After typing ‘Destiny’ (the name of an incarcerated woman he’d met long ago) into a prison database, Titus Kaphar began painting portraits of women with this name in layered works that elide their faces and stories. (At Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 28th).
Dramatic and monumental, Rodin’s 1890s sculpture of Balzac is a figure set apart. LA sculptor Liz Glynn changed the character’s remote quality during a 2-day performance/workshop at LACMA, during which she cast several of the museum’s Rodin bronzes and recombined them to striking effect. Here, a face from Rodin’s Burghers of Calais joins Balzac’s in a dual portrait that suggests strong emotion. (At Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery through Feb 11th).
While a single glove evokes Michael Jackson in the glitter of stage lights, this lone accessory – a stainless steel mesh glove encased in concrete – conveys something sinister. Semo’s other minimalist sculptures co-opt possible residue of violence, including chains, broken glass and shell casings as art materials, asking how fine art and conflict connect. (At Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 14th).
Phones, cameras and iPads outnumber art objects in Hai-Hsin Huang’s mash-up of Metropolitan Museum of Art treasures, ogled by visitors jockeying for snapshots and selfies. In this detail, a massive, 2,300 year old marble column from the Temple of Artemis at Sardis fails to attract much attention, begging the question of a museum’s purpose in today’s photo obsessed culture. (At Danese Corey Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 4th).
Motorcycle road trips all over the U.S. inspire New Yorker Edie Nadelhaft’s new paintings framed by vintage BMW mirror housings. Nadelhaft opts to travel on local roads for a more characterful portrait of the landscape. Looking back through the bike mirrors reveals what is receding in American culture, as evidenced by this classic car and a non-chain restaurant. (At Lyons Wier Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 28th).
