Yi Hsuan Lai: Objects, Bodies, Things at Gallery 456

Yi Hsuan Lai. Something Happened, 2022. Archival pigment print mounted on dibond. 16.25 x 21.625 inches. Courtesy of Gallery 456 and the artist

I was scrolling through Instagram recently when I saw a post that read: “What’s your artspeak ick?” The word “anthropomorphism” immediately came to mind. It’s nothing personal. It’s just that a friend of mine had an art history professor who once (in)famously tweeted: “I will scream into a pillow if I see another student write the word ‘anthropomorphic’ in their paper.” Therefore, I paused before ascribing “anthropomorphic” qualities to the work of Taiwanese artist Yi Hsuan Lai.

Continue reading “Yi Hsuan Lai: Objects, Bodies, Things at Gallery 456”

Transgressing Lands at the Boiler

Hot AIR
Transgressing Lands: Eleven Contemporary Artists Reimagine a Horizon Installation View. Photo: Martin Seck

The current group exhibition at The Boiler | ELM Foundation, Transgressing Lands, curated by A.E. Chapman, features work by Jeannine Bardo, Nancy Cohen, Cristina de Gennaro, Deborah Jack, Natalie Moore, Itty S. Neuhaus, Nazanin Noroozi, Lina Puerta, Corinne Teed, Elizabeth Velazquez, and Letha Wilson, who interpret the horizon’s role as a foundational element for understanding our place in the world. The artists confront pressing issues—preserving landscapes under threat, the ramifications of climate change, the realities of displacement and conflict, the significance of mindfulness, challenging colonial legacies, and the ever-present cycles of destruction and rejuvenation. Chapman’s direction for the exhibition invites viewers to engage with how landscapes can anchor us in the present moment and our collective history.

Continue reading “Transgressing Lands at the Boiler”

Salted not Sugared at Ben Shahn Center

In Dialogue
A round yellow and black object with a red dot on it Description automatically generated
Andrew Cornell Robinson, glazed porcelain, with underglaze silkscreen print decal transfer, 16 x 16 x 3 inches. Photographer Martin Meyers, 2024

Andrew Cornell Robinson, the 2023 grand prize winner of the William Patterson University Galleries’ national juried printmaking exhibition, Ink, Press, Repeat, presents a decade of exploration in his exhibition, Salted Not Sugared. This retrospective, the first extensive survey of his interdisciplinary art, is showcased at the Ben Shahn Center for the Visual Arts, curated by Casey Mathern. His work, spanning oil painting, printing, drawing, and assemblage, engages with queer and peculiar revisionist histories, inviting viewers into a reflective dialogue where personal histories, social narratives, and abstract forms converge.

Continue reading “Salted not Sugared at Ben Shahn Center”

Glean, Glow, Glam – Denise Treizman at Coral Springs Museum

“Ring around the rosie”, 2020-2024. | Painted vinyl, foam, styrofoam, inflatable pool, tubing, balls, wooden rocker, plexiglass, slinky, fabric, painted PVC pipe tube, rope, clamp, google balls. Photo credits: Rafael Nuñez

Every time I stumble into Denise Treizman’s work—and I do literally mean stumble: it was at an Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts Open Studios Night back in 2017 when I almost walked into a pile of glitter on the floor of her then-studio and first fell heels-over-head in love with her creations—I am floored (I’m so sorry) with the particular joy that some absurdism-enthusiasts experience when presented with hilarious, kawaii, unexpected, nonessential, and in my case: sparkly, things.

Continue reading “Glean, Glow, Glam – Denise Treizman at Coral Springs Museum”

Ceramics+ Drawing Into Sculpture at LIC

photo story
A colorful paper ball with barbed wire

Description automatically generated with medium confidence
Sok Song,- SoNoBe: Legermain Barbed and Coiled. Clay, paper, plastic, 16”x16”x16”.2023, Me, Mom, and the War on Identity. Acrylic, screen print, collage on paper, 36”x28” 2023 ( on wall)

The Long Island City Artists, an art non-profit known as LIC-A, is currently presenting a bold exhibition that brings together artists who work simultaneously in two media not always thought of as compatible. Curator Matt Nolen has gathered a fascinating group of artists from the NYC metropolitan area who work in both clay and drawing–one influencing and bouncing off the other. The synthesis is a fascinating and genre-bending exhibition.

Continue reading “Ceramics+ Drawing Into Sculpture at LIC”

Joanne Ungar on beauty and pain

Featured Artist

Joanne Ungar is a singular talent. Her work is a luminous masterclass in the manipulation of color and wax. A gifted encaustic artist with a scientific approach to her art practice, she speaks directly through her chosen medium to address questions of beauty and pain. We spoke about living in analog and digital worlds, women’s beauty, and finding your own art world.

Continue reading “Joanne Ungar on beauty and pain”

A Stage Within a Stage- Ye Qin Zhu at Dimin

A person walking past a large art piece

Description automatically generated
A Stage Within a Stage-mixed media on eight fitted panels. 5 x 27 feet. 2022-2023

There’s a riot going on. That’s what I thought as I stood in front of Ye Qin Zhu’s large-scale installation piece at Dimin in Tribeca. The gallery space painted a matte black that seems to absorb all the light in the room, is dominated by one wall-mounted assemblage that is 27 feet long and five feet tall. There is a bench placed in front so that the viewer can take a few minutes to absorb the full volume of information and energy radiating from this piece.

Continue reading “A Stage Within a Stage- Ye Qin Zhu at Dimin”

Martha Bone and Janice Caswell: Two Solo Shows at Garrison Art Center

A painting of a snake

Description automatically generated
Martha Bone, Mapping the Invisible #3, 2020, acrylic, aluminum enamel, charcoal, joint compound, pastel on pieced paper, 63 x 88 in., photo courtesy of the artist.

Two artists currently showing at Garrison Art Center use scale, structure, and geometry to examine and reinterpret their respective environments. Martha Bone’s large-scale paintings and assemblages express a sweeping view of the cosmos, bringing the macrocosm within our reach, while Janice Caswell’s small-scale sculptures find the infinite within the microcosm, showing us the vast potential in all forms. Both Bone and Caswell photograph their natural and man-made landscapes, later referring to these images when creating their works. And both artists construct their forms as improvisations inspired by their observations, although neither artist is interested in a literal interpretation of nature. But this is where the similarities end, their distinctive styles diverging toward an expansive contemplation of form and space and an intimate exploration of the fabricated structures that inhabit our lives.

Continue reading “Martha Bone and Janice Caswell: Two Solo Shows at Garrison Art Center”

Daniel Giordano’s Post-Apocalyptic Chimeras at MASS MoCA 

Artist Profile
A picture containing wall, indoor, floor, art

Description automatically generated
Daniel Giordano: Love from Vicki Island

Nonconformity comes as second nature to Daniel Giordano. Wearing an imaginative interpretation of a beekeeper’s outfit, complete with gloves, toe socks, and trekking sandals, he exudes unfailing politeness, erudition, and gravitas. Yet, behind a sly, sardonic smile, Giordano’s true prankster nature reveals itself. The Newburgh-based artist is a volcanic force in the contemporary art world; a genuine, generous, borderline-ascetic vegan, who carries his own homemade food and filtered water wherever he goes. Giordano’s first solo museum show, Love from Vicki Island, at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) perfectly captures his heterodox approach to art creation.

Continue reading “Daniel Giordano’s Post-Apocalyptic Chimeras at MASS MoCA “

Gathering with Asianish

In Conversation
Asianish potluck gathering (photo credit: Sara Jimenez, September 22, 2022)

Co-curators Cecile Chong and Sophia Ma are delighted to present “Gathering,” an exhibition that showcases the connections between forty-five Asianish artists and their artwork. Asianish, an informal collective of AAPI artists and art professionals, was established in March 2018 to foster a safe and inclusive environment for a diverse community of Asian identities. Through conversations, artistic expression, and shared meals, the group explores themes such as code-switching in art contexts and the longing for a sense of belonging in their adopted homeland. The exhibition will be held at Tiger Strikes Asteroid–New York (TSA-NY) in Bushwick from June 24 to July 30, 2023, and at FiveMyles in Crown Heights from July 8 to August 13, 2023.

Continue reading “Gathering with Asianish”