Every word in Brooklyn artist John O’Connor’s text stories packs a punch. Drawing in colored pencil using myriad fonts, he employs brand logos, emojis and pictograms to tell the tale of a young consumer whose life has taken a turn for the bizarre. (At Pierogi through Nov 13th).
Whether they hover over desolate wastelands piled with junk or barren city streets, Masakatsu Sashie’s floating spheres add another ominous note to already bleak, futuristic landscapes. Composed of old machines or cobbled together from an assortment of panels and featuring text that appears to be ads, the orbs grimly foretell a post-human world. (At Jonathan LeVine Gallery through Nov 12th).
Wood makes a surprise appearance in sculptor and ceramic artist Arlene Shechet’s latest sculptures at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., challenging ceramic for primacy in pieces like ‘I Saw the 18th Century.’ Shechet is also currently showing new work at the Frick Collection inspired by 18th century porcelain, but the pieces in Chelsea bear little resemblance to the delicate results of her uptown project, instead suggesting the sturdiness of a corseted matron from a past century. (In Chelsea through Nov 12th).
Using voter machines from the 40s, 50s and 60s, Luke DuBois presents gallery-goers with some more esoteric choices than the U.S. public faces in today’s election (us vs them, water vs fire, nature vs machine). Once visitors have locked in their votes, a unique video response interprets the data. (At Bitforms Gallery through Dec 23rd).
An epic battle between divine beings – scrawny-armed ‘Undom Engle’ on the left and the pink, wolf-like creature ‘Repaint’ to the right – vividly kicks off Trenton Doyle Hancock’s intense new show at James Cohan Gallery. Though it helps to know the language of Hancock’s invented mythology and his recurring characters, each new work is its own richly imagined tale. (At James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side location through Nov 27th).
