(image courtesy of Cooler Gallery)

Origins
Opening Tuesday, April 3 at Cooler Gallery, 7 pm to 10 pm. On view through May 19.

What is a Fuzzy Dude? I have some theories, but so does artist and director John McLaughlin, whose solo show Origins will give you a thorough introduction to these wacky creatures that have sprung from his brain. Appropriately, Fuzzy Dudes are beings covered in a stringy, colorful fur that recalls silly string, shaggy dogs, household mops, or something else entirely. They come from a “space-like” dystopian world, or so I’m told, but you can see them come to life on Earth by way of sculpture, video, and more. Watching these curious creatures feels almost like a psychedelic experience, as their multicolored, textured bodies run, jump, and sway. Their actions are humanlike, but their appearance is a lot more interesting. Why not take a break from the dreaded news cycle for an evening and go meet some otherworldly beings?

(image via Jane Lombard Gallery / Facebook)

Jack
Opening Thursday, April 5 at Jane Lombard Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through May 12.

While some may associate the name Jack with a certain Twitter founder with a questionable content moderation process, the Jack in artist Sean Shim-Boyle’s exhibition is the one that has ties with a certain beanstalk. The solo show, which is the artist’s first exhibition with this Chelsea gallery, uses the tale of Jack and The Beanstalk to explore how, as a Korean-Canadian, he must “precariously grab on and assimilate to multiple identity systems.” His work consists of “peculiar” architectural installations, including an automatic door and an industrial paint mixer, that combine the familiar with the fantastical while still leaving room for the blurriness that exists when you refuse to settle into just one box.

(image via The Drawing Center / Facebook)

Terry Winters, Hipkiss, Eduardo Navarro
Opening Thursday, April 5 at The Drawing Center, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through various dates.

This Thursday, you can see not just one but four exhibitions open at The Drawing Center, including one in their stairwell. Art is everywhere! And there’s something for everyone. The main gallery features a survey of drawn work by philosophically-inclined artist Terry Winter created from 1980 until now, rife with abstraction, geometric patterns, and recurring motifs. In the aptly-named drawing room, you can see the Anglo-French duo Hipkiss’s dystopian drawings, with a series on how towers have been used as various symbols throughout time and genre. Then, work up an appetite for Eduardo Navarro’s show, which literally features “edible drawings inspired by quantum physics” that will be slowly made into a soup over time. Finally, decorating the stairwell is Inka Essenhigh’s mural that features a battle between New York’s old buildings and new condos.

Image: Branden Wallace, ‘Kendall’, 2017, C-Print, 14 x 11 in./Cupid Ojala, ‘White Armful #4’, 2015, C-Print, 17 x 11 in. (Sculptures in photo: Ernesto Pujol, ‘Intimate Body Parts’, 1995-1997, Clay and pigment.) Courtesy the artists. (via Leslie-Lohman Museum)

Queer Comfort: The Secret Room
Opening Friday, April 6 at Leslie-Lohman Project Space, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through April 8.

For a short and sweet weekend, you can cozy on up to this exhibition at the Leslie-Lohman Museum’s smaller project space on Prince Street featuring work by Branden Wallace and Cupid Ojala. The central theme of the duo’s work is comfort, which we’re seeing a lot of ideas about nowadays in the form of the buzzier term “self-care.” Rather than hawking expensive face masks and other dressed-up forms of capitalism, Wallace and Ojala’s work focuses on the specific ways the queer community comforts and cares for each other, on an individual and communal basis as well as yes, actual self-care. Expect soft, craft-centric sculptures, photography depicting “fantasy space” and calming rituals, and more.