nyc art – Page 2 – Art Spiel

December 10, 2024December 10, 2024, by Anna Shukeylo

Object Relations: Michael Gac Levin at My Pet Ram

A painting of a living room

Description automatically generated — We Had an Agreement, 28”x24”, Acrylic on canvas

As one enters My Pet Ram’s humble gallery space full of moderately-sized Gustonesque paintings, the viewer is transported into the surreal personal nooks and crannies of Michael Gac Levin’s reality. His paintings are heavily influenced by his family life. Familiar landscapes are juxtaposed with foreign characters and shapes. The artist tells a fantastical story in this new body of work through a day in the life of two characters embodied by an apple and a tree-like figure.

November 23, 2024December 7, 2024, by Theodora Bocanegra Lang

Polly Apfelbaum and Gregg Moore: Pot Shop at 56 Henry

Polly Apfelbaum, Gregg Moore, Pot Shop installation view. Courtesy of 56 Henry

Currently on view at 56 Henry’s 105 Henry Street location is Pot Shop, the gallery’s second exhibition of multimedia artist Polly Apfelbaum and ceramicist Gregg Moore’s joint pottery project. The previous collaboration, Feed Your Head in 2023, presented 100 lavishly glazed mugs in a close grid on a plinth with a corresponding glaze color chart installed nearby. Pot Shop is a clear continuation of the fruitful creative relationship between the two artists, displaying 207 works that each experiment with new shapes and rich color exchanges.

November 18, 2024December 7, 2024, by Will Kaplan

Aggregate at Studio 9D

Installation view of Bradley Milligan’s *Scrimmage*, 2023, tinted joint compound, scrap wood, used drop cloth, oil on panel, cotton thread, hardware. 79 x 49 x 51 inches; *Down the River*, tinted joint compound, scrap wood, automotive polish, hardware. 85 x 71 x 5 inches

In the three person show Aggregate at Studio 9D, artists Sammy Bennett, Bradley Milligan, and James Bertucci channel New York streetscapes and detritus to relay an earnest and affecting impression of the city. Bertucci’s trompe l’oeil paintings, Bennett’s fabric installation, and Milligan’s rugged sculptures overlap in a reverence for craftsmanship. Labor and construction are this show’s subject and, in many ways, its medium. In its use of material and representation Aggregate is boldly literal in its translation of the city’s chaos and beauty.

November 5, 2024November 5, 2024, by Art Spiel

Devon Gordon: OBSESSED at Zepster

featured project

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.

October 14, 2024December 7, 2024, by A.E. Chapman

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.

August 20, 2024October 6, 2024, by Anna Shukeylo

Art Spiel Picks: Midtown Exhibitions in August 2024

HIGHLIGHTS

A green plants in a room

Description automatically generated — 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.

June 24, 2024June 14, 2024, by Etty Yaniv

Bat Ami Rivlin: Functional Narratives

A person standing in a grass field with a dog and a large object

Description automatically generated — *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.

April 1, 2024April 1, 2024, by Etty Yaniv

Among Friends

In Conversation

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.

February 16, 2024February 16, 2024, by Etty Yaniv

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.

June 26, 2023June 6, 2023, by Etty Yaniv

Norte Maar’s CounterPointe10 – JEANNE VERDOUX and JOVONNA PARKS

DANCE

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.