Valerie Hegarty in ‘Morph’ at Asya Geisberg Gallery

Valerie Hegarty’s deliciously bizarre watermelon rind takes a bite out of summer at Asya Geisberg Gallery’s fanciful summer group show of ceramic sculpture. (In Chelsea through August 11th).

Valerie Hegarty, Watermelon Rind with Teeth 2, glazed ceramics, 4.5 x 12.5 x 3.5 inches, 2016.

 

Ji Zhou at Klein Sun Gallery

In his photo collages of cityscapes, shot at different times of day from the same vantage point, Bejing-based artist Ji Zhou creates a harmonious view from fragments. (At Klein Sun Gallery in Chelsea through August 3rd).

Ji Zhou, (detail of) Building 2, archival pigment print, 47 ¼ x 92 1/8 inches, 2017.

Maria Berrio in ‘All That Glitters’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery

Like a group of goddesses on Mount Olympus, Maria Berrio’s trio of milky-skinned mothers and their infants appear to lounge above the mortal realm in this collage by the New York-based Columbian artist. Accompanied by a menagerie of animals and framed by the constellations, Berrio exaults the mothers’ nurturing role. (On view on the Lower East Side in ‘All That Glitters’ at Rachel Uffner Gallery through August 2nd).

Maria Berrio, Nativity, Japanese paper on canvas, 48 x 60 inches, 2014.

Zadie Xa in ‘How to Call the Spirits’ at Chapter NY

These extravagantly eccentric boots by London-based Canadian artist Zadie Xa (created with Benito Mayor Vallejo) are part of Xa’s costuming for a performance inspired by Korean spiritual ritual. Installed unobtrusively at Chapter NY, which is hosting an exhibition by San Juan, Puerto Rico gallery Agustina Ferreyra as part of Condo New York, they offer a glimpse of Xa’s fabulously invented performances. (On the Lower East Side through July 28th).

Zadie Xa, They Came Over Water, hand sewn and machine stitched fabric and leather, synthetic hair and hand-carved wood, 28 ¾ x 3 ¾ x 13 inches, 2017.

Liz Craft in ‘Dirge’ at JTT

Liz Craft’s speech bubbles, made into faces by the shapes of protruding ceramic mushrooms, are a standout in JTT’s summer group show, Dirge, which considers how artists engage with accounts of history. Here, Craft merges contemporary text-message bubbles with pre-electrical light (a candle). The mushroom face suggests a voice from 70s counterculture speaking from the void. (On the Lower East Side through July 28th).

Liz Craft, Mushroom Bubble (Green), ceramic, grout, aluminum, wood, 30 x 31.5 inches, 2016.