9 Megawatt Gallery Shows to Check Out During Armory Week, From Kara Walker’s Drawings to Julian Schnabel’s Latest Works

Here's a handy guide to keep on top of the most important shows opening this week.

Julian Schnabel at work in Montauk. Courtesy of Pace.

Armory week is officially here, and with a gust of warm weather, it’s a perfect time to scope out some of the talent on view at the galleries.

To help navigate, here’s a brief guide to some of the exhibitions opening this week.

 

Mimi Lauter: Symphony No. 1” at Blum & Poe
March 3–April 18, 2020

Mimi Lauter, <i>Colossale Allargando Con Spirito</i> (2019), Photo: Makenzie Goodman.

Mimi Lauter, Colossale Allargando Con Spirito (2019). Photo: Makenzie Goodman.

What: Delicacy has no place in the pastels of artist Mimi Lauter, who creates richly textured, chromatically dense works that hint at art-historical tropes, from religious paintings to Post-Impressionist still lifes. Here, 20 or so of the artist’s works are arranged throughout four rooms, mirroring the structure of a symphony. As you walk through the gallery, the works crescendo into bursts of color and texture.

When: Opening reception, Tuesday March 3, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: Blum & Poe, 19 East 66th Street

 

Mira Dancy, France-Lise McGurn, & Clare Woods” at Simon Lee Gallery
March 4–April 25, 2020

Mira Dancy, <i>Sun Swallower</i> (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Chapter, NY.

Mira Dancy, Sun Swallower (2020). Courtesy of the artist and Chapter, NY.

What: This group show presents perspectives on figuration by three female artists from across the globe who are connected in their rejection of conventional images of the body. Instead of a reclining odalisque or a demure kneeling handmaiden, the characters in these pictures confront viewers as commanding presences.

When: Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: Simon Lee Gallery, 26 East 64th Street, second floor

 

Mamma Andersson: The Lost Paradise” at David Zwirner
March 4–April 11, 2020

Image: Mamma Andersson, <i>Lull (detail)</i> (2019). Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner.

Image: Mamma Andersson, Lull (detail) (2019). Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner.

What: Swedish painter Mamma Andersson channels a cinematic sensibility in her recent works, creating images that are at once romantic and bleak. Think of empty stage sets and lonely pianos and horses roaming the dark Nordic terrains. The artist draws influence from Scandinavian mythology, archival photography, and film (the spirit of Ingmar Bergman is certainly present), and her images linger with you long after you’ve looked away.

When: Opening reception, Wednesday March 4, 6–8 p.m.

Where: David Zwirner, 533 West 19th Street

 

Daniel Lind-Ramos: Armario de la Memoria (Storage of Memory)” at Marlborough
March 5–April 18, 2020

Daniel Lind-Ramos, <i>Con-junto (The Ensemble)</i> (2015). Courtesy of the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Daniel Lind-Ramos, Con-junto (The Ensemble) (2015). Courtesy of the Pérez Art Museum Miami.

What: A new exhibition of works by Puerto Rican artist Daniel Lind-Ramos, who was just awarded the second annual Perez Prize, opens just in time for Armory Week. His sculptural assemblages incorporate everyday objects and materials that are infused with alternate meanings, often alluding to contemporary social and political issues.

When: Opening reception, Thursday March 5, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: Marlborough, 545 West 25th Street

 

Kara Walker: Drawings” at Sikkema Jenkins & Co
March 5–April 4, 2020

Installation view, "Kara Walker Drawings" courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Installation view, “Kara Walker Drawings” courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

What: Drawing is the heart of Kara Walker’s practice, and this exhibition of intimately scaled works, all from her personal archive, centers on a series of 38 drawings called The Gross Clinician: Pater Gravidam (2018), which references Thomas Eakins’s 1875 painting The Gross Clinic depicting a public operation. The Walker works range from the mythological to the macabre and the most striking ones are her unexpected depictions of Barack Obama in roles from Othello to Saint Anthony—which are timely, and humorous, and slightly tragic.

When: Opening reception, Thursday March 5, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: Sikkema Jenkins & Co, 530 West 22nd Street

 

Lari Pittman: Found Buried” at Lehmann Maupin
March 5–April 25, 2020

Lari Pittman, <i>Found Buried #1</i> (2020). © Lari Pittman. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul.

Lari Pittman, Found Buried #1 (2020). © Lari Pittman. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul.

What: Fresh off his career retrospective at the Hammer in California, the Los Angeles-based artist is showing for the first time with Lehmann Maupin in New York. Pittman’s paintings and works on paper are exercises in horror vacui (fear of the empty), refusing to let even an inch of space go unadorned. With runic symbols buried under dense layers of colors and textures, Pittman manages to tackle societal issues like the AIDS crisis and identity politics in graphically pleasing canvases.

When: Opening reception Thursday, March 5, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: Lehmann Maupin, 501 West 24th Street

 

Firelei Báez” at James Cohan
March 5–April 25, 2020

Firelei Baez, <i>Untitled (detail)</i> (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan.

Firelei Báez, Untitled (detail) (2020). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan.

What: One of the most buzzed-about young artists working today, Firelei Báez’s afro-centric paintings blend historical facts with science fiction to create creepy yet optimistic visions. Using found maps as a starting point, the artist disrupts boundaries by layering them over with elegant, fantastical beings borrowed from folklore and mythology.

When: Opening reception, Thursday March 5, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: James Cohan Gallery, 48 Walker Street

 

Julian Schnabel: The Patch of Blue the Prisoner Calls the Sky” at Pace
March 6–April 18, 2020

Julian Schnabel, <i>The Patch of Blue the Prisoner Calls the Sky I</i>, (2019). © Julian Schnabel. Courtesy of Pace.

Julian Schnabel, The Patch of Blue the Prisoner Calls the Sky I, (2019). © Julian Schnabel. Courtesy of Pace.

What: Pace’s new headquarters in Chelsea will host 13 new paintings by art-world man-about-town Julian Schnabel. The paintings are physical—more like sculptures than pictures—and bear the marks of Schnabel’s labor and the armatures they were painted on (the supports were sourced from markets in Mexico). But the resulting works are more calm and colorful than expected.

When: Opening reception, Thursday March 5, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Where: Pace, 540 West 25th Street

 

Richard Long: From a Rolling Stone to Now” at Lisson & “Muddy Heaven” at Sperone Westwater
March 5–April 18, 2020

Artist Richard Long at work. Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.

Artist Richard Long at work. Courtesy of Lisson Gallery.

What: Richard Long is getting the full New York gallery treatment with two concurrent shows opening this week. The Turner Prize-winning artist is best known for his performative Land art works, which he enacts long, solitary journeys around the world, immersing himself in the land and creating works with local materials. While on his travels, he documents his experiences with text and photography. Though he’s shown more than a dozen times with Sperone Westwater over the years, this his first show at Lisson’s New York outpost, where he will present his works.

When: Opening reception (at both galleries) Thursday March 5, 5 p.m.–7 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Where: Lisson Gallery, 504 West 24th Street; Sperone Westwater, 257 Bowery

 


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