ART NEWS: Nov.02

Comprising eleven paintings completed over the last four years, Huang Yuxing’s solo exhibition “An Absolute Power We Cannot Find” articulates an ambitious vision, one that encompasses modern treatments of ancient subjects and that reconciles elements of East and West, with subjects ranging from humble human figures to a fearsome image of the cosmos. Throughout the show, Huang uses fluorescent colors, a twentieth-century innovation that has been a cornerstone of his work for years, even as he depicts timeless subjects. “Fluorescent color is the color of our generation,” he has said. “There is no such color system in traditional easel paintings. It is special, like a kind of vigorous vitality being compressed or unleashed.” Not only is the distinctive color scheme significant for Huang; in his mind, the blending of oil and water in his acrylic paint symbolizes the meeting of East and West; the use of contemporary color and line to treat an ancient subject similarly reconciles a contrast. Info: Almine Rech Gallery, 39 East 78th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 3/11-17/12/202, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.alminerech.com/

Xinyi Cheng in his first solo exhibition in USA shows 16 paintings. Cheng’s paintings, with their unexpected color and compositions, often begin with her own observations, whether an interaction she witnessed or an image from a film that lingered in her mind. Her subjects, which often include strangers, friends, animals, or still lifes, convey a wide range of emotions and sensations including intimacy, alienation, peacefulness, or unease. The works in the exhibition range in scale and format from the small “Nude Girl with Gloves”, Otto Dix” (2022), an intimate depiction of Cheng’s cat sitting atop an art catalogue under the night sky, to the large “Midday Troubles” (2021), in which two figures appear in repose floating against a pale background. Equally wide-ranging are the reference points in her work, which include Japanese woodblock prints, a painting by Tiepolo, and a telephone seen hanging in a hallway of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Info: Matthew Marks Gallery, 522 West 22nd Street, New York, NY, USA, Duration: 4/11-23/12/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, https://matthewmarks.com/

Mimmo Jodice in his exhibition “ATTESA” unveils twenty works from his last project “Attesa” (waiting). This selection is completed by fifteen works from the project “Natura” (nature). Mimmo Jodice explores the world that surrounds us, lingering on the thresholds of a time undefined. In his black and white photographs, past, present and future intertwine, abandoning all spatio-temporal markers to reach a dimension suspended between what is real and what only seems real. “Attesa”, his latest project, is the culmination of the research which the artist has been engaged in since the late 1980s, when he chose to forego the human form. From that moment on, and for over 30 years, time and experience have been the focus of his research. In the “Natura” project, time remains uncertain, in a suspended state. Presence instead becomes the focus of Jodice’s gaze. Ancient ruins are host to flourishing vegetation, whose resistance defies civilisation. Info: Galerie Karsten Greve, 5 rue Debelleyme, Paris, France, Duration: 5/11/2022-7/1/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, https://galerie-karsten-greve.com/

The playful interaction of the Lionel Estève’s work with space, color and sensory perception is the result of meticulous research using a wide range of materials. His creations are situated between randomness, repetition and precision. In the exhibition “So Much” through images made of modelling clay, the artist investigates the relationship between the work and its title, finally making the latter the work itself. If the phrase “So much to give”, inscribed in the mass and repeated nineteen times, can evoke romanticism, love and the condition of the artist, the meaning of these words and those to whom they are addressed is voluntarily left to free interpretation. In addition to these paintings, there is a series of sculptures representing hands made of pebbles. Gleaned by Lionel Estève from the banks of rivers and shores, they testify to the influence of the environment on his artistic practice. By assembling these pebbles like a jigsaw puzzle and choosing them by pareidolia, the artist not only questions the mystery of the nature that surrounds us, but also wonders, even more deeply, about the application of this psychological process to better apprehend the complexity of the world we inhabit. Info: Xippas Gallery, Rue du Vieux-Billard 7, Geneva, Switzerland, Duration: 5/11-23/12/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 10:00-13:00 & 14:00-18:30, Sat 12:00-17:00, www.xippas.com/

The exhibition “Uncertain Times” involves the research, writing and production of Lamia Joreige’s body of work covering the period between the end of the Ottoman Empire and the beginning of the French and English mandate in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine (1914-1920). The Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, as well as the First World War and the famine of Mount Lebanon, which caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, led to a geographic, social and political transformation of this region, and had major consequences that still impact our lives today. While the artist highlights some historical events, her aim is not to produce a historical account in itself, but rather to draw a reflection on historical processes, as well as on notions of temporality from which we understand the past, present, and the future—the uncertain times. For that, Joreige is not only interested in the different subjective stories of this period and wishes to express the tensions and anxieties, but also the expectations felt by the population of that time. Info: Marfa, VGX7+48V, Beirut, Lebanon, Duration: 8/11/2022- , Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 12:00-19:00, Sat 14:00-18:00, https://marfaprojects.com/

Jessica Westhafer  presents six large-scale canvases from a new body of work in her solo exhibition “Somewhere That’s Green”, Taking its title from the song “Somewhere That’s Green”, from the 1982 Off-Broadway musical Little Shop of Horrors, Westhafer’s presentation alludes to an idealized realm that seems realistic and attainable, but that in fact lies just beyond reach. The paintings on view depict memories of childhood events and sites that may or may not have existed. Using a deceptively playful form of figuration, Jessica Westhafer explores the psychosocial experiences that punctuate and shape childhood– and our perceptions of it. Westhafer’s imagery taps into memory and sentiment in order “to invent, reimagine, immortalize and even create” idealized or fictitious narratives. These “surrogate scenes of time and place” arouse feelings of vulnerability through which Westhafer invites viewers to revisit their own histories. While very specific in its choice of subject matter and detail, her art captures ineffable aspects of early formative experiences that are universal. Info: Vito Schnabel Gallery, 43 Clarkson Street, New York, NY, USA, 9/11/2022-7/1/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.vitoschnabel.com/

Lucia Laguna in “Life is only possible reinvented”, her first solo exhibition in YK, present a new group of paintings.  Spanning painting and collage, Laguna typically divides her works into three distinct groupings: “Jardim”, “Estúdio” and “Paisagem”. In this exhibition, Laguna presents a number of new canvases in acrylic that extend her ongoing Paisagem series, which explore the richly layered entanglement of the natural and urban worlds primarily viewed from her studio window. Beyond her own personal reflections, Laguna’s practice is distinctly process driven and contingent upon dialogue. The paintings begin with a proposition put forth by the artist to her studio assistants, asking them to reproduce images or imagetic ideas drawn from the inventory of her personal universe – be it from art history or the world around her. She then proceeds with her own emphases and interventions: deconstructing, erasing and rebuilding. Through this interplay, the landscape emerges as a generative visual conversation or palimpsest – mirroring the continually evolving nature of her suburban subject matter. Info: Sadie Coles HQ, 1 Davies Street, London,United Kingdom, Duration: 9/11-17/12/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.sadiecoles.com/

Alex Dordoy’s latest group of paintings in his exhibition “Answering Machine” continue his exploration of intervening with found imagery, blending technological and analogue modes of representation. The exhibition derives its title from one of the central paintings within the show, referring to an interest in written language and the recording and representation of language, Vintage travel posters, stock images and fleeting smartphone photographs are often the starting point in Dordoy’s works, which become subjected to various levels of digital manipulation before being re-rendered in acrylic on canvas. At each stage of the process of selecting, editing and painting an image, various calculated decisions come into play to alter the final outcome of the picture and its associated meanings. Distortions within the colour palette, along with compositional doctoring and cropping allows for a recalibration of each source image, stripping it of its historical context to create an openness within its narrative. The end result leaves each painting pointing in various directions. Wide open landscapes are both romantic yet foreboding, figures are familiar yet anonymous, still lifes reveal traces of their origins but are not quite what they seem. Info: GRIMM Gallery, 2 Bourdon Street, London, United Kingdom, Duration: 10/11/2022-6/1/2023, Days & Hours: Wed-Sat 11:00-18:00, https://grimmgallery.com/

After a decade spent working in abstraction that mined the metaphysical and cosmological realms, Theodore Boyer is reemerging with a new suite of narrative-based figurative paintings for his solo exhibition “Mystic. Mother. Lover”.  At the start of 2020, Boyer returned to the figure with a series of paintings of his wife, Jamie, captured from memory in domestic settings or translated from photographs of her in natural environments spanning Mexico to Morocco. By merging the various dye techniques employed in his previous bodies of abstraction, Boyer renders a psychological (and psychedelic) underpainting—representing a meditative state of the unconscious mind—atop which images emerge. The figures are rendered in high chroma oil and casein which create tension and depth between the two materials. Sections of the paintings allow the viewer to peer into the mystical backgrounds acting as a portal into another dimension. Info: Praz Delavallade Gallery, 6150 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles CA, USA, Duration: 10/11-17/12/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.praz-delavallade.com/

The exhibition “Reality Check” features 28 paintings in egg tempera on paper and canvas/panel, from Olphaert den Otter’s series “World Stress Painting”, “Home Made”, and “Postcode”. Most of these have never been shown before. They form a bridge between classical landscape painting and contemporary subject matter. This exhibition shows how beauty and engagement can reinforce each other. Olphaert den Otter’s paintings are based on reality: a report or a photo in the newspaper, a spot in the woods, the meagre possessions of an unhoused person. Yet the works are not realistic. At will, Den Otter omits or adds details from the image. For instance, he consistently leaves out all the people: “There is no story. There is image.” Den Otter paints landscapes, in which people left their traces, in which disastrous events took place, in which the natural environment underwent changes through the ages. His work expresses a deep commitment to the earth and the world. Info: Droog Gallery, Staalstraat 7-B, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Duration: 10/11/2022-9/1/2023, Days & Hours: Daily 9:00-17:00, www.droog.com/

The exhibition “DATA STREAMING” shows a series of works from the later stage of Michel Majerus’ œuvre in which the artist vigorously negotiates the coming of age of the digital within visual culture in the 1990s and early 2000s. In this body of work, Majerus suspends figurative and abstract elements of painting with digital printing technologies that were emerging at the time. He translates both into works ranging from smaller formats to large scale, multi-panel paintings and his seminal installation “the space is where you’ll find it” (2000). As a user of digital culture several iconic figures both real and virtual from and around gaming, animation, and hacking appear in Majerus’ work — such as the hacker Boris Floricic, the video game Space Invaders, and the characters Donkey Kong and Super Mario. In this expansive painting vocabulary Majerus also adopts the formal language of post-production software such as Adobe Photoshop. As part of Majerus’ synthesis of existing aesthetic strategies from painting, installation, and conceptual art within his work, the immersive installation “the space is where you’ll find it” (2000) envelops viewers in a cosmos of digital images. Info: Kunstverein in Hamburg, Klosterwall 23, Hamburg, Germany, Duration: 12/11/2022-12/2/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 12:00-18:00, www.kunstverein.de/

In the retrospective “Nicole Eisenman & the moderns”, 70 artworks by Nicole Eisenman produced since 1990, are on show. Their vibrant paintings and drawings, exploring themes like humanity, queerness and society, will be shown alongside masterpieces by modern artists like Paula Modersohn-Becker and Edvard Munch, who in their day engaged with the same subjects and struggled with the same issues, or who held views that Eisenman actively opposes. Nicole Eisenman makes paintings, drawings and installations that address issues like gender, racism and economic inequality, and explore themes like the ever-present fear of the future, the digital age and our dependence on technology. At the same time, Eisenman’s art also employs humour to question the society they and we live in and the challenges it confronts us with, using familiar and colourful elements of popular culture and media. Modern art history also plays a major role in their work. As well as having mastered the painting techniques used by their predecessors, Eisenman also includes many motifs from their work to create exuberant, ingenious paintings and drawings. Eisenman’s work represents contemporary painting like no other. Info: Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Stadhouderslaan 41, The Hague, The Netherlands, Duration: 12/11/2022-12/2/2023, Days & Hours: Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, www.kunstmuseum.nl/

With new paintings and a selection of pastel drawings.Haley Josephs presents his solo exhibition “Every Part of the Dream”, The exhibition begins with “Food Sloshing in Baby’s Mouth / Sunlight Through Window” (2022), where a baby is being fed breakfast as rays of sunshine beam through the window and onto the scene. A myriad of sensory experiences are highlighted: the warmth of the morning sun, the food and flavours being energetically consumed, the hands of the mother or caretaker as they gently yet firmly support the rapidly growing body. This illustrates the beginning, where an equation begins to be assembled–what it means to be alive. In attending to what Josephs considers the “dream of reality”, our experience of the world becomes a dream and a seductive illusion. Therein, the human subject experiences something akin to an education on how our modes of interpretation can materialise within this new sphere of consciousness. Info: Almine Rech Gallery, Grosvenor Hill, Broadbent House, London, United Kingdom, Duration: 17/11-23-12/2022, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.alminerech.com/