11 Artworks From Artnet’s Gallery Network That Our Experts Are Loving This Week
![Mari Ito, Ritmo de nacimiento de Alegría. Villa del Arte galleries Mari Ito, Ritmo de nacimiento de Alegría. Villa del Arte galleries](https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2021/01/Mari-Ito-Alegia-1024x853.jpg)
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Every week, we explore the thousands of galleries on the Artnet Gallery Network to highlight the spaces and artworks inspiring us right now. Take a look at our latest picks below.
Axel Hütte, Flower. Courtesy of Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf.
The inner glow that seems to emanate from the works of Axel Hütte’s new series “FLuORESCENCE” fascinates me. The still lifes are the result of a long experimental photographic process in which he used dried flowers. More of his works can be seen at Wilma Tolksdorf Gallery.
—Alexandra Schott
Lyle Ashton Harris, Afropunk Odalisque. Courtesy of Nancy Littlejohn Fine Art.
As an African-American artist, Lyle Ashton Harris confronts identity politics of both gender and race in his photographic practice. Re-examining the French tradition of Orientalist painting, he recasts himself in the role of the iconic odalisque. The 19th-century Romantic painting trope depicted reclining nude women typically draped in sensuous silks which had in all likelihood been brought back to France from the painter’s travels to North Africa or the Near East. Harris aptly subverts his motif in this contemporary image. Lyle Ashton Harris reclaims the agency of the exotic “other” by draping himself in hand-dyed brightly patterned wax cloth, stripping away the fantasy of the painter’s studio, and suggesting the influence of traditional wood carving on modern French painting traditions.
—Carson Wos
John Rivas, Titi. Courtesy of Superposition Gallery.
Previously showing with Superposition Gallery, Ross+Kramer Gallery, and most recently Latchkey Gallery, Salvadoran-American artist, John Rivas’ paintings often include sculptural elements and found objects from his childhood and Central American heritage. In this mixed-media portrait of the artist’s girlfriend, we can see a real hoop earring and uncooked red beans.
—Cristina Cruz
Lotte Laserstein, Boy Resting Under a Tree. Courtesy of Daxer & Marschall Kunsthandel.
Among the major artists of the Weimar Republic, German-Swedish artist Lotte Laserstein’s oeuvre stands out for its expressive capturing of the zeitgeist of the interwar period. Her paintings, mainly portraits, and landscapes, showcase her skills as a highly talented and skillful painter.
Boy Resting under a Tree from 1934 is from her series of Berlin paintings, the summit of the artist’s career before she forcibly migrated to Sweden in 1937 due to Nazi prosecution. With the boy’s suit colors merging against the brown-ocher background of the shrubbery, the resting boy meets our gaze with intensity and cockiness, almost as if uncovering us as intruders to his hideout.
—Elmas Senol
Alex Woyde, From Now On. Courtesy of von fraunberg art gallery.
Alex Woyde’s approach is an intuitive one through which multilayered images arise. The result is a painting that questions the fragility and instability of our seemingly certain reality, like a fleeting dream. Possible interpretation becomes multifaceted and personal.
—Karin Petit
Stephan Kaluza, Transit II. Courtesy of Geuer + Geuer.
I especially like the quietness that this hyperrealistic painting radiates. The viewer’s gaze is directed to the play of light and shadow of the grass with the sun, and nothing outside this small section distracts from it. A careful look into the depths of the painting reveals small details such as dried up grass tips or different gradients of color so that no further pictorial means are necessary.
—Miriam Minak
Jaymee Harvey, Puppy Party. Courtesy of Silvermine Galleries.
This colorful, whimsical sculpture immediately transports me to Alice in Wonderland. The eye recognizes a pink teacup, pink, fuzzy shapes that look like flowers, and the dessert-like element present at the top that adds to its fun and happy feel. Along with the work’s remarkable affordability, these elements make this a very covetous work of art.
—Neha Jambhekar
Mickalene Thomas, Les Trois Femmes Noires. Courtesy of Bill Hodges Gallery
I have long been a fan of Mickalene’s Thomas’ work. The way she captures her subjects, and the richness of the colors and prints she uses, can be dazzling and rich. In this image, what excites me is that although the three women collectively create a great portrait they all seem to be posing for their own individual close-ups.
—Qadira Farrington
Mari Ito, Exteriorización de mis deseos. Courtesy of Villa Del Arte.
Ito’s work is full of amusing details that take diagrams from biology class to another level. Her works are characteristically psychedelic, delicious, and cute. She mixes clever self-portraiture that results in scavenger hunts further bringing to attention the precision and musings incorporated on every bit of the surface.
—Santiago Garcia Cano
William Klein, Club Allegro Fortissimo, Paris 1990–2001. Courtesy of HackelBury Fine Art.
I love the easy confidence of this group and how leaving their streetwear aside has transformed them into timeless, almost mythological, bathing figures, one of the most quintessential subjects for artists. William Klein has then marked up his contact sheet with bold, graffiti-like color, placing us firmly back in the twentieth century.
—Sara Carson
David LaChapelle, Courtney Love Tattooed Heart. Courtesy of Famous Amsterdam.
David LaChapelle reimagines famous figures using his own brand of creative technicolor. LaChapelle is known internationally for his exceptional talent in combining a unique hyper-realistic aesthetic with profound social messages.
—Yi Zhang