Whitney Oldenburg at Chart Gallery

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A sculpture titled ‘Feeding Frenzy’ – three giant chrysalis forms studded with red paper admission tickets – announces Whitney Oldenburg’s first New York solo at Chart Gallery as an energetic and ambitious debut.  In addition to suggestive titles, unusual materials hint at storylines – Feeding Frenzy mixes in ear plugs, helmets to bring to mind a raucous concert. Composed of molds of ‘Feeding Frenzy’ along with row after row of generic acetaminophen, ‘High Tide,’ pictured here, alludes to medicated states.  Also resembling a shell big enough for Venus to arrive on, the sculpture remakes the natural world through human materials as eclectic as lollipop sticks and tiki wall, one of Oldenburg’s idiosyncratic works that beg a closer look. (Gallery opening hours change during the holidays. Check opening hours before visiting.  On view in Tribeca through Jan 6th).

Whitney Oldenburg, High Tide, molds of Feeding Frenzy, metal, clay, lollipop sticks, tiki wall, generic acetaminophen, leather, linen, resin, 60 x 51 x 28 inches, 2023.
Whitney Oldenburg, (detail) High Tide, molds of Feeding Frenzy, metal, clay, lollipop sticks, tiki wall, generic acetaminophen, leather, linen, resin, 60 x 51 x 28 inches, 2023.

 

Jacolby Satterwhite at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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Vastly larger than any work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jacolby Satterwhite’s commissioned six-channel projection ‘A Metta Prayer’ transforms the museum’s cavernous lobby space into a celebratory, uplifting and politically insistent digital realm.  Inspired by the Buddhist mantra of loving-kindness, phrases including, “May we always hear ourselves clearly” and “May your martyred fate start a revolution against hate” (seen here) appear over computer generated individuals running as if in a video game to collect ‘mantra coins.’  In the segment pictured here, dancer O’Shea Sibley appears in white sweats, filmed months before he was murdered in a racist and homo-phobic attack in a Midwood gas station last summer.  Satterwhite’s prayer continues, ‘May your candid grace deface, replace this senseless race.’ (The museum will be closed Jan 1st.  On view through Jan 7th.)

Installation view of The Great Hall Commission: Jacolby Satterwhite, A Metta Prayer, Dec 2023.

Lynda Benglis at 125 Newbury

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Octogenarian artist and Process Art icon Lynda Benglis continues to explore organic abstraction in lively new works at 125 Newbury in Tribeca.  By placing sheets of abaca paper – from a type of banana tree native to the Philippines – on either side of forms made of bamboo reeds or aluminum wire, Benglis creates dynamic shapes that recall exoskeletons or chrysalises.  Titled ‘Skeletonizer,’ the show’s work references types of moths, appropriate to the dynamic sculptures that appear to climb the gallery walls. (Gallery opening hours change during the holidays. Check opening hours before visiting.  On view through Jan 13th).

Installation view of ‘Skeletonizer’ at 125 Newbury, Dec 2023.

Paulette Tavormina at Winston Wachter

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Immediately arresting for their beauty and dramatic lighting, Paulette Tavormina’s still life photos from the past several years are a standout at Winston Wachter Fine Art in Chelsea. Formerly a Hollywood food and prop stylist and contributor to National Geographic and the New York Times, Tavormina marshals her skills to create contemporary reinterpretations of still lifes by 17th century painters, including one of the first female still life artists, Giovanna Garzoni; Spanish painter of dramatically-lit scenes Frances de Zurbarán; and Dutch Golden Age still life painter Adriaen Coorte.  Tavormina – who comes from a line of avid gardeners – makes the work her own by growing most of the fruits and flowers that she uses and adding surprise elements like the pair of goldfish in the vase pictured here. (On view through Jan 6th.)

Paulette Tavormina, Dutch Tulips & Goldfish, archival pigment print, ed of 5, 36 x 36 inches, 2021.

Jennifer Carvalho at Helena Anrather Gallery

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Derived from art historical textbooks and web sources, Canadian artist Jennifer Carvalho’s painted remakes of medieval and Renaissance imagery now on view on the Lower East Side at Helena Anrather Gallery recontextualize ancient expressions of strong feeling or devotion.  Performing what the gallery calls ‘art historical archaeology,’ Carvalho digs up new meaning by cropping a face to put a focus on an abundance or tears or zeroing in on a hand supported by another person’s hands that foregrounds an emotive or tender moment.  Here, disembodied arms with hands in a pose related to mourning hover over a space featuring decorative gothic architecture and a curtained bed, foregrounding a surreal but expressive gesture in a space that combines both the public and private.  (On view through Dec 22nd).

Jennifer Carvalho, Clasped hands (study of mourning), oil on canvas, 2023.