The exhibitions on view during the art fairs in New York you won’t want to miss.
May is blooming with art fairs and exhibitions in New York, and we’re bringing you inside ravishing shows at David Zwirner, Jack Shainman Gallery, LGDR, Kasmin Gallery, Friedman Benda, James Cohan, and Pace.
Yayoi Kusama: I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers
David Zwirner
May 11—July 21, 2023
David Zwirner debuts Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s newest artworks in the much-anticipated show, “I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers,” currently on view through July 21. In a celebratory ten years since the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, Kusama debuts her latest sculptures, paintings, and an immersive Infinity Mirror Room. Basking in the glory of her iconic flowers and pumpkins, viewers will have the opportunity to explore the artist’s inspired take on the breathtaking nuances of the natural world. Colorful polka dots, curving forms, and electric tones are a fusion of reality and fantasy, conjuring a world of optimism and vitality. A breathtaking imaginary garden, the dancing of pumpkin sculptures, and 36 paintings from the series EVERY DAY I PRAY FOR LOVE (2021–present) are a splendid ode to mother earth and the magic of life on earth.
Luc Tuymans, “Smiley,” 2022; © Luc Tuymans, courtesy of the artist and
David Zwirner.
Luc Tuymans: The Barn
David Zwirner
May 11—July 21, 2023
Artist Luc Tuymans’s momentous 17th show with David Zwirner, titled “The Barn,” is currently on view through July 21 in New York. The comprehensive exhibition celebrates the artist’s singular expression of figurative painting, operating with fierce restraint while deeply engaging with modern culture, politics, and the mysteries of our universe. “The Barn” is part of a trilogy of works that tackle the many facets of contemporary strife and dissolution. In a process of true discovery, Tuyman refers to found imagery and photographs, in turn translating them into complex, abstract paintings which explore the caverns of sentiment, history, and legacy. Smiley (2022) offers the portrait of a smiling yellow balloon in clouded, directionless sky, Abe (2022) performs like a hologram of both a skull and the the iconic, animatronic face of Abraham Lincoln at Disneyland, while Bucha (2023) illustrates actual news footage of shallow civilian graves in the Ukraine.
Barkley L. Hendricks, “Untitled,” c. 1975, 16 x 24 in., gelatin silver print; © Barkley L. Hendricks, courtesy of the Estate of Barkley L. Hendricks and
Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
Barkley L. Hendricks: Myself When I Am Real
Jack Shainman Gallery
April 13—May 26, 2023
Jack Shainman Gallery presents a dynamic exhibition of photography by the highly acclaimed, late artist Barkley L. Hendricks, currently on view through May 26. Vintage and never-before-seen artworks from the artist’s archive are displayed together, paying homage to Hendricks’ thoughtful and passionate lens on the world around him. Inspired by his mentor Walker Evans, as well as fellow creatives Vermeer and Velázquez, the artist documented both the light and the dark in everyday life, discovering sensuality, pain, and humor in diverse faces and environments. From potent imagery of Anita Hill and Ronald Reagan, to the relationships and happenings at the Dutch Tavern in New London, Connecticut, Hendricks evoked the poetry of human experience in every majestic work of art.
Marilyn Minter, “Lewinsky”; photo by Andy Romer, courtesy of the artist and LGDR.
Marilyn Minter
LGDR
April 12—June 3, 202
Multidisciplinary artist Marilyn Minter debuts vibrant new paintings, sculptures, and photography at LGDR, currently on view through June 3. The visionary creative rejoices in the feminist perspective, offering all-embracing images of beauty and championing self-representation. Dazzling, jewel-toned portraits of iconic female figures such as Lady Gaga, Monica Lewinsky, Gloria Steinem, and Mickalene Thomas are powerful representations of both our cultural icons and the inner lives of multifaceted, modern women. New multimedia sculptures such as Thirsty (Drinking Fountain) (2023) is a collage of ethereal drinking fountains, lips, tongues, glitter, and grime. A series of Bather paintings illustrate women within the confines of the shower from the nearly unseen female perspective. Utilizing photoshop and a thoroughly dedicated painting process in which the artist might allow years to build to perfection, Minter breaks barriers of every kind with her explosive creations.
Daniel Gordon, “Artichoke and Potatoes,” 2023, 37 1/2 x 30 in., pigment print with UV lamination; courtesy of the artist and Kasmin, New York.
Daniel Gordon: Free Transform
Kasmin Gallery
April 27—June 3, 2023
Kasmin Gallery debuts the vivacious, multifaceted show “Daniel Gordon: Free Transform,” currently on view through June 3. In a lush medley of sweeping photographic prints and vessel sculptures which highlight thriving vegetation, Daniel Gordon experiments with the transformative capabilities of the camera and post-production technologies, as well as frees the objects into three-dimensional space. The astounding Panoramic Still Life (2023) spans seven panels and 23 feet, allowing for variations in presentation and viewer immersion. In an ever-evolving practice of ardent research and organic discovery, Gordon thoughtfully layers found imagery, his own photography, and mixed media creations in a visionary juxtaposition of digitization and traditional craft. In artworks such as Succulents and White Orchid (2023), Artichoke and Potatoes (2023), and Jade and Lobsters (2023), the artist references fauvist painting, explores image degradation, and pushes the boundaries of space-time construction.
Alison Elizabeth Taylor,
“Try Us,” 2022, 85 x 53 in., marquetry hybrid; courtesy of the artist and James Cohan.
Alison Elizabeth Taylor: These Days
James Cohan
May 17—Jun 24, 2023
Artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor celebrates her seventh solo show with James Cohan, “These Days,” on view through June 24 at 48 Walker Street. Taylor’s inspired use of wood veneer marquetry combines materials such as painted wood, photography, and sawdust to create the many shades and shadows of places, people, and scenes. The new series focuses on a complex, post-pandemic atmosphere in cities like Las Vegas, Brooklyn, and New York. Portraits of close friends and family members, layered with depictions of Southwestern casino culture and mom-and-pop stores beg the question: What has changed? Try Us (2022) investigates a seemingly beloved New York bodega with familiar signs but bare shelves and no customers. Sawdust and Glitter (2022) features a nude man relaxing on the beach atop a blanket reminiscent of the American flag. The artist calls her unique process “frankensteining,” in which she allows the emotional ferocity of her subjects to cut through to the surface for the ultimate illuminating effect.
Matthew Day Jackson,
“Sunrise on the Matterhorn (after Bierstadt),” 2023, 79 3/4 × 59 1/4 × 2 in., wood, acrylic paint, urethane plastic, fiberglass, UV pigment, lead,
stainless steel frame; © Matthew Day Jackson,
courtesy of Pace Gallery.
Matthew Day Jackson: Against Nature
Pace Gallery
May 12—July 1, 2023
Pace Gallery debuts otherworldly new artworks by Matthew Day Jackson, on view through July 1. The artist’s first solo exhibition with Pace, “Against Nature” is a haunting, sensorial journey through the natural, the mystical, and the industrial by way of collaged photography and painting. Titled after the 1884 novel by Joris-Karl Huysmans Against Nature, in which a French aristocrat explores an obsession for nature’s beauty, Jackson’s interpretation examines the searing textures and emotions of the great outdoors. In Solaris (after CDF) (2023), Matterhorn Crumbling in AImagined Landscape (2023), and Sunrise on the Matterhorn (after Bierstadt) (2023), technicolor mountains, ethereal moonlight, icy waterfalls, scalded foliage, and looming structures ebb and flow in a fateful, cinematic portrait of allure, horror, and our vulnerable environment.
