The mirrored, cave-like entrance to Lee Bul’s latest solo show at Lehmann Maupin Gallery dazzles. Once inside, however, the ceiling height diminishes rapidly and visitors emerge into the main gallery at an uncomfortable crouch. Failed promises are a recurring theme in Lee Bul’s oeuvre; here she sends a strong message from the beginning of the exhibition. (Through Feb 11th).
At over eight feet tall, this structure of welded aluminum tubes by Emil Lukas not only dominates Sperone Westwater’s small back gallery, it commandeers our vision. By leading our gaze toward a single point on the wall behind, it melds sculpture with the role of painting and drawing by creating one-point perspective. (On the Lower East Side through Feb 11th).
In the early 90s, an LA Times critic commented on the ‘silly sort of dignity’ possessed by the eccentric characters in Gladys Nilsson’s large watercolors. The phrase perfectly characterizes these figures from the ‘80s, whose exaggerated physical characteristics and twisting bodies are equal parts grotesque and intriguing. (At Garth Greenan Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 18th).
The huge portal dominating Daniel Heidkamp’s hotel room painting leads us into more than we might expect. From what looks to be one of the Maritime Hotel’s distinctive windows, Heidkamp shuffles the New York skyline and offers glimpses of a ballet rehearsal in a building that only exists in this painting. It feels surprisingly daring to rearrange New York’s built environment and particularly appropriate as construction booms in the city. (At Derek Eller Gallery through Feb 5th).
Spanish artist Lino Lago’s recent ‘Reality (Show)’ series jumbles art and artifacts from pop culture and art history together on the flat surface of a canvas. This shaped artwork in the form of a chair, part of the same series, allows collectors to make their own groupings. (At George Adams Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 11th.)
