Alfredo Jaar at Galerie Lelong

Calling it ‘the strongest expression of grief he has ever seen,’ Alfredo Jaar is showcasing an image by the late Dutch photojournalist Koen Wessing as part of his latest NY solo show. Wessing’s image depicts the reaction of two Nicaraguan women to news that their father has been killed in the revolution in 1978. Gradually, their images disappear in an increasingly bright blast of light, often used by Jaar as a metaphor for blindness. (At Galerie Lelong through March 28th).

Alfredo Jaar, Shadows, installation with LED lights, aluminum, video projection and six lightboxes with black and white transparencies, 2014.

Thiago Rocha Pitta at Marianne Boesky Gallery

Brazilian artist Thiago Rocha Pitta’s new videos track minute, artist-introduced changes to tiny segments of the landscape in Argentina. Here, a cascade of sand runs like a never-ending hourglass. (At Marianne Boesky Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 22nd.)

Thiago Rocha Pitta, Temporal maps of a non sedimented land #1, video, 2.33 min, 2015.

Rosa Loy in ‘Empire of the Senseless’ at Friedman Benda

Major Leipzig school artist Rosa Loy’s painting ‘Comfort’ loudly signals spring with giant snowdrops and rebirth with the strange orb emerging from a central figure who may have just risen from a hole in the ground. (At Friedman Benda Gallery through March 28th).

Rosa Loy, Trost, casein on canvas, 63 x 82.75 inches, 2009.

Matthew Darbyshire at Lisa Cooley Gallery

Using colorful corrugated thermoplastic, British artist Matthew Darbyshire has recreated often-seen items in Airbnb listings, making an otherwise unlikely connection between Michelangelo’s David and an old industrial radiator. (At Lisa Cooley Gallery on the Lower East Side through March 29th).

Matthew Darbyshire, CAPTCHA No. 24- David (foreground), multi-wall polycarbonate, silicone and steel armature, 78.7 x 31.5 x 23.5 inches, 2015.

Kehinde Wiley at Brooklyn Museum

New York artist Kehinde Wiley turns the tables on canonical western art history in paintings which substitute contemporary characters of African descent for European figures. Here, in a centerpiece of Wiley’s current Brooklyn Museum exhibition, a young man plays the role of odalisque. (Through May 24th).

Kehinde Wiley, installation view of ‘Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic,” Brooklyn Museum, February, 2015.