This week, our picks of shows opening at New York City galleries will be showcasing contemporary artists painting on canvas, paper and wood, or working in ceramics and sculpture. Shows in Chelsea, Brooklyn and Uptown galleries will delve into such subjects as the nature of the female form; the relationships between meditation and abstraction or artist and place; and the dialogue between an artist’s actions and a material’s natural qualities. Continue reading for our favorite opening shows in NYC through May 27.
CHELSEA
Winston Wächter Fine Art: “The Ideal Feminine/The Feminine Ideal? Curated by Natasha Schlesinger”
May 23 through July 31, 2018
Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 23, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Winston Wächter Fine Art will present “The Ideal Feminine/The Feminine Ideal?”.
Participating artists in this group show curated by Natasha Schlesinger deal with the notion of the female form. Through a variety of materials, techniques, styles and interpretations, each artist explores the theme in her or his own individual way. Artists with work on view include Lala Abaddon, Sebastiaan Bremer, Zoë Buckman, Marc Dennis, Sissi Farassat, Stephanie Hirsch, Rachel Lee Hovnanian, Natasha Law, Jessica Lichtenstein, Todd Murphy, Jen Ray and Margeaux Walter.
Winston Wächter Fine Art is located at 530 W 25th St, New York, NY 10001. www.newyork.winstonwachter.com.
Click here for exhibition details.
Nancy Margolis Gallery: “John Platt”
May 24 through June 23, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 24, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Nancy Margolis Gallery will present “John Platt,” the artist’s first solo show with the gallery.
In his oil or enamel on canvas paintings, John Platt explores abstract expressionism through deeply personal artistic language. His nonrepresentational paintings combine linear color field compositions with loose, gestural abstractions. Light, color and texture become the subjects of his paintings, provoking emotional responses from the viewer. In his paintings, Platt paints vertical stripes of pure color, free-flowing drips, islands of swirling gradients or an amalgamation of all the styles. Drawing inspiration from past masters Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman, Platt’s paintings are rooted in his unique memories, surroundings and spirit of his time.
Nancy Margolis Gallery is located at 523 W 25 St, New York, NY 10001. www.nancymargolisgallery.com.
Click here for exhibition details.
.
"Pharaoh" by John Platt, 2018. Enamel on canvas, 48 x 48 inches. Courtesy of Nancy Margolis Gallery.
.
Berry Campbell: “Jill Nathanson | Cadence”
May 24 through June 30, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 24, from 6 to 8 p.m.
In her second solo show with Berry Campbell, Jill Nathanson will present “Cadence,” featuring colorful abstract paintings.
An artist who belongs to the Color Field legacy, according to the gallery, Jill Nathanson is a painter who goes beyond that tradition to reduce painting to its physical essence. At Berry Campbell, Nathanson will present 19 recent works, including important large-scale paintings. Inspired by Kabbalah and meditation, she creates emotionally nuanced experiences with enough tension to engage the viewer’s contemplation. Nathanson’s employs a systemic, multistep process, in which she starts with a sheet of translucent color, overlays to produce new colors, and cuts and combines until she find relationships that spark the visual responses she seeks.
In order to apply overlapping layers of variable translucency, Nathanson must first perform countless tests to reach exactly the right hue, saturation and degree of paint applications in her work. In many works, she adds small amounts of oil paint, leaving a visible trace of her hand that counters the autonomous quality of the poured veils. These patches, which acknowledge the painting as itself, disrupt the uniformity of the surface as it first appears, raising questions about the interaction between the optical and conceptual.
Berry Campbell is located at 530 W 24th St, New York, NY 10011. www.berrycampbell.com.
Click here for exhibition details.
.
"Time Signature" by Jill Nathanson, 2018. Acrylic and polymers with oil on panel, 39 x 59 1/2 inches. © Jill Nathanson. Courtesy of Berry Campbell Gallery, New York.
.
UPTOWN
Anton Kern Gallery: “Francis Upritchard: Pots”
May 24 through June 30, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 24, from 6 to 8 p.m.
Anton Kern Gallery will present “Francis Upritchard: Pots,” the artist’s third exhibition with the gallery.
Francis Upritchard will showcase a series of new pot sculptures that were created during her residency at the Lux Art Institute in Encinitas, California. Inspired to some extent by her relationships with other artists also working in the Lux ceramic studio, Upritchard’s pots offer evidence of a natural chemistry between artist and place. Augmented by painted marks, patterns and glazes, faces emerge from the smooth surfaces of clay pots thrown on a pottery wheel. Her pots resist categorization while evoking the sense of artifacts or anthropological objects, according to the gallery.
Installed on a series of plinths, the presentation of her work mirrors didactic exhibitions in museums as a nod to the sense of wonder such displays can prompt, while still inviting levels of mystery. Upritchard’s series of small-scale works on paper, which include watercolors of vessels, figures and fluorescent lizards, will also be on display. Painted in loose freehand, the works foreshadow many of the marks that emerge on the surfaces of her ceramics.
Anton Kern Gallery is located at 16 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022. www.antonkerngallery.com.
Click here for exhibition details.
.
"Tall Toothpaste Jar by Francis Upritchard, 2016. Long Beach Clay with Hippy white exterior and Amber Celadon Interior Glaze, 15 x 11.5 x 8 inches. Courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York. Artwork © Francis Upritchard.
.
BROOKLYN
Sideshow Gallery: “Marco Palli: Cutouts and Offcuts”
May 11 through June 11, 2018
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 24, from 6 to 9 p.m.
Sideshow Gallery is currently showing “Marco Palli: Cutouts and Offcuts,” the artist’s second solo show with the gallery.
A classically trained sculptor who has worked in marble, clay, aluminum and other media, Marco Palli has made new works that deal with the cutting and bending of steel. In his exploration of a material’s ability to communicate ideas that unfold from the process of making art, Palli’s large-scale sculptures stimulate viewers to experience the works’ earthy monumentality, according to the gallery.
Exhibited without labels, the structures feel at once both familiar and alien, allowing viewers to feel perhaps like archaeologists. The works, which challenge the concept of traditional sculpture, depict a dialogue between the artist’s actions of cutting and bending and the material’s natural qualities.
Sideshow Gallery is located at 319 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211. www.sideshowgallery.com.
Click here for exhibition details.
________________________
NYC Gallery Scene - Highlights publishes weekly with exhibitions selected by Hamptons Art Hub staff. This edition was selected by Kathryn Heine and written by Genevieve Kotz. Click here to visit our Gallery Guide to find more exhibitions on view.
________________________
Copyright 2018 Hamptons Art Hub LLC. All rights reserved.