In David Opdyke’s nimble hands, subtly altered vintage postcards meant to stoke civic pride instead provoke dismay in a new series on view at Chelsea’s Magnan Metz Gallery. Opdyke prophesies doom in drawings, textiles and animations themed on class warfare and a dysfunctional government. Here, an august Chicago High School experiences a surreal trauma inflicted by a giant pencil (Through Oct 22nd).
Jonas Woods at Anton Kern Gallery
Jonas Woods’ monumental painting of late basketball player Dwayne Schintzius offers a tragic figure for contemplation. After a promising start in college basketball, health problems thwarted Schintzius’ career before he died due to complications of leukemia in his early 40s. At over seven feet tall, with a mullet hairstyle as renowned as his sports skills, Schintzius was a particular type of American hero; Woods prompts us to ask what kind with his over nine-feet-tall canvas. (At Chelsea’s Anton Kern Gallery through Oct 22nd).
Sarah Cain at Galerie Lelong
Art audiences love experiential art (witness long lines at every Yayoi Kusama walk-in sculpture, the Rain Room, etc), so it’s somewhat surprising how few painters offer to envelop viewers in their work. Sarah Cain is not one of the reticent artists, however. Her installation, Dark Matter, at Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong covers the gallery floor in bold patterns on lino, competing with but also complimenting vibrant canvases that employ beads, pinwheels, string and more to take the composition off the canvas. (Through Oct 15th).
Lynn Katsafouros at Prince Street Gallery
Lynn Katsafouros updates the Byzantine icon with this painting of a saintly woman with a resigned stoic look, surrounded by tiny birds and wearing what could be an artist’s smock. (At Prince Street Gallery through Oct 1st).
Xu Zhen at James Cohan Gallery
Excessive squeezes of oil paint – created using pastry bags – on Xu Zhen’s canvases reach toward the viewer like living creatures, invoking coral or clusters of candy-colored undersea invertebrates. Produced by the artist’s ‘MadeIn Company’ and titled ‘Made in Heaven,’ the work nods to factory-like art production (referencing Jeff Koons’ ‘Made in Heaven’ photo series, for example) while offering a lush abstraction that looks good enough to eat. (At James Cohan Gallery through Oct 8th).