Charles White at David Zwirner Gallery

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

Charles White called painting his weapon in fighting racism and poverty in the United States.  His painting of a sharecropper from 1947-48 demonstrates the difficulty of that life and the resilience of the farmers.  Part of an exhibition highlighting White’s last mural – a celebration of the achievements of educator and activist Mary McLeod Bethune – the work exhibits White’s commitment to representational art (when abstraction was becoming the new norm) in service of social change.  (On view at David Zwirner Gallery through Feb 16th).

Charles White, Sharecropper, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches, 1947-1948.

Josef Albers at David Zwirner Gallery

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

Just months before color theorist, abstract art pioneer and teacher Josef Albers passed away, a book titled ‘Sonic Design’ paid homage to his mid-century abstractions that could be discussed in musical terms.  In particular, his series of shapes outlined against a dark background appeared simple but, like music, shift over time in how they might be read, with planes receding at one moment and coming forward the next.  The book delighted Albers and inspired David Zwirner Gallery’s current show, which brings together select pieces of glass work from Albers’ time at the Bauhaus in Germany, paintings from his iconic ‘Homage to the Square’ series and more, to consider how color, shape and sound might relate. (On view through Feb 16th).

Josef Albers, Structural Constellation, machine-engraved plastic laminate mounted on wood, 17 x 22 ½ x 7/8 inches, c. 1950.

Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at Jack Shainman Gallery

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

British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye converses with John Singer Sargent’s 19th century portrait of a doctor in a red dressing gown standing before red drapes in this vivid painting of an imagined young man in a red jacket lounging on a red sofa.  Is he mimicking the crucifixion or expressing total relaxation in the comfort of this womb-red environment?  Titled ‘The Ventricular,’ matters of the heart and health come to mind.  (On view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Chelsea locations through Feb 16th).

Lynette Yidaom-Boakye, The Ventricular, oil on linen, 47 ½ x 78 7/8 x 1 ½ inches, 2018.

Dana Schutz at Petzel Gallery

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

A fish-headed creature with legs runs desperately on a treadmill in this painting by Dana Schutz, epitomizing the pervasive anxiety and grotesque shape-shifting that energize her huge new paintings at Petzel Gallery.  In one of the show’s largest paintings, Schutz depicts a mountaintop crowded with oddball characters with competing interests (from a landscape artist to a yogi), none of whom look enlightened.  Elsewhere, a worried man in a business suit carefully washes a monster he can’t escape.  Malaise abounds in Schutz’s portrayal of a dangerous and uncertain world. (On view at Petzel Gallery through Feb 23rd).

Dana Schutz, Treadmill, oil on canvas, 90 x 96 inches, 2018.

Thomas Holton in ‘Interior Lives’ at the Museum of the City of New York

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

Despite the pressures of a busy life, whether she was at home, at work or at her mother’s house, Shirley Lam always put a meal on the table for her family.  Thomas Holton’s documentary photos of the Lam family’s life in their 350 sq ft apartment on Ludlow Street is one of three remarkable photo series now on view at the Museum of the City of New York that elaborate on capability and sacrifice in New York’s Chinese communities.  (on view through March 24th).

Thomas Holton, Dinner for Seven, 2011, installation view of ‘Interior Lives’ at the Museum of the City of New York, January 2019.