CHELSEA:
Luhring Augustine
“Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller”
March 20 – May 1, 2010
521 West 24th Street
Collaborative team Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller have created exciting installations for their third solo exhibition at the gallery. Visually evocative, the works utilize sound, touch and movement to directly engage visitors. Intimate and psychologically challenging, the installations position the viewer as a voyeur into Cardiff’s subconscious. Antique telephones play recordings of her dreams softly spoken through the receiver; drawers are opened to reveal mysterious private discussions; and a large moving merry-go-round installation near the entrance introduces the show—a glowing, ecstatic gateway to the quiet back galleries.
David Zwirner
“Marlene Dumas: Against the Wall”
March 18 – April 24, 2010
533 West 19th Street
Marlene Dumas’ new paintings at David Zwirner are breathtaking examples of her noteworthy career. Drawing from her childhood in Apartheid South Africa and her rich understanding of art history, the artist references layers of history in visually stunning paintings. Her newer works are based primarily on media documentation of Israel and Palestine; however, her unique handling of paint addresses deeper concepts of isolation and instability. Her trademark brushwork, sensitivity with color, and love of gesture all are present in this expansive exhibition.
Andrea Rosen
“Elliott Hundley: Agave of the Bacchae”
March 19-May 1, 2010
525 West 24th Street
Elliott Hundley’s exquisite works have ascended to new heights—literally and figuratively—with these delicate large-scale mixed-media paintings and sculptures. Referencing the incomplete Greek play The Bacchae, Hundley is inspired by its gaps and thusly compelled in his works. Intricately collaged and layered, his paintings physically jump forward from the canvas with tiny woven knots of material and words tacked onto the rice-paper photographic surface, dripping from it, and casting shadows back onto itself. The works are engaging from afar and exciting up-close: viewers are treated to a feast of images and symbols. Psychedelic and meticulous, the works are mesmerizing abstractions that shimmer and change from one viewing to the next.
Paul Kasmin
“Simon Hantaï”
March 19- April 24, 2010
293 10th Avenue (at 27th Street)
Curated by Molly Warnock, this is the first American exhibition of Simon Hantaï’s work in nearly a decade. Renowned throughout Europe for his abstract canvases of saturated color, the artist’s work is based around his explorations of the painted gesture, mimicking it by painting folded and manipulated canvas. Bold and robust, the large-scale paintings are dramatic and reference Pollock’s expressionism and Matisse’s cut-outs. This is an exhibit of historic works by an artist whose influence in Europe has invited such acclaim as a full-scale retrospective at the Centre Pompidou and an installation in the 1982 Venice Biennale.
UPPER EAST SIDE:
Gagosian Gallery
“Ed Paschke” / “Alberto Di Fabio”
March 18 – April 24, 2010
980 Madison Avenue
Jeff Koons curated this 5th and 6th Floor exhibition of works by his mentor Ed Paschke. Vibrant and unique, the works reference pop art with mashed-together imagery and a glossy, smooth finish. The show is a must-see for Koons fans, who will delight in the recognizable influence of Paschke’s work on the former artist’s career. Downstairs, the 4th floor is host to an exciting exhibit of Rome-based artist Alberto di Fabio. Inspired by the interrelation between laws of nature and organic elements, di Fabio’s brightly colored paintings reference medicine and DNA, as well as flora and fauna.