nyc art scene

Last Day May 25:

“Season 1 Episode 0”
 Ian Francis

Joshua Liner Gallery, 540 W28th St., NYC (new location)

Working in mixed media on canvas and acrylic panels, Ian Francis combines abstraction, figuration, and elements of both painting and drawing. For this exhibition, the artist unveils over a dozen medium- to large-scale works on canvas and ten smaller works on acrylic that reflect broadly on the experience of television entertainment. Season 1 Episode 0 is inspired by the reality and unreality of contemporary TV—from the made-up world of characters and storylines; to the digital manipulation of locations and visual effects; to the myriad platforms existing today for production, delivery, and global consumption.

thru June 29:

“Works on Paper 1976-1977”
 Palermo

David Zwirner Gallery, 537 W20th St., NYC

Drawn from museum and private collections, this exhibition has been organized in collaboration with the Palermo Archive on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the artist’s birth (in 1943 in Leipzig, Germany). The majority of the works on view were executed in New York, where (Blinky) Palermo lived and worked from 1973 until the spring of 1976. The artist died in February 1977. Executed at the end of the artist’s brief career, Palermo’s works on paper from 1976-1977 suggest a kind of summation of his artistic practice: not only do they exemplify his ongoing experimentation with the symbolic and formal possibilities of composition and space, but they also convey his understanding of color as a system of signs.

Opens Tonight, May 16, 6-8p:

“NFS & Tanam Press”
 co-organized with artist Peter d’Agostino

Printed Matter, 195 Tenth Ave., NYC

an exhibition of artists’ books from NFS Press, San Francisco, and Tanam Press, New York. The show is co-organized with artist Peter d’Agostino, who worked closely with both presses in the 1970s and 1980s. The material represents an important output from two like-minded publishers that aimed to provide writers and artists with a space for non-conventional projects, critical essays and experimental writing. The exhibition includes a selection of books from the two presses, along with archival digital prints of restored and recreated posters, as well as related documents.

Opens Tonight, May 16, 6-9p:

video_dumbo

EYEBEAM, 540 W21st St., NYC
film tickets: $5 each, $10 daily pass, $20 festival pass.
exhibition open to the public during open hours

video_dumbo presents 106 artists from 30 different countries, championing the diversity of today’s experimental, moving image landscape. Screenings include several US premieres and new video works by: Christian Jankowski, Eija-Liisa Ahtilla, Nicolas Provost, Matthias Mueller/Christoph Girardet, Almagul Menlibayeva, Bjørn Melhus, Johan Grimonprez, Mike Hoolboom, Jesse McLean, and Mark Lewis. May 16-25

Opens Tonight, May 16, 6-8p:

“Men and Women”
 Tom Wood

Thomas Erben Gallery, 526 W26th St., NYC (4th floor)

Wood has been recognized as a defining presence in early British color photography, along with Martin Parr and Paul Graham. The works at Thomas Erben are selected from Wood’s forthcoming pair of books, Men and Women (Steidl), on which he collaborated with artist Padraig Timoney. - thru June 22

Opens Tomorrow, May 11, 5-7pm:

“A More Perfect Union”
 Ralph Fasanella

Andrew Edlin Gallery, 134 Tenth Ave., NYC (bt 18th & 19th Streets)

Spanning the entire career of the legendary self-taught New York painter, the works collected in this exhibition reveal many of the subjects and scenes that most captivated Fasanella: urban neighborhoods, labor activism (the Great Strike of 1912, Lawrence, MA), and national tragedies (the assassination of JFK) and traumas (the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg). Today, as demonstrated by the surge of protest by groups like Occupy, and growing recognition of the abiding facts of American economic disparity, Ralph Fasanella’s paintings are more revelatory, and relevant, than ever.

Closing May 18:

“Blue Plate Special”
 Kira Nam Greene

Accola Griefen Gallery, 547 W27th St., NYC (#634)

Kira Nam Greene’s paintings, drawings and custom wallpaper incorporate foodstuffs and patterns, which are transnational in origin.  Appropriating from both Western and Eastern sources, the artist refers, in part, to her position as a Korean immigrant woman in America. Making use of victuals for their relationship to the body, Greene depicts fleshy bowls of kimchi, gelatinous mounds of jello and luscious, ripe cherries. The food, both in harmony and discordance with its surroundings, becomes a surrogate for the desire to consume and/or to control.