Tavares Strachan in ‘Afterlives’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Installed under the Met Museum’s central interior staircase, the atmospheric Byzantine Crypt is host to the exhibition ‘Afterlives,’ a show of contemporary art that engages with life after death.  Tavares Strachan’s ‘ENOCH,’ titled after the Biblical character who, rather than dying was ‘taken up,’ is one of the show’s standout pieces, a monument to Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first Black American astronaut who died in a flight crash in 1967.  The small bronze sculpture resembles an Egyptian canopic urn, a vessel intended to hold partial remains of a deceased person, but is surfaced in gold, adding to the precious quality of the piece.  An edition of the sculpture was launched into space as a small, 3U satellite in 2018, symbolically completing a final mission.  (On view through Jan 25th, 2026).

Tavares Strachan, ENOCH (display unit), bronze, 24k gold, steel, radar retroreflectors and sacred air blessed by a Shinto priest, 14 3/8 x 3 ½ x 4 1/8 inches, 2015-17.
Tavares Strachan, ENOCH (display unit), bronze, 24k gold, steel, radar retroreflectors and sacred air blessed by a Shinto priest, 14 3/8 x 3 ½ x 4 1/8 inches, 2015-17.

Francisco Ratti in ‘Misshapes’ at Praxis NY

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If figures appear at all in Praxis NY’s summer group show ‘Missapes,’ they pose in place or rarely dominate.  Instead, still lives are a commanding presence, particularly Francisco’s Ratti’s large indistinct arrangements of objects that simultaneously look low-res digital and handmade.  The Argentina-based artist’s practice involves drawing on a cell phone screen, then transferring his images to canvas.  Here, ‘Naturaleza’ (Nature) is a pleasant, conventional arrangement of flowers, plants and food stuffs but includes a more realistic painting of a tree trunk inserted onto the larger painting’s surface.  Gashed and supporting a haphazard sign warning that a property is being monitored, the tree imagery complicates what a painting can offer at one time.  (On view in Chelsea through Aug 30th).

Francisco Ratti, Naturaleza, acrylic on canvas, 59 x 78 ¾ inches, 2023.
Francisco Ratti, Naturaleza, acrylic on canvas, 59 x 78 ¾ inches, 2023.

Paula Wilson at 55 Walker

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Art and life meld in Paula Wilson’s engaging, pattern rich paintings and print work at 55 Walker as she depicts domestic environments and desert landscapes like those around her home in the small town of Carizozo, New Mexico.  Images of rugs on canvas, attached to wooden slats and mounted on the wall, depict plants, abstractions or entangled lovers while paintings of stained-glass windows are simultaneously images of an interior, glass art and a landscape beyond.  Wilson, who prints and sews her own clothing, gives this towering figure a dress created from a cinched rug painting, further connecting various creative endeavors in one fertile practice. (On view in Tribeca through Aug 30th).

Paula Wilson, Becoming, acrylic and oil on canvas, 162 x 52 inches, 2024.

Sam Branden in ‘Facture Fracture’ at Chart Gallery

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Glued, punctured, protruding and sewn artworks in Chart Gallery’s summer group show ‘Facture Fracture’ focus on the active hand of the artist.  Sam Branden’s contributions – combinations of hand-sewn canvas, textiles and mesh spandex – immediately grab the attention for their bold, fiery colors and improvisational feeling.  Recalling materials close to the body, a la Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola’s durag fiber works, and recent pieces by Erin Mack that allow inspection of the support frames beneath fabric ‘paintings,’ Branden’s constructions balance substance with weightlessness, the grid with an unmoored and changeable surface.  (On view through Aug 24th).

Sam Branden, Tulip Trapping, acrylic stain on hand-sewn canvas, textile, mesh spandex, 72 x 50 inches.

Brittney Leeanne Williams in ‘Monomythology’ at The Hole NYC

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17th century Dutch painter Gerard Seghers’ painting ‘The Dream of Saint Joseph’ pictures Christ’s father asleep, whereas Brittney Leeanne Williams’s remake of the historic painting now on view at The Hole NYC, features herself in Joseph’s role, wide awake and deep in contemplation as she experiences divine visitation.  Though Williams’ painting swaps out an angel with wings for a more enigmatic figure, the narrative of artistic inspiration is clear thanks to the blazing lightbulb at her side that shines light on her sketchbook and related paintings.  Surreal and appearing to take place in the dark of night, Williams’ contemporary moment of illumination adds to the long trajectory of art history and blazes a new path into the future. (On view in ‘Monomythology’ at The Hole NYC through Aug 24th).

Brittney Leeanne Williams, Dream of St Joseph (after Gerard Seghers), oil on canvas, 64 x 88 inches, 2023.