A flood of frogs (vinyl silhouttes adhered to walls and floor) escape down a fake drain in Brazilian artist Regina Silveira’s space-bending installation at Alexander Gray Associates. Referencing Biblical plagues and unexpected, underground activity, the frogs suggest that above-ground life is only half of the story. (In Chelsea through March 26th.)
A painting is set into a painting, set into a painted frame in Nora Griffin’s ‘Painting Culture,’ a nestled presentation of homey organic shapes, cheery color and unselfconsciously handmade marks that conjures 80s design and a kind of youthful freedom exemplified by a zany silver zigzag. (At Louis B. James on the Lower East Side through March 20th).
A trip to the Arctic inspired Saul Becker’s uncanny landscapes, in which mirrored hills present a Rorschach for those wishing to ponder lesser known regions and toxic colors bear witness the changing climate. (At Zieher Smith and Horton in Chelsea through March 19th).
The bar below his apartment, the 99 Cent Pizza place, the Laundromat and apartment furnishings inspired New York artist Nicholas Buffon’s latest paper sculptures, what the New Yorker called, ‘elegies to a vanishing downtown.’ Here, even his stove and cheerily decorated fridge bespeak the well worn and well loved. (At Callicoon Fine Arts on the Lower East Side through March 20th).
Paula Scher, principle at renowned design firm Pentagram, invites us to understand the country through its airline routes, geography, climate and here, its weather. Her painted maps of the USA emphasize how we see places through frameworks of information. (At Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery through March 26th).
