British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye converses with John Singer Sargent’s 19th century portrait of a doctor in a red dressing gown standing before red drapes in this vivid painting of an imagined young man in a red jacket lounging on a red sofa. Is he mimicking the crucifixion or expressing total relaxation in the comfort of this womb-red environment? Titled ‘The Ventricular,’ matters of the heart and health come to mind. (On view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Chelsea locations through Feb 16th).
A fish-headed creature with legs runs desperately on a treadmill in this painting by Dana Schutz, epitomizing the pervasive anxiety and grotesque shape-shifting that energize her huge new paintings at Petzel Gallery. In one of the show’s largest paintings, Schutz depicts a mountaintop crowded with oddball characters with competing interests (from a landscape artist to a yogi), none of whom look enlightened. Elsewhere, a worried man in a business suit carefully washes a monster he can’t escape. Malaise abounds in Schutz’s portrayal of a dangerous and uncertain world. (On view at Petzel Gallery through Feb 23rd).
Despite the pressures of a busy life, whether she was at home, at work or at her mother’s house, Shirley Lam always put a meal on the table for her family. Thomas Holton’s documentary photos of the Lam family’s life in their 350 sq ft apartment on Ludlow Street is one of three remarkable photo series now on view at the Museum of the City of New York that elaborate on capability and sacrifice in New York’s Chinese communities. (on view through March 24th).
Though inspired by the local history and landscape of the countryside near her studio in Kent, England, Sophie von Hellerman’s latest paintings are anything but tranquil. Scenes of ecstatic dancing and energetically soaring birds join paintings like this one – depicting a WWII soldier’s plane crash in the woods – to offer unexpected rural drama. (On view at Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 2nd).
In response to recent shootings of African Americans, Betye Saar has revived her iconic Aunt Jemima imagery to create new work that continues to undermine racist stereotypes from U.S. culture. Mounted on a washboard signifying a history of labor performed by African American women, this Aunt Jemima character totes a broom and a gun under the slogan ‘Extreme Times Call for Extreme Heroines.’ (On view in ‘Betye Saar: Keepin’ it Clean’ at the New York Historical Society through May 27th).
