Hangama Amiri at Albertz Benda

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

Growing up in Kabul and in Central Asia, recent Yale grad Hangama Amiri was drawn to bazaars and their abundance of textiles, as well as her uncle’s tailor shop.  Now in the US, Amiri has sourced similar materials from Afghan-owned businesses to create cloth collages picturing products and places in South Asian diasporic communities now on view at Albertz Benda Gallery. “Fabric as a medium really is associated with memory,” she explains in a statement released by the gallery, “…fabric captures smell, and time, lot of bodily attachments – we are all wearing fabrics. It is also a fragile medium, so it really touches and resembles all those notions of memory I am talking about and it really reconnects with what I am trying to convey in my art”.

Hangama Amiri, A.K. Fabric Shop, chiffon, silk, satin, muslin, cotton, lace, polyester, suede, paper, iridescent paper, denim, ikat printed fabric, faux leather, color pencil on fabric, velvet, camouflage, and found fabric, 113 x 99 inches, 2021.

Carrie Moyer at DC Moore Gallery

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

Colors pop and merge into the background while shapes seem to hover on the surface of Carrie Moyer’s latest paintings at DC Moore.  These tensions – which define Moyer’s practice – are made more provocative in her most recent work by the addition of more representative elements, like the tassel-like floral bells dotting the surface of this painting, ‘Hell’s Bells and Buckets.’   Moyer notes that in some recent work, her palette has ‘downshifted,’ or adopted a chromal sobriety found to either side of the central flow of form in this painting.  Far from creating a subdued painting, however, the effect is to heighten excitement at the shifting forms at center.  (On view in Chelsea through May 1st. Masks and social distancing required.)

Carrie Moyer, Hell’s Bells and Buckets, acrylic and sand on canvas, 66 x 60 inches, 2020.

Play: American Game Boards, 1880-1940 at Ricco/Maresca

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

Are vintage game boards art?  Ricco/Maresca’s current exhibition of American game boards from the late 19th century to 1940 aims to show that the boards are more than functional objects and are in fact ‘cousins of modern art.’  Having dealt in the boards for years but never dedicated a show to them, the gallery is now exhibiting parcheesi, backgammon, halma, checkers, Chinese checkers, mills, and solitaire boards that resemble mystical diagrams or architectural renderings.  This well-used checkers board comes alive with a combination of color and geometry that will keep the eyes moving along with the game pieces.  (On view through May 1st.  Masks and social distancing required).

American Unidentified, 5-color Checkers Game Board, enamel paint on wood, 18 x 18 inches, late 19th century.

‘Claes & Coosje: A Duet’ at Pace Gallery

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

Right after the giant fork holding spaghetti and a meatball, the monumental sculpture ‘Dropped Bouquet’ is an immediate draw in Pace Gallery’s new show of collaborative work by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen from the 80s onward.  Surrounded by lighthearted works evoking music (including canvas violas, lutes and a trumpet) and flying neckties and pieces of pie, the flowers elicit delight with their cheery color and disorienting scale.  (On view in Chelsea through May 1st.  Masks, social distancing and appointments are required.)

Oldenburg/van Bruggen, Dropped Bouquet, painted aluminum, 12’ 3” x 9’ 3” x 14’ 10”, 2021.

Hassan Hajjaj at Yossi Milo Gallery

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

Outstanding for its color and energy, Hassan Hajjaj’s ‘My Rockstars’ installation at Yossi Milo Gallery features photos of performers, musicians and friends that have inspired the London & Marrakech-based photographer/designer.  Shot in pop-up studios around the world with patterned textiles and mats for background, Hajjaj creates or styles each outfit.  Borders composed of small-scale commercial products, like the canned tomatoes surrounding Canadian artist MissMe, blend creativity and commerce.  (On view through May 29th.  Masks and social distancing are required).

MissMe, Metallic Lambda on 3mm Dibond in a Wood Spray white Frame with Tomato Cans, 52 inches x 37 inches x 2 ¼ inches, 2018/1440.