Studio DRIFT at The Shed

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Amsterdam-based design duo Ralph Nauta and Lonneke Gordijn, aka Studio DRIFT, create objects of wonder that range from lights created with dandelion seeds to mysteriously floating concrete blocks.  Both are on view in their current exhibition at The Shed in Hudson Yards through the end of the week, offering the chance to marvel at objects that pair nature and technology.  Here, ‘Fragile Future,’ is a sculpture/lamp that has been created by hand gluing dandelion seeds to LED lights, a juxtaposition of natural and the man-made materials that encourages appreciation of the beauty and possibility of nature’s designs.  (On view through Dec 18th.)

DRIFT, Fragile Future, Dandelions, LED lights, phosphor bronze, printed circuit board, 2007-21.

Ken Price at Matthew Marks Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

If images of factories, billowing smokestacks and oil-slicked water sound alien to traditional ceramic decoration, the title of Ken Price’s mid-90s series, ‘Plutoware,’ at Matthew Marks Gallery plays along.  Intended to be a pun on the word pollution, the iconic sculptor’s scenes of environmental damage set up a fundamental contrast between intimately scaled and beautifully colored plates, bowls and vessels and depictions of giant manufacturing and co-generation plants.  Though Price’s work would seem to project despair, his wife, Happy Price explains an alternative point of view, saying, ‘When you look at the Pluto Ware some people only see pollution, darkness, and grim and then other people—like myself—see a kind of strange dark beauty.’  (On view through Dec 18th in Chelsea).

Ken Price, Pluto Bowl (Green Sludge), glazed ceramic, 2 ½ x 7 ¼ x 7 ¼ inches, 1995.

Mira Dancy at Chapter NY

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

After a recent move from New York to Southern California, Mira Dancy presents new work at Chapter Gallery depicting female figures in her trademark glowing neon colors who now revel in the natural world.  This pregnant goddess holds a ball in her palm that resembles the earth, suggesting a female power on an epic scale.  (On view in Tribeca through Dec 18th).

Mira Dancy, Life Line, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 60 inches, 2021.

Arthur Simms at Martos Gallery

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Known for sculptures made of materials wrapped in hemp rope, Arthur Simms makes a departure in this ’96 piece by encasing two bicycles in wire, allowing us to see the license plates, central structure and bucket-like portable toilet on this tricked out super vehicle.   On view in Simm’s select 30-year retrospective at Martos Gallery, this sculpture and other wrapped works were inspired by carts used by homeless New Yorkers as well as the carts used by market vendors in Simm’s home country of Jamaica.  (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 23rd).

Arthur Simms, Bicycle, bicycles, wire, wood, bottles, plastic, metal and objects, 67 x 93 x 30 inches, 1996.

Portia Zvavahera at David Zwirner Gallery

by Merrily KerrDon't Miss, Features & Commissions, Hottest ShowPosted on Comments are Disabled

Every morning, Zimbabwe-based artist Portia Zvavahera and her grandmother would recall and share their dreams, now, the artist paints imagery from her nocturnal subconscious to promote healing and reject negative energy.  In her first New York solo show at David Zwirner Gallery, spectral forms and owl-like figures surround the characters, representing both spiritual danger and deliverance.  (On view in Chelsea through Dec 18th).

Portia Zvavahera, Woman with owls, oil based printing ink and oil bar on canvas, 82 ½ x 68 ¼ inches, 2021.