‘We were dealing with art as a way of mediation,’ explained late West Coast painter Lee Mullican of his pattern-driven, energetic work inspired by Native American art and design. (Seen here in detail.) (At James Cohan Gallery’s Chelsea location through June 18th).
A ghostly face and a walking figure arise out of a tangle of clothing in Thornton Dial’s energetic 2007 work ‘Winter Jackets.’ The late self-taught artist returns to political themes in this show – the first since his passing in January. Here, we ponder the movement of a solitary (uniformed?) individual who strides forward with purpose. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery in Chelsea through June 18th).
Richard Tuttle celebrates fifty years of art making with a show of work from his last 26 New York solo shows. ‘Titel 3’ from 1978 typifies Tuttle’s sometimes ephemeral arrangements; a washy drip of brown watercolor on the wall interacts with a crisp, green arch of paper, creating a succinct contrast between chance and deliberate gestures. (At Pace Gallery’s 25th Street location through June 11th)
Brooklyn-based, Sri-Lanka raised artist Nadia Haji Omar has found inspiration for her abstract forms in Tamil, Sinhala, Arabic and French letter forms. This untitled dye and acrylic canvas nods to language as much as to natural forms found in the water or under a microscope. (At Kristen Lorello Gallery on the Lower East Side through June 12th).
Sargent’s Daughters’ homage to Dutch New Yorker Anton van Dalen includes this painting from 1986 featuring behavior psychologist B.F. Skinner, whose pigeon experiments included a plan to train the birds to guide missiles in WWII. Himself a pigeon fancier, van Dalen reimagines the pigeon’s world to fascinating effect. (On the Lower East Side through June 12th).
