Sopheap Pich at Tyler Rollins Fine Art

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

Silhouetted against natural light, the translucent petals of a blossoming flower from the cannonball tree contrast tightly shut pods in the foreground, but each indulges our pleasure in organic forms. Cambodian artist Sopheap Pich’s largest flowering plant sculpture to date sprawls across Tyler Rollins Gallery’s floor in Chelsea, recalling trees planted near Buddhist temples. Though they resemble the sal tree associated with Buddha’s birth, the plants arrived in Southeast Asia from the Americas via Sri Lanka, a reminder of complicated histories. (Through Feb 4th).

Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower, bamboo, rattan, metal wire, plywood, steel, metal bolts, 325 x 180 x 65 inches, 2015.
Sopheap Pich, Rang Phnom Flower, bamboo, rattan, metal wire, plywood, steel, metal bolts, 325 x 180 x 65 inches, 2015.

Christine and Margaret Wertheim and the Institute for Figuring at the Museum of Art & Design

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

In one of the most visually stunning shows in New York this season, sisters Christine and Margaret Wertheim and a team of collaborating makers have created crocheted segments of coral reefs as sculptures, now on view at the Museum of Art and Design. Using geometry to crochet forms that correspond to the shapes of the reefs, the sisters combine yarn and plastic trash in glittering, colorful sculptures that gratify the senses as they warn against our ongoing destruction of the world’s coral reefs. (On view through Jan 22nd).

Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim with Sarah Simons, Clare O’Callaghan, Kathleen Greco, Evelyn Hardin, Matthew Adnams, Christina Simons, and Jemima Wyman, (detail) Coral Forest – Ea, Plastic shopping bags, The New York Times wrappers, Hula-Hoop, plastic spades, found objects, yarn, felt, Sonotube, chicken wire, 2009 – 14.
Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim with Sarah Simons, Clare O’Callaghan, Kathleen Greco, Evelyn Hardin, Matthew Adnams, Christina Simons, and Jemima Wyman, (detail) Coral Forest – Ea, Plastic shopping bags, The New York Times wrappers, Hula-Hoop, plastic spades, found objects, yarn, felt, Sonotube, chicken wire, 2009 – 14.

Charles Long at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery

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

The human body meets cold hard metal in LA sculptor Charles Long’s eerie new sculptures that pair geometric forms covered in flesh-like platinum silicon rubber with mirror polished stainless steel forms. Here, RealSenseSapient2 includes the appearance of moles, veins and wrinkles, suggesting a quasi-human futuristic living being. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through Feb 4th).

Charles Long, RealSenseSapient2, platinum silicon with pigment, stainless steel and pedestal, sculpture (without pedestal): 20 x 14 x 13 inches, 2016.
Charles Long, RealSenseSapient2, platinum silicon with pigment, stainless steel and pedestal, sculpture (without pedestal): 20 x 14 x 13 inches, 2016.

Titus Kaphar at Jack Shainman Gallery

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After typing ‘Destiny’ (the name of an incarcerated woman he’d met long ago) into a prison database, Titus Kaphar began painting portraits of women with this name in layered works that elide their faces and stories. (At Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 28th).

Titus Kaphar, Destiny IV, 60 x 48 inches, oil on canvas, 2016.
Titus Kaphar, Destiny IV, 60 x 48 inches, oil on canvas, 2016.

Liz Glynn at Paula Cooper Gallery

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

Dramatic and monumental, Rodin’s 1890s sculpture of Balzac is a figure set apart. LA sculptor Liz Glynn changed the character’s remote quality during a 2-day performance/workshop at LACMA, during which she cast several of the museum’s Rodin bronzes and recombined them to striking effect. Here, a face from Rodin’s Burghers of Calais joins Balzac’s in a dual portrait that suggests strong emotion. (At Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through Feb 11th).

Liz Glynn, (detail) Untitled (after Balzac, with Burgher), bronze, 2014.
Liz Glynn, (detail) Untitled (after Balzac, with Burgher), bronze, 2014.