Lucy Puls at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

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The Latin words ‘Equulus Duo’ (two horses, in English) might bring an exalted equestrian sculpture to mind, while the designation ‘two horseys’ shrinks the words down to the speech of a small child. Both phrases are included in the title of Lucy Puls’ ‘Equulus Duo (Two Horseys),’ a sculpture of two ‘My Little Pony’ toys encased in resin and now on view in Tribeca in Puls’ mini retrospective at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery.  Sculpture from Puls’ ‘In Resin’ series elaborates on the passage of time and the vicissitudes of consumer culture by presenting once sought after consumer items – a mid 80s Mackintosh 512, a stack of vinyl singles – preserved as if in amber.  (On view in Tribeca through May 18th).

Lucy Puls, Equulus Duo (Two Horseys), resin, steel, toy horses, 6 ½h x 12w x 5d inches, 1993.

Claude and Francoise-Xavier Lalanne at Kasmin Gallery

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There’s just one more day to see Kasmin Gallery’s presentation of selected works by the late French husband/wife sculptors Claude and Francoise-Xavier Lalanne, known as Les Lalanne, whose unique, surreal vision of the natural world continues to resonate.  At nearly 10’ long, this huge, mysterious animal with a cat’s head, fish’s tail, cow’s lower body and bird wings serves not just as a creative response to hybrid creatures in classical literature (Lalanne worked as a guard in the Egyptian and Assyrian galleries of the Louvre for a short while), but is opened to serve as a bar cart.  Initially conceived of for a private commission by a French architect and now on view as part of the Lalanne’s eldest daughter’s collection, the piece prompted Francois-Xavier Lalanne to remark that the cat was living all nine of its lives at once.  (On view through May 9th in Chelsea).

Francois-Xavier Lalanne, Grand Chat polymorphe, brass, bronze with stainless steel pin, 72 ¼ x 117 x 25 inches, 1998/2008.

Nora Correas in ‘Threads to the South’ at the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art

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Titled after a line in a poem by exiled Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuna about how threads (textiles) connected her to her homeland, ‘Threads to the South’ at the Institute for Studies on Latin American Art considers how fiber-based art has alluded to customs from grape harvests to quipus.  Here, Nora Correas’s 1981 undulating virgin wool floor sculpture ‘En carne viva (In the Raw)’ is abstract but evokes living forms; complex textures suggest earth or clay while shapes formed from horizontal lines resemble cocoons. Created as a response to Argentina’s military dictatorship, the piece and Correas’ other fiber-based work from the time is an expression of grief, ‘a scream’ explains the artist in a text alongside the work.  (On view in Tribeca through July 27th).

Nora Correas, En carne viva (In the Raw), virgin wool, 1981.
Nora Correas, En carne viva (In the Raw), virgin wool, 1981.

Beau Dick at Andrew Kreps Gallery

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Late hereditary chief and Kwakwaka’wakw master woodcarver Beau Dick’s current solo show at Andrew Kreps Gallery features carved wooden masks intended to be used in ceremonies as symbols of the spirit world.  Made between 1979 and 2015, the carvings reinvent traditional supernatural figures such as ‘Crooked Beak,’ seen here.  Made for a ceremony revoking the cannibal spirit and reinforcing correct behavior in an initiate, the mask also exists now to allow an appreciation of Kwakwaka’wakw spiritual practice.  (On view through May 11th).

Beau Dick, Kwakwaka’wakw, Musgamakw Dzawada’enuxw First Nation Crooked Beak, red cedar, cedar bark, acrylic, 12 x 8 x 34 inches, 1994.

Lumin Wakoa at Harper’s Gallery

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Once small-scale and resolutely abstract, New York painter Lumin Wakoa’s latest paintings at Harper’s Gallery have grown explosively in size and dynamic allusion to the natural world.  Branching forms appear in many works, supporting abundant blossoms or snaking between zones of color that suggest the blinding sun, bright flowers or cool, blue oases. Here, intense yellow and orange flowers dematerialize into a mass of pleasurable tones while the work’s title, ‘Briefly Brilliant,’ suggests that there is a time limit on this glorious display. (On view in Chelsea through May 5th).

Lumin Wakoa, Briefly Brilliant, oil on linen, 82 x 70 inches, 2023.