Uuriintuya Dagvasambuu at Sapar Contemporary

Standing in a circle of flames or wearing a crown of skulls, Buddhist protector deities can manifest in terrifying ways.  Mongolian artist Uuriintuya Dagvasambuu’s guardians, now on view in her solo show at Sapar Contemporary in Tribeca, are more obviously benevolent. Wearing Converse with her armor, this enlightened female figure holds a lotus as a symbol of her state of awareness while gazing forward with confidence.  Perched on an outcrop of land instead of the typical lotus and supported below by the flower of the edelweiss plant, a hardy species found from the Himalayas to Mongolia, Dagvasambuu’s figure engages tradition from a contemporary perspective with humor and respect.  (On view through Oct 10th).

Uuriintuya Dagvasambuu, Security 1, acrylic on canvas, 2023.

Wolfgang Tillmann at David Zwirner Gallery

‘Fold Me,’ German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans first solo show at David Zwirner Gallery in New York since his blockbuster MoMA retrospective last year, embraces the concept of the fold – the antithesis of linearity.  In the curves of a river shot from overhead or the crumpled forms of a dropped item of clothing, the artist subtly positions the viewer to question defined boundaries and the distinctions between inside and out.  In this piece, ‘Lennartz Factory Washroom,’ Tillmans pictures orderly rows of sinks in the washroom of a tool manufacturer in his hometown of Remsheid.  With this subject matter, Tillmans himself cycles back to a place he once lived in, disrupting the idea of an artist leaving never to return.  Though the room’s design is an exercise in repetition – like factory labor itself – with recurring sets of sinks, arrangement of windows, rows of pipes and lighting fixtures on the ceiling and a grid of floor tiles, the picture comes alive with towels that break the uniformity.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 14th).

Wolfgang Tillmans, Lennartz Factory Washroom, inkjet print on paper mounted on Dibond aluminum in artist’s frame, 2023.

Robert Lugo at R and Company

Philadelphia-based self-styled ‘village potter,’ artist, poet and activist Robert Lugo makes his NY solo show debut at R and Company with an exhibition inspired by art history and his own life experiences.  Known for his ceramic vessels that feature renowned African Americans (many grace the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s vibrant Afro-Futurist period room), this show includes portraits of Lugo’s community members modeled after relief sculptures by Renaissance artist Andrea della Robbia and vessels that resemble Greek amphora but feature scenes from the artist’s childhood neighborhood.  Painted in the orange and black colors of prison uniforms, this striking vessel depicts mass tire theft in the neighborhood.  (On view through Oct 27th).

Robert Lugo, The Day We Had Church and Tires Were Stolen, from the Orange and Black series, glazed stoneware, 2023.

Roy Lichtenstein at Gagosian Gallery

Created for the atrium of the theatrical management agency Creative Arts Agency’s IM Pei designed headquarters in 1989, Roy Lichtenstein’s Bauhaus Stairway Mural dominates a single cavernous room at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea.  Featuring the artist’s signature Benday dots and primary colors that imitate commercial printing techniques, the painting remakes Oscar Schlemmer’s famous 1932 painting of students at the Bauhaus, the famous pre-WWII German school of art and design.  Though the original was created in response to the Nazi closing of the school, Lichtenstein’s streamlined forms and bright colors on a huge scale suggest a more positive outlook on the upward movement of arts and ideas.  (On view through Dec 22nd).

Roy Lichtenstein, Bauhaus Stairway Mural, oil and magna on canvas, 26 x 5 ¾’ x 17’ x 11 ¾ inches, 1989.

Njideka Akunyili Crosby at David Zwirner Gallery

In an oasis of plants and a richly colored and patterned domestic environment, LA-based artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby poses with her baby on lap, looking out to meet the viewer’s eye in a standout piece in her current solo show at David Zwirner Gallery.  As a self-portrait as artist and mother, Akunyili Crosby projects poise and confidence amid a superabundance of imagery from Nigerian media sources, a signature element in her work. Using transfers on paper (in addition to acrylic, colored pencil and collage) Akunyili Crosby assembles photos from the worlds of Nigerian music, fashion, sports, culture and more into collages.  Taking the form of plants, architecture and more, the artist fashions influence into images that speak to her identity as both a Nigerian and an American.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 28th).

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Still You Bloom in This Land of No Gardens, acrylic, colored pencil, collage, and transfers on paper, 2021.