Art is a catalyst for change, seen time and time again. Since the 1980s, Marilyn Minter has been pushing the boundaries of a conservative society with her provocative pieces and feminist notion of beauty. With both her retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum and solo exhibition at Salon 94 on the Bowery, Minter creates a body of work that is a shock to mainstream society. Although her work is in a constant state of evolution, expanding from incredibly intimate black-and-white photos of her mother to large-scale fabulous (in the true sense of the word) paintings, Minter’s work has maintained a clear feminist and suggestive message throughout.
As an amazing final show in their gallery space on 18th Street, Paul McCarthy’s show at Hauser & Wirth is truly fitting. McCarthy made life-sized sculptures of Snow White’s seven dwarfs in clay and then cast them in bronze. The bronze and clay castings face each other as if in a blown-up game of chess. These dwarfs looked beautifully demolished with missing ligaments and portions revealing the silicone that lay beneath the clay. The entire presentation is truly amazing; something so relatable given the classic fairy tale, but recreated in an apocalyptic nightmarish scene.
In addition Ena Swansea’s “New Paintings” at Albertz Benda is completely worthwhile. By using metallic tones her work alludes to fresh snow or the immediate aftermath of fallen rain, thus creating a world that is familiar but doesn’t quite exist.
Matthias Bitzer’s “a different sort of gravity” at Marianne Boesky, creates a dreamlike experience. The artwork is hung beyond the traditional four walls of a gallery, and all different levels of the space are utilized. Some of his paintings are realistic, while others hide behind or sit with geometric forms. His recurring geometric themes can be seen in both his two-dimensional and three-dimensional work.
Another amazing show is Troy Brauntuch at Petzel. His use of dark chalk on black cloth results in haunting images. One body of his work focuses on a decadence of crime as displayed in his six double panels in the back room portraying O.J Simpson attempting to slip on the bloodied gloves in the murder trial of Nicole Simpson and Ron Goldman. The figuration in each of his works seems to beautifully vanish into the dark pigment, as if it had never been there.
Lastly, I want to congratulate the recipients of the 2016 Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant in New York City. This is an organization that is incredibly dear to my heart, and historically has a fairly good prediction of future success. Past recipients include Mary Reid Kelley, who this past year was awarded a MacArthur ‘Genius’ Fellowship, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Dana Schutz, Sarah Sze, Mickalene Thomas, and Kehinde Wiley, among others. This year’s class of honorees are Genesis Belanger, Teto Elsiddique, Anna Glantz, Joiri Minaya, Azikiwe Mohammed, Sara Murphy, Sondra Perry, and Adrianne Rubenstein. I’m sure this will not be the last you’ll hear of them.
