External architecture comes indoors at Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea, where Iranian-American artist Andisheh Avini has installed two domed forms. Born and raised in the US but inspired by his Iranian heritage, Avini provocatively arranges these two quasi-readymades (the domes are crafted and painted by hand) to suggest danger via their pointed spires, around which visitors are invited to step. (On view in Chelsea through April 6th).
A cross section of a tree turns into a bosom in Kiki Smith’s bronze sculpture, ‘Sun,’ a highlight of new work at Pace Gallery that pulls human bodies into close contact with nature. This sculpture’s golden patina recalls gilded, divine bodies while revealing its origins in a majestically-sized tree that nurtures. (On view on 24th Street in Chelsea through March 30th).
Ceramic fragments resembling cracked mud ripple like water in response to visitors’ movements at Bitforms on the Lower East Side, creating a surprising and delightful effect, despite the worrying allusion to a parched environment. Part of Rozin’s new series of mechanical mirrors – interactive artworks that respond via motion sensor to a visitor’s movements which Rozin has created since the late 90s – the new mirrors inhabit a darkened gallery, creating a theatrical feeling that heightens the senses. (On view through March 17th).
Central Park is bursting with color and life in this acrylic painting by New York artist Nicholas Buffon, currently on view on the Lower East Side at Callicoon Fine Arts. Featuring the Bethesda Fountain’s ‘Angel of the Waters’ by queer sculptor Emma Stebbins, the painting calls attention to and celebrates sites important to LGBTQ communities around the city. (On view through March 24th).
Inspired by views of distant galaxies via NASA’s Hubble Telescope, Canadian painter Erik Olson launched a series of paintings that bring his characteristic bright color and expressive forms to outer space. Including paintings made with DS black, a light absorbing coating material, Olson’s show at Bravin Lee expresses wonder at and appreciation of our world and beyond. (On view in Chelsea through March 16th).
