Zanele Muholi and Morgan Mahape in ‘African Spirits’ at Yossi Milo Gallery

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

Zanele Muholi’s ‘Somnyama Ngonyama’ (Hail the Dark Lioness) photo series features the South African activist and artist modeling dramatic outfits that on closer inspection turn out to be composed of everyday household items.  Muholi’s source image for this beaded panel created with fellow South African artist Morgan Mahape involved a headdress crafted from donut-shaped scouring pads, an important detail that’s less apparent here.  Muholi’s softer look and averted gaze are less confrontational than the series’ other powerful images but the piece reads as a tribute to an artist who uses her own body to challenge perceptions and prompt reflection.  (On view in ‘African Spirits’ at Yossi Milo Gallery through August 23rd).

Zanele Muholi and Morgan Mahape, Somnyama Ngonyama, beads on string, wooden panel, approximately 84 x 60 inches, 2019.

Sara Abbaspour in ‘Transcript’ at Yancey Richardson Gallery

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

Intimacy between people, whether between figures seen in quiet moments in public or this energetic engagement between a toddler and adult in a domestic setting, drives Sara Abbaspour’s probing, black and white photos.  A standout in Yancey Richardson Gallery’s show of 2019 Yale MFA Photography grads, curated by James Welling, Abbaspour explains that her aim is to treat physical locations as ‘mental space.’  (On view in Chelsea through August 23rd).

Sara Abbaspour, Untitled, archival pigment print, 26 5/8 x 35 1/8 inches, 2019.

Meg Webster in ‘Non-Vicious Circle’ at Paula Cooper Gallery

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Unlike her mid-20th century counterparts who also employed minimalist forms, repetition, and awareness of the immediate environment in their sculpture, Meg Webster’s interest in the natural world connects her installation of five glass spheres from 1987 at Paula Cooper Gallery to the wonder of naturally occurring phenomena.  The imperfectly formed shapes are scaled up to the size of those made by huge bubble wands at a kids’ science museums yet they evoke the briefly lived magic of a floating pocket of air.  (On view in Chelsea through August 16th).

Meg Webster, Largest Blown Sphere, five glass spheres, each 36 x 36 x 36 inches, 1987.

Marti Cormand in ‘Flora/Fauna’ at Josee Bienvenu Gallery

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Marti Cormand’s last solo show at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery involved meticulously painting replicas of rediscovered artworks that had been considered ‘degenerate’ in the Nazi era.  His current series of oil on Polaroid paintings at the gallery involves painterly additions to photos found in his childhood house in Spain, continuing an engagement with recovered imagery from the past.  A hazy view inside a refrigerator, and a parrot in an arctic landscape suggest that Cormand is focusing on the strange or magical in the everyday; his swimmer similarly transports us, triggering memories of nature at its most inviting.  (On view through August 15th).

Marti Cormand, Swimmer (nedador), oil on polaroid, 4.20 h x 3.5 x inches, 2019.

Jenna Krypell in ‘Impossible Objects’ at Davidson Gallery

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

Brooklyn-based artist Jenna Krypell’s abstract shapes suggest three dimensions in two, effecting momentary disruptions in our perception.  Resembling mazes, stylized calligraphy, or here, sections of a sunset-colored sky cut into strips and hung out, each arrangement of form offers engaging spatial complexity.  (On view in Chelsea at Davidson Gallery through August 16th.)

Jenna Krypell, DUSK, MDF, resin, enamel, 87 x 45 x 2 inches, 2019.