New shows opening this week in New York City art galleries explore a variety of themes. Artists explore nostalgia, spirituality, history carried forward and circumstantial duality in art shows opening this week in NYC through May 14, 2017. Expect to also find an exhibition that pairs art with short stories inspired by the work. This week's selections call out gallery shows in Chelsea, Midtown and Brooklyn.
CHELSEA
Ricco/Maresca: “Hiroyuki Doi: Soul”
May 11 through June 24, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 11 from 6 to 8 p.m.
Hiroyuki Doi will present intricate “sphere-scape” drawings at Ricco/Maresca in “Hiroyuki Doi: Soul.” Meticulous drawings, composed of tiny circles, evolve spontaneously until the work finds its complex form, according to a gallery press release. Hiroyuki Do's works embody a spiritual preoccupation rising from the relationship between the smallest part and the whole in a similar fashion to cellular biology and the cosmos. The drawings, which seem to breathe into the pictorial space and capture the tension between chance and intentionality like the philosophical action of the Zen “ensō.”
Hiroyuki Doi, who was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1946, began his career as an artist in 1980 after the death of his younger brother. His work brings together traditions of Asian and Western art, combining the Sino-Japanese tradition of ink painting with outsider and self-taught traditions of the West. Doi’s work has been shown internationally, including at the Museum of Everything and the Thomas Williams Gallery (London). In 2013, the Pilot Pen Station Museum (Tokyo) had a major retrospective of his work.
Ricco/Maresca is located at 529 W 20th St, New York, NY 10011. www.riccomaresca.com.
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"Soul II (HDY 3014)" by Hiroyuki Doi, 2014. Ink on Washi, 37.5 x 38.25 inches. Courtesy of Ricco/Maresca Gallery.
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Morgan Lehman Gallery: “Paul Wackers: Early Settlers”
May 11 through June 17, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 11 at 6 p.m.
In his third solo show with Morgan Lehman Gallery, Paul Wackers will present “Early Settlers,” an exhibition that reflects exploration of uncharted territory. By juxtaposing mundane objects of the real world against abstractions, the artist’s works establish personal and historical narratives offering a glimpse into an intimate world of domestic routine and a lens into collective human experience and historical change. Wackers recontextualizes everyday objects from the contemporary world in an ambiguous way, suggesting instability and uncertainty, while the presence of the natural world in sprawling foliage offers access to spaces of calm through a clearing in the dark woods, according to a gallery press release.
Paul Wackers, who hails from Connecticut, obtained his BFA from Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. and his MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been shown in Belgium, Denmark, Canada, Peru, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York, and has been featured in Hyperallergic, New American Painting and paper Magazine. He was commissioned for a large-scale public mural at the James Hotel (New York) and won the Tournesol Award from the Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito, CA).
Morgan Lehman Gallery is located at 534 W 24th St, New York, NY 10011. www.morganlehmangallery.com
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"Falling Light" by Paul Wackers, 2017. Acrylic and spray paint on canvas, 72 x 180 inches. Courtesy the artist and Morgan Lehman Gallery.
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Kathryn Markel Fine Arts: “Deborah Zlotsky: BTW”
May 11 through June 17, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 11 at 6 p.m.
In her third solo show with Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Deborah Zlotsky presents “BTW,” a series of new abstract paintings. The paintings were composed after Zlotsky purchased striped sheets from the 1970s. Reminding her of her own childhood, the sheets triggered a synesthetic response, evoking early memories of space, light and movement, and a time when sleep came easily, devoid of electronic media distraction. The paintings transform flat aspects of the stripes into dimensional passages through interruptions of paint drips, stains and abrasions, playing on the friction between intention and coincidence. The exhibition displays how something incidental or secondary can lead to deeper meanings, like how typing “BTW” (the texting acronym for “by the way”) can lead to an entirely new subject in conversation.
Deborah Zlotsky, who currently teaches at Rhode Island School of Design, studied art history at Yale University and received her MFA in Painting and Drawing at University of Connecticut.
A 2012 recipient of a NYFA fellowship in painting, Zlotsky has also been a fellow at Yaddo, MacDowell, and Bemis Center for Contemporary Art. Her work has been exhibited at Robischon Gallery (Denver), SACI Gallery (Florence, Italy), Providence College and the University of Connecticut.
Kathryn Markel Fine Arts is located at 529 W 20th St, New York, NY 10011. www.markelfinearts.com.
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"Giotto's lucid dream" by Deborah Zlotsky, 2017. Oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches. Courtesy of Kathryn Markel Fine Arts.
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MIDTOWN:
Forum Gallery: “Linden Frederick: Night Stories – Fifteen Paintings and the Stories They Inspired”
May 11 through June 30, 2017
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 11 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
In an unprecedented exhibition for Forum Gallery, Linden Frederick will present 15 new paintings, each paired with a short story by award-winning American writers. Frederick, an American realist, is known for his nocturnal paintings of rural and small-town America. With only a suggested human presence in the works, they evoke similar responses to those occasioned by an Edward Hopper painting or a Raymond Carver short story. American writers—such as PEN/Faulkner Award winner Ann Patchett, Pulitzer Prize winner Anthony Doerr and The Giver author Lois Lowry—wrote short stories inspired by paintings of empty highways, empty fields behind homes and storefronts shut down for the night.
The project has been seven years in the making, according to Frederick in a gallery press release. “Night Stories,” a book published by Glitterati Arts Incorporated complete with the short stories and the paintings that inspired them, will be released in October 2017. A limited number of copies of the book will be available for purchase at Forum Gallery.
Linden Frederick, who is based in Maine, studied at the Ontario College of Arts And Design and the Accademia di Belle Arte in Florence, Italy. He has had multiple solo shows at Forum Gallery as well as at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art and Haynes Galleries (Nashville, TE). His work has been featured in group shows at the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, the Portland Museum and as part of the Contemporary American Art exhibition from the Meridian International Center (Washington, D.C.), which travelled to Southeast Asia.
Forum Gallery is located at 475 Park Ave, New York, NY 10022. www.forumgallery.com.
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BROOKLYN:
John Doe: “Takeshi Miyakawa: Think Small”
May 12 through May 28, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, May 12 from 6 to 9 p.m.
The designer Takeshi Miyakawa will have his debut solo exhibition with “Think Small” at John Doe Gallery, showcasing his designs in an intimate, interactive setting. Miyakawa delves into his knowledge of architectural design to experiment with function and structure, disassembling the conventions of objects or inverting preconceived notions of permanence. “Double Motion,” a site-specific installation, carries these themes by being in a constant state of change. By interfacing light with stationary and moving mirrors, “Double Motion” seeks to destabilize the viewer by imbuing light rays with an almost material presence.
Takeshi Miyakawa, who is from Tokyo, Japan, but currently based in New York City, studied architecture at Tokyo Science University. He founded Takeshi Miyakawa Design in 2001. He has worked on architecture on all scales and his work includes product, furniture and set design.
John Doe is located at 112 Waterbury St, Brooklyn, NY 11206, Brooklyn, NY 11206. www.johndoe-ny.com.
Click here for exhibition details.
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"Double Motion (model)" by Takeshi Miyakawa, 2016. Cardboard, mirrored acrylic, brass. Courtesy of John Doe.
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The "NYC Gallery Scene" column publishes weekly with exhibitions selected by Hamptons Art Hub staff. This edition was written by Genevieve Kotz.
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