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Devon Gordon: OBSESSED at Zepster

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Installation shot: Paul-Sebastian Japaz, Inés Maestre, Lanyi Gao. Photo courtesy of Tyler Ward.

OBSESSED, the group exhibition Shelby Nelson Ward curated at Zepster in Bushwick, Brooklyn, is inspired by Mariah Carey’s hit song Obsessed and the developmental impact of social media on the millennial generation. This exhibition explores how contemporary culture influences our understanding of self-worth and authenticity. Devon Gordon, the gallery founder gives us an insight into the venue and the current show, which runs through November 17th, 2024.

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A Leg to Stand On—Melissa Stern at DIMIN

Melissa Stern: A Leg to Stand On, installation view

In Melissa Stern: A Leg to Stand On, the domestic meets the fantastic in the aptly named The Living Room, the front room exhibition space at DIMIN complete with a cozy two-seater sofa. Featuring her drawings and sculptures, Stern’s trademark humor and sense of play persists while the underlying thread of darkness that pervades her oeuvre feels especially heightened in this presentation. Deeply shaken by a fall during a winter walk in 2021, the artist’s works in the exhibition explore the precarious and fragile construction of the human body. Cobbling together disparate elements such as vintage shoes, wooden branches, scrap pieces of bannister railings, a doll’s lost arm, linoleum, wallpaper, resin, clay, paint cans, bolts, and screws, Stern balances absurdity with familiarity.

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Art Spiel Picks: Midtown Exhibitions in August 2024

HIGHLIGHTS
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Installation by Natalie Collette Wood, Urban Oasis: Nature in Transit at Chashama 53rd St & 5th Ave Underground Subway Newsstand. Photo courtesy of the artist and Chashama

During the slow and hot month of August, Art still thrives through ChaShaMa in unexpected places around midtown. ChaShaMa – a nonprofit organization that provides studio and exhibition spaces for artists in midtown real estate and other venues throughout the five boroughs – empowers unique and surprising opportunities for installations across the City.

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Bat Ami Rivlin: Functional Narratives

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Untitled (12 tubs), 2023, Socrates Sculpture Park, New York, NY.

Bat Ami Rivlin, who has lived in New York City for over a decade, finds her artistic practice profoundly shaped by the city’s relentless cycle of object turnover. The daily expulsion of waste from restaurants, buildings, and homes onto the streets, followed by the inevitable clear-out, is a stark reflection of urban existence. This phenomenon sparks contemplation on how these transient objects organize our spatial interactions, both during their use and after their disposal.

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Among Friends

In Conversation
Co Curators of Among Friends, 2018, 2019, 2022

In the summer of 2017, Beth Dary and Patricia Fabricant visited the Museum of Modern Art to see the Robert Rauschenberg show Among Friends. As they were looking at the exhibition, they separated and later found each other at the installation of Hiccups, which consisted of ninety-seven sheets of handmade paper with original Xerox transfer collages zipped together. “At that moment, we both had the same thought—we could hand out zipper papers to our friends to create a great collaborative show,” they recall. Patty had been simultaneously talking with Alexandra Rutsch Brock, who was similarly inspired by Hiccups and had even gone so far as purchasing some zippers. They reached out to their friend groups, and it took off from there. “We had no idea how it would turn out, but we knew it would be a fun adventure,” the co-curators say. Since this art project initiative started during the Trump administration, when women’s rights were under attack. it was important for them to include a charitable component such as Planned Parenthood.

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Transformation at Socrates Sculpture Park

In Dialogue
‘Desire Lines’ by Stefania Urist. Image by Alexa Hoyer. Courtesy of Socrates Sculpture Park.

Founded in 1986 by artists, activists, and community members, Socrates Sculpture Park transformed an abandoned landfill into a cultural cornerstone in Queens, New York. This dual-purpose venue serves both as a public park and an exhibition space for contemporary art, targeting early- and mid-career artists. Occupying five waterfront acres, Socrates provides a unique platform for artistic expression and public engagement, offering free access to a civic space amidst the urban environment.

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Norte Maar’s CounterPointe10 – JEANNE VERDOUX and JOVONNA PARKS

DANCE
Out of the Vessel, Choreography and Dance : JoVonna Parks. Visual Art and Video Projection: Jeanne Verdoux. Photo: Jeanne Verdoux

The impetus for this series of conversations between a visual artist and a choreographer comes directly from my recent collaborative work with a choreographer as part of Norte Maar’s CounterPointe10. In this unique project a choreographer is paired with a visual artist to create together over two months a dance performance that integrates the two disciplines into a cohesive vision. Here is the conversation between artist Jeanne Verdoux and choreographer / dancer JoVonna Parks.

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Artist Kristina Libby and the Village Alliance Welcome New Animal Inspired Public Art Exhibition – In Plain Sight

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Grimo, courtesy of the artist and photographer Adam Reich.

Artist Kristina Libby is no stranger to the power of public art: during the onset of COVID, Libby founded the Floral Heart Project. In collaboration with 1-800-Flowers, The Floral Heart Project created and distributed floral heart wreaths as a tribute to those who lost their lives to COVID-19. Moved by community response to the Floral Heart Project, Libby has created a series of large sculptures of apex animals known as the Chunkos. Greenwich Village, a hot-spot for both art and architecture, will play host to the Chunkos in an immersive exhibition titled In Plain Sight (on view from June 10-12). The exhibit is inspired by the unique history of animals in art and architecture in the neighborhood and is a celebration of the resilience, courage and creativity of New Yorkers from all walks of life. On Friday, June 10th, there will be an interactive public art painting exercise with Libby and the Village Alliance Business Improvement District from 5-7pm. She hopes that the installation of the Chunkos in Astor place will spark new conversations and evoke curiosity from passerbys. Curious artists of all ages are welcome to join as she paints in real time with the help of the community the inaugural animals in her Chunkos series.

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KATHY BUTTERLY AT JAMES COHAN GALLERY – COLOR IN FORMING

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Installation view

Staring at Kathy Butterly’s ceramic sculptures, I am overwhelmed by an urge to reach out and touch them. The marriage of color and form is perfectly wrought, shapes and colors inextricable yet sharply distinct. I want to trace my finger along that delicate whisper thin band of orange in Between Things, and feel the little bumps along the rim of Luminious Flow. I want to feel the change between matte and gloss surfaces and the weight of the sculpture in my hand. 

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