Interested in the link that man has produced between nature and technology, Roxy Paine is known for creating robotic-looking stainless steel trees along with faux fields of poppies and wild mushrooms. Often placing his life-size sculptures of plant and biological life in environments they would likely inhabit (Central Park for instance), he asks his viewers to question the assault of mechanized reality on the natural world.
Roxy Paine at James Cohan
by Taylor Ruby
Lily van der Stokker at Leo Koenig
by Taylor Ruby
Lily van der Stokker, installation view of "Terrible and Ugly," 2010. Courtesy Leo Koenig Inc. New York.
In her recent exhibition at Leo Koenig, Lily van der Stokker created cartoonlike murals and drawings with fluorescent colors, bulbous shapes, and short, catchy texts. With images of flowers, clouds, and assorted handmade furniture (motifs she has mulled over since the early ‘90s), her work is meant to examine the notion of femininity. For van der Stokker, femaleness within contemporary art has been historically trapped behind the nice, the decorative and the pretty.
Eric Fertman at Susan Inglett
by Ambereen Karamat
Eric Fertman, installation view, Susan Inglett Gallery, New York, 2010.
In this technologically obsessed world where new art trends are often based on graphically designed images by, or express ideas through combinations of mixed-medium installations like, it is a reprieve to enter the placid world created by Eric Fertman. His show at Susan Inglett Gallery had the serenity of a Japanese garden. Often in his sculptures there are elements of both artificiality and naturalness. The rough bark of a tree is transformed into a smooth, balloonlike form, lightly stained with reds, pinks and yellows.
Sue Williams at 303
by Sarah Stephenson
Sue Williams, American Enterprise, oil and acrylic on canvas, 52 by 62 inches, 2009. Courtesy 303 Gallery, New York.
Confronting gender politics and the violation of the female body has been the primary focus for Sue Williams throughout her career. Within the last decade her interest has expanded to subverting the patriarchal power of political systems. This exhibition at 303 Gallery, curated by artist Nate Lowman, traced her varied body of work, from painting to drawings to sculpture, since 1989.