Deborah Butterfield at Marlborough Gallery

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Though told as a student that horses weren’t ‘serious’ subjects for contemporary art, Deborah Butterfield persevered to become renowned for sensitive and powerful sculptures of horses created in materials from salvaged metal to sea plastics.  Best-known are her bronze pieces that still appear to be made of the wood from which they were cast, an enticing illusion.  In a show of new work at Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery, Butterfield sourced wood from near her home/working horse ranch in Montana and property in Hawaii to create towering horses like this one titled ‘Sweetgrass,’ which, though its assembled form is light like a sketch created in wood, has a powerful presence in keeping with its weighty bronze manufacture.  (On view through Jan 14th).

Deborah Butterfield, Sweetgrass, cast bronze, unique, 90 x 108 x 33 inches, 2021 – 22.

Billy Childish at Lehmann Maupin Gallery

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Though Billy Childish is known for his stunningly prolific production of punk and garage albums, volumes of poetry and thousands of paintings, his latest show of canvases at Lehmann Maupin Gallery exudes tranquility.  Here, a lone shore pine dominates the canvas, reaching out to the blue and white strata of sky with its branches.  In other paintings, solitary figures navigate canoes or swim in frigid-looking waters, suggesting a journey that must be undertaken alone.  (On view in Chelsea through Jan 7th).

Billy Childish, tree – seattle, oil and charcoal on linen, 96 x 72 x 2 inches, 2022.

Ariana Papademetropoulos at Vito Schnabel Gallery

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Taking inspiration from medieval tapestries including ‘The Hunt of the Unicorn’ at the Met Museum’s Cloisters, Ariana Papademetropoulos’ new paintings at Vito Schnabel’s Chelsea gallery feature a unicorn that struggles towards its own unique experience of freedom.  Here, set in a Renaissance-era wood paneled room, the mythical creature – who the artist sees as an alter-ego – rests on a bed that is simultaneously a watery landscape.  This glimpse into a parallel world and the mirror with an emerging face on the left of the painting suggest that the unicorn may have escape portals that will allow it to slip its confines. (On view in Chelsea through Jan 7th.  Note holiday closures this week.)

Ariana Papademetropoulos, Horror Vacui, oil on canvas, 91 ¾ x 108 ¼ inches, 2022.

Hew Locke’s Facade Commission ‘Gilt’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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As museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art continue to address accusations of improperly acquired artifacts, the museum’s façade commission of Hew Locke’s ‘Gilt’ is both appropriate and daringly self-critical.  Locke explains that his cast fiberglass sculptures, gilt to resemble valuable artworks, are a pun on ‘guilt’ and a prompt to consider how the objects in the museum have been gathered to satisfy our pleasure.  While a creature at the base of the vessel literally devours it, eyes at the top look on in witness and a figure inspired by an 8th century BCE ivory in the Met’s permanent collection ironically brings tribute to the Assyrian Empire.  (On view on the Met’s façade through May 30th, 2023).

Hew Locke, ‘Trophy 2’ in installation view of the Façade Commission ‘Gilt’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, fiberglass, stainless steel, gilding and oil-based paint, Dec 2022.

Tau Lewis at 52 Walker

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Six monumental heads tower over visitors to Tau Lewis’ installation of totemic sculptures at 52 Walker in Tribeca, offering a conduit to encounter the divine.  Calling Lewis’ new pieces a ‘new mythology’ and a ‘corporeal arena for those who move between temporal and heavenly realms,’ the gallery presents itself as stage for interaction inspired by Yoruban mask dramas in which masks are worn and spiritually activated.  Too large for actual movement, the heads convey a powerful solidity while textures and colors created from Lewis’ use of salvaged textiles nevertheless suggest imminent movement and liveliness.  (On view in Tribeca through Jan 7th.  Note holiday closures this week.)

Tau Lewis, Homonoia, steel, enamel paint, acrylic paint and finisher, repurposed leather and suede, organic cotton twill, and coated nylon thread, 88 ½ x 68 x 26 ¼ inches, 2022.