Young LA-based artist Zachary Leener’s quirky abstract ceramic sculptures stand out in two New York group shows this month. At Wallspace Gallery in Chelsea, this beautifully glazed piece evokes the human body, truncated phallic forms and lab equipment. (Also at Rachel Uffner Gallery on the LES. At Wallspace through Feb 14th).
Zachary Leener, glazed ceramic, 14 x 12 x 13 inches, 2014.
Soap bubbles – a delight to both the young and the old – are the basis for Berlin-based artist Jiri George Dokoupil’s work on show at Paul Kasmin Gallery. Since the early 90s, the artist has experimented with various combinations of soap, pigment and other materials to create permanent traces of ephemeral beauty. (through Feb 7th).
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Untitled, soap-lye and pigments on canvas, 98 ½ x 118 1/8 inches, 2014.
In the past, British artist Anya Gallaccio has left red gerbera flowers to rot, covered walls with chocolate and placed a 32-ton block of ice to melt in a disused pump station, all as part of an art practice based on experimentation and manipulation of natural materials. In these stone pieces, she considers longer spaces of time – the effect of heat and pressure on minerals over the millenia. (At Lehman Maupin Gallery on the LES through Feb 15th.)
Anya Gallaccio, installation view at Lehman Maupin Gallery, (foreground) Lay my head, lavignes (stripes), mount ashen, texas cream, black granite and green chirt, 51 x 56 x 48 inches, 2014.
In British sound artist Susan Philipsz’s new installation at Chelsea’s Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, boldly redacted FBI documents overlay quickly penciled archival scores by composer Hanns Eisler. An LA-based refugee from Nazi Germany, his branding as a communist prevented his scores from accompanying Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Circus.’ Here, wall-mounted documents like this one are joined by a 12-channel sound installation that plays selections from his film compositions, daring viewers to find a note of sedition. (Through Feb 14th).
Susan Philipsz, from the Part File Score series, digital print and silk screen print on canvas, 74 ½ x 59 x 1 2/3 inches, 2014.
A 70s style motorcycle merges with a camouflage carpet in front of a geometric patterned wall in Tyson Reeder’s ‘Chopper,’ one of several new canvases that look like a teenager’s careful drawing of an object or place that’s desirable but out of reach. (At Canada on the Lower East Side through Feb 15th).
Tyson Reeder, Chopper, mixed media on paper on canvas, 52 x 71 inches, 2014.
Elaine Reicheck updates Henri Matisse’s Blue Nude as part of her Swatches series, for which she Googles canonical art historical works, modifies their color and size, and renders them via a digital sewing machine on small fabric swatches. Presented as one of hundreds, an iconic artwork turns cute, neutralized by its size and the suggestion that it is just one of many. (At Zach Feuer Gallery through Feb 7th).
Elaine Reicheck, installation view of Swatches at Zach Feuer Gallery, Jan 2015.
Outdoor scenes including a hot-air balloon over a Mexican pyramid and a lone, wind-gnarled tree by a lake in Japan have inspired British American photographer Michael Kenna’s serenely beautiful black and white images, now on view at Chelsea’s Robert Mann Gallery. Here, a jet of water shoots into the air, merging water and clouds in a mediated ‘equivalent’ worthy of Stieglitz. (In Chelsea at Robert Mann through January 31st).
Michael Kenna, Jet d’Eau, Geneva, 9.5 x 6.5 inches, 2012.
In 22 minutes of rich visuals, Israeli artist Yael Bartana inaugurates and destroys a replica Solomon’s Temple in her captivating film ‘Inferno.’ Inspired by a version of the temple finished last summer in Sao Paulo by a religious group (built with stones imported from Israel) Bartana’s film compresses a sequence of emotions – exhilaration to horror to indifference at a distant memory – at a dizzying rate. (At Petzel Gallery through Feb 14th).
Yael Bartana, still from ‘Inferno,’ Alexa camera transferred onto HD, 22 minutes, 2013.
The postmodern Italian design collective The Memphis Group flaunted ‘good taste’ in the 80s with their anti-modernist designs and materials that included molded plastics and laminates. Now the public can’t get enough, as evidenced by an irrepressibly upbeat show of furniture and design at Chelsea’s Koenig and Clinton Gallery. (Through Jan 31st).
Installation view of The Memphis Group at Koenig and Clinton, Jan 2015. Featuring Michele De Lucchi’s ‘Lido’ couch and ‘Polar’ end tables and Ettore Sottsass’s ‘Treetops’ lamp and ‘Park Lane’ coffee table.
On the subway platform one day, Dutch photographer Reinier Gerritsen noticed a serendipitous arrangement in red in the bag, sweater and lips of three women reading on the 6 train. From this initial flash of inspiration, Gerritsen began his a series of photo collages, bringing together book readers in single compositions that memorialize the printed tome. (On view at Chelsea’s Julie Saul Gallery through Feb 7th).
Reinier Gerritsen, One Hundred Years of Solitude, pigment print, 40 ½ x 70 ¾ , 2013.
Dolls, puppets, and dancers populate Swedish artist Mamma Andersson’s new, theatrically lit show at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. This towering character has a bonnet and a complexion to match the porcelain on her side cabinet. (Through Feb 14th).
Mamma Andersson, installation view of ‘Behind the Curtain,’ at David Zwirner Gallery, January, 2015.
Ocean waves smoothed the base of this iceberg while wind erosion and detached ice carved the top into this majestic, castle-like form. It’s one of the many stunning images from Sebastiao Salgado’s latest ‘Genesis’ series – for which the artist travelled the world photographing landscapes untouched by modernization – currently on view at Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery. (Through Jan 24th).
Sebastiao Salgado, Fortress of Solitude, Antarctica, 24 x 25 inches, gelatin silver print, 2005.
Like a studio visit and gallery show rolled into one, Matthew Chambers’ solo show at Zach Feuer Gallery presents both books of ideas and finished paintings. Though the paintings appear to be unchallenging but pretty floral designs, the gallery explains that they’re designed to ‘transfix viewers by their own experience of seeing.’ (Through Feb 7th).
Matthew Chambers, installation view of solo show at Zach Feuer Gallery, January 2015.
Shanghai artist-provocateur Xu Zhen shows a piece from his ‘Eternity’ series at James Cohan Gallery that literalizes the idea of ‘East meeting West’ in an absurd combination of classical refinement and enlightenment. (In Chelsea through Jan 17th).
Xu Zhen, Eternity-Aphrodite of Knidos, Tang Dynasty Sitting Buddha, glass fiber-reinforced concrete, marble grains, sandstone grains, mineral pigments, steel, 139 ¾ x 35 13/16 x 35 13/16 inches, 2014.
Known for her elaborate, nature-inspired ceramic vessels, Joan Bankemper’s three-part contribution to Nancy Hoffman Gallery’s winter group exhibition is a serenely gorgeous reminder that winter won’t last forever. (In Chelsea through Jan 24th).
Joan Bankemper, installation view of ‘Cutout/Decoupage’ at Nancy Hoffman Gallery, December 2014.
Though it looks like an earthquake-destroyed parking garage or an uprooted step-pyramid, the preppy green and soothing beige color of this sculpture by Chicago-based artist Diane Simpson suggests unblinking calm. The title, Underskirt, gives the game away, bringing to mind a crinoline for a ‘Cubie’ from the Cubist-inspired 1913 alphabet book. (At Mitchell-Innes and Nash in Chelsea through Jan 24th).
Diane Simpson, Underskirt, oil stain and acrylic on MDF with cotton mesh, 44 x 69 x 7 inches, 1986.
LA-based artist Thomas Houseago’s latest solo show marks a seismic shift from his signature, large-scale sculptures of human bodies to a huge structure that accommodates human bodies. Titled ‘Moun Room,’ a reference to his girlfriend’s first name, the piece’s geometric shapes evoke celestial bodies and art deco design while the entire structure resembles a sturdy shipping container and, paradoxically, a delicate paper lantern. (At Hauser & Wirth in Chelsea through January 17th).
Thomas Houseago, Moun Room (detail), Tuf-Cal, hemp, iron rebar, 1098.6 x 1388.1 x 365.8 cm, 2013-2014.
Italian artist Angelo Filomeno is known for making the macabre gorgeous. Here, a detail from a bright yellow silk support shows a pretty assortment of embroidered tropical fish; but decay is never far away, as evidenced by scuttling black beetles and a ravaged angelfish. (At Chelsea’s Galerie Lelong through Jan 31st).
Angelo Filomeno, detail from ‘Tropical Still Life in Yellow,’ embroidery and crystals on silk shantung stretched over linen, 78 x 39 inches, 2014.
How to create a universal art? Pennsylvania-based artist Hilary Berseth drew seven faces contorted by common human emotions (surprise and fear seen here) on the inside of five Platonic solids, shapes that Plato felt were key to constructing all around us. Slowly spinning in the gallery, the shapes intensify each emotion and invite a viewer to compare each to his/her own emotional state. (At Lower East Side gallery 11 Rivington through Jan 17th).
Hilary Berseth, Installation view at 11 Rivington, December 2014.
In 2002, the pedestal under a rare early Renaissance sculpture by Tullio Lombardo at the Metropolitan Museum of Art buckled and the piece fell to the floor, smashing into several large pieces and hundreds of fragments. Conservators set to work on a twelve-year mission to restore Adam to his former glory as he contemplates the fruit that leads to mankind’s fall. (Through July 2015).
Tullio Lombardo, Adam, marble, c. 1490-95.
Japanese photographer Yasumasa Morimura first photographed himself as the Infanta, daughter of King Felipe IV from Velazquez’s famous ‘Las Meninas’ in 1990. Almost twenty-five years later, his latest series has him playing the role of every other character in it, as well as figures from the paintings that hang to either side at Madrid’s Prado. (At Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine through Jan 24th).
Yasumasa Morimura, Living in the realm of the painting (The princess), chromogenic print, 31 ½ x 25 ¼ inches, 2013.
After witnessing substandard working conditions at a building site for which he’d been commissioned to create artwork, Beijing-based artist Xu Bing created two huge phoenix sculptures composed of construction equipment. Suspended at the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, their decorative lights are akin to stained glass and their message in keeping with the church’s activist history. (Through Feb 2015).
Xu Bing, Phoenix, installation view at St John the Divine, Dec 2014.
In this towering mash-up of American vernacular imagery that includes Ronald Reagan’s caricatured head at top, tree stumps carved into baseball bats, faces and an elephant foot and two large baseballs, Ivan Witenstein creates a portrait of America from precariously balanced kitsch. (At Derek Eller Gallery through Jan 3rd).
Ivan Witenstein, Rails to Trails, wood, acrylic, oil, enamel, wood burning, 93 x 75 x 31 inches.
Though British artist (and writer) Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s figures look like portraits, they come from her imagination. The title of this piece, ‘Attention from the Righteous,’ suggests a condescending character, but this young man’s lively eyes and soft expression make him immediately likeable. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through Jan 10th).
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Attention From the Righteous, oil on canvas, 19 ¾ x 18 inches, 2014.
Like giant party streamers, over 500 length of pink and orange flagging tape suspended by paperclips from the New York Hall of Science’s rotunda hint at the fun to be had inside. Titled ‘Scattered Light,’ this installation by Dick Esterle includes sunlight reflecting disco balls, adding to the celebratory effect. (Through Sept 2015).
Dick Esterle, Scattered Light (installation view at the New York Hall of Science), flagging tape, paper clips, metal rods, 2014.
Saying goodbye must have felt easier in these gorgeous half-mourning dresses from 1902 in the Met’s ‘Death Becomes Her’ show at the Costume Institute. Unlike the black-bedecked Queen Victoria in the background, these ladies look primed to welcome the new. (Through Feb 1st).
Henriette Favre (French), Evening dress, mauve silk tulle, metal foil sequins, 1902. Probably French, Evening dress, black silk tulle, mauve silk chiffon, purple silvered gelatin sequins, 1902.
Slipping into a red dress has adventurous connotations completely suppressed by Cezanne’s portrait series of his wife, Hortense Fiquet, who sat for hours on end as her husband’s patient model. Cezanne’s famous line, ‘Only I understand how to paint a red,’ is put to the test in works that also create psychological intensity by disregarding traditional perspective. (‘Madame Cezanne’ at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through March 15th).
Paul Cezanne, Madame Cezanne in a Yellow Chair, oil on canvas, ca 1888-90.
At the beginning of his workday, British-born, Trinidad-based artist Chris Ofili experiments with watercolor and pencil drawings of his ‘Afromuses,’ imagined male and female characters that create a varied repertoire of inspirational characters. Seen here at Ofili’s New Museum exhibition, a selection of over 80 pieces showcases his quirky yet regal characters. (Through Jan 25th).
Chris Ofili, installation view of ‘Afromuses,’ at the New Museum, watercolor and pencil on paper, 1995-2005.
Late sculptor Louise Bourgeois harnessed the discomfort inherent in the idea of hanging for many sculptures over the decades of her long career. Cheim & Read Gallery gathers a stunning selection, including this polished bronze, titled ‘Arch of Hysteria.’ Conferring hysteria on a male figure and distorting the body into an impossibly uncomfortable arch creates odd tensions that give the piece its disarming impact. (In Chelsea through Jan 10th).
Louise Bourgeois, Arch of Hysteria, polished bronze, 33 x 40 x 23 inches, 1993.
Kara Walker’s monumental installation of an eroticized, African-American sphinx last summer at Brooklyn’s Domino Sugar Factory was a run-away hit for its sheer size and painful exaggeration of an American stereotype. At Sikkema Jenkins in Chelsea, Walker presents work surrounding the project, including watercolors and the sphinx’s severed hand, preserved for the time being in its defiantly rude gesture. (Through Jan 17th.)
Kara Walker, installation view of Afterword at Sikkema Jenkins, Dec 2014.
When young Italian artist Lorenzo Vitturi moved to London several years ago, he settled in the East London neighborhood of for its affordability and multi-cultural demographic. As gentrification has altered the area, however, Vitturi has preserved aspects of the area’s famed market in his photographs, including this precarious construction of edibles, still beautiful but now past their prime. (At Yossi Milo Gallery in Chelsea through Jan 10th).
Lorenzo Vitturi, Green Stripes #1, from the series Dalston Anatomy, Giclee Print on Hahnemuhle Bamboo Paper, 2013.
The Phrygian cap, worn as a symbol of emancipation in the French revolution and before, inspired American sculptor Martin Puryear’s new work at Chelsea’s Matthew Marks Gallery. As a series of sculptures that point to freedom, Puryear’s work goes beyond formally attractive objects to suggest justice as its own form of beauty. (Through Jan 10th).
Martin Puryear (foreground), Big Phrygian, painted red cedar, 2010-2014.
British Pop art icon David Hockney has said that there’s drama whenever more than one person appears in a picture, but his recent ‘photographic drawing’ seen here is less about human interaction than experimentation with perspective. Working in his LA studio, Hockney photographed friends, studio assistants and furniture (as well as his own paintings in the background) to create an intriguing, uncanny image composed of multiple different perspectives enhanced by digitally drawn-in shadows. (At Chelsea’s Pace Gallery through Jan 10th).
David Hockney, The Potted Palm, photographic drawing shown on a 55 inch Sony Ultra HD screen, 48 5/8” x 29 1/4’” x 2 5/8”, 2014.
Hands down, one of the hottest shows of the season in Chelsea is Takashi Murakami’s current solo at Gagosian Gallery, featuring towering demons guarding an ancient Japanese sacred gate crafted by Japanese artisans. After Japan’s 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Murakami watched the nation turn to things spiritual…with this show, he makes a response by offering up his own quasi-religion. (Through Jan 17th).
Installation view of Takashi Murakami’s ‘In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow,’ Gagosian Gallery, Nov 2014.
Enabled to create her art through Oakland’s ‘Creative Growth’s studio program for artists with disabilities, Judith Scott spent the last almost 20 years of her creative life crafting yarn, thread and other materials into dense bundles. The piece in the foreground testifies to her drive – when no other materials were available to her, she gathered paper toweling from the restroom or kitchen to use. (At the Brooklyn Museum, through March 29th).
Installation view of ‘Judith Scott’ at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Foreground: Judith Scott, Untitled, fiber and found objects, 27 x 23 x 17 inches, 1994.
Young Danish artist Alexander Tovborg painted one abstracted image of a dinosaur, turned it to the wall and from memory painted the next, creating this row of images that rely on memory and depict now extinct – yet gorgeously colored – creatures. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).
Alexander Tovborg, Eternal Feminine (I), felt, pastel crayon, acrylic and imitated gold leaf on wood panel, 48 x 36 inches, 2014.
Known for his computer-created virtual photos, New York artist Takeshi Murata’s latest solo show at Salon 94 Bowery includes this quirky character, whose dripped frame and the appearance of stickers suggest the touch of a human hand but whose red smiley face is all about mechanical distortion. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).
Takeshi Murata, Jogger (Red), pigment print mounted to plexi with powdercoated unibody aluminum frame, 40 x 44 x 2 inches, 2014.
The tale of Moby Dick as metaphor for a doomed, obsessive quest, specifically the U.S.’s military involvement in the Middle East, was the subject of Robert Longo’s stunning show at Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery last spring. Now at the same gallery, Sean Landers’ takes up the subject in a more narcissistic way, depicting the great whale as a stand-in for the artist’s pursuit of a lasting artistic legacy. (Through Dec 20th).
Sean Landers, Moby Dick (Merrilees), oil on linen, 112 x 336 inches, 2013.
Angels sleep under rainbows in Francesco Clemente’s ‘Angels’ Tent,’ while top-hatted men act oppressively (one enslaves two figures) in the ‘Devil’s Tent.’ The lushly decorated Mughal style tents signal Clemente’s nomadic lifestyle while making a strong contrast between good and evil. (At Chelsea’s Mary Boone Gallery through Dec 20th).
Francesco Clemente, installation view of Angels’ Tent and Devil’s Tent at Mary Boone Gallery, Nov, 2014.
Glitzy sequins compete with more down-to-earth hand woven hemp fabric in a sculpture by San Francisco artist Josh Faught titled ‘Greg’ after a past romantic attachment. The clock suggests that time ran out on this relationship while a spilled drink and two tins of cookies (all food made of plastic) implies the unexpected upset of something delicious. (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 21st).
Josh Faught, Greg, hand woven and crocheted hemp (hand dyed in colors to match the 2013/2014 color forecast, Indigo, gold spray paint, sequin trim, silk, wool, giant clothes pin, spill (resin) with Cathy mug, chocolate chip cookies (plastic), and tin of butter cookies (plastic and metal) on Cedar support, 76 x 74 x 12 inches, 2014.
Known for cheeky stop-motion animations made by photographing thickly textured paintings, Brooklyn artist Yui Kugimiya settles into a vividly colored, thickly painted non-moving images for her current show at Marlborough Gallery’s LES location. Painted as she looked out of her studio window at the East River, their Fauve color and style offers an intensely personal view of the city and here, its geese. (Through Dec 21st).
Yui Kugimiya, Geese on East River – One – 2, oil on canvas, 16 x 16 inches, 2014.
Like a giant emptied beanbag chair, Italian artist Giuseppe Gabellone’s ‘Acid Green’ fabric installation flops in the corner of Andrew Kreps’ Chelsea gallery, transforming the space and color of the room. Part of a show of work by artists who push their materials, the piece boldly occupies its space while suggesting future uses for the fabric. (Through Dec 20th).
Giuseppe Gabellone, Verde Acido, velvet fabric, acrylic padding, 590 ½ x 452 ¾ inches, 2012.
Though this huge polished aluminum sculpture by iconic minimalist-turned-maker of-exuberant-forms Frank Stella looks like a giant Christmas tree ornament, at over 18’ tall it’s too big even for the Rockefeller tree. Titled ‘Puffed Star II,’ it continues Stella’s interest in forms that take over the space they’re in. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery’s Chelsea space through Dec 20th.)
Frank Stella, Puffed Star II, polished aluminum, 224 ½ x 224 ½ inches, 2014.
Late New York painter Albert York’s paintings of landscapes, dogs, cows and flowers may look conventional, but they elicit strong praise from art world cognoscenti for their dreamy quality and conversation with the history of painting landscape and portraiture. (At Chelsea’s Matthew Marks Gallery through Dec 20th).
Albert York, Cow, oil on board, 9 x 10 ¼ inches, c. 1972.
What does your bookcase say about you? London-based artist Dylan Stone memorializes his film producer parents’ collection of books, LPs and video-cassettes in a huge painting at Chelsea’s Josee Bienvenu Gallery (seen here in detail). So much pre-digital media rendered in the ageless media of watercolor makes a poignant comment on longevity. (Through Dec 13th.)
Dylan Stone, detail from Barbara and David Stone’s Videos, LPs and Books, watercolor on paper, 110 x 150 inches, 2014.
George Condo’s Picassoid jumbling of classic Condo facial features on the left and a sketchy blond Ab Exp muse on the right make an arresting couple at the entrance to Skarstedt’s Chelsea gallery. They’re also an amusing counterpart to the current Picasso show down the block at Gagosian Gallery. (In Chelsea through Dec 20th)
George Condo, Double Heads on Blue and Silver, acrylic, charcoal, pastel on linen, 78 x 110 inches, 2014.
By dividing Ramiken Crucible’s small Lower East Side space into narrow compartments littered with dingy Pepsi cans and wall mounted urethane furniture casts, LA artist Kaari Upson creates a claustrophobic habitat that’s grungy while also strangely tidy. A puffy urethane door and doorstop at the entrance recall the harmless oddness of Claes Oldenburg sculpture. (At Ramiken Crucible through Dec 14th).
Kaari Upson, Untitled, aluminum, 200 aluminum cans, 2014 (foreground). Kaari Upson, Door Stop, urethane, pigment and cement, 2014 (background).
Resting on their stately pedestals like exhibits at the Met, late Viennese sculptor Franz West’s candy-colored abstract sculptures may strike a serious pose but still exude nose-thumbing absurdity. (At David Zwirner Gallery’s 20th Street location through Dec 13th).
Franz West, Untitled (10 Sculptures), papier-mache, plaster, polyester, gauze, paint, plastic, metal and wood in eleven parts, dimensions variable, 1990-1997.
Known for distorting photographic images with liquids, Sara Greenberger Rafferty pushes the idea further in her latest solo show at Rachel Uffner Gallery by layering prints, acrylic and Plexi in images that juxtapose youth and decay. Here, a blurry image of a young woman (hung as if lurking or hiding in the stairwell) recedes behind a skeletal figure. (On the Lower East Side through Dec 21st.)
Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Untitled, acrylic polymer and inkjet print on acetate on Plexiglas and hardware, irregular size: 164.5 x 60.3 x 1.3cm, 2014.
This small detail from a paper cut tiger’s face by Beijing-based Wu Jian’an astounds with its detail. Created in unlikely colors, the pastels lend the tiger a dream-like appearance, in keeping with the esoteric imagery. (In Chelsea at Chambers Fine Art through Dec 20th).
Wu Jian’an, detail of ‘Faces – Tiger,’ hand dyed and waxed paper-cut, cotton thread, paper, 66 ¼ x 53 ¼ inches, 2014.
The romance of the rails infuses Marianne Vitale’s totemic figures constructed from disused railway crossings. To stand near them is to imagine the tons of freight that have clattered over them, heading off to distant places. (At Chelsea’s Zach Feuer Gallery through Dec 20th).
Marianne Vitale, Installation view of ‘Nine Worthies’ at Zach Feuer Gallery, Nov 2014.
By combining multiple exposures, Abelardo Morell’s gorgeous flower still life doesn’t just represent the passage of time a la Dutch genre painting, it literally captures change in one image. (At Edwynn Houk Gallery in the 57th Street area through Dec 20th).
Abelardo Morell, Flowers – for Lisa, archival pigment print, 2014.
Traditional perspective takes a vacation in riotous new collages by Chicago Imagist artist Gladys Nilsson featuring monumental female figures created from and surrounded by consumer goods. This quail-eggs-for-nipples-Venus yolks it up against a fertile arbor backdrop. (At Garth Greenan Gallery, through Dec 6th).
Gladys Nilsson, A Girl in the Arbor #3, mixed media on paper, 2013.
Lily Ludlow’s angular abstractions at first look like x-rays of Cubist paintings, but her deliberately indistinct canvases (actually sanded down) gradually materialize into charged interactions between nude or semi-clothed characters. (At Canada on the Lower East Side through Dec 14th).
Lily Ludlow, The Knifers, acrylic, pencil, graphite, chalk on canvas, 2014.
Canonical works of western art from throughout the ages – cut from the pages of art books – rub shoulders in Vancouver artist Geoffrey Farmer’s ‘Boneyard’ installation at Casey Kaplan Gallery in Chelsea. The effect is surprisingly odd as it seems to warp space and time via the simple device of propping paper cutouts on a white tabletop. (Through Dec 20th).
Geoffrey Farmer, Boneyard, paper cutouts, wood, glue, dimensions variable, 2013.
Part-astronaut, part-characters from the Hindu epics, Indonesian artist Heri Dono’s ‘Flying Angels’ were, for the artist, symbols of inspiration and the future. Stand outs in the internationally-known artist’s first New York solo show at Tyler Rollins Fine Art in Chelsea, they introduce a fanciful body of work enlivened by references to Javanese folk theater. (Through Dec 20th).
Installation view of: Heri Dono, Flying Angels, fiberglass, fabric, bamboo, acrylic paint, electronic and mechanical devices, cable, automatic timer, 10 pieces, each 39 x 24 x 10 inches, 1996.
An invitation to create a permanent installation for Inhotim, the Brazilian garden and art collection, was the prompt for this exhibition by New York artist R.H. Quaytman at Gladstone Gallery’s 21st Street location. Working with architect Solveig Fernlund on the exhibition design, Quaytman creates mini galleries that foregrounds ordering and sequence in both the gallery’s space and the art. (Through Dec 20th).
R.H. Quaytman, installation view of ‘O Topico,’ Gladstone Gallery, November 2014.
As surreal as ever, Leipzig-based painter Neo Rauch’s latest canvases intrigue with their somnambulant cast of characters and dream-like scenarios. In ‘Guardians of the Night,’ pictured here, a crab-clawed woman who approaches a sleeping man seems more like a healer more than a menace; meanwhile, a drummer and a custodian linger near. (At Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery through Dec 20th).
Neo Rauch, Hueter der Nacht (Guardians of the Night), oil on canvas, 118 3/8 x 98 ¾ inches, 2014.
San Francisco-based Spanish artist Rosana Castrillo Diaz revels in the pleasures of minimal forms and pure white color in her untitled composition created with cotton on paper at Chelsea’s Ameringer McEnery Yohe Gallery. (Through Dec 13th).
Rosana Castrillo Diaz, Untitled, 58 x 58 inches, cotton on paper, 2013.
160 posters make up a 40-foot wall installation by New York artist Gary Simmons that commemorates historic boxing matches while blurring their memory with the artist’s signature ‘erased’ texts. (At Chelsea’s Metro Pictures through Dec 13th).
Gary Simmons, Untitled, ink jet posters on CDX plywood, installation dimensions variable, 2014.
Opening on Oct 31st and closing a month later, this one-painting show by Rudolf Stingel at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery appears to be a month long celebration of spooky DIY Halloween decorations or a visitation from a frightening specter, perhaps warning against the excesses of giant paintings in huge gallery spaces. (Through Nov 29th)
Rudolf Stingel, Untitled, oil on canvas, 176 x 120 inches, 2014.
Using the same skywiper virus that damaged Iran’s nuclear centrifuges, New York artist James Hoff creates gorgeous abstract images that hover between abstraction and representation, hinting at below-the-surface activities. (At Callicoon Fine Arts on the Lower East Side.)
James Hoff, Skywiper No. 3, chromaluxe transfer on aluminum, 20 x 16 inches, 2014.
In a 1979 collaboration with Pierre Cardin, Lebanese artist Huguette Caland created these and other caftans that continue her focus on the female form. In the foreground, ‘Tete-a-tete,’ represents the melding of two bodies as one. (At Chelsea’s Lombard Freid Gallery through Dec 20th).
Huguette Caland, Tete-a-tete, thread on fabric, 73 x 19 x 12 inches, 1971.
Brooklyn Museum’s eye-popping ‘Killer Heels’ exhibition isn’t just for ladies who teeter. As well as design feats (pun intended) and works of art, the show includes architect Zaha Hadid’s NOVA shoe, created from vacuum-casted fiberglass with chrome plated external uppers. Vaguely resembling the sloping exterior of her first New York building currently under construction on the High Line in Chelsea, the shoe might be seen as a mini architectural rendering. (Through Feb 15th).
Zaha Hadid X United Nude, chromed vinyl rubber, kid napa leather, fiberglass, 2013 (left). Tea Petrovic, Wings/Variation, polyamide, faux leather, rubber, 2013 (right).
Reconstructed images from the Internet form the basis for Brooklyn artist Daniel Gordon’s riotous digital still life collages at Chelsea’s Wallspace Gallery. Vivid color and abundant patterns rival Matisse’s most energetic interiors in this delightfully wacky artistic accumulation of imagery. (Through Dec 20th).
Daniel Gordon, Root Vegetables and Avocado Plant, chromogenic print, 60 x 50 inches, 2014.
A shaved ice cart, community notice board in the form of an equestrian sculpture and more project-based artwork characterizes Brooklyn Museum’s brief survey of some art trends coming from local artists. Miguel Luciano’s ‘Amani Kites’ – pictured here – originated in a kite-making workshop he directed for kids in Nairobi, Kenya. (Through Jan 4th).
Installation view of ‘Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy and Beyond,’ at Brooklyn Museum, Nov 2014. Featuring: Miguel Luciano, Amani Kites, paper, string, wooden dowels, photograph on vinyl, Kanga cloth, video, 2012-14.
New York artists Mira Dancy and Sarah Peters compliment each other’s interest in picturing female bodies in a joint show at Asya Geisberg Gallery that pairs Dancy’s energetic expressionist painting with Peter’s pleasingly strange mannerist sculptures. Here, an erotically posed nude in shades of pink, peach and a vivid yellow contrast a composed character exuding thoughtful calm. (In Chelsea through Nov 26th).
Mira Dancy, Dream of the Unicorn Tapestry, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 40 inches, 2014 (left) and Sarah Peters, Portrait with Long Neck, plaster, 13 x 9 x 8 inches, 2014 (right).
A never-ending scroll of words runs on all four walls of Metro Pictures‘ upstairs gallery, naming National Security Agency and Government Communications Headquarters surveillance program code names, gathered and presented by New York artist Trevor Paglen. Minimal and in black and white, the piece resembles a memorial, perhaps to freedom from observation. (In Chelsea through Dec 20th).
Trevor Paglen, installation view of ‘Code Names of the Surveillance State,’ November, 2014 at Metro Pictures.
A selection of 365 dust jackets mounted to linen supports by Brooklyn-based Brazilian artist Valeska Soares at Eleven Rivington muses on the passing of time. Not only do the titles refer to temporality, but dated fonts and designs act as a measure of change over a few decades. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 23rd).
Valeska Soares, installation view of ‘Any Moment Now,’ at Eleven Rivington, 195 Chrystie Street, November 2014.
Known for fantastical, druggy, sci-fi environments created temporarily in art venues, Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe’s current show at Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery continues their practice of “…using the room as the vehicle for an ethno-fictional display of the remnants of the built world.” This claustrophobic space – one of several distinctly different rooms in the installation – combines store display with tacky domestic furnishings and dated technology (on the floor) to question what might transpire here. (Through Nov 29th).
Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, installation view of ‘Floating Chain (High-Res Toni) at Marlborough Chelsea, November 2014.
Does it matter if artists make their own work or act as managers in a studio? Arkansas-based artist Shea Hembrey not only makes a point of hand-making his own work, he’s invented five fictional artist/makers for a solo show at Chelsea’s Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery. Here, ‘Pawnee Calhoun’ explores physics with a ‘super collider anomaly’ made from altered hornets nests. (Through Dec 13th).
Pawnee Calhoun, untitled (supercollider anomaly), altered hornet nests, 28 x 35 x 21 inches, 2014.
IT professor and artist E.M. Saniga explains that his professional focus – mathematical model building – and his passion for painting are not so dissimilar, both involving abstracting reality in inventive ways. Saniga’s recent series at Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects was inspired by objects unearthed in an 18th century Quaker home and items from museum collections and the imagination. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 16th)
E.M. Saniga, ‘Early Shoes and Quaker Moths,’ oil on panel, 2012-2014.
Using maps of the night sky as background, New York artist Jessica Rankin adds phrases and words from her own thoughts and found texts in a fragmented, poetic mediation on cosmic forces and personal experience. (At Salon94 Freemans through Dec 21st).
Jessica Rankin, The Ancient Seat of Indescribable You, graphite, ink and collage on paper, 42 x 42 inches, 2014.
Now based in Toronto, ‘80s downtown art influencer Alan Belcher makes a New York comeback at Marlborough Gallery this month with work including this ceramic plaque of a .jpg file kept tantalizingly closed. (On the Lower East Side through Nov 16th).
Alan Belcher, ____.jpg, glazed ceramic plaque, 10 x 7 ½ x 1 ½ inches, 2014.
Working from torn billboard posters, Johannesburg-based artist Kay Hassan created this monumental untitled piece at Jack Shainman Gallery over ten years ago. Explaining that it represented dispossessed people, Hassan points to the eye in the middle as a symbol of looking and praying for justice. (Through Nov 15th).
Kay Hassan, Untitled, paper construction, 268 ½ x 132 inches, 2001-03.
Ever politically minded, New York based artist Hans Haacke presents new work at Paula Cooper Gallery targeting the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new fountains, funded by political conservatives, the Koch Brothers. Flanked by pictures of the fountain and seemingly buoyed by doctored $100 bills, Haacke’s Met façade offers businesses the opportunity to park a corporate name on the building. (Through Nov 22nd).
Hans Haacke, The Business Behind Art Knows the Art of the Koch Brothers, UV matted laminated color inkjet photo mounted on aluminum, photo-collaged hundred dollar bills, 2014.
As a founder of the post-war European ‘Zero’ Group, Heinz Mack explored the effects of light and various reflective materials in an attempt to take his art back to an experimental stage, or conceptual ground zero. Here, a ‘light relief’ sends the eye shooting around a surface of raised patterns as the light conditions and reflections in the gallery define the viewing experience. (At Sperone Westwater Gallery on the Lower East Side through Dec 13th).
Licht-Relief (Pyramide), aluminum and wood, 29 1/8 x 34 x 2 5/8 inches, 2004.
The title of this towering sculpture in graphite-rubbed cedar by Ursula von Rydingsvard – ‘Dumna’ – implies dignified pride. Ending with –a indicates the feminine form of the word. Solid as a geological formation yet seeming to sway in graceful contrapposto, the title seems appropriate. (At Galerie Lelong through Dec 13th).
Ursula von Rydingsvard, Dumna, cedar, graphite, 130 x 97 x 64.5 inches, 2014.
Trained in dance, Brooklyn-based artist Jennifer Paige Cohen translates her experience with bodies in movement into lively sculptures made with colorful plaster-cast garments that echo arrangements of body parts. (At Nicelle Beauchene Gallery on the Lower East Side through Nov 9th).
Jennifer Paige Cohen, Let the Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures), sweater, plaster, stucco, 2013.
Though it’s tempting to dismiss New-York based artist Gedi Sibony’s new works – rectangles cut from aluminum semi-trailers – as gimmicky abstraction, scrapes, dents and gashes lend each a certain authenticity. Redacted text, as in the covered up letters ‘ALL,’ suggest a hasty attempt at erasing the past. (At Greene Naftali Gallery through Nov 8th).
Gedi Sibony, All, aluminum semi-trailer, 101 ¾ x 104 ¾ inches, 2014.
Known for abstract art crafted with a superabundance of non-art materials, Judy Pfaff outdoes herself in two solo shows at Chelsea’s Pavel Zoubok Gallery and Loretta Howard Gallery. Here, she uses paper lanterns, honeycombed paper and expandable foam in a floor-to-ceiling artwork that suggests explosive force, high temperatures, decay and fossilization. (This piece included in Pavel Zoubok’s installation, both shows through Nov 15th).
Judy Pfaff, Belle Starr/Blue Duck, paper, pigmented expanded foam, acrylic, resin and honeycomb, 118 x 132 x 24 inches, 2014.
Anxious greyhounds greet visitors to Elizabeth Jaeger’s debut solo show at LES gallery Jack Hanley, setting an oddly expectant mood. Though the space is too large and bright to convey much angst, Jaeger’s weirdly proportioned animals are winningly lively. (Through Nov 9th).
Elizabeth Jaeger, installation view of ‘Six-Thirty’ at Jack Hanley Gallery, October 2014. (Includes ‘Yet to be Titled (Dog),’ ceramic, hydrocal, loose graphite, house paint/latex paint, leather, brass.)
In signature strong colors and geometric abstraction, Berlin-based artist Thomas Scheibitz’s new painting series riffs on the endless possibilities for creativity in the artist’s studio. Here, a small table seems to support a letter, a number, various experiments and a giraffe-like form also resembling an electrical plug that energizes the whole arrangement. (At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 20th).
Thomas Scheibitz, Studio Imaginaire, oil, vinyl, pigment marker on canvas, 114 1/5 x 70 7/8 inches, 2014.
Ghanaian artist El Anatsui continues to work magic on discarded materials with a new show of textile-like wall hangings crafted from liquor-bottle tops. Though abstract, the gorgeous designs recall maps or luxurious fabrics. (At Jack Shainman Gallery’s 24th Street Chelsea location, through Nov 15th).
El Anatsui, Another Place, 110 x 123inches, found aluminum and copper wire, 2014.
Danish artist Rose Eken lovingly recreates an imagined punk rock venue cum anthropological display with her ‘Remain in Light’ installation at The Hole. Here, she’s arranged cigarette lighters, butts, matches, beer bottles, amps and many, many more artifacts handmade from paperclay in what the gallery calls, ‘…a personalized memorial to NYC’s dwindling lawless zones and the mayhem they contained.’ (Through Nov 2nd).
Rose Eken, installation view of ‘Remain in Light’ at The Hole, Oct, 2014.
Found paintings, shopping bags, books and more items gathered from his everyday life in Berlin and New York inspired the abstract collage-paintings in Arturo Herrera’s latest solo show. (At Sikkema Jenkins in Chelsea through Nov 15th).
Arturo Herrera, Untitled (Liebe), mixed media on canvas, 43.25 x 22.5 inches, 2014.
Inspired by the Fujianese practice of adding an annual coat of lacquer to your coffin in old age, Beijing-based painter Wang Guangle adds layers of paint to his ‘Coffin Paint’ canvases to signify the passage of time. (At Pace Gallery, 510 West 25th Street, through Nov 1st).
Wang Guangle, (detail) Coffin Paint 140404, acrylic on canvas, 2014.
Art and science meet in Alyson Shotz’s otherworldly steel wire and glass bead sculpture at Derek Eller Gallery. Titled ‘Invariant Interval’ after the spaces between coordinates in a grid that measures spacetime, the piece achieves Shotz’s goal of “…investigating the basic forces that shape our entire physical and metal experience of life” while managing to look gorgeous at the same time. (In Chelsea through Nov 8th).
Alyson Shotz, installation view of Invariant Interval, stainless steel wire, glass beads and aluminum collars, 98 x 104 x 230 inches, Derek Eller Gallery, Oct 2014.
Beijing-based artist Liu Bolin pictures himself in this larger-than-life sculpture going through airport security. Contrary to the freedom of flying, the artist describes this gesture as abandoning independence and offering a prayer for safety. Covered in designs based on snack food packaging, Liu Bolin simultaneously suggests identity further compromised. (At Chelsea’s Klein Sun Gallery through Nov 1st).
Liu Bolin, Security Check No 1, acrylic on copper, 80 ¾ x 37 3/8 x 21 5/8 inches, 2014.
Titled ‘Chuck’ after his travelling salesman father, Houston-based artist Jeremy Deprez’s huge abstract painting takes its cue from a popular vertical stripe pattern in men’s dress shirts. Sized XXL (at over 14 feet long), the painting is a tour de force of optical illusion and gives new meaning to the concept of power dressing. (At Zach Feuer Gallery in Chelsea, through Nov 8th).
Untitled (Chuck), acrylic on canvas, 111 x 176 1/2, 2014.
This small exhibition of work by the Chinese dissident artist Ai Wei Wei at Chelsea’s Chambers Fine Art shows the artist continuing to work on themes related to the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province. Here, a marble rendering of a twisted piece of metal rebar is placed on each casket, acting as memorial to the thousands of children who died when their shoddily constructed schools collapsed. (Through Nov 1st).
Ai Wei Wei, installation of ‘Rebar Casket and Marble Rebar,’ nos I – VIII, huali wood, marble and foam, 2014.
Black, yellow, red and white rectangles in Sadie Benning’s ‘Julie’s Rug’ painting suggest a national flag but the title refers to artist, activist and Group Material co-founder Julie Ault. Part of Benning’s solo show ‘Patterns’ at Callicoon Fine Arts on the Lower East Side, the handmade forms zing with energy and import. (Through Oct 26th).
Sadie Benning, Julie’s Rug, medite, aqua resin, casein and acrylic, 60 5/8 x 70 3/8 inches, 2014.
Inspired by the fact that the Drawing Center’s 1866 SoHo building originally housed a loom company, Chicago-based artist Anne Wilson’s installation is an artwork being gradually created by winding and crossing thread around the gallery’s columns. (Through December 14th).
Anne Wilson, To Cross (Walking New York), site-specific performance and sculpture, 2014.
Though German artist Tomma Abts makes no use of source material, preferring to conjure shapes and forms from an intuitive trial and error process, the shapes in ‘Fenke’ brings to mind origami forms, unwrapped packaging and more. Playing with our perception of depth, she even slices a corner from this soothingly green canvas. (At David Zwirner Gallery through Oct 25th).
Tomma Abts, Fenke, acrylic and oil on canvas, 18 7/8 x 15 inches, 2014.
Jane Corrigan blends average looks and extraordinary hair in portraits of young female athletes, finding moments of wonder in the everyday. (At Kerry Schuss on the Lower East Side through Oct 26th).
Jane Corrigan, Windbreaker (Adidas), oil on linen, 26.5 x 31 inches, 2014.
Whether he’s building up a support from layers of paper or putting down thick strokes of paint, American painter Stanley Lewis constructs heavily considered, highly absorbing scenes from the world around him. (At Betty Cuningham Gallery, now located on the Lower East Side, through October 25th).
Stanley Lewis, (detail from) Boat on the Beach, Lake Chautauqua, oil on canvas, 2013.
Mass groups of nude men and women, pawns in a larger social design, populate European-American artist Irving Norman’s work from the late 60s to 80s, now on view at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery. Here, futuristic planes packed with passengers shoot out polluting smoke as they blast ominously forward. (In Chelsea through October 25th).
Irving Norman, Airport, oil on canvas, 92 x 119 ¾ inches, 1972.
Ricco Maresca’s excellent ‘Body Electric’ group exhibition of vintage and designed-for-the-body contemporary art takes tattooing to a new level. Here, a sampling of work from Colin Dale (top left), Jacqueline Spoerle (bottom right and left) and Duke Riley (top right) combine detail, skill and originality. (In Chelsea through Oct 25th).
Installation view of ‘Body Electric,’ including work by Colin Dale, Jacqueline Spoerle and Duke Riley at Ricco Maresca, Oct, 2014.
Famous for photographing evidence of cultural mixing/cross-over, artist duo Robbins and Becher travelled the country shooting images of Ten Commandment sculptures, some of which have sparked controversy when placed on public property. Here, the world’s largest version features letters five feet high. (At Chelsea’s Sonnabend Gallery through Oct 25th.)
Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, Fields of the Wood, Murphy, North Carolina.
The title of New York sculptor Mark di Suvero’s latest monumental steel sculpture, ‘Luney Breakout,’ says it all. Resembling a zany all-elbows-and-knees character with wild swooping hair, the 22 foot tall piece is either mad, exuberant or both. (At Paula Cooper Gallery’s 534 West 21st Street location, through Oct 22nd.)
Mark di Suvero, Luney Breakout, 22 ft, 3 inches, x 22 ft, 6 inches x 12 ft, 6 inches, steel, 2013.
