Jane Rosen at Sears Peyton Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

‘Knight to Rook,’ the title of Jane Rosen’s latest solo show at Sears-Peyton Gallery, highlights the strategic placement of her totemic sculptures; here, a glass raptor perches before a stone fox, both suggesting the birds of prey and jackal of Egyptian mythology.  Though the artist cites Giorgio Morandi’s vessel-based still lives as inspiration (particularly in a sculptural installation), Brancusi’s stylized, curving sculptures atop rough-hewn plinths come to mind, linking the finished product back to its origins in nature.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 15th).

Jane Rosen, Cash Bird on Ladder, hand blown pigmented glass and limestone, 64 x 8 x 13 inches, 2017.

Elise Ansel at Danese Corey

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Caravaggio’s 1602 oil painting ‘The Taking of Christ’ includes betrayal, surrender and alarm in one action-packed scene;’ New York artist Elise Ansel distills the drama in her oil painting, ‘Kiss,’ an abstraction that sketches the main characters as hovering areas of light.  By exploring gesture, light and pattern, Ansel focuses attention on the feeling of the scene rather than the specifics, offering new ways to connect to the Old Masters.  (On view at Danese Corey in Chelsea through Jan 5th).

Elise Ansel, Kiss, oil on linen, 48 x 60 inches, 2018.

Valerie Hegarty at Burning in Water

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

In the shadow of Chelsea’s ultra-luxurious new residential buildings, Valerie Hegarty’s new sculptures and wall installations at Burning in Water are a poignant, contemporary vanitas, reminding us that what is fresh will soon be old.  Here, the Brooklyn-based artist’s own subway stop is the inspiration for a paint and paper installation that nestles right into a pristine wall.  (On view in Chelsea through Jan 5th).

Valerie Hegarty, Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum (My Subway Stop), paper, latex and acrylic paint, Tyvek, glue, 82 x 72 inches, 2018.

Ken Price at Matthew Marks Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest Show, Inside ViewPosted on Comments are Disabled

Late sculptor Ken Price evoked bodies and nature in a humorous, accessible and endlessly colorful way for decades until his death in 2012.  In a show of work from the ‘90s to 2010 at Matthew Marks Gallery, Price’s evocative forms continue to elicit puzzlement and delight in equal measure.  (On view on 24th Street in Chelsea through Dec 22nd).

Ken Price, Formerly The Slump, fired and painted clay, 5 ¼ x 18 ½ x 13 ¾ inches, 2001.

Zaria Forman at Winston Wachter Fine Art

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Known for large-scale majestic scenes of nature rendered in pastel on paper, Zaria Forman’s stunning new work takes her drawings to a new level.  Invited by NASA to join their regular data-collecting flights over Greenland and the Antarctic, Forman had access to the landscapes that she recreates in huge pastel drawings that demonstrate the beauty and fragility of our planet’s northern climates.  Here, a supraglacial lake is enchantingly beautiful but also a warmer spot that will contribute to this glacier’s faster melt.  (On view in Chelsea at Winston Wachter Fine Art through Dec 21st).

Zaria Forman, Supraglacial Lake (between Hiawatha and Humboldt Glaciers), Greenland, 79 degrees 6’59.05”N 65 degrees 15’54.99”W, July 19, 2017, soft pastel on paper, 60 x 81 7/8 inches, 2018.