nyc art scene

Closing May 25:

“Between Silver Light and Orange Shadow”
 Elena Sisto

Lori Bookstein Gallery, 138 Tenth Ave., NYC (bt W18th & W19th St)

For the last three years, Elena Sisto’s paintings have explored the formative years of young women artists. Three-quarter profiles of women against the backdrop of the studio or partially hidden behind the canvas provide a portal into the psychology of a unique cast of characters. Though certainly abstracted into cartoonish guises, Sisto’s figures still maintain unique personalities and dispositions that hint at the possibility of narrative. The most recent paintings show an increasingly tighter cropping of the picture plane.

Recently Opened:

“Circulation: Date, Place, Events”
 Takuma Nakahira

Yossi Milo Gallery, 245 Tenth Ave., NYC (bt W24th & W25th St)

first solo show of Japanese photographer Takuma Nakahira in the United States. “Circulation: Date, Place, Events” was first exhibited in 1971 as part of the Seventh Paris Biennale. Each day, for seven consecutive days Nakahira photographed, developed and exhibited approximately one hundred photographs. The photographs are random glimpses from Nakahira’s daily activities in Paris, including strangers’ faces, produce stands, subway platforms, street posters and even his breakfast setting. Developing the photographs each night, Nakahira exhibited them without omission the following day. Once the walls of the exhibition space were crowded with photographs, the artist spread them onto the floor. The resulting project presented a limited reality dictated by guidelines of “date,” “place” and “events.” A selection of approximately 75 gelatin silver prints produced from the original 35mm black-and-white negatives will be on view. - July 12

thru June 1:

“Paul McCarthy: Sculptures”

Hauser & Wirth, 511 W18th St., NYC

massive black walnut wood sculptures depicting McCarthy’s versions of characters drawn from the famous 19th century German folk tale Schneewittchen (Snow White) and his caricatures of modern interpretations of the story, including those in Disney’s beloved 1937 animated classic film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’.

Closing Soon, May 26:

“NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star”
 curated by Massimiliano Gioni, Gary Carrion-Murayari,
 Jenny Moore and Margot Norton

New Museum, 235 Bowery, NYC

the large scale exhibition looks at art made and exhibited in New York over the course of one year. Centering on 1993, the exhibition is conceived as a time capsule, an experiment in collective memory that attempts to capture a specific moment at the intersection of art, pop culture, and politics.

Opens Tomorrow, May 23, 6-8p:

“Not a Rose”
 Heide Hatry

Stux Gallery, 530 W25th St., NYC

a solo exhibition of photographs by neoconceptual artist Heide Hatry. Hatryʼs serene scenes of flowers are actually photographs of trompe lʼoeil arrangements of the offal, sex organs and other residues of deceased animals. Seamlessly juxtaposing flowers assembled from grotesque, immaculately manicured flesh debris and picturesque, nonchalant nature, Hatryʼs works bring aesthetics and ethics into an explosive head-on collision that is both conceptually corrosive and visually arresting. - thru June 22

Opens Wed, May 22, 6-8p:

“There Are Women at the Gates Seeking a New World…”
 Elektra KB

BravinLee Programs, 526 W26th St., NYC (#211)

an exhibition in the gallery’s project room by Elektra KB of new works on paper, photography, and a selection of cloth pages of her 20 page, hand-sewn artist’s book. The pages of the book, each a sewn and embroidered felt collage, depict guerilla warfare in a mythological, semi-autobiographical world parallel to ours: a female rebel army revolting against the forces of a tyrannical police state. The women are primitivist and often uniformed and weaponized—most wear only short petticoats and veils or ominous balaklava. They pose brazenly with machine guns and chainsaws in photo ops, but Elektra KB has rendered these weapons more like toys, and according to her rule-set for this alternative world, they shoot rays of light not ammo.

thru June 8:

“Logical Expressions and Variations”
 William Betts, Gary Carsley, Shane Hope, Julie Oppermann

Margaret Thatcher Projects, 539 W23rd St., NYC

a group show including works by four contemporary artists who each incorporate the logical, rational and at times accidental reading of visual data by automated or organic systems in their artwork.