One hundred and fifty studio portraits of unidentified African Americans by unknown photographers now on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art offer a fascinating peek at self-representation in the mid-20th century. By recently acquiring two major portrait groups represented in the show, the Met announces its intention to build its collection to include images of African Americans. (On view on the Upper East Side through October 8th).
Male behaviors and rituals occupy Ohio-based printmaker and current International Print Center New York resident artist Morteza Khakshoor’s colorful, dream-like prints. This piece, ‘Men of High Culture’ is a standout in the IPCNY’s current juried exhibition of new prints. Including a homogeneously dressed cast of male wall flowers and two figures grappling with eccentric creatures and separated by a vase of flowers, Khakshoor’s setup reinterprets the uber-male cockfight. (On view through Sept 22nd).
From the serene to the lively, Bruce Silverstein Gallery’s selection of portrait photos by Lisette Model (seen here), Diane Arbus and Rosalind Fox Solomon turn everyday folks into intriguing characters. Model’s electric photo of a singer at Café Metropole contrasts a gloved man on the Promenade des Anglais, Nice and the momentary repose of a bather at Coney Island, but all suggest that moments of delicious eccentricity are just around the corner. (On view in Chelsea through Sept 8th).
‘Geomantria,’ the title of Lauren Sparks’ show last spring Kate Werble Gallery succinctly introduces the concept of geometry as magic in the Brooklyn painter’s canvases. In this grid of nine works – part of a three-person group exhibition of abstract painting at Chelsea’s Cheim & Read Gallery, curated by Jack Pierson – Sparks plots out six points with relationships that shift according to the ash, papier mache, glitter, yarn and other materials she applies to woven strips of canvas. (On view through August 30th).
Gianni Versace’s 1991-92 jacket, featuring a Madonna and child embroidered in crystals, draws on the gold tile and opulent patterning of Ravenna’s Byzantine architecture. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s stunning ‘Heavenly Bodies’ Costume Institute exhibition, the garment joins icons from the Met’s collection in a contemporary reinterpretation of opulence. (On view on the Upper East Side through Oct 8th).
