Jonathan Baldock at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

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

Describing his new stoneware vessels at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery as ‘imperfect reliquaries,’ London-based artist Jonathan Baldock imprints the cylindrical forms with evidence of his own hand and adds cast body parts and funereal herbs.  In additional sewn works, 3-D heads emerge from flat felt and hessian textile backgrounds, staging a miraculous entrance from the picture into real space.  Likewise, the uncanny ceramic forms suggest an unknowable quality to the human body and its manifestations.  (On view in Tribeca through April 2nd).

Jonathan Baldock, Scuffle, stoneware and glaze filled with rosemary, 22 x 14 x 13 inches, 2022.

Mika Horibuchi at 55 Walker

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

Betrayal and concealment are words applied to Mika Horibuchi’s deceptively masterful paintings at 55 Walker, which replicate her grandmother’s amateur watercolors.  At first glance, triangular tabs appear to be adhered to the surface to hold up a printed photo.  A closer look reveals that they, like the ‘photo,’ are meticulously painted.  The cat image is a rendition of a printed snapshot sent to the artist in Chicago by her grandmother in Japan, who has taken up painting later in life.  A nearby display case shows the original snapshots along with other photos, drawings, and more.  Here, the professional mimics the hobbyist, but the work conveys respect and consideration.  (On view in Tribeca through March 26th).

Mika Horibuchi, Watercolor of Pi-ko, oil on linen, 42 x 55 x 1 ¾ inches, 2021.

Michael Heizer at Gagosian Gallery

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

What carries the idea of rocks as artwork?  ‘Massive weight,’ replies Michael Heizer in a gallery statement announcing his current exhibition of new stone and steel sculpture at Chelsea’s Gagosian Gallery.  Sheer size, heaviness, and a certain kind of audacity in relocating huge pieces of nature blasted out of place and trucked into art-related settings are the hallmark of Heizer’s practice.  In the recent sculpture, rocks seem to almost perch on thick planes of rusted steel in geometric shapes, setting up a dynamic interplay between manmade and natural forms that suggests both symbiosis and antagonistic struggle. (On view on 21st Street through April 16th).

Michael Heizer, installation view of Rock/Steel at Gagosian Gallery, March 2022.

Kay WalkingStick at Chelsea’s Hales Gallery

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

Kay WalkingStick’s paintings at Chelsea’s Hales Gallery traverse and glory in the North American landscape, from mountain peaks, to eroded canyons to windy shorelines.  Each is overlaid with a pattern derived from imagery created by Native American peoples who have lived in the areas depicted.  Together, the patterns and scenery speak to the deep connectedness of Native histories and culture and the land.  (On view through April 16th.)

Kay WalkingStick, (detail from) The San Francisco Peaks Seen from Point Imperiale, oil on panel in three parts, 31 ¾ x 95 ¼ x 2 inches, 2021.

Christopher Myers at James Cohan Gallery

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

Christopher Myers’ applique textiles at James Cohan Gallery picture dramatic moments in history; here, a star-shape on the head of 19th century Xhosa leader Mlanjeni speaks to his vision of resistance to British colonialism in South Africa, specifically his prophesy that the Xhosa would be impervious to British bullets.  Created from a patchwork of patterned textiles, each hanging work speaks to an individual creator employing material with its own histories and associations into a larger, conceptually layered image.  Likewise, Myers’ subjects, who range from Paiute Ghost Dance advocate Wovoka to Hong Xiuquan, who fought the Qing Dynasty leaders to create an earthly Heavenly Kingdom, crafted diverse and complex ideologies of resistance.  (On view in Tribeca through April 2nd).

Christopher Myers, Star of the Morning placed itself on his forehead, applique textile, 80 ½ x 58 5/8 inches, 2022.