If you enjoyed my recent post featuring Brazilian artist Maria Nepomuceno’s vibrant abstract sculpture, see more of this gorgeous exhibition in the video below. With her repeated curving, organic forms, Nepomuceno aims to represent movement into our own inner depths as well as an expansion into the infinite.
Tricia Baga at Greene Naftali Gallery
It’s post-apocalypse in Trisha Baga’s imagination – Florida has mostly sunk into the sea and the array of artifacts left behind, including this Doritos bag and chips, have been rendered in ceramic and put on display. In the video at rear, peacocks pick at a seed portrait of Rosie O’Donnell. Baga’s rich imagination makes an unknown world all the stranger. (At Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through October 3rd).
Trisha Baga, Doritos bag with 4 doritos, glazed ceramic, 2 ¾ x 9 x 6 inches, 2015. Background: Peacock Museum. The Department of Education, video installation, 4 mirrors with fava beans, 18 min, 44 sec, each 23 ½ x 19 1/8 inches, 2015.
Christian Marclay, Surround Sounds at Paula Cooper
Christian Marclay’s 24-hour video of collaged clock-related film clips from 2010 was so engaging that his subsequent photo projects and onomatopoeia paintings have sometimes seemed bland by comparison. The standout piece in his latest solo show at Chelsea’s Paula Cooper Gallery corrects that trend, however, by animating words from cartoons in an eye-popping immersive installation that, though soundless, communicates loudly. (Through Oct 17th).
Installation view of Christian Marclay’s ‘Surround Sounds,’ at Paula Cooper Gallery, September 2015.
Marcel Odenbach at Anton Kern Gallery
For his latest solo show, German video and collage artist Marcel Odenbach produces collaged images of what he calls ‘Green Zones,’ or marginal spaces in which nature and unexplained human activity meet. Seen here in detail, a scarf tied around a tree branch suggests a memorial, composed of clipped and copied press images referring to “…religious delusion, racism and murder…’ explains the gallery. (At Anton Kern Gallery in Chelsea through July 3rd).
Marcel Odenbach, Grunflache 3 (Green Zone 3), ink and collage on paper, 81 x 108 inches (framed), 2014/15.
Nevet Yitzhak at Yossi Milo Gallery
Inspired by Afghan women who modified traditional rug patterns to include weapons and war vehicles after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Israeli artist Nevet Yitzhak creates digital war rugs featuring tanks, airplanes, and helicopters. Here (seen in detail), helicopters direct missiles at each other, causing explosions and devastation that belies any idea of weaving (even digitally) as a peaceful art. (At Yossi Milo Gallery through July 10th).
Nevet Yitzhak, detail from the series WarCraft, War Rug #2, projection of FHD video and animation, 8:00 min loop, stereo sound, 2014.
Lutz Bacher at Greene Naftali
In contrast to Andy Warhol’s 1964 film ‘Empire,’ Lutz Bacher’s installation by the same name features a multitude of Empire State Building spires in full color, reflecting off of sheets of Plexi arranged around GreeneNaftali Gallery. While the piece feels like a celebration of the fact that there’s no ‘one New York,’ sandbags holding down the panels add a note of caution. (In Chelsea through May 9th).
Lutz Bacher, Empire, two channel digital video, color/sound, Plexiglas, sand, 43 min, 1 second, 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.
Charles Atlas at Luhring Augustine Gallery
Against video of sunsets shot on a Rauschenberg residency in Florida, numbers flash in anticipation of the 18 minutes prior to sunset in veteran video-artist Charles Atlas’ latest solo show at Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine Gallery. Titled ‘The Waning of Justice,’ the show decries the current political state of the country with help in the back gallery from legendary drag performer Lady Bunny. (Through March 14th).
Charles Atlas, installation view of ‘The Waning of Justice,’ at Luhring Augustine, Feb 2015.
Saya Woolfalk at Leslie Tonkonow Artworks & Projects
Saya Woolfalk continues to imagine life in a utopic community of culturally hybridized beings with her new series of colorful sculpture, video and collage at Chelsea’s Leslie Tonkonow Artworks & Projects. In this lush corner installation, a meditating figure in fantastical priestly garb holds minerals that supposedly release the power of greater empathy. (Through Feb 28th).
Saya Woolfalk, ChimaTEK: Virtual Reality Station, mixed media installation with video, 108 x 91 x 19 ½, 2015.
Diana Thater at David Zwirner Gallery
Inspired by James Turrell sculptures, in which the audience looks upward through a ceiling aperture to view the sky as art, LA artist Diana Thater devised this projection on the ceiling of David Zwirner Gallery as an homage to the dung beetle, a creature which looks to the stars to guide its ecologically critical activity. (In Chelsea through Feb 21st).
Diana Thater, Science, Fiction, installation for two video projectors, media player, and lights, overall dimensions vary with installation, 2014.
Joachim Koester at Greene Naftali
Brooklyn-based Danish artist Joachim Koester channels the wild west in a distinctly avant-garde way in his absorbing video installation, The Place of Dead Roads, in which dancers dressed as grubby gunslingers move around an eerie boarded-up space as if locked in a tense shootout, all without weapons or an obvious enemy. (At Chelsea’s GreenNaftali through Feb 14th).
Joachim Koester, The Place of Dead Roads, HD video installation, color, sound, 33:30 min, 2013.
Trevor Paglen Installation at Metro Pictures
A never-ending scroll of words runs on all four walls of Metro Pictures‘ upstairs gallery, naming National Security Agency and Government Communications Headquarters surveillance program code names, gathered and presented by New York artist Trevor Paglen. Minimal and in black and white, the piece resembles a memorial, perhaps to freedom from observation. (In Chelsea through Dec 20th).
Trevor Paglen, installation view of ‘Code Names of the Surveillance State,’ November, 2014 at Metro Pictures.
Adam Shecter at Eleven Rivington
In a futuristic city inhabited by robots, stories of two dogs and a married couple loosely intertwine as one character tries to disentangle real from false memories. As could be expected, the protagonist never separates one from the other, but the process of watching is mesmerizing. (At Eleven Rivington’s 195 Chrystie Street location through October 5th).
Adam Shecter, installation view of ‘New Year’ at Eleven Rivington Gallery, September 2014.
Zipora Fried at On Stellar Rays
Beautiful organic forms, a trace of violence in a smear of blood, a mysteriously hazy landscape and a young woman crowned with a wig of wool and hidden by a totemic mask by Zipora Fried create an atmosphere of enticing mystery at her impressive solo show at On Stellar Rays on the Lower East Side (through October 12th).
Zipora Fried, Installation view of ‘I Hope the Moon Explodes,’ at On Stellar Rays, September, 2014.
Bouchra Khalili in ‘Here and Elsewhere’ at the New Museum
Bouchra Khalili’s video installation in the New Museum’s Arab art exhibition movingly documents the travels and travails of immigrants coming to Europe without papers. The tales of their setbacks and successes are mesmerizing. (Through Sept 28th).
Bouchra Khalili, The Mapping Journey Project, eight videos, color, sound, 2008-11.
Tony Orrico at PPOW Gallery
Dancer and visual artist Tony Orrico spent eight hours at PPOW Gallery in Chelsea creating this minimal work on paper – a record of his physical interaction with a vast sheet of paper made by chewing on each fold to leave a personal imprint on his material. (Through June 28th).
Tony Orrico, prepare the plane (P.P.O.W., New York, NY) 2014/2012, dental occlusion on archival bright white Neenah paper, 8:15:22 hours, 96 x 96 inches.
Mika Rottenberg Installation at Andrea Rosen
Just inside the front door of Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery, the drip from an air conditioner hits a hotplate, creating a arresting sound that sets the tone for a show full of magical occurrences and mysterious processes…(Through June 14th).
Mika Rottenberg, installation view of Tsss Tsss Tsss, air conditioner, plant, hotplate, frying pan, water, 2014.
Guido van der Werve in ‘Lone Tree’ at Marlborough Gallery
Guido van der Werve’s 2007 video ‘Nummer acht’ is a standout in Marlborough Gallery’s excellent ‘Lone Tree,’ a show dedicated to artists inspired by 19th century painter of the sublime landscape, Caspar David Friedrich. The Dutch artist walked about 10 meters in front of a towering ice-breaker off the frozen coast of Finland, suggesting bravery and folly in equal measure in one lone individual. (In Chelsea through May 3rd.)
Guido Van Der Werve, Nummer acht, Everything is going to be alright, 16mm to HD, 10 minutes, 10 seconds, 2007.
Allison Schulnik at ZieherSmith
‘Eager,’ Allison Schulnik’s new stop-motion animation starts with restrained dancing figures and quickly ups the pace as nature itself joins in the dance with flowers bursting forth in bloom and swaying with exuberant fecundity. (At Chelsea’s ZieherSmith through Feb 22nd.)
Allison Schulnik, still from ‘Eager,’ clay-animated, stop-motion video, 8 min, 30 sec, ed of 5, 2014.
Alex Prager at Lehmann Maupin Gallery
Alex Prager has explained that living in LA, she doesn’t have a lot of experience with crowds. Her latest body of photos and her film ‘Face in the Crowd,’ makes a break with the norm though as Prager directs actor Elizabeth Banks and hundreds of other actors on constructed sets as they play out scenes of crowd dynamics from the thrilling to the terrifying. (At Chelsea’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery through Feb 22nd).
Alex Prager, still from ‘Face in the Crowd’ at Lehmann Maupin Gallery, January, 2013.
Stan Douglas at David Zwirner Gallery
Vancouver photographer and filmmaker Stan Douglas continues a theme from his last show – the influence of Afrobeat on the NY music scene of the 70s – with his latest film ‘Luanda-Kinshasa,’ on view at Chelsea’s David Zwirner Gallery. Watching the video in its entirety – and music lovers may want to – could take six hours as the scenes run in non-sequential loops. (Through Feb 22nd).
Stan Douglas, still from Luanda-Kinshasa, Jan 2013, David Zwirner Gallery.
Mariano Sardon at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
Mariano Sardon not only gives us portraits, he tells us how we look at them. The Buenos Aires-based Argentinian artist shows a picture of a face to viewers while a camera records their eye movements. The information from many viewers is then mapped onto the face, which is drawn before our eyes following the sequences of the gazes. (At Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea through Dec 21st).
Mariano Sardon, from the series ‘150 Gazes looking around them,’ digital video, 2012.
Sarah Morris at Petzel Gallery
Part of an exhibition by British artist Sarah Morris inspired by Rio de Janeiro, this graphically slick painting evokes the iPhone’s sliding on/off switches, an active game board or abstracted commuters moving rapidly through the city grid, all of which make for an urban landscape painting that evokes a city on the move. (At Petzel Gallery through Dec 21st).
Sarah Morris, Hybrid Solar Eclipse (Rio), household gloss paint on canvas, 2013.
Josh Kline at 47 Canal
Hands down one of the best shows on in New York at the moment, Josh Kline’s latest solo show at 47 Canal on the Lower East Side includes this video, which maps Whitney Houston’s face onto an actress who brings the singer back from the grave to discuss a life shaped and destroyed by stardom. Cynical but utterly absorbing, Kline lambastes our society’s love of celebrity and youth. (Through Oct 13th).
Josh Kline, Forever 48 (installation), sculpture with video: plexiglass, LED lights, MDF, plywood, HD television, media player, SD card, 16 min HD video, 2013.
Simon Fujiwara at Andrea Rosen Gallery
Berlin-based artist Simon Fujiwara created this gender-reversing picture as part of a meandering investigation into a now-lost photo of his globe trotting, show-girl mother in the arms of a stranger on a beach in Beirut. With very little information to go on, Fujiwara goes on, casting actors to reconstruct the old photo while musing on family history. (At Chelsea’s Andrea Rosen Gallery through Aug 9th).
Detail from Simon Fujiwara’s exhibition ‘Studio Pieta (King Kong Komplex),’ at Andrea Rosen Gallery, July 2013.
Leslie Thornton at Winkleman Gallery
‘You get to have your cake and eat it, too,’ explains experimental film and video artist Leslie Thornton in respect to her three-channel video, ‘Luna.’ Digital effects morph her subject, Coney Island’s historic Parachute Jump, into vibrant, kaleidoscopic forms that evoke different 20th century time periods, prompting us to question what it is that conjures the mood of a particular era. (At Chelsea’s Winkleman Gallery through June 22nd).
Leslie Thornton, Luna, three-channel HD video, 12 minutes, 2013.
Cindy Sherman at Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Nov-Dec 2008.
Cindy Sherman dresses for success, donning a range of disguises that masterfully evoke the absurdity of the 'too much money, too little taste' crowd.
Kate Clark, ‘Perfect Strangers’ at Claire Oliver
Kate Clark makes stand-alone sculptures that look like they belong in a fairy-tale.
Olaf Breuning, at Metro Pictures
Olaf Breuning turns serious issues into a laughing matter.
Betty Woodman at Max Protetch Gallery
Max Protetch Gallery Feb-Mar 2008.
Betty Woodman's sculptures/ceramics/paintings bring beauty back to the art world.
Tobias Buche at Lehmann Maupin Gallery
Jan-Feb 2008.
Sculpture that tries very hard not to look too good. Tobias Buche's deliberately low-grade sculpture conjures a curious portrait of his inner world. Take Merrily Kerr's video tour of this work at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Chelsea.
Wayne Gonzales at Paul Cooper Gallery
Paula Cooper Gallery May-June 2007. Wayne Gonzales' paintings of crowds zero in on the American public, emphasising its divisions. Take Merrily Kerr's video tour of this work
Gordon Matta-Clark & Rirkrit Tiravanija at David Zwirner
This month, the exhibition mostly likely to get people talking earns its 'hottest show' tag by literally applying the heat to gallery visitors. As part of an installation, daily vats of feisty Thai curry are prepared, to which visitors can help themselves. Dealers, critics and art world luminaries have been spotted indulging in a spicy lunch at tables and chairs scattered around a plywood structure which replicates 303 Gallery's space in Soho, where the piece was first exhibited in 1992. Tiravanija reveals his indebtedness to Gordon Matta-Clark's precedent-setting café, 'Food' and his unconventional use of real estate by sharing the gallery space with a recreation of Matta-Clark's 'Open House,' a sculpture made in a dumpster which coincidently occupied the same SoHo address as Tiravanija's exhibition when it was created in 1972.
Tony Matelli, ‘New Works’, Leo Koenig Gallery,
Tony Matelli, ‘New Works’, Leo Koenig Gallery, until Feb 17, 2007
Tony Matelli’s perfectly life-like bronze sculptures elevate every-day objects.
Misaki Kawai, ‘Tiger Punch’ at Clementine Gallery
Clementine Gallery January 2007.
Kawai’s slapdash painted collages take a jab at slick, manga inspired art.
Ivan Navarro: ‘Concentration Camp’ at Roebling Hall
‘Concentration Camp’ at Roebling Hall December 2006
See how politics and neon converge.