In Walid Raad’s tongue in cheek narratives about the emergence of a booming new Arab art world, he’s hunted for refugee color and fonts that have gone into hiding and reflections that are missing; here at Paula Cooper Gallery, a wall text explains that the shadows normally cast by the artwork have run away, no longer interested in being part of the art infrastructure. The artist hopefully builds a series of walls with fake shadows to entice the real ones to return, all the while ostensibly failing to notice that the art itself is missing. (In Chelsea through March 26th).
Michael Riedel at David Zwirner Gallery
David Zwirner Gallery’s normally pristine white walls look as though they’ve been damaged by scraping; a closer look reveals that black markings are text fragments, printed onto posters that cover the walls of Michael Riedel’s latest solo show. Known for recycling text and image from his previous shows, Riedel takes the metaphor a step further by picturing animated dinosaur skeletons, creatures whose lives have been extended, in a sense, by being exhumed and put into the public realm again. (In Chelsea through March 25th).
Karla Black at David Zwirner Gallery
Inventive use of materials is everything in Karla Black’s huge installation, ‘Includes Use’ at David Zwirner Gallery. Mixing powder paint and plaster, Black covers the gallery floor with a beach of cocoa-like powder separated into curving organic shapes by frilly tucks of toilet paper. The artist resists the term ‘feminine’ to describe her work, but with glitter as the finishing touch, the effect is decidedly pretty. (In Chelsea through March 26th).
Jeremy Deprez at Feuer/Mesler Gallery
Colorful lumps of squeezed clay, or the pattern on a checked shirt are inspiration to Houston-based artist Jeremy Deprez; here, he presents visitors to Feuer/Mesler Gallery with a five foot high bar of hotel soap. Unlike pop predecessors who supersized everything from hamburgers (Oldenberg) to soup cans (Warhol), Deprez pays painterly attention to his flecked monochrome. (On the Lower East Side through March 27th).
Christopher Payne at Benrubi Gallery
Toothbrushes hang in neat rows, labeled with the names of patients at a now-closed psychiatric hospital in Poughkeepsie in this arresting photograph by Christopher Payne. Payne traveled to hospitals around the country over several years, creating a moving document of life in a bygone era. (At Chelsea’s Benrubi Gallery through March 26th).