In their first New York solo show in 40 years, the Boyle Family (father Robert Boyle, mother Joan Hills and their adult children Sebastian and Georgia Boyle) considers relationships between humans and the environment with wall mounted mini-landscapes. Meticulous recreations of sites chosen at random, each ‘earthprobe’ is a recreation of a segment of the earth’s surface in an urban or rural area. How to interpret these slices of mediated reality? The Boyles explain that they want to consider whether it’s possible to look at the earth and not think of ‘myths and legends, art of the past or present, art and myths of other cultures.’ Thankfully, it seems it is not, as each will prompt historical connections and personal memories. (On view at Luhring Augustine in Chelsea through April 24th).
Olafur Eliasson at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Glass balls in a rainbow of color and a beautifully ephemeral light projection greet visitors to Olafur Eliasson’s gorgeous new solo show at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, an exhibition designed to give visitors ‘a moment to exhale.’ ‘We need a moment of relief, of beauty, of letting go,’ explains Eliasson, an ambition fulfilled by every piece in the exhibition, including this spherical light installation. Created from green tinted glass and pink iridescent color-effect-filter glass, the piece reflects light of a single color while allowing its complementary color to pass through. (On view through April 24th. Appointments, masks and social distancing required.)
Kate Pincus-Whitney at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery
Tilted upwards to better show off a wealth of books, foods and household objects, young LA artist Kate Pincus-Whitney’s tablescapes at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery are a way of processing the world and even portraying people in it. Both personal (Pincus Whitney cites her upbringing in the kitchen by her mother and grandmother as influential) and linked to wider cultural histories (this painting’s soup can nods to Warhol), the artist’s energetic canvases revel in the color and abundance of food and ideas. (On view in Chelsea through March 20th).
Sharif Bey at Albertz Benda
Created during quarantine but using faces and feet crafted 20 years ago, Sharif Bey’s small but forceful Boilermaker sculptures layer references to the artist’s personal history as a maker and art history. Formed from a vessel fired with nails and shards to resemble a nkisi nkondi power figure, ‘Boilermaker: Fidel’ references a working-class beer cocktail and Bey’s father’s job as a Pittsburgh boilermaker. The artist identifies the central focus of his work as an investigation of how power manifests; his hybrid sculptures encourage complex understandings of power and influence. (On view at Albertz Benda Gallery in Chelsea through March 27th. Masks and social distancing required).
Amelia Toledo at Nara Roesler Gallery
After debuting its new Chelsea gallery space with a tantalizing series of two-week long exhibitions, Brazilian gallery Nara Roesler continues to impress with a career-survey exhibition of gorgeous work by the late Amelia Toledo. Inspired by the participatory nature of Neo-Concrete art and a devotion to nature and the possibilities of color, Toledo’s multifarious career included installations consisting of hanging jute panels like this ‘Path of color.’ (On view through April 17th. Masks and social distancing required).