Daniel Hesidence at Canada New York




Like Claes Oldenburg’s Ray Gun series, for which he gathered found objects that had a gun-like shape, Daniel Hesidence’s latest series of paintings – subtitled ‘Summer’s Gun’ – tempt his audience into a game of looking for and interpreting the various forms that take center stage against heavily textured backgrounds.  Set among calming, green-tones, an arrow-head or skull-like shape dominates this image, suggesting a still partially buried archaeological find.  (At Canada NY on the Lower East Side through Jan 6th).

 Daniel Hesidence, Untitled (Summer’s Gun), oil on canvas, 59 x 78 inches, 2015.


Angel Otero at Lehmann Maupin Gallery




Using skins of dried, peeled paint as a collage material, Angel Otero adheres color to his canvas in fleshy pinks and mustard yellows that recall deKooning’s sensuous Pink Angels tempered by a cooler palette.  (At Lehmann Maupin on the Lower East Side through Dec 31st).

Angel Otero, Come Sleep with Me: We Won’t Make Love, Love will Make Us, oil paint and fabric collaged on canvas, 96 x 72 x 2.5 inches, 2015.


Simryn Gill at Tracy Williams Ltd.




Stones gathered from an urban beach in Port Dickson, Malaysia rest alongside prints created from a huge variety of German potatoes in Australian artist Simryn Gill’s latest solo show at Tracy Williams, Ltd.  Both projects suggest nature’s overlooked abundance.  (On the Lower East Side through Jan 10th).

Simryn Gill, Foreground: Untitled, stones collected from one of the few remaining urban beaches in the town of Port Dickson, 8 wooden tables, 29 1/2 x 72 x 144 inches, 2015.  Background:  Let Them Eat Potatoes, 182 Louis Vuitton writing inks on Gmund paper, 24 x 17 inches each, 2014.


Gil Batle at Ricco Maresca Gallery





In this meticulous hand carving on ostrich egg by Gil Batle, who spent two decades incarcerated in California, a cast of characters carries on life in prison. Here, ‘Hollywood’ makes prison wine. (At Chelsea’s Ricco Maresca Gallery through Jan 9th). 

Gil Batle, Chrysalis, Carved ostrich egg shell, 6.5 x 5 x 5 inches, 2014.

Ian Ruhter at Danziger Gallery





This tranquil Lake Tahoe scene looks timeless, or at least captured about one hundred and fifty years ago. Working with a wet plate collodion process from the 19th century, photographer Ian Ruhter modernizes the method by shooting from inside a truck on huge plates, enacting what he calls a kind of alchemy. (At Chelsea’s Danziger Gallery through Jan 16th). 

Ian Ruhter, Snow on Pines, Lake Tahoe, 30 x 40 inch pigment print, 2010.