(image via Foley Gallery)

Subtext II: Meditations
Opening Wednesday, May 17 at Foley Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through June 25.

I would remark on the humor inherent in exhibiting artist Wyatt Gallery’s name, who is indeed showing artwork in a gallery, but it seems he’s already got that covered. As soon as you visit his website, the very large and very green phrase “a person, not a place” is followed, literally, by a trademark symbol. So, guys… he gets it.

For this show, Gallery is displaying a series of works using foundational material quite truly ripped off of the city streets, in that they are portions of the endlessly-stacked-and-glued mountains that are NYC street advertising and flyering. He transformed these found object compilations into “UV cured photographic plates,” making them even more abstract in the process. Interestingly, Gallery sees these dirty, aged poster creations as relevant to his practice of mindfulness and meditation. So next time you’re saddled with a 20-minute train wait, maybe you should try deep breathing while staring at the many advertisements on the walls. Perhaps inner peace will crawl out from in between the pages.

(image via Fort Gansevoort)

Fabulism
Opening Thursday, May 18 at Fort Gansevoort, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through July 8.

Lauri Firstenberg curates this collection of work by Anthony James, which serves as the first solo showing of the LA-based British artist’s work in New York in over a decade. The show will be a hearty mix of old work and new sculptural pieces, inherently placing James’s body of work in conversation with what he is creating now. The show’s title, “Fabulism,” references a literary genre better known as “magical realism.”

The works use materials like steel, bronze, and neon. Sure, sure, neon is pretty played out when it comes to the art world, but it’s colorful and it glows and it makes words and shapes look cool. Sign me up.

Adrian Buckmaster, “Lewd”, 2013, Photograph, 13 x 19 in. Courtesy the artist. (image via Leslie-Lohman Museum / Facebook)

Lewd
Opening Friday, May 19 at Prince Street Project Space, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through May 21.

Though the Leslie-Lohman Museum has renovated and is in full swing nowadays, their smaller offshoot Prince Street Project Space is still exhibiting work as well. Their latest offering, on view for only a few days, is the photography of Adrian Buckmaster. Buckmaster has a real knack for photographic portraiture, and this show shall be no exception. Rather than photographing just anyone, these are images of people who have had a tangible impact on the artist’s life, whether that be long ago or in the current moment.

A statement for the show notes that Buckmaster’s portraits “rage in response to the sanitization of sexual identity.” He is known for photographing performers and queer luminaries from the world of nightlife, but placing them in softer, sophisticated portrait environments that recall more “highbrow” artistic settings like glossy editorials or Renaissance-era renderings. They don’t look full of rage per se, but they sure do look passionate.

Image: Luba Drozd, Solipsism, 2016. 2-channel video, piano strings, custom software, electronics, architectural vellum screens, acetate film screens. Dimensions variable.

Soon enough roads will be rivers
Opening Saturday, May 20 at Lubov, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through June 25.

Is the title of this art exhibit a reference to the advent of global warming that will soon enough ensure that we are all underwater? Well, I’m not sure, but isn’t that a nice thing to be reminded of on a day like Monday? Anyway, if you want a good dose of artistic escapism in a nice gallery in lower Manhattan, get yourself to Lubov, where you can see the work of artist Luba Drozd.

Drozd is all about illumination, working predominantly in “projected light.” She explores the potential of objects like translucent paper or piano strings to converse and play with the light itself, creating a heavenly scene that feels halfway underwater and halfway in the skies above.