Color Field painting has long captured the attention of art audiences. Without figuration or a defined point of focus, observers are left to sit with the feeling they receive in an instant. “A painting is not a picture of an experience, but is the experience,” as Mark Rothko himself noted, stressing the fact that these works speak to larger, universal themes of human experience.
While there’s plenty of interesting art to see this season, we’ve rounded up three noteworthy color-focused exhibitions to unwind with this week—and each one encourages feelings of lightness and joy.
“Marina Adams: Anemones” at Salon 94 Bowery
Through June 22
Marina Adams, Song Lines (2019). Image courtesy the artist and Salon 94.
There are still a few days left to catch painter Marina Adams’s joyful second solo exhibition for Salon 94 Bowery. Her five new abstract paintings explore the relationships between color and line, and hone in on the space where they meet, encouraging viewers to track how dynamic energy shifts across the canvas.
Marina Adams, Days and Nights (2019). Image courtesy the artist and Salon 94.
Adams’s unique power stems in part from the size of her work. One picture stands at eight feet tall, and is comprised of soft, organic forms that float among each other in periwinkle blue, forest green, ultramarine, and white. Another picture features a repeating theme of triangles that brings a sculptural liveliness to the colors at play.
Marina Adams, Mambo (2019). Image courtesy the artist and Salon 94.
Like Hilma af Klint, Adams embraces the idea that art should be accessible, though these works are also markedly about creating breathing room. All in all, they make space to help you re-calibrate after a long day.
Salon 94 Bowery is located at 243 Bowery, New York, NY 10002. Open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“André Butzer” at Metro Pictures
Through August 9
André Butzer, Untitled (2019). Image courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures.
German painter André Butzer’s summer exhibition at Metro Pictures includes nine large-scale paintings that explore the power of vivid color and playful figuration. After painting primarily in black and white since 2010, this exhibition marks a return to his early, Neo-Expressionist works characterized by thickly applied swathes of color and cartoon-like characters.
André Butzer, Untitled (2019). Photo courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures.
The show is also a reflection of the artist’s move from his native Germany to Los Angeles, which inspired three paintings featuring a recurring cast of smiling, human-like figures described by the gallery as “a cast of disfigured Disney characters.”
André Butzer, Untitled (2019). Photo courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures.
Ultimately, though, the show is about rich color planes and their ability to transcend reality and form a portal to an otherworldly dimension. “Nothing was ever not about color,” Butzer has said, of the exhibition. “Color is a potency, a fusion. I consider myself a colorist.”
Metro Pictures is located at 519 West 24th Street, New York, NY 10011. Open Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Tom Wesselmann: Flowers” at Gagosian
Through August 16
Mixed Bouquet (Filled In) (1993). Image courtesy the Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by ARS/VAGA, New York. Photo by Jeff Sturges and courtesy Gagosian.
Tom Wesselmann has been called Pop Art’s unsung hero, despite the fact that he made a successful career for himself in the 1960s and palled around with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Robert Indiana.
An installation view of the Wesselmann show. Photo: Rob McKeever. Artworks © The Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by ARS/VAGA, New York.
Throughout his career, the Cincinnati native created still lifes, nudes, and landscapes through collages, sculptures, and highly-stylized screenprints that also featured advertising imagery and everyday household objects.
An installation view of the Wesselmann show. Photo: Rob McKeever. Artworks © The Estate of Tom Wesselmann/Licensed by ARS/VAGA, New York.
At Gagosian, a collection of Wesselmann’s flower works—cut from sheets of metal and then saturated in bright colors and mounted to the gallery walls—are on view for the duration of the summer. Altogether, the space serves as a room-size canvas for these cheerful, instantly uplifting works.
Gagosian’s Park & 75 gallery is located at 821 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021. Open Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.