Gallery: Wallspace, 619 West 27 St.
Dates: October 21 - November 27, 2010
Exhibit: Because of his emphasis on the interplay between exhibit space and artwork, Gaylen Gerber was once likened to a quantum particle accelerator, for the way he mashes it all together. In this exhibit, several still lifes are propped against the wall, rather than hung on it. The gallery's press release warns that you should stay away from this exhibit if you're into "easy appreciation," but is it too much to ask that things be at eye level?
Gallery: Derek Eller Gallery, 615 West 27 St.
Dates: October 15 - November 13, 2010
Exhibit: Mayerson turns his painterly eye from the political and pop culture realms to an examination of his own life, with this collection taken primarily from photos that he himself has shot or directed. Keep an eye out for the painting of "Rothko" in Red, and the one based on a photo of Mayerson and his husband, from when gay marriage was legal in California in 2008.
Gallery: Andrea Rosen Gallery, 525 West 24 St.
Dates: October 23 - December 4, 2010
Exhibit: The German-born mixed-media artist Friedrich Kunath has always been acutely aware of popular culture but his latest exhibit of statues and paintings seems ripped right from the semi-happy low-fi pop music coming out of California right now (Wavves, Best Coast, etc.). One representative example from an earlier show at Art Basel: A sepia photograph of the word "Motherfucker" written in wet sand.
Gallery: Sikkema Jenkins & Co., 530 West 22 St.
Dates: October 21 - December 4, 2010
Exhibit: This exhibit's abstract paintings are meant to evoke an imaginative space, to use the artist's words, on a "dynamic stage" that simultaneously creates and rejects a narrative. (Oh, that explains it.) The show marks a return to New York for Queiroz, who is Portuguese and works in Berlin, but received his MFA at our School of Visual Arts.
Gallery: CANADA Gallery, 55 Chrystie St.
Dates: October 22 - November 21, 2010
Exhibit: A red pole stands in the middle of this exhibit, as well as textural painting that bleeds onto the wall. The New York Sun compared an earlier exhibit of his in the same space to a cocktail party — this looks like it may be more of a late-night bull session.
Gallery: Marian Goodman Gallery, 24 West 57th St.
Dates: October 21 - December 4, 2010
Exhibit: Baldessari is a living legend, from his early text paintings, which he later burned, to his video art to his performance pieces. This gallery exhibit highlights paintings from his recent series "Sediment" and it displays selected scenes and body parts in eerie, high contrast silhouette. The exhibit is timed to his major retrospective, Pure Beauty, which just came to the Met.
Gallery: Cheim & Read, 547 West 25th Street
Dates: October 29 - December 30, 2010
Exhibit: A pioneer of the abstract style and a decorated WWII veteran who fought in the French foreign legion, Hans Hartung returns to New York for his first show since a Met retrospective in 1975. This collection focuses on his later years, when he was wheelchair-bound and used spary paint as a way to stay vibrant on the canvas.
