Sam Branden in ‘Facture Fracture’ at Chart Gallery

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Glued, punctured, protruding and sewn artworks in Chart Gallery’s summer group show ‘Facture Fracture’ focus on the active hand of the artist.  Sam Branden’s contributions – combinations of hand-sewn canvas, textiles and mesh spandex – immediately grab the attention for their bold, fiery colors and improvisational feeling.  Recalling materials close to the body, a la Anthony Olubunmi Akinbola’s durag fiber works, and recent pieces by Erin Mack that allow inspection of the support frames beneath fabric ‘paintings,’ Branden’s constructions balance substance with weightlessness, the grid with an unmoored and changeable surface.  (On view through Aug 24th).

Sam Branden, Tulip Trapping, acrylic stain on hand-sewn canvas, textile, mesh spandex, 72 x 50 inches.

Brittney Leeanne Williams in ‘Monomythology’ at The Hole NYC

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17th century Dutch painter Gerard Seghers’ painting ‘The Dream of Saint Joseph’ pictures Christ’s father asleep, whereas Brittney Leeanne Williams’s remake of the historic painting now on view at The Hole NYC, features herself in Joseph’s role, wide awake and deep in contemplation as she experiences divine visitation.  Though Williams’ painting swaps out an angel with wings for a more enigmatic figure, the narrative of artistic inspiration is clear thanks to the blazing lightbulb at her side that shines light on her sketchbook and related paintings.  Surreal and appearing to take place in the dark of night, Williams’ contemporary moment of illumination adds to the long trajectory of art history and blazes a new path into the future. (On view in ‘Monomythology’ at The Hole NYC through Aug 24th).

Brittney Leeanne Williams, Dream of St Joseph (after Gerard Seghers), oil on canvas, 64 x 88 inches, 2023.

Hellen van Meene in ‘Immersion’ at Yancey Richardson Gallery

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A father and child floating in a lake, a swimming snake in still water and surfers in the waves are pictured from above, while a baby, a shark and swimmers in a pool are pictured from below in six different, strikingly intimiate photographs in Yancey Richardson Gallery’s arrestingly beautiful summer group show ‘Immersion.’  Here, Dutch photographer Hellen van Meene recreates John Everett Millais’ 1851 painting ‘Ophelia’ from Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet.’  Looking slightly more composed and decidedly more alive than the 19th century version, this retelling of the story seems to offer hope that Ophelia will soon rise up magically or of her own will. (On view through Aug 16th).

Hellen van Meene, Untitled #544, chromogenic print, 27 ½ x 27 ½ inches, 2022.

Tara Donovan at Pace Gallery

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Millions of 3×5 index cards stacked into shapes like termite-mounds and Styrofoam cups clustered on the ceiling to form a giant cloud are among Tara Donovan’s most memorable past installations, serving to make her the master of the accumulated-object-turned-artwork.  For her current show on the 7th floor of Pace Gallery’s Chelsea headquarters, Donovan turns mountains of CD-ROM disks into elegant towers that echo the skyscrapers of Hudson Yards out the window.  Attractive and – as always – begging the question of how the artist and her team had the patience to construct such labor-intensive structures, the new work’s recycled sensibility turns trash into treasure.  (On view through Aug 16th).

Installation view of ‘Stratagems’ at Pace Gallery, July 2024.

Pacita Abad at Tina Kim Gallery

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Exiled from the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship for her political activism and later known for artwork inspired by her status as an immigrant and world traveler, Pacita Abad’s textile paintings of coral reefs are geared towards pure visual pleasure.  ‘Underwater Wilderness,’ a show of brilliantly colored fabric works created in the mid to late 80s and now on view at Tina Kim Gallery in Chelsea, features scenes from the 80 dives she took around the Philippines after overcoming a fear of the water.  Using a style of quilting involving paint and collage on canvas, Abad introduced materials including glitter, sequins and buttons to create vibrant, 3-D visions of the world below the surface.  (In view through Aug 16th).

Pacita Abad, Dumaguete’s Underwater Garden, oil, acrylic, glitter, gold thread, buttons, lace, sequins on stitched and padded canvas, 85 ¼ x 118 inches, 1987.
Pacita Abad, (detail) Dumaguete’s Underwater Garden, oil, acrylic, glitter, gold thread, buttons, lace, sequins on stitched and padded canvas, 85 ¼ x 118 inches, 1987.