Esteban Cabeza de Baca at Garth Greenan Gallery

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

Drawing on inspiration from his Spanish, Mexican, Apache and Zuni ancestry and the landscape of the American Southwest, Esteban Cabeza de Baca manifests spiritual and political concepts in paintings and sculpture now on view at Garth Greenan Gallery.  The clay outline of a human form set before a mountainous landscape in this painting ‘Vessels’ also exists as a sculpture in gallery.  Painted or in three dimensions, it signals an in-between state of existence, for Cabeza de Baca, a freedom in pursuing decolonized thought.  (On view through March 13th. Masks and social distancing required).

Esteban Cabeza de Baca, Vessels, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches, 2020.

Malia Jensen at Cristin Tierney Gallery

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

Malia Jensen explores the idea of getting closer to nature in a literal way by placing sculpture resembling body parts into remote Oregon landscapes.  In 2019, the artist carved a hand, foot, head, breast and a stack of donuts (representing the stomach) from livestock salt licks and positioned them and several motion-triggered cameras in places where they’d be altered over time by animals and weather.  A year later, she collected the sculptures and cast them in glass, creating artworks now on view at Cristin Tierney Gallery that demonstrate ‘beauty in our vulnerability.’ (On view on the Lower East Side through April 3rd. Masks and social distancing are required.)

Malia Jensen, Foot, kiln-cast glass, etching ink, white oak, reclaimed fir, 8 x 13 ½ x 11 ½ inches, 2020.

James Rosenquist at Ross and Kramer Gallery

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

Inspired by the palm fronds in his Florida garden and other plant life, James Rosenquist juxtaposed lips and flesh (visible in glimpses as abstract, cut out forms) with blossoming pink peonies in this ‘Flower’ series painting at Ross and Kramer.  The connection between women and nature is age-old, but the discomfort conveyed by fragmentary views of female faces is fresh and stops viewers from an easy consumption of beauty.  (On view in Chelsea through March 27th. Masks and social distancing are required).

James Rosenquist, Incarnation Incantations, oil on canvas mounted on board, 81 x 62 inches, 1989.

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian at James Cohan Gallery

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

Geometric forms offered endless opportunity for experimentation in late artist Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s painted glass and mirror sculptures, meticulously created with craftspeople in Iran.  Now on view at James Cohan Gallery’s Tribeca location, pieces such as ‘Hexagon Maze’ were inspired by geometric principles in Islamic art and design, the ways in which a maze can alter everyday reality, and the possibilities of creating artwork within a framework of rules.  (On view through March 6th. Masks and social distancing are required).

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Hexagon Maze, Mirror and reverse glass painting on plaster and wood, 47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in, 2014.

Abdullah M. I. Syed at Aicon Gallery

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

A glowing globe of hand-stitched prayer caps headlines ‘Nurun ‘ala Nur (Light Upon Light)’, Australian artist Abdullah M. I. Syed’s current show at Aicon Gallery.  Positioned over a water-like, reflective blue surface, the light sculpture imitates a full moon, associating the sublime beauty of a celestial body with personal and group devotion.  (On view through March 6th).

Abdullah M. I. Syed, Nurun ‘ala Nur (Light Upon Light), Hand-stitched white crochet taqiyah (skullcaps), LED light, Perspex dome and mirror, Dimensions variable, 2015.