Harvest
Opening Wednesday, October 23 at 172 East 4th Street, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through November 20.
Frequently, galleries will show work by acclaimed artists who just happen to not be alive anymore. Sometimes their work gets combined with more contemporary creations, but not when art advisory group Sidel & McElwreath is concerned. Their focus is squarely on living artists, and they’ll be showcasing nine of their favorites at an East Village exhibition opening this Wednesday. The work included runs the gamut in both form and content, like a bountiful harvest should, and presents a chance for artists and viewers of art who may not normally gather in the same room to come together as a community.
Breaking the Frame
Opening Thursday, October 24 at Hollis Taggart, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through December 14.
Chelsea’s Hollis Taggart has been around for just about 40 years, which is an impressive feat in a city like New York. Though its lifespan has been lengthy, the gallery has moved around a bit. It started on the Upper East Side then moved to Chelsea, and will be unveiling a new space in the same neighborhood this Thursday. Their new gallery will be launching with a group show of deeply colorful and eye-catching abstract works from five contemporary artists, injecting the quickly-chilling weather with some warmth and playfulness, from more traditional works on canvas by Dana James to Leah Guadagnoli’s dreamy sculptural works.
When I Wanted Everything
Opening Thursday, October 24 at Totah Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through December 18.
When you first look at art by Alex Sewell, it may be hard to tell what medium it is. Is it a photo, a painting, a 3D meta multimedia creation? While Sewell is formally a painter, his work specifically plays with dimension and expands what a 2D painting is conventionally known to look like. In one, an idyllic seascape gets subverted by being covered in what looks like pen doodles, and a painted hand reaches out to claw at the scene, creating a gaping hole in the environment and what appears to be the canvas itself. It’s equal parts jarring and intriguing. This and other Sewell works can be seen at Totah Gallery starting Thursday, which marks the painter’s second show at the Lower East Side space.
Update, October 23: the closing date and artist count for Harvest was edited to reflect updated information.