Carol Bove at David Zwirner Gallery

Scrap metal, vividly colored steel tubing and shiny, black cylindrical disks compete for attention in Carol Bove’s ‘Polka Dots,’ now on view at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. Here, the show’s titular sculpture brings to mind the powerful forces required to bend steel while reveling in a burst of yellow and the smooth perfection of black ‘polka dots.’  (On view through Dec 17th).

Carol Bove, Polka Dots, found steel, stainless steel, and urethane paint, 91 x 81 x 87 inches, 2016.
Carol Bove, Polka Dots, found steel, stainless steel, and urethane paint, 91 x 81 x 87 inches, 2016.

 

Jesse Mockrin at Nathalie Karg Gallery

Inspired by art history and contemporary fashion, LA-based oil painter Jesse Mockrin offers glimpses of androgynous creatures with long necks, doll-like features and strangely bone-less fingers. (At Nathalie Karg Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 6th).

Jesse Mockrin, One Summer Day, oil on linen, 37 x 25 inches, 2016.
Jesse Mockrin, One Summer Day, oil on linen, 37 x 25 inches, 2016.

Paulina Olowska at Metro Pictures

Polish painter Paulina Olowska’s series of female figures suggest strong personalities; this shadowy character is based on gardener Valerie Finnis, who confessed to having once put plants before people. (At Metro Pictures in Chelsea through Dec 22nd).

Paulina Olowska, The Gardener after Valerie Finnis, oil and acrylic on canvas, 86 5/8 x 70 7/8, 2016.
Paulina Olowska, The Gardener after Valerie Finnis, oil and acrylic on canvas, 86 5/8 x 70 7/8, 2016.

Werner Buttner at Marlborough Gallery

Monks levitate in an intense ball game imagined by German artist Werner Buttner. Elsewhere, sausages fall from the sky and a dinosaur skeleton in a red hat bounds through a barren landscape in a series of paintings that combine the banal and the unusual to striking effect. (At Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery through Dec 3rd).

Werner Buttner, Joie de Vivre (Lebensfreude), oil on canvas, 74 ¾ x 59 inches, 2015.
Werner Buttner, Joie de Vivre (Lebensfreude), oil on canvas, 74 ¾ x 59 inches, 2015.

Mark di Suvero at Paula Cooper Gallery

Geometric steel beams and panels dangle a pair of organic shapes in Mark di Suvero’s 2015 sculpture ‘The Cave’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, suggesting a manmade structure designed to offer up a natural form for our consideration. (In Chelsea through Dec 10th).

Mark di Suvero, The Cave, steel, 157 ½ x 172 x 132 inches, 2015.
Mark di Suvero, The Cave, steel, 157 ½ x 172 x 132 inches, 2015.