The Feverish Library’ (organized in cooperation with Matthew Higgs). Rachel Whiteread’s plaster, polystyrene and steel ‘Untitled (Sequel III)’ from 2002 lends a note of gravitas and mystery to the show by recording only the cast space around a bookshelf. (In Chelsea’s Friedrich Petzel Gallery through Oct 20th).
Known for his nature-inspired, mural-sized dramas affixed to the gallery wall, Adam Cvijanovic doesn’t disappoint in his first New York solo show since ’08. At 15 x 65 feet, the show’s centerpiece, ‘Discovery of America’ is a trompe l’oeil triumph, appearing to bring a prehistoric, Rocky Mountain scene into a wall-splintering conflict with an image of human settlers racing across the plains all of which appears to take place in a messy art studio. (at Postmasters, Chelsea through October 13th).
The new art season officially roared to life again this week with dozens of major shows opening in the last few nights. Leonardo Drew’s installation at Chelsea’s Sikkema Jenkins & Co is one of the outstanding offerings thanks to a huge, gallery-filling installation composed of rough lengths of burnt wood as well as more tidy but no less ambitious wall relief sculptures. (Through October 12th.)