From huge charcoal drawings to weighty bronzes, Robert Longo has returned to images of the U.S. flag throughout his career in an on-going exploration of power and politics. Here, the mirrored surface of this flag makes viewers part of an object and a symbol. (At Metro Pictures Gallery in Chelsea through August 4th).
The bottom is about to fall out of 303 Gallery, or so it seems to judge by Ceal Floyer’s ‘Saw,’ a blade projecting from the gallery floor by a painted black circular line. With the menace of a shark’s protruding dorsal fin and a comedic quality of a Wile E Coyote blunder, the sculpture begs the question of what will surface. (On view in Chelsea through July 14th).
Famed art dealer Betty Parsons never gave up on her own artistic practice; this piece from her later years references Native American art, referring in its title to the Oglala Lakota. Created from driftwood she scavenged from the beach near her Long Island home, this colorful organic abstraction demonstrates her interest in mysticism that takes us beyond the every day realm. (At Alexander Gray Associates in Chelsea through July 14th).
These three dynamically twisting wooden seat sculptures by Wendell Castle come from a series titled Free Form, a musical reference that speaks to the artist’s & musician’s life-long interest. Though their solid forms are weighty, they appear to twist like a quick-growing vine. (On view at Friedman Benda through August 11th).
Jenny Snider’s small shaped painting of a car is a standout in Edward Thorp Gallery’s summer group show, its rounded corners and many planes suggesting a cartoonish vehicle with zany passengers taking an unconventional ride. (In Chelsea through July 29th).
