In Doomscrolling, Rob Swainston and Zorawar Sidhu assume the task Walter Benjamin set for the articulation of history — to “seize hold of the past as it flashes up at a moment of danger.”
Petzel Gallery
The Commanding, Flamboyant Joyce Pensato
Pensato favored pop culture flotsam marred by the real world, which she transmuted into adventurous artworks dealing with raw, real world concerns.
Derek Fordjour Conjures a Heavenly World
In “Self Must Die,” Fordjour’s penchant for lush colors and surfaces dovetails with the theme of churchified rituals of remembrance.
Taking Appropriation Too Far
To manipulate the historical record, I would think, is to abandon the search for truth.
An Artist Remixes Her Archive as an Act of Creation
The small gallery contains artworks that have all already been included in von Bonin’s previous Petzel shows, yet the exhibition is entirely new.
No Luxe, Calme, et Volupté for You, Baby
I was unexpectedly reminded of the wonderfully irreverent filmmaker Seijun Suzuki while looking at Dana Schutz’s painting, “Slow Motion Shower” (2015), which is included in her current exhibition, Fight in an Elevator, at Petzel.
In Paintings and Collage, the Beginnings of a New Language
The German artist Charline von Heyl’s current show, Dusseldörf, currently on view at Petzel’s new uptown gallery, presents a group of von Heyl’s early collages and paintings from 1990–1995.
A Black-and-White Gallery Tour of Chelsea
Contemporary artists and a few artists from yesteryear are exploring unorthodox and atypical ways to experience the contrast between black and white.
Joyce Pensato’s Messy Imagination, Laid Bare
Joyce Pensato is best known for her stark, large-scale paintings of cartoon characters and in particular for her series of Batman paintings that depict the cape crusader’s iconic mask using splashy skeins of black and white paint.
What Happens When We Run Out Of Styles?
What does it mean when you hook up your work to that of a late modernist giant working in a reductive vein – Ad Reinhardt, Agnes Martin, Robert Ryman, Ellsworth Kelly, Frank Stella, or Donald Judd, for example – like a caboose?
Art and Its Surrogates: Allan McCollum at Petzel Gallery
Allan McCollum is the author of a story describing a character that Damien Hirst embodies.