Monday, March 15, 2021

As Winter Wanes, Color Blooms



Un-Fair at at Sikkema Jenkins: Kay Rosen, Prismism, 2020, colored pencil on paper, app 22 x 30 inches
(Exhibition closed)

I spent a much needed several days  looking at art in Chelsea, the Lower East Side, Chinatown, and Bushwick. There was a lot of spirit-lifting color on the walls. Within its chromatic embrace, one could see geometry, reductive rigor, provisional playfulness, bold brushwork, sumptuous surface, sculptural construction, and allover patterning in paint, fiber, wood, and paper. Here’s a look at some of what I saw. Some of the group and solo shows remain ongoing, while others have closed. Most of the various exhibitions’ images can be seen online.   



Doug Ohlson: Paintings from the 1980s at Washburn Gallery, Chelsea
Exhibition up through April 3

Lost Child, 1986, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 60 inches


Cool Blue, 1981, oil and acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches; Harlequin, 1983, acrylic on canvas, 
76 x 104 inches

Below: Detail of Harlequin

Close Tone, 1984, oil and acrylic on canvas, 62 x 60 inches; Untitled, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 32 x 33 inches

Below: side view of Untitled

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Eccentric Color at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, Chelsea
Group exhibition with Celia Johnson, Conny Goeltz Schmitt, and Fran Shalom 
Exhibition up through March 27


At Kathryn Markel: Conny Goelz Schmitt, Long Haul, 2020, vintage book parts, 16 x 16 x 4 inches

At Kathryn Markel: Main gallery, three paintings by Fran Shalom

Below: Shalom's Amplify and Encounter, both 2020, oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches




Moving clockwise around the gallery: Fran Shalom, Dastardly, 2020, oil on canvas; Celia Johnson, Seanoir, 2020, acrylic on panel



At Kathryn Markel: Celia Johnson, clockwise from top left: Na Fuire L, Comhra, Na Fuire LI, Cumasc, all 2020, acrylic on panel, 24 x 21 inches

View exhibition catalog 

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Martha Clippinger: Textiles & Objects at Elizabeth Harris Gallery, Chelsea
Exhibition up through April 17

Above: Spiral, 2021, machine pieced and hand-quilted reclaimed fabrics

Below: reverse side


Cuadricula Quilt, 2019, machine pieced and hand-quilted cotton and polyester; right, Ups and Downs, 2021, acrylic on wood

Below: Detail of Cuadricula



Connection, 2021, acrylic on wood, 22 x 5.5 x .5 inches



Step Fret #3, 2020, hand-dyed wool, woven by Licha Gonzalez Ruiz and Augustin Contreras Lopez, 58 x 37.5 inches

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Distinctive/Instinctive: Postwar Abstract Painting at Michael Rosenfeld Art
Group exhibition up through April 10

Above: Charmion von Wiegand, Vajrayana, 1969, oil on canvas
Below: Installation view of Untitled and Vajrayana



Charmion von Weigand, Untitled, 1952, oil on canvas


Distinctive/Instinctive: Postwar Abstract Painting at Michael Rosenfeld Art, Chelsea: 
William T. Williams, Walter's Advice, 1970, acrylic on canvas



Distinctive/Instinctive: Postwar Abstract Painting at Michael Rosenfeld Art, Chelsea: 
Sam Gilliam, Untitled, 1970, acrylic an dye pigments on canvas



Distinctive/Instinctive: Postwar Abstract Painting at Micahel Rosenfeld Art, Chelsea: 
Alma Thomas, Red Rambling Rose Spring Song, 1976, acrylic on canvas, 58 x 35.25 inches

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At The Word for World is Forest at Essex Flowers, Chinatown, curated by Linnea Vedder
Group exhibition up through March 28

Above: Nancy Azara, Rhubarb Portrait, 2018, carved and painted wood and canvas

Detail below


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Thread at Foxy Production, Chinatown: Ulrike Muller, Rug (con triangulos), 2015, wool, handwoven in the workshop of Jeronimo and Josefina Hernandez Ruiz, 86 x 64.75 inches
Group exhibition up through March 21

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Selections from Un-Fair at Sikkema Jenkins, Chelsea, group exhibition now closed
Above: Cameron Martin, Mr. Mr., 2020, acrylic on canvas, 75 x 60 inches



Un-Fair at Sikkema Jenkins: Sheila Hicks, foreground, Procope 2, 2020, various fibers, 16 x 16 x 8 inches; William Cordoba, Untitled, 2020; enamel, paper collage, gold leaf on paper, 130.25 x 90 inches

Cordoba detail below






Un-Fair at Sikkema Jenkins: Three by Cameron Martin, all permanent marker on paper, 11 x 9 inches. Above: Reticulation, 2019



Reticulation, 2017



Reticulation, 2016


Un-Fair at Sikkema Jenkins: Zipora Fried



Un-Fair at Sikkema Jenkins: Kay Rosen, Spectrum, 2020, acrylic gouache on watercolor paper, 24 x 20.75 inches

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Shift 2021, group show at Thatcher Projects: Installation view with William Badur and Nobu Fukui




Shift 2021 at Thatcher Projects: Nobu Fukui, Majestic, beads and mixed media on canvas over panel, 48 x 48 inches

Detail below





Shift 2021 at Thatcher Projects: Omar Chacon, Ich Operatica, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 26 inches

Detail below




Shift 2021 at Thatcher Projects: Cheonae Kim, clockwise from top left: Luna's Day, Luna's Day, Jupiter's Day, Mars's Day, all 2020 or 2021, flashe on panel, 16 x 16 inches





Shift 2021 at Thatcher Projects: three by Frank Badur

Above: #D12-25, 2012, all pencil and gouache on paper, 12 x 8.5 inches
Below: #D12-29, 2012


Below: #D12-20, 2012



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Two exhibitions at the Milton Resnik/Pat Passlof Foundation, Lower East Side, both curated by Geoffrey Dorfman


If you haven't been to this venue, 
you must visit. Located in a former synagogue that had been Milton Resnick's studio, the three-story building has 
been renovated to house the work 
of the late artist and his partner, Pat Passlof, as well as to exhibit 
the works of contemporary artists. 

(Passlof had her own former synagogue 
a few blocks over; the proceeds from its sale helped with the renovation and to maintain the Foundation.)

This image is from the Foundation website.

Pat Passlof, Memory of P., 1977

Detail below




Installation view of The One and the Many: Rosaire Appel, Brett Baker, Ruth Ann Fredenthal, Marcia Hafif, Alan Kleiman, Howard Smith, curated by Geoffrey Dorfman. Image from the Foundation website. Exhibition is up through March 27

Above, from left: Marcia Hafif, Brett Baker, Ruth Ann Fredenthal
Images of work by all the artists are viewable here

Marcia Hafif, Mass Tone Painting: Hansa Yellow, March 12, 1974



Brett Baker, Evening Reflection 1, 2016

Detail below




Howard Smith, Universe #30, 1991-2020

A few individual works below






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At Marc Strauss, Lower East Side: Otis Jones, Red Oxide with Blue Circle, 2020, acrylic on linen, 36 x 36 x 4 inches diameter and depth. Exhibition is up through April 18

Side view below

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Cordy Ryman: Constellations, at Freight & Volume, Lower East Side
Exhibition up through April 4

Detail below



Another wall of  works

Detail below


Also from the exhibition, but no info available (app 60 x 60 inches)

Detail below

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Sharon Butler: Morning in America at Theodore Art, Bushwick. Exhibition has closed (and gallery is moving to Tribeca)

Above, left wall viewed from the entry: November 19;  Favorite-April 17, 2019May 29, 2018; Mueller Report (January 11, 2017), all oil on canvas



Favorite-April 17, 2019, 2019, oil on canvas, 52 x 42 inches
Detail below




Right wall viewed from the entry, with a selection of works shown below

March 8, 2020, 2021, oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches



May 9, 2019, 2020, oil on canvas, 12 x 12 inches




February 13, 2019, 2020, oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches



September 26, 2019, 2020, oil on canvas, 24 x 18 inches

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