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Art This Week: Vases, Radio Waves, Self-Reflection

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(image via Richard Taittinger Gallery)

Transmitting Waves
Opening Wednesday, September 12 at Richard Taittinger Gallery, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through November 10.

There’s something inexplicably entrancing about the colors that pervade vintage printed matter, such as ads or movie posters. The colors tend to look impossibly vivid, or at least they do to my eyes. I get a similar feeling when viewing the work of the late artist Nassos Daphnis, who also developed a color theory stating each primary color, plus white and black, “occupies a number of planes on a scale of 1 to 100.” It’s no surprise, then, that the man stuck with these five shades in his art-making as well. This show at Richard Taittinger Gallery is a “reimagining” of a 1983 show at Leo Castelli Gallery, a place Daphnis exhibited at often, though it also includes works that haven’t been shown before. If you’re into fine lines, bold colors, geometric precision, and a minimal-yet-vivid take on radio waves and the like, this is the show for you. More →

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City Planning Weapons, The Internet’s Queer Future, And More Art This Week

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Zhang Enli
The Broken Sofa, 2017
Oil on canvas
220 x 180 cm / 86 5/8 x 70 7/8 in
© Zhang Enli
Courtesy the Artist and Hauser & Wirth

The Garden
Opening Thursday, January 25 at Hauser & Wirth 22nd Street, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through April 7.

Some abstract art is indeed just blotches of color, shape, and brushstroke. But some art that looks abstract, such as the works of Zhang Enli, could in fact be a version of hyperrealism. The subjects of Enli’s paintings are often recognizable landscapes, such as the gardens peppered throughout Shanghai, zoomed in far enough to become unrecognizable and in doing so, take on a new type of beauty. However, there’s only the partial presence of hyperrealism in Enil’s works, as they’re modeled off of real imagery but imbued with his own personal interpretation. Is that swirl green because it was originally green, or does it look that way because the artist made it so? You can give your best guess, but not knowing is part of the fun.

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Italian Anti-Capitalists, Bobby Cannavale at an Opening, and More Art This Week

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Orchestra di stracci – vetro diviso (Rag Orchestra – Divided Glass) — Michelangelo Pistoletto, 1968
Rags, bricks, fabric, glass, kettles, steam, hot plates
2 glass panels, each: 0.4 x 130 x 90 cm / 1/8 x 51 1/8 x 35 3/8 in
Installation: 50 x 320 x 270 cm / 19 5/8 x 126 x 106 1/4 in (approx.)

Arte Povera
Opening Tuesday, September 12 at Hauser & Wirth 22nd Street, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through October 28.

When you think about Italian art, the Renaissance probably is the first thing to come to mind. However, as many of us have come to know far too late in life, what you were taught in your history classes is far from the whole picture. In this case, Italy is and has been home to a wide variety of artistic movements, and not all of them involved painting elaborate portraits for wealthy patrons. More →

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Tiny Art in a Laundromat, Unlimited Algorithmic Paintings, and More Exhibition Openings

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(image via Trevis True / Facebook)

Coin-Op: a tiny art show
Opening Monday, April 17 at Sunshine Laundromat and Pinball, 9:30 pm. One night only.

The Sunshine Laundromat in Greenpoint has a lot to offer. You can wash your clothes. You can play plenty of pinball. You can sip beer or wine while doing all of this. And tonight, you can experience something a little bit artsier. The vending machine at Sunshine has been host to many trinkets and miscellany, even catching media attention last year when they restocked it with Plan B and pregnancy tests alongside bite-sized candies. While you could argue that is a much more practical move, tonight this little machine sandwiched between a photobooth and Jurassic Park pinball machine will be filled with art of all shapes and sizes.

Well, not quite all shapes and sizes, seeing as there is only so much space in that thing. The exhibition’s Facebook event has even outlined parameters for interested artists: any submissions “can range in size from a personal bag of Cheetos to a Snickers bar or a can of Axe body spray.” If you’re on your last pair of underwear and have been putting off laundry for an undisclosed amount of time, this little art show could be the motivation you needed to get ‘er done. And you could leave with a souvenir—since the art will be in a literal vending machine, the pieces will indeed be available for purchase. More →

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Art Openings: Love Positive Women, Virtual Quilts, and More

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(by David Shama, via Con Artist / Facebook)

(by David Shama, via Con Artist / Facebook)

Supernatural
Opening Wednesday January 25 at Con Artist Collective, 7 pm to 11 pm. On view through January 27.

Inspired by the popularity of Netflix’s Stranger Things and other popular culture in genres that like to bring on the chills, Con Artist Collective’s Supernatural exhibition is a quick weeklong endeavor showcasing all things that go bump in the night. So, you’ll bear witness to ghosts, werewolves, demons, vampires, and other otherworldly creatures, but this won’t only be literal manifestations of the theme. Some artists will choose a more metaphorical path, rendering feelings of fear, suspense, or uncertainty through color, shape, or something else entirely. Boo! More →

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A Bed-Stuy Biennial, Nina Simone Self-Defense, and Other Art Events This Week

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Nkiruka J. Oparah, study n° 080415, 2015, digital collage (image via BRIC)

Nkiruka J. Oparah, study n° 080415, 2015, digital collage (image via BRIC)

BRIC Biennial: Volume II, Bed Stuy / Crown Heights
Opening Wednesday, November 9 at BRIC, 7 pm to 9 pm. On view through January 15. 

BRIC’s largest exhibition to date is centered at Downtown Brooklyn’s BRIC House but also taking place in portions of Crown Heights’s FiveMyles, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Weeksville Heritage Center. The show’s sprawling spread reflects the artists represented in the show, as all 40 are local to Crown Heights and Bed Stuy. The theme for the exhibit is “Affective Bodies,” placing a focus on “bodily experience rather than on learned knowledge,” a somewhat subversive move in the world of art exhibits, as so many are grounded in theory, explained using highly academic terms, and/or featuring high-class educated folks. Each non-BRIC venue will showcase a different sort of work: Weeksville Heritage artists are focused on the “emotional resonance” people give urban spaces, the Brooklyn Public Library artists use preexisting documents as their source material to create new works, and FiveMyles will focus on performance art. More →

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Gallery Sleepover, Magical Laughter Workshop, and Other Art Occasions

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Untitled, 1971 Ink on paper 27.6 x 35.2 cm / 10 7/8 x 13 7/8 in © The Estate of Philip Guston Courtesy Hauser & Wirth

Untitled, 1971
Ink on paper
27.6 x 35.2 cm / 10 7/8 x 13 7/8 in
© The Estate of Philip Guston
Courtesy Hauser & Wirth

Laughter in the Dark, Drawings from 1971 & 1975
Opening Tuesday, November 1 at Hauser & Wirth 22nd Street, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through January 14. 

While our heads are all aflurry with the politics of today, it could be good to take a break, clear your head before you place pen to paper and fill out that absentee ballot, trying not to smudge the ink with your tears of frustration and hopelessness. Though this election season seems truly eternal, there were other presidents, and there was art made about them, too. Hauser & Wirth’s 22nd Street location will be showing a tremendous collection of Philip Guston’s satirical caricature drawings of Richard Nixon, from his well-known “Poor Richard” series to collections of sketches rarely seen by the public, if at all.

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