‘Reframe’ is a monthly column in which contributor Sam Falb discusses timely openings to view in New York. Each edition offers commentary on the latest exhibitions, performances, and installations. Dynamic and ever-evolving, the content reflects the fluidity of the market it travels through.
What a timely moment to start an art column, when a large grouping of galleries and institutions in New York put up their early or mid-summer shows and indulge—just like the rest of us—in the promise of a summer breeze, a plane ticket, or a general period of leisure. Not to be perturbed, the first article of this series includes a variety of strong shows to view during this lighter period. See below for the selection, and join us at the end of the season for regular monthly coverage on New York’s latest show openings.
1. Magenta Plains: Summer Group Show (July 11-August 17)
For the gallery’s next show, expect a two-level experience with a wealth of work to take in. On the first level of the gallery, viewers will find a multi-media show under the moniker of Swim Hole, featuring works by Alex Kwartler, Alexis Rockman, Barbara Ess, Bill Saylor, Don Dudley, Jane Swavely, Jennifer Bolande, Martha Diamond, Matthew Weinstein, and Peter Nagy. On the second level, a sculpture-focused presentation featuring works by Rachel Faeth, Chadwick Rantanen, Hana Mileteć, and Eli Coplan will be shown. Barbara Ess’s uniquely entrancing photography will certainly be a highlight, as will Jane Swavely’s ever-captivating abstractions in rich color. Perhaps they’ll even throw open the balcony and extend the festivities beyond the opening hours, and into the night.
2. Anat Egbi: Mama’s In The Kitchen (June 28-August 16)
Rirkrit Tiravanija’s Untitled (lunch box) complete with silver dishes of rice, mixed vegetables, and a convenient newspaper as lunchtime reading material, is just one of the delectable works of food-meets-art that can be found in this show. The presentation is an exploration of the tension that rituals of the home meet against the capitalistic bent of today’s culture. In Kate Pincus Whitney’s Grandma’s Rituals, there is a buffet of gastronomic complexities so grand and packed with vibrance, it seems to capture (almost too deliciously) the theme of increasing complexity in today’s fast-paced, consumption-led culture. The lineup also includes works (vegetal, painterly, and otherwise) by Jay Lynn Gomez, Caleb Hahne Quintana, Stephanie Temma Hier, Ryan Johnson, Alison Knowles, Tidawhitney Lek, Jaime Muñoz, Alvin Ong, Kemar Keanu Wynter, and FOOD: Tina Girouard, Carole Goodden, and Gordon Matta-Clark.
3. Whaam!: Roller Coaster (June 27 – August 3)
In his first solo show for the gallery, Justin Hager presents a series of paintings that invite viewers to see the world through his eyes: the extraordinary in the ordinary. It’s whimsical, it’s rich, it uses techniques like impasto applications of Rococo-like spackle work, and it’s highly original. With several contributions to Collina Strada’s recent collections, as well as the cover design of Richie Shazam’s photo book published under IDEA, it’s also worth noting that Hager’s synergy within the worlds of fashion and art provides a compelling lens through which to view his work. Perhaps the figures seem dressed a little more smartly—between delicate, bright flowers and books) —and the worldbuilding of the pieces grows a little more complex with each passing glance.
4. Amanita: Social Practice (June 26-August 10)
At Amanita, a group exhibition of eight painters arrives under the banner of Social Practice. What’s unique about the show, as Shanti Escalante-De Mattei describes in exhibition notes, is that the artists “have committed to showing up for themselves and each other, sharing resources, trade secrets, honest critiques, insider gossip, [and] another body at the opening.” All living and working in Brooklyn as well, a masterful showcase of synergy and connection is now on view, by Cristina BanBan, Paul Cooley, Marco Paul, Robert Nava, Cristina de Miguel, Marco Pariani, Federico de Francesco, and Dan Flanagan.
5. Tara Downs: The Principal Cause of Serial Monogamy (June 21-July 26)
Curated by Cooper Brovenick, bright points of the cinematically-titled presentation include a wide exploration of texture (see Justin Chance’s works in wool and Lynda Benglis’ aluminum sculpture) among a range exploring the spectrum of abstraction. A subtly connected follow-up to his last exhibition, A Modern Disease — like jetlag, this show brings together artists across generations to speak on their relationships with the highs and lows of interconnectedness, as well as individuality and its sanctity. André Breton’s L’Amour Fou is cited as an influence, just as the preceding show’s title was guided by the poetry of Purple’s Glenn O’Brien, the late former Editor-at-Large. It’s these thoughtful easter eggs that make Brovenick’s work that much more delicious, with a lineup that includes Yuji Agematsu, Carly Burnell, Violet Dennison, David Flaugher, Lauren Anaïs Hussey, Nika Kutateladze, Liza Lacroix, Sabine Moritz, and Michael Simpson.
6. 52 Walker: Orgasms Happened Here (June 21-September 14)
An architectural scavenger hunt unfolds in the high-ceilinged, grand room of 52 Walker – one of this author’s preferred Tribeca gallery spaces among neighbors including Bortolami, James Cohan, and P·P·O·W. However, this highlight is about 52 Walker, and it’s quite well-deserved. Diamond Stingily offers an array of thoughtful, home-centric works ranging from locked doors, to stained glass windows, to gate sculptures. Bright, singular hues in icy blue and neon green mark the stained glass, a welcome departure from the conventional storytelling design of this medium. A series of doorways communicate separate micro-narratives, referential to themes including privacy, curiosity, and transgression. A cluster of bats lean against a threshold, pressed shirts hang just behind a folding closet door, and stacks of bricks can be found neatly packed in front of a wall of pasted newspapers.
7. James Fuentes: Fire Island Pines 1981 (June 21-July 19)
This exhibition showcases Ed Baynard through a collection of intimate works on paper from the summer of 1981, in Fire Island Pines. Baynard’s career spanned an enormous breadth of work based in simple, classic touch-points including ceramics, flowers, and natural scenes. This particular series, rendered in colored pencil, captures his reflections in the queer sanctuary of the Pines, just as the HIV/AIDS epidemic emerged. His background as a graphic designer for the Beatles and a clothing designer for Jimi Hendrix complexifies the work, with these pieces moreso focusing on the intimately personal, rather than the splashier projects that helped raise his profile during his lifetime. Influences include a masterclass of flora and fauna-centric works and calming strength—Zen minimalism, Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Demuth, and Japanese Ukiyo-e prints.
8. Charles Moffett: Playtime (June 21-August 2)
For Jean-Pierre Villafañe’s first solo show with the gallery, the Puerto Rico-born, New York-based artist presents a cinematic selection of works with elements of his trademark style: highly-constructed facial features and an alluring story that unfolds on the canvas. Across the works, figures confront each other as they arrive for work (Clocking In), engaging in salacious activities at tension with the office environment (Offsite and Playtime), and generally explore themes that cross lines between sensuality, tight-lipped and tightly-cinched office culture, and the release that comes from transgressing the boundaries. For Villafañe fans who may not make it to his murals watching over diners at West Village establishment Cecchi’s, a gathering of his work in a thoughtful environment of this nature is even more of a treat, and not to be missed.
9. All Street Gallery: Nature of Being (June 20-July 21)
A quad of talent across photography, sculpture, textiles, weaving, and paper collage are represented in the gallery’s latest show, curated by Hayley Ferber. Identity is the key mainstay, with diasporic dialogue, experimentation with the senses, relationships, and perseverance across history on display. Koyoltzintli, Ruth Jeyaveeran, Nia Imani Winslow, and Lin Qiqing are showing at the culmination of Residency Unlimited’s 2024 NYC-Based Artist Residency Program, an annual program supporting BIPOC artists. Qiqing’s practice stands out for its labor-intensive commitment to the theme, with naturally dyed, hand-spun yarn communicating the turbulent world of interpersonal relationships.
10. Kapp Kapp: Tulips (June 1-July 26)
This exhibition is an homage to Sylvia Plath’s nine stanza poem Tulips, which she wrote after a surgical operation at St. Pancras Hospital in Central London. A multi-media encapsulation of the poem’s themes, it features a variety of compellingly playful works: the delightfully sinister gaze of Martha Stewart visualized by Sam McKinniss in Martha Stewart Arranging Tulips at Home, a stolen kiss captured by Stanley Stellar Mr. NY Leather Kiss I and II, and the almost-titular Tulipa, a stone rendition of a tulip’s silhouette by Alicia Adamerovich. The show’s lineup includes the aforementioned artists, alongside Julian Ceccaldi, Louis Osmosis, Thomas Blair, Cynthia Hawkins, Justin Liam O’Brien, and Anthony Cudahy.
Words by Sam Falb
