Beatriz Milhazes at Pace Gallery

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Made recently but rendered antique-looking by strategically distressed paint, Brazilian artist Beatriz Milhazes’ paintings at Pace Gallery exist to celebrate the histories and abundant possibilities of design.  Scrolling stems, chains of periwinkles and clusters of Klimt-like gold circles in this painting join colorful wave forms and triangular patterns in creating strong horizontals, broken by large leaf-like forms at the center of the canvas.  Does nature compete with design?  A merger of organic and geometric shapes in the vertical strip at the center of this painting suggests a harmonious and dynamic relationship between the two.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 29th).

Beatriz Milhazes, Azulão, acrylic on linen, 75 inches × 63 inches, 2021 – 22.

Do Ho Suh at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

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Historic monuments are a hot topic today, but Do Ho Suh’s engagement with public sculpture goes back decades, questioning what and who we memorialize.  Over twenty years ago, he crafted a large pedestal, empty on top but supported by scores of tiny sculptures of people holding up the base, suggesting that it takes the efforts of many to elevate select individuals.  Now, the new sculpture ‘Inverted Pedestal,’ the first piece to greet visitors to his exhibition at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, offers a pedestal that appears to have swallowed the figure meant to be honored.  Created from extruded plastic material, the piece’s transparent mesh surface allows visitors to see a figure, not displayed in glory but suspended upside down and hidden.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 29th.)

Do Ho Suh, Inverted Monument, PETg, stainless steel, 98.43 x 79.72 x 79.72 inches, 2022.

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum at Galerie Lelong

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All is not well in the home that Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum pictures in ‘Front Room,’ an intriguing painting in her debut solo show at Galerie Lelong in Chelsea.  In a recent talk, the artist portrayed domestic space as a place where many emotions, from rage to comfort, can be experienced.  Here, two women (alter egos of the artist) attempt to soothe an upset woman with tenderness and understanding, while a fourth individual stands distracted in the background.  Monumental in their full, beautifully rendered garments, the women’s actions and emotions take on powerful significance. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 22nd).

Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Front Room, oil and pencil on linen, 2022.

Luiz Zerbini at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

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So large it’s an immersive experience just to stand in front of it, Brazilian artist Luiz Zerbini’s painting ‘Dry River’ at Sikkema Jenkins & Co juxtaposes an organizing grid against abundant plant forms.  Drawing inspiration from diverse sources including Brazilian tower blocks and his own personal garden, Zerbini’s practice revels in the abundance of natural design while prompting viewers to consider how human planning does (or does not) coexist harmoniously. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 15th).

Luiz Zerbini, Dry River, acrylic on canvas, triptych: 118 1/8 x 236 ¼ inches, 2022.

Vanessa German at Kasmin Gallery

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Both ‘blue jeans’ and ‘the blues’ are listed as materials in Vanessa German’s towering sculpture ‘Sad Rapper,’ the title piece of her current solo show at Chelsea’s Kasmin Gallery.  Not only a visual artist but a poet and performer, German creates descriptions of her assembled sculptures that double as poetic reflections on the thought processes behind the work.  Dressed in blue and standing on a platform of red and white stripes, this figure represents a less easily recognized ‘American’ character, one covered in prayer bundles but laden with society’s expectations. (On view through Oct 22nd).

Vanessa German, Sad Rapper, wood, tar, 75 pounds of old blue jeans, the blues, sorrow, cuz in 1983 rappers could be bad but could not be sad— or gay, holiness, salt, a groan, tears, African blue and white cloth, love, meanness, the way that it feels to need to cry but not be able to cry— for an exceptionally long time, convinced of muscle instead of tenderness, grief, yarn, twine, loneliness, old blue bed sheets, heartbreak and lying about it, canvas, prayer beads, shame, black pigment, delusion, love, love, love, you gonna be ok ni$$a, you ain’t alone homie, it’s ok, just go’on ahead and be broken for a little while, shit~ life is hard sometimes, red and white paint, foam, ptsd, glue, plaster, heat, 78 x 48 x 40 inches, 2022.