Number 181 is a powerful presence at the entrance to abstract sculptor Leonardo Drew’s latest solo show at Chelsea gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co. Thick clusters of driftwood project out over viewers who draw close to explore small sticks with white ends laid out in lines between rows of variously shaped pieces of wood. In this and the show’s other sculptures, Drew powerfully juxtaposes chaotic arrangements and careful order. (Through Oct 8th).
Digital technology allows us to be (at least in our conscious minds) in more than one place at a time. Abstract painter Sarah Walker engages the possibility of seeing multiple dimensions at once in her ‘space machine’ paintings, canvases that seem to offer portals into parallel universes. (At Pierogi on the Lower East Side through Oct 9th).
The colors of Gustav Klimt’s famous portrait of Viennese girl Mada Primavesi (in the Met’s collection) inspired this lush painting by British artist Ian Davenport, seen here in detail. In Klimt’s original, Mada’s slim figure barely stands out against a background of white, lilac and pink color; here, Davenport allows the colors to take over fully. (At Paul Kasmin Gallery through Oct 22nd).
Hands down, the best views from any piece of New York real estate are to be had from a tiny, isolated shack on the side of a hill overlooking New York Bay. You can’t actually enter Rachel Whiteread’s ‘Cabin,’ for which she cast a small structure in concrete, but the surroundings are more the point anyway. With Manhattan’s skyscrapers in view to the north and the Statue of Liberty looking over from the east, this new permanent public artwork is both isolated and at the center of the city. (On permanent view on Governors Island).
Judith Schaechter’s relatively small stained glass work, ‘Botanical Study,’ opens a show of new work that pits the human body against fabulous depictions of nature in all its rich abundance. Here, Schaechter ignores humans entirely, zeroing in on a single drop of rich plant and insect life, amplifying the wonders of the natural world. (In Chelsea at Claire Oliver Gallery, through Oct 22nd).
