1. Juan Antonio Olivares at Off Vendome
A recent graduate from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Puerto Rican-born artist Juan Antonio Olivares presents an emotionally raw and poignant video work for his first solo show at New York’s Off Vendome gallery.
Moléculas begins with the narrator’s recollection of memories of his mother and expands into wider philosophical issues. Olivares told artnet News that his videos “evolve intuitively and impulsively over time.”
The protagonist is played by a lovable plush teddy bear with crystal blue eyes, which provides a blank slate for the viewer to project onto. What makes the work so evocative is that it brings questions about life/death, love/loss, and family to the fore.
“Moléculas” has been extended until March 4, 2017 at Off Vendome.
Olivia Erlanger and Luis Ortega Govela. Courtesy of www.oliviaerlanger.com.
2. Olivia Erlanger and Luis Ortega Govela at 83 Pitt Street
Garage: Hate Suburbia by artist Olivia Erlanger and architect Luis Ortega Govela, is a new book which investigates the history of the garage and its influence on American culture. Bringing together an essay exploring the work of Frank Lloyd Wright with a fictional interview between Apple’s Steve Wozniak and No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, the collaborative book is a dialogue on how the relationship between conservatism and counterculture create a loop where one continuously feeds into the other, creating alternative meanings and identities.
The project culminated into an art installation at Metro Picture’s project space, 83 Pitt Street. Inspired by a garage-gallery in Rome, in which the owner, Fabio Sargentini, flooded the entire space as its “closing”, the two artists built several balloon frames to mimic how suburban homes are constructed, and “flooded” the gallery with fabric dye.
These disparate ideas come together in the Pitt Street project space, which is what the garage eventually become a symbol for—a place of recreation.
“Garage: Hate Suburbia” is on view until February 23, 2017 at 83 Pitt Street.
Julian Ceccaldi (far left) on view at Simon Lee.
3. Julien Ceccaldi in “An Uncanny Likeness” at Simon Lee Gallery
In Simon Lee’s inaugural group show at his renovated Upper East side space, French-Canadian artist Julien Ceccaldi presents a single painting of three male bodies, in blue and brown tones.
Two lanky figures cling to a large, muscular man, revealing the all-too-human insecurities present throughout Ceccaldi’s work, resulting in tragedy, co-dependency, and fractured love.
“An Uncanny Likeness” is on view until March 4, 2017 at Simon Lee Gallery.
Whitney Claflin. Courtesy of Real Fine Arts.
4. Whitney Claflin at Real Fine Arts
Brooklyn-based artist Whitney Claflin’s third show at Real Fine Arts, “Just Disco,” is hauntingly pretty.
Each canvas possesses a certain restraint, with brush strokes sparsely applied, hinting at Claflin’s cavernous mind. Other works also take strange cues, such as a barking dog sculpture, titled Beast, which greets visitors, while lighter burns on the gallery’s ceiling read “FORGET MARRIAGE, SAVE ABORTION.”
The artist creates alternate realities to consume and be consumed by.
“Just Disco” is on view until March 12, 2017 at Real Fine Arts.
Bea Fremderman, Evan (2017). Courtesy of Shoot the Lobster.
5. Bea Fremderman at Shoot the Lobster
Climate change and the apocalypse inform Bea Fremderman’s new work at the gallery. Titled, “How to do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself,” pieces in the show include a papier-maché tree trunk, an apple with a foam core, and old sweatshirts and jeans where chia seeds are being grown.
The entrance to the Eldridge Street space is fragrant with the fresh smell of the minty seed, which unexpectedly grounds Fremderman’s work in the hopeful present, although it firmly looks to a dystopian future.
“How to do Nothing With Nobody All Alone By Yourself,” is on view until February 26, 2017 at Shoot the Lobster.