Anselm Kiefer at Gagosian Gallery

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

The heart of Anselm Kiefer’s latest exhibition at Gagosian Gallery is a series of large-scale handmade books crafted from cardboard covered in plaster and painted with watercolor. Titled ‘Walpurgia,’ after an 8th century English nun, this lush, flesh-colored rendering of flowers echoes the erotic nature of the new paintings. Though the subject matter seems like a departure for Kiefer, it continues work begun in the 70s for which he merged the landscape and female bodies. (At Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street location through July 14th).

Anselm Kiefer, Walpurgia, watercolor and pencil on plaster on cardboard, 14 pages (six double page spreads, front and back cover), 34 ¼ x 25 9/16 x 2 ¾ inches, 2013.

Ali Banisadr at Sperone Westwater Gallery

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

From amid sweeping and energetic forms in Ali Banisadr’s painting ‘Myth’ emerge odd faces that suggest a camel (upper left) a clown with a tall, spotted cap (middle left) and a cast of slightly sinister characters. The Iranian born, NY-based artist explained that the paintings in his current show at Sperone Westwater Gallery were inspired by politics in the US; he suggests both mass migration and a barbed wire fence in the sky and a mass of menacing figures in the foreground. (On the Lower East Side through June 24th.)

Ali Banisadr, Myth, oil on linen, 66 x 88 inches, 2016.

 

Rodney Graham at 303 Gallery

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Displayed on a lightbox, Canadian artist Rodney Graham’s staged photographs are enticing, glowing portals into the past. In this unlikely scenario, a jazz drummer from yesteryear uses his kit as a table for a traditional meal of Salisbury Steak. (At 303 Gallery in Chelsea through June 2nd).

Rodney Graham, Dinner Break (Salisbury Steak), printed aluminum lightbox with transmounted chromogenic transparency, 44 5/8 x 34 5/8 x 7 inches, 2017.

Frank Stella at Marianne Boesky Gallery

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From wood to polycarbonate and from the Whitney’s outdoor sculpture terrace to the museum’s gift shop, Frank Stella is bent on examining star shapes in endless materials and sizes. At Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea, this ‘Corian Star’ is in the medium size range for Stella (at just under four feet tall), but its color scheme and unlikely material makes it an immediate draw. (On view through June 17th).

Frank Stella, Corian Star, Corian, 47 x 47 x 47 inches, 2017.

Elias Sime at James Cohan Gallery

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A swirling, starry sky crafted from braided electrical wire hovers over a curving organic landscape made from keyboard keys in this detail from Ethiopian artist Elias Sime’s collaged wall panel at James Cohan Gallery. Abstract yet suggestive of a landscape, this piece is testament to the resourcefulness of turning manmade objects – discarded electronics – into objects recalling natural beauty. (On view at James Cohan Gallery’s Chelsea location through June 17th).

Elias Sime, (detail) Tightrope: Evolution 2, reclaimed electrical wires on panel, 91 x 94 inches, 2017.