The folks behind-the-scenes have taken over the scene at David Zwirner Gallery’s 533 West 19th Street, location in Chelsea, where some forty artists who work at the gallery are showing their own work. Here, Jay Pluck’s hand painted wallpaper pattern is a welcome sliver of Matisse-like color and pattern installed unexpectedly between galleries. (Through Aug 5th).
At eight feet high, Katherine Bernhardt’s vibrant, textile-like painting overwhelms with powerful graphics while her subject matter – plantains, cigarettes, basketball and Lisa Simpson – samples pop culture and everyday objects with strong associations. (At Canada New York through July 15th).
At first glance, Adam Parker Smith’s shiny mylar balloon sculptures don’t look long for this world; inside of each, however, are resin & fiberglass interiors and metal armatures that give the sculptures heft. Arranged around a faux rock garden, the balloons resemble classic Greek sculptures reinterpreted with humor – Venus stands in the foreground with a champagne bottle body barely covered by a flying scarf while Augustus towers to the rear of the gallery. (At The Hole on the Lower East Side through July 24th).
These assisted readymade sculptures by Nicole Wermers were inspired by awnings but have been fitted with custom textiles and turned to the side to create vertical columns. Their patterns recall post-war minimal painting a la Daniel Buren, but rolled up, their potential is hidden. (At Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery through July 29th).
Though she was allied with the pre-war Parisian avant-garde, Meraud Guinness Guevara favored realism. This 1938 still life foregrounds an intimate arrangement of curving kitchen objects while a more austere selection of white forms stands behind at attention. (In ‘In Good Company’ at Lori Bookstein Fine Art through July 29th).
