August Sander’s iconic ‘People of the 20th Century,’ a photographic project documenting the German people in the early 20th century is the starting point for Omer Fast’s ‘August,’ a captivating video imagining Sander’s haunted later years. Here, Fast restages Sander’s oft-reproduced image of young farmers as an opportunity to consider the photographer’s stagecraft. (On view at James Cohan Gallery through Oct 29th).
Fluorescent acrylic beams contrast Bortolami Gallery’s solid black cast iron columns in an eye-popping show of colorful new work by Barbara Kasten. Like a giant glowing Jenga block pile, the sculpture suggests precariousness and possibility while bridging the viewer’s way to Kasten’s new body of work – studio photos mounted with projecting acrylic forms that blur the boundaries between depicted and actual space. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 21st).
Robert Lazzarini’s waving fences and distorted phone booths have satisfied his audiences’ craving for trompe l’oeil effect created with impressive craftsmanship. After a four year hiatus, Lazzarini is back with a gallery full of paintings and this sculpture, a Hollywood Regency style decorative dogwood branch supersized and distorted to suggest luxurious decor gone wild. (On view at De Buck Gallery in Chelsea through Oct 26th).
A reflective countertop doubles the size and lightens the tone of Holly Coulis’ reductive still life, currently on view in her solo show at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery. Multiple outlines around a tissue box, a carafe and two buds holding a pear give these everyday objects an electrifying glow. (On view on the Lower East Side through Oct 22nd).
Popeye, Chinese landscape painting and pre-Columbian art are among the many influences on Magdalena Suarez Frimkess’s small-scale but boldly conceived ceramics. Vessels like this untitled head reimagine use-value while introducing enticingly idiosyncratic characters. (On view at Kaufman Repetto in Chelsea through Oct 21st).
