Working on the theory that you can make something so bad it’s good, Misaki Kawai presents faux naïve painting and sculpture at The Hole that entices with its wild color and cartoonish figures. (On the Lower East Side through Oct 30th).
Jackie Gendel’s almost abstract chorus line of colorful figures appears chicly modern and homespun at the same time, recalling Gino Severini’s 1912 Futurist nightclub dancers but looking as if sewn together from fabric, an attractive and disarming effect achieved by painting in oil on vinyl. (At Thomas Erben Gallery through Oct 29th).
Two nudes descending a staircase by Georg Baselitz channels Marcel Duchamp’s famous 1912 Cubist figure but without the nervous energy. Upside down and painted in white, they are joined in the room’s other monumental paintings by ghostly characters who could be disappearing slowly downward into a dark pool of water, like Bill Viola’s transcending subjects. (At Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street location in Chelsea through Oct 29th).
Does your furniture say something about your personality? Japanese design group Nendo goes a step further, suggesting that chairs themselves have personality, as demonstrated by fifty stainless steel seats. All were inspired by manga and intended to convey mood or attitude. Enhanced by swirling projections on the gallery walls, the chair in the foreground looks like it’s just arrived from another dimension, eager to please. (At Chelsea’s Friedman Benda through Oct 29th).
Walks and bus rides through Cleveland’s post-industrial landscape inspires Amy Casey’s amazingly intricate acrylic paintings. Here, the built environment mobilizes into twisted chains that evoke jewelry or a train set. (At Foley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Oct 30th).
