Excessive squeezes of oil paint – created using pastry bags – on Xu Zhen’s canvases reach toward the viewer like living creatures, invoking coral or clusters of candy-colored undersea invertebrates. Produced by the artist’s ‘MadeIn Company’ and titled ‘Made in Heaven,’ the work nods to factory-like art production (referencing Jeff Koons’ ‘Made in Heaven’ photo series, for example) while offering a lush abstraction that looks good enough to eat. (At James Cohan Gallery through Oct 8th).
Gillian Wearing’s now classic video of herself dancing uninhibitedly in a London shopping arcade in 1994 – causing discomfort with the idea of turning public into private space – is precedent setting in the International Center of Photography’s group show ‘Public, Private, Secret,’ which considers how identity is created both openly and in secret. (Through Jan 8, 2017).
Ydessa Hendeles’ ‘Partners (The Teddy Bear Project)’ is a standout in ‘The Keeper,’ the New Museum’s intriguing homage to obsessive collections of deeply meaningful, often personal, artifacts. The installation presents over three thousand photographs from diverse family albums of individuals with their teddy bears, taken since the stuffed animal came into existence thanks to Teddy Roosevelt’s hunting exploits. Here, teddies break through class barriers, age differences and cultural divides as the world embraces a mass-produced consumer good. (Through Sept 25th).
Martin Puryear’s huge wooden structure, sheathed in chain-link fencing and capped with a gold-leafed shackle, towers over Madison Square Park’s main lawn like a seated animal. Its shape echoes the Phrygian cap, associated with French revolutionaries and freedom and explored recently by the artist, and is topped off with a gorgeously gleaming shackle – a gilded symbol of servitude. (At Madison Square Park through January 8th, 2017).
Sleeping bags filled with rubble from nearby construction sites make for an eerie sculpture by British artist Mike Nelson. Placed in semi-hidden locations on the High Line, the bags contrast the luxurious living conditions being created in the neighborhood’s new buildings with solitary, make-do survival. (In ‘Wanderlust’ on the High Line through March 2017).
