Constanza Schaffner at Luhring Augustine Gallery

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Constanza Schaffner goes eye to eye with a friendly lion, laughs with abandon and basks in the light in new, fantastical self-portraits at Luhring Augustine Gallery’s Tribeca space.  Here, the shadow of a large flower falling over Schaffner’s face adds complexity to her appearance while the light from another planetary orb illuminates from behind.  Alongside her, her hair transforms into swirling glyphs and her uncovered shoulders come alive in a multi-color pattern of yellow, peach and blue tones that take her far from traditional portraiture into a place of inventive freedom.  (On view through March 2nd ).

Constanza Schaffner, Un canto que atravieso, oil on linen, 90 x 70 inches, 2023.

Madeline Hollander at Bortolami Gallery

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Initially trained as a ballet dancer, Madeline Hollander incorporates movement into her artistic practice in surprising and delightful ways.  Her current solo show at Bortolami Gallery in Tribeca titled ‘Entanglement Choreography’ presents a grid of six mirrored pods on round pedestals which at first glance belie the magic of peering inside.  Each sculpture houses a tiny rotating dancing figure, abstracted like a Matisse nude, which at a certain angle appears to both float above the pod and be contained within it.  Nodding in the title to the notion in physics of quantum entanglement, when two separate particles demonstrate a connection with each other as if moving as if in a dance, Hollander’s partners manifest what Einstein called ‘spooky action at a distance.’ (On view in Tribeca through March 2nd).

Madeline Hollander, Entanglement Choreography VI (figs. 6, 12, 18, 24), 24 x 24 x 32 ½ inches, 2023.

Luciana Pinchiero at Praxis Gallery

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The striking figures of three life-sized Greek goddesses, accompanied by the silhouettes of three women adopting positions from a how-to book about drawing the nude figure pose dramatically at the center of Luciana Pinchiero’s first NY solo at Praxis Gallery in Chelsea.  Crafted from flat pieces of material, these classic and current representations of women literally lack dimensionality.  Inspired by ancient stories of idealized women from Pygmalion’s sculpture-turned-live-woman to the Venus de Capua who poses as if holding up a mirror, Pinchiero’s sculpture and her paper collages juxtapose imagery from different eras to question how much representation of women has actually changed over time.  (On view in Chelsea through March 9th).

Luciana Pinchiero, installation view of Bad Posture at Praxis International Art, Jan ’24.

Glenn Kaino at Pace Gallery

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Known for working in media including performance, film and theater, LA artist Glenn Kaino turns to portrait painting, small-scale sculpture of adapted samurai helmets and Japanese punch embroidery for his first major solo show at Pace Gallery.  Fresh on the heels of a soon-to-close exhibition at the Japanese American National Museum in LA for which he recreated his grandfather’s small East LA market, Kaino continues to probe his heritage as a Japanese American.  The show’s portraits aim to keep a record of community in the form of paintings of Kaino’s friends, musicians and people he meets.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 24th).

Glenn Kaino, Michael, oil on canvas, 61 x 49 x 3 inches, 2023.

Carey Young at Paula Cooper Gallery

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Google Her Honour Judge Barbara Mensah, the first Circuit Judge of African origin in England and Wales when appointed in ’05, and animated pictures will pop up of her speaking at a podium or posing in her robes and white judges’ wig.  In front of Carey Young’s camera, however, Judge Mensah sits almost motionless, making steady eye contact with us, a larger-than-life presence who seems to be waiting for us to speak.  She is one of fifteen female judges from the UK who are featured in the video ‘Appearance,’ now on view at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea, a title which doesn’t just refer to a court appearance but to the appearance of the judges who sit on the bench and embody the law.  Closeups of jewelry, hair and shoes highlight the individuality of each judge.  By celebrating ‘women in control of justice,’ as she puts it, Young points to the diversity she sees in the current legal system and her hopes for the future.  (On view through Feb 17th).

Carey Young, still from Appearance, single-channel HD video (from 4K); 16:9 format, color, silent, duration: 49 min, 30 sec, 2023.