The editors at artnet News searched New York City high and low for the most exciting, bizarre, and thought-provoking gallery exhibitions this March. 

Jay DeFeo, Traveling Portrait (Chance Landscape) (1973). Courtesy of Mitchell-Innes & Nash.

1. “Outrageous Fortune: Jay DeFeo and Surrealism” at Mitchell-Innes & Nash
Although Bay-area artist Jay DeFeo is more typically thought of as an Abstract Expressionist, she was also heavily influenced by the Surrealists, as evidenced by this selection of 70 works created between 1955 and 1986, including photos, collages, and drawings.

March 1–April 7; 534 West 26th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Elise Ferguson, Double Header (2018). Courtesy of Cristin Tierney.

2. “Hard Edges: Lorser Feitelson, Elise Ferguson, and Alois Kronschlaeger” at Cristin Tierney
Cristin Tierney examines hard-edge abstraction in 2017 with enamel and oil burlap paintings by Lorser Feitelson, woven yarn screen “paintings” by Alois Kronschlaeger, and Elise Ferguson’s plaster paintings.

March 1–April 7; 548 West 28th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Sean Landers, In Barrel Approaching the Falls (2017). Courtesy of Petzel.

3. “Sean Landers” at Petzel
Sean Landers’s new canvases take the form of oversize yellow legal pads filled with the artist’s thoughtful scribbles—inspired by angrier musings he jotted down on lined paper nearly 30 years ago.

March 1–April 21; 35 East 67th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Kishio Suga’s Scene of Elapsed Cause (2017). Courtesy of the artist.

4. “Kishio Suga” at Blum & Poe
Kishio Suga continues to work with assemblages, creating interesting connections between surface and texture. The minimal aesthetic of the work is at odds with the rather weighty titles—Japanese neologisms that are at the crux of the essays and artwork Suga has been creating throughout his career.

March 1–April 14; 19 East 66th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

“Joe Overstreet, Innovation of Flight: Paintings 1967–1972” installation view. Photo courtesy of Eric Firestone Gallery.

5. “Joe Overstreet, Innovation of Flight: Paintings 1967–1972” at Eric Firestone Gallery
The line between painting and sculpture blends in Joe Overstreet’s suspended canvases from the early 1970s and shaped canvas constructions from the late 1960s. This is the first survey exhibition of the artist’s early works.

March 1–May 5, 2018; 4 Great Jones, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Carrie Moyer’s Stagecraft (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Mary Boone Gallery.

6. “Carrie Moyer: Seismic Shuffle” at Mary Boone Gallery
In her latest series, artist Carrie Moyer continues to use a pouring-technique to achieve the painterly nuances of her abstract paintings; the titles of her most recent work, like Afterparty in the Rhizosphere, and Totem Before the Event Horizon allude to a more metaphysical bent. 

March 1–April 21; 745 Fifth Avenue, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Niko Luoma’s Adaptation of ‘Guernica’ by Pablo Picasso, 1937 (2017). Courtesy of the artist.

7. “Niko Luoma: Proximity” at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
Luoma’s facility with the technical aspects of photography is on display in this series of photographs. Luoma uses the Cubist sensibility of employing multiple perspectives to transform masterpieces of modern art into purely abstracted images.

March 1–April 14; 505 West 24th Street 

Kathleen Jacobs, CLIPR (2015). Courtesy of the artist.

8. “Kathleen Jacobs: DREMS” at Fergus McCaffrey 
Kathleen Jacobs’s take on the process of stone rubbing involves wrapping canvases or linen around tree trunks, applying pigment, and leaving them to weather, sometimes for as long as two years. She then finishes the abstract, heavily textured paintings in the studio.

March 1–April 14, 2018; 514 West 26th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Anja Niemi, The Imaginary Cowboy (2016). Courtesy of Steven Kasher Gallery.

9. “Anja Niemi: She Could Have Been a Cowboy” at Steven Kasher Gallery
Norwegian photographer Anja Niemi gets her first US solo show, featuring photographs shot in the American West. “The story is not really about being a cowboy. It’s about wanting to be another,” she said in her artist statement.

March 1–April 14, 2018; 515 West 26th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Nobu Fukui’s Paradise (detail) (2016). Courtesy of Margaret Thatcher Projects.

10. “Nobu Fukui: Paradise” at Margaret Thatcher Projects
The New York-based artist mines the popular visual culture of his native Japan as readily as that of his adopted city of New York, where he has resided for more than 50 years. In his most recent series, Nobu Fukui affixes layers of found imagery onto newsprint, building up a layered surface that is dotted with tiny beads.

March 1–April 7; 539 West 23rd Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Douglas Florian, Pinko Pinko: Your Own Pinocchio (2015–16). Courtesy of BravinLee programs.

11. “Douglas Florian: Spells and Apparitions” at BravinLee programs
According to the gallery, Douglas Florian’s oil on linen paintings “were spurred on or spirited into being by stray news stories, personal slights, obscure histories, abandoned songs, Japanese dreams, casual observations, or neglected poems.”

March 1–April 7; 526 West 26th Street #211, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

María Elena González, A Modest and Literal Gesture (2018). Courtesy of Hirschl & Adler.

12. “Bread and Salt” at Hirschl & Adler Modern
Hirschl & Adler inaugurates their new home in the Fuller Building with a group show of works by artists including María Elena González, David Ligare, Andy Mister, John Moore, Stone Roberts, and Elizabeth Turk. It will also be the first outing at Hirschl & Adler for Louisa Chase and Honoré Sharrer, both of whose estates are now represented by the gallery.

March 1–April 7; 41 East 57th Street, 9th Floor

Chris Martin, Double Frog Afternoon (2017). Courtesy of Anton Kern Gallery.

13. “Chris Martin” at Anton Kern Gallery
Chris Martin’s new paintings, created in his new Upstate studio, offer a delightful explosion of color and glitter; the exhibition coincides with the release of the artist’s monograph, Chris Martin: Paintings, which features essays by Trinie Dalton, Glenn O’Brien, and Nancy Princenthal, in addition to more than 170 illustrations.

March 1–April 7; 16 East 55th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Juan Downey, Second Novel: A sculpture class (1970). Courtesy of the estate of Juan Downey and the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Miami.

14. “The School of Survival: Learning with Juan Downey” at Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery, Hunter College
While teaching at New York’s Pratt, Downey explored radical concepts of architecture as a force for social and ecological change.

March 2–May 6; 132 East 68th Street, opening reception 7 p.m.–9 p.m.

Karin Sander, Apple. Courtesy of Carolina Nitsch Project Room.

15. “Karin Sander: Kitchen Pieces” at Carolina Nitsch Project Room
Conceptual artist Karin Sander is using fresh fruits and vegetables in her upcoming show, displaying in such a way that they seem artificial. Nailed directly to the wall so that they almost appear to float weightlessly, each fruit or vegetable is meant to be replaced whenever the owner wants—their purchase buys them the stainless steel nail and the certificate of authenticity.

March 2–May 5; 534 West 22nd Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Robert Mapplethorpe. Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery.

16. “Robert Mapplethorpe” at Gladstone Gallery
The contemporary artist Roe Ethridge has selected a suite of historical works from the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation’s archive, highlighting the most prescient aspects of Mapplethorpe’s oeuvre: the tension between the sacred and the profane, and how it is articulated through art.

March 3–April 14; 515 West 24th Street, opening reception 4 p.m.–6 p.m. 

Oliver Laric, installation view at Kunst Galerie Museum, Bolzano, Italy.

17. “Oliver Laric: Year of the Dog” at Metro Pictures
For his first solo presentation at Metro Pictures, Oliver Laric is using the Lunar New Year as inspiration, creating sculptures of Hundmensch, or “dog people” based on hand drawings, which were translated into three-dimensions.

March 3–April 14; 519 West 24th Street 

Jean-Michel Othoniel, Black Lotus (2015). Courtesy of Perrotin, ©Othoniel/ADAGP Paris, 2018.

18. “Jean-Michel Othoniel: Dark Matters” at Perrotin
Perrotin unveils its new three-floor gallery space with an exhibition of Jean-Michel Othoniel’s hauntingly beautiful glass sculptures.

March 3–April 15; 130 Orchard Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Erika Verzutti, Homeopatia (2018).

19. “Erika Verzutti: Ex Gurus” at Andrew Kreps Gallery
Erika Verzuitti’s new work includes sculptures and painted bronze wall reliefs that are based on concepts that once held a deep meaning for the artist, but upon later reflection, are no longer arbiters of great import.

March 3–31; 537/535 West 22nd Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Francesca DiMattio, Boucherouite. Courtesy of the artist.

20. “Francesca DiMattio: Boucherouite” at Salon 94
Francesca DiMattio’s new show at Salon 94 features sculptures and paintings that irreverently combine aspects of classical art history with animated characters from popular culture, weaving together cultures and landscapes to create wholly unique objects.

March 6–April 21; 243 Bowery, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Kim Tschang-Yeul, Waterdrops (1985). Photo by Rebecca Fanuele, courtesy of the artist and Almine Rech Gallery, ©Kim Tschang Yeul.

21. “Kim Tschang-Yeul” at Almine Rech Gallery
Over his four-decade-long career, Korean artist Kim Tschang-Yeul has repeatedly returned to drops of water as a favored motif. This survey exhibition ranges from an abstract canvas from 1968 to his more recent “Recurrence” series, overlaying crystalline water droplets on top of a field of Chinese characters.

March 6–April 14; 39 East 78th Street, 2nd floor, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Kim Dorland, Gather Oil. Courtesy of Arsenal Contemporary.

22. “Kim Dorland: Same Old Future” and “Robin Meier: Synchronicity” at Arsenal Contemporary
The Edythe and Eli Broad Art Museum in Lansing, Michigan, has teamed up with Arsenal Contemporary to present two solo shows that respond to forests, both as a place of science and of human emotion. Up front Kim Dorland presents 12 paintings of groves of trees, while the back room is dedicated to Robin Meier installation that combines video, music, and light.

March 6–April 22; 214 Bowery, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Pedro Caetano, Melão com chiclete (2015). Courtesy of Galeria Luciana Brito.

23. “Reflector” at Luciana Brito NY Project
For her second New York show, Brazilian dealer Luciana Brito pairs the work of three young São Paulo artists with that of their American counterparts.

March 6–April 21; 186 Franklin Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Alex Katz, Chance 2 (2016). Courtesy of Paul Kasmin, ©Alex Katz/Licensed by VAGA, New York.

24. “Alex Katz: Cut Outs” at Paul Kasmin Gallery
The flat, simple shapes and colors of Alex Katz’s iconic paintings translate perfectly into his editioned “Cut Outs” sculptures, a series begun in 1959. Four portraits of the artist’s wife and muse, Ada, are joined by one piece featuring three women at the beach, the figures realized on thin sheets of stainless or porcelain enamel coated steel.

March 8–April 14; 515 West 27th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Cy Twombly, Untitled (Roma), 1961. The painting has been donated to the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the collection of Daniel W. Dietrich II.
Photo: © Cy Twombly Foundation.

25. “Cy Twombly: In Beauty it is Finished: Drawings 1951–2008” at Gagosian
In two of Gagosian’s New York locations, the first career-spanning survey of the late Cy Twombly’s works on paper will go on view. At the Madison Avenue outpost, the epic work Coronation of Sesostris (2000) is on view; a prime example of the hugeness of Twombly’s craft and imagination in the 10-part historical cycle. For fans of Twombly, this two-part presentation across Gagosian’s galleries is a must-see to start off the spring art season.

March 8–April 25; 522 West 21st Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

March 8–April 28; 980 Madison Avenue, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Wolfgang Laib’s Passageway (2013). Courtesy of the artist and Sperone Westwater.

26. “Wolfgang Laib: Where the Land and Water End” at Sperone Westwater
At his new show for Sperone Westwater, Wolfgang Laib mines his experiences from a recent pilgrimage to Myanmar, where he encountered a place he described as “beyond land and water” continuing his interest in expressing the immaterial using visual forms.

March 8–April 21; 257 Bowery, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Antonio Lopez, Jessica Lange (1974). Courtesy of Danziger Gallery.

27. “Antonio Lopez” at Danziger Gallery
Renowned fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez was rarely without his camera. In their first exhibition of the artist since acquiring his photographic estate, Danziger Gallery presents a selection of Lopez’s 1970s-era Instamatic prints, each one unique and developed and printed by Kodak.

March 8–April 28; 95 Rivington Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Louise Fishman, My Guernica (2017). Courtesy of Team Gallery.

28. “mark” at Team Gallery
A group show bringing together artists Erica Baum, Shannon Ebner, Louise Fishman, Al Loving, Suzanne McClelland, and Albert Oehlen investigates the various meanings of the word “mark.”

March 8–April 21; 83 Grand Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Marsha Cottrell’s Untitled (5:35:21 pm) (2018). Courtesy of the artist.

29. “Marsha Cottrell: Screen Life” at Van Doren Waxter
Cottrell’s artistic practice has long centered around a computer and printer, creating nuanced landscapes with only the binary code and limited color palette of the machinery. In a new presentation, the artist has created three unique large-scale prints that are the result of arcane and contemporary technology, along with principles of craftsmanship that are at the heart of her work.

March 8–April 21; 195 Chrystie Street, opening reception  6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Barbara Hepworth, Elegy III (1966). Courtesy of Pace, ©Bowness, Hepworth Estate.

30. “Barbara Hepworth: A Matter of Form” at Pace
There hasn’t been an exhibition of Barbara Hepworth’s work in the US since 2001, so don’t miss this career-spanning outing at Pace, featuring more than 25 of her Modernist sculptures, as well as a selection of the artist’s paintings.

March 9–April 21; 537 West 24th Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

The promotional image for Sean Raspet’s upcoming show. Courtesy of Bridget Donahue Gallery.

31. “Sean Raspet” at Bridget Donahue
Sean Raspet presents his investigations into the human olfactory system, arguably our most complex sense—exhibiting scent molecule formulations developed by the fragrance industry to target human olfactory receptors. The show will also give collectors the chance to preorder Raspet’s new line of environmentally friendly scented products, such as shampoo and laundry detergent, all priced comparably to similar small brands.

March 9–April 22; 99 Bowery, 2nd Floor

Robert Beck, Hand and Crucifix. Photo courtesy of Ulterior Gallery.

32. “Robert Beck: Vestige” at Ulterior Gallery
Formerly known as Robert Beck, the artist changed his name by one letter, to Buck, in 2008 as an art project investigating society’s patriarchal naming convention. Here, he presents Kodak instant photographs from 1979 and 1980, the first years he spent living in New York City.

March 9–April 15; 172 Attorney Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Jacolby Satterwhite’s Venus Region Three (2017). Courtesy of Moran Bandaroff Gallery.

33. “Jacolby Satterwhite: Blessed Avenue” at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise
The genre-bending, mixed-media artist Jacolby Satterwhite makes his debut at GBE with his first gallery show since 2013. He’s unveiling a 30-minute digital video that uses computer-generated images to exotic, otherworldly, and at times nightmarish effect, as well as a conceptual visual album and sculptural work.
March 10–May 6; 291 Grand Street

Jeff Koons’s Lips (2000). © Jeff Koons, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

34. “Jeff Koons: Easyfun-Ethereal” at Gagosian
The show’s title, “Easyfun-Ethereal” perfectly sums up the aura of Jeff Koons’s large-scale, super-realist paintings of gigantic, perfectly painted lips, flowing tendrils of hair, and deeply colored backgrounds that bring together some of the artist’s favorite visual cues from his pop-laden imagery.

March 10–April 21; 555 West 21st Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Bill Scott, Homage (2017). Courtesy of Hollis Taggart Galleries.

35. “Bill Scott” at Hollis Taggart Galleries
Bill Scott’s vibrant new paintings blend abstract and figuration references to the natural world emerging from a churning sea of color and form.

March 15–April 28; 521 West 26th Street, 7th Floor, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Ramiro Gomez, 77 7th Ave (2018). Courtesy P.P.O.W. ©Ramiro Gomez.

36. “Ramiro Gomez in NYC” at P.P.O.W.
The artist Ramiro Gomez is best known for his David Hockney-esque paintings that have much darker undertones—often highlighting the unseen, unrecognized labor force, often fueled by immigrants, that are behind many of the iconic images of America’s cities.

March 22–April 21; 535 West 22nd Street

Vera Molnar’s Structure de Quadrilatères (Square Structures) (1985).

37. “Vera Molnar: Drawings 1949–1986” at Senior & Shopmaker Gallery
The artist Vera Molnar is mostly unknown in America, though at 93 she is a veritable living legend in France. In her new show, Molnar’s contributions to the field of Kinetic and Op Art, as well as her participation in the Groupe de Recherche d’art Visuel (GRAV) in Paris are on full display with a selection of “pre-computer” artwork.

March 23–May 12; 210 Eleventh Avenue, 8th Floor

Mariko Mori’s Ekpyrotic String VI (rendering) (2016-2017). Courtesy of the artist.

38. “Mariko Mori: Invisible Dimension” at Sean Kelly
Mariko Mori continues her practice of studying advanced scientific ideas like string theory and particle physics, translating them into ethereal sculptures.

March 24–April 28; 475 Tenth Avenue, opening reception March 22, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

Justine Hill, Bookend 3 (2018). Courtesy of Denny Gallery.

39. “Justine Hill: Freestanding” at Denny Gallery
Justine Hill presents the second exhibition of her “Cutouts” series, unusual multi-panel works made by covering hand-cut planks of wood in canvas and painting them in complex designs.

March 29–May 6; 261 Broome Street, opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.