Nicola Tyson at Petzel Gallery: An Exploration of Playfulness and Ambiguity

    Nicola Tyson’s exhibition I am a teapot investigates the material qualities of paint while playfully exploring themes of the body. Her paintings are bold in size and color, and Tyson’s simplification of the human/animal form into a gestural language of mark-making feels just as confident as her choice of color palette and scale. Simultaneously, her brush strokes feel almost haphazard or coincidental, placing the figures in her paintings and us as the viewer in a precarious position, teetering between certainty and vulnerability. This in-between space that Tyson creates, and that we and her characters are left in, extends past mere preoccupations with the painted surface into a space where topics of bodily ambiguity unravel: Tyson approaches this topic with a genuine humor, making the images — although elaborate in their dualistic nature of being intentional yet incidental  — easy to digest. In Their Dog, an image of a conjoined couple enveloping their dog sits atop a vibrant, red background. The couple’s facial features are simple yet effective: with two holes for eyes and a half-circle for the mouth, Tyson intentionally carves the rest of the figure’s form around these negative spaces to reveal the underpainting. Excluding the simplified yet distinct facial features, Tyson removes any indication of the figures’ genders. This interplay between clarity and ambiguity – persistence and restraint – sums up the complex quality of the show itself.

Tyson, N. Their Dog (2023). Acrylic on canvas, 77 x 66 in.

    - Molly Keenan

The Woods Woman Method by Saya Woolfalk from the Susan Inglett Gallery

Saya Woolfalk’s show, “The Woods Woman Method”, was shown in the Susan Inglett Gallery from 31 January to 15 March 2025. This show explored themes of identity through feminist theory, anthropology, and oral storytelling. She showed a series titled “Birthing a New Sky”, made using mixed media collage, which depicts six plants with a figure alluding to moon phases. The center of the 7 pieces is slightly larger, drawing attention to a figure surrounded by organic shapes, and alludes to lunar imagery in the center of the figure. Symbolically, the figure feels spiritual and cosmic with connections to nature as a theme in the work. The plants shown in the collection are colorful, using light pastels in a blue and purple palette. The soft palette adds to the feminine energy of the work that is also often associated with plants. 

Each plant holds medicinal properties that were commonly passed down orally by the African Americans enslaved in the South. Woolfalk depicts the plant meadowsweet, which was traditionally used as a medicine to alleviate joint pain and heartburn. Beautiful as it is, Woolfalk reminds us that representing it also keeps a tradition of teaching about these plants alive.

WC 201

-Sonja

Isabelle Brourman, Exhibit 1: Paper Trail, Will Shott Gallery on New York’s Lower East Side

 Isabelle Brourman: Will Shott Gallery, Exhibit 1: Paper Trail

At a tiny hole-in-the-wall gallery on New York’s Lower East Side is Exhibit 1: Paper Trail, a disinctive collection of work by courtroom artist Isabelle Brourman. Her artworks are unlike the more realistic illustrations typically produced by courtroom artists. The pieces depict Donald Trump’s various court battles in the past two years. Her sketches reveal the theatrical frenzy of the current American psyche and are a document of the increasingly absurd political climate under the new Trump administration. 

With what Brourman describes as “Tasmanian-devil glamour style,” cartoony, adrenaline-filled sketches capture the strange spectacle of the courtroom in a fast and wild manner. Caricatured faces capture not only the defendant but are morphed with depictions of all the players in the room: the judge, jury, lawyers, and the witnesses. The illustrations are layered with strings of testimonies, becoming a visual record of the courtroom atmosphere itself.

“The work knows more about the trial than I do,” says Brourman. This is evident in pieces like "Gauntlet Press Conference" and "I Want to See It,” where Brourman’s improvisational style allows those not present in the court proceedings to truly feel the messiness of the moments. Instead of keeping her gaze out of the sketches, as typical courtroom artists do, she is open about her political views and leans into her own experience of being a part of a media-sensationalized trial.

“I never broke the rules — except for my JUUL, but I never got caught.” (Brourman).

While she may be “trespassing the tradition,” her work still gained the respect of both sides of the political system without pandering to either of them, and it even captured the attention of President Trump himself, who later sat for her as she painted him in Mar-a-lago.

What begins as a quick jot of dialogue grows into a fleshed out snapshot capturing the tension, energy, and weirdness of the courtroom.

- Trinity Vu

Rexy Tseng: Mouthful of Dirty Copper

Located in the basement level of Magenta Plains Gallery, Rexy Tseng’s Mouthful of Dirty Copper creates a foggy atmosphere that mirrors the muted palette and the almost apocalyptic feeling evoked by his paintings. Tseng’s work directly engages with the surge in AI-generated imagery, and in turn the growing value of traditional painting as a medium. 

Tseng’s paintings capture images of landscapes, in the aftermath of destruction, from an aerial view. Using rough color blocking, alongside areas of high detail, he creates a tension between chaos and order. His work echoes the abstract and sporadic feeling that is common within AI renderings, utilizing multiple perspectives that morph into each other, reproducing a similar feeling of disorientation that often comes with generated imagery. His painting titled Open Wound captures scenes of destruction in a more literal sense, obviously depicting an abandoned pileup of semi-trucks. Whereas, Wet Walls is slightly more ambiguous, and in line with AI-generated imagery, forcing the viewer to interpret the scene and engage with the uncertainty often present in AI-generated images

Tseng’s work resonates strongly in the context of increasing natural disasters and the growing sense of unease as we witness events similar to those he has depicted unfold in real time, reflecting the fragility of our environment and the unsettling consequences of our technological advancements and human actions.

-Harper Burt

Alexis Trice; "Deep Sea Swallow Me"

Alexis Trice’s "Deep Sea, Swallow Me," currently on view at Long Story Short Gallery, takes viewers on an emotional journey into the heart of the ocean. Through her powerful use of color and texture, Trice explores the way water mirrors our own emotions—how it holds both beauty and danger, both light and shadow. The pieces evoke a sense of constant change, like the shifting tides or the layers of memory that accumulate over time. It’s a stunning exploration of how our feelings evolve, much like water - flowing, transforming, and sometimes, sinking deep below the surface.

Standout pieces included "Salt of the Earth" and "I Had a Dream I Was Crying", depicting long-haired dogs crying pearly tears into the water below. There’s something incredibly moving about the imagery—those tears, both delicate and weighty, with their pearly sheen, are a haunting symbol of how emotions, even the most painful ones, can crystallize into something enduring. It’s like watching grief or loss transform into something that stays with you, just like a memory. These works, along with the rest of the show, leave you thinking about the rhythms of time and how everything—emotions, memories, even the ocean—moves in cycles. Trice's exhibition isn’t just a visual experience, but an emotional one, inviting you to dive into the depths of what lies beneath the surface, both in nature and in ourselves.

Salt of The Earth

I Had a Dream I Was Crying

"Entwined" at Marshmallow Laser Feast

 Exhibited by Bitforms Gallery, “Entwined” is Marshmallow Lasers Feast’s first solo US show. Showcasing digital natural landscapes, the pieces seek to show the artist’s vision of the connection between humans and the natural landscapes around us. At the entrance of the gallery space, a screen shows Breath Cycles. Depicting a pair of lungs inhaling and exhaling, the shape fluctuates between human lungs and the twisting shapes of tree trunks and branches. 

Each of the digital videos features visuals of forests, trees, and vegetation, pulsing visually and audibly to a beat. The trunks of the trees are large and awe inspiring, the screens all encompassing to the eyes. Made from tiny moving dots of color, the digital rainforests and branches are in a constant state of minuscule movement, keeping the digital format from feeling stagnant and sterile. Screen sizes ranging from an entire wall to a foot diameter circle, the effect is captivating. Each piece of work is a portal to another world.

The exhibit explores the connections and similarities to functions of the human cardiovascular system to those of plants, and how our inner workings are very similar interlocked. Using the simple action of breath, the lightly pulsating and rhythmic qualities of the digital art pieces guides the viewer to breath along with the beat, and unconscious connection between human life and the vegetation around us. 

Lupuna: Becoming

- Sarit Luftman

The End Time! | By Sin Wai Kin at Canal Projects

 THE END TIME!

By: Fia Huston

    The End Time! by Sin Wai Kin was groundbreaking. I feel like the exhibit’s themes regarding toxic masculinity and the pressures of gender roles in society are not only relevant in today’s climate but also essential for both introspection and mental health. Shown through the artist’s faux reality sitcom, The Time of Our Lives (2024), gender stereotypes are represented in a way that allows viewers to question their perspective on gender’s relationship with societal standards. The portrayals of these roles enable the audience to reflect on how deeply ingrained these expectations are and how they affect individuals.

    Grappling with the masculine and the feminine sides of one’s self, especially within a male-dominated and binary society, is such a relatable and tough reality for the queer community. Essence (2024) further explores this, allowing the viewer to be introspective, involving themes of self-realization within a society that capitalizes off of these journeys of self-discovery. The storytelling of the exhibit was incredibly impactful, raising both awareness and questions concerning gender and gender roles through a queer perspective.

    Overall, I found the entire exhibit to emulate the possible idea of constructing one’s reality beyond societal standards and norms for the benefit of communities that are underrepresented in today’s culture. It was a powerful and thought-provoking experience that leaves a lasting impression on those who engage with its themes.

(Revised) MY TV SHOW I ♡ TV by Marc Kokopeli at Reena Spaulings Fine Art

     Hidden on an upper floor of a building in Chinatown, Reena Spaulings Gallery presents Marc Kokopeli's exhibition MY TV SHOW I ♡ TV. The show challenges what we see when looking at a TV. What counts as a TV? What makes it possible to view media on this TV? The show features many different forms of televisions, such as a "High School Musical Locker TV", artificial reality-type see-through screens, and a piece of jewelry with a mini TV in it. 

    Most of the media on the TVs is hard to make out, as on the TV in the back of the room, covered by an animation of an elephant building a brick wall. This forces the viewers to look beyond what is on the screen and focus rather on what is behind the creation of the TV, from questioning how the transparent screen is showing a video while you can see cobblestones sitting in the TV box behind it, or noticing how the red, round VT is warping the media. Kokopelli encourages the viewers to contemplate the construction of the TVs and how they each create their own unique viewing experience.

    The exhibit questions what other objects provide one service to the viewer, while there is a whole process and years of evolution and technological advancement required for that object to provide its service, which is not often appreciated.

Remotes for the TVs

-Jude Fox

Arsenal Gallery - Sarah Stevenson

    Sarah Stevenson's work walks the line between drawing and sculpture. Her sculptures evoke geometric architectural drawings, but are undeniably supple and curvaceous. The forms are spectral and disappear if you look at them from an angle  where the light does not catch on the multitude of colors; to appreciate them fully one must experience them in the round, letting them come in and out of view. The colors of the works seemingly shimmer as one moves around them, and this experience gives them an organic opalescent quality that accentuates the weightlessness and delicate nature of the sculptures. She achieves this through the use of multicolored thread, wire, and acrylic paint. 

    The sculptures are displayed in natural light, causing shadows to extend from the point where the sculptures hover just above the ground like ghosts. The shadows expand the presence of the sculptures - the amount of space is taken up is impressive given the relatively small amount of material used. Her forms while meticulous and mathematical in their construction remain round and organic - though they feel like architectural plans in their extreme precision and symmetry. In the shape and lightness of the form her sculptures feel related to Ruth Asawa but the geometric construction sets them apart and gives them a unique personality,

    Stevensons sculptures are clearly inspired by drawing in their emphasis on line creating form however, they do not feel like simple three dimensional renderings of color pencil drawings. Instead, they display a clear understanding of the power of sculpture to command space and demand the viewer experience the works in person as there is no other way to experience their fleeting essence.

Sin Wai Kin’s The End Time and the Satire of Life in the Digital Age

Sin Wai Kin’s The End Time, currently at Canal Projects, is a compelling video work that immerses viewers in a sitcom-inspired television episode. The work seamlessly blends humor, satire, and the human struggle against time. A secondary screen features an audience responding in sync with the scenes, emulating the artificiality of a standard American live audience. At its core, the work offers an ironic critique of our cultural obsession with entertainment. The husband-and-wife characters, played by trans people, are clad in exaggerated makeup and clothing, emphasizing traditional gender roles—hypermasculine provider and submissive housewife. Their costumes serve as a visual metaphor for how identity is shaped and sold under capitalism. Gender becomes a performance, commodified for public consumption. The work also critiques digital-age desensitization, where fragmented, provocative content blurs the line between meaning and absurdity. By mimicking internet culture’s chaotic energy, it reflects how overstimulation erodes our ability to process or feel deeply. As viewers are drawn into this hyperbolic digital landscape, the piece induces a sense of derealization, prompting them to question their own role in the spectacle. Beyond its critique of media, The End Time also reflects on the existential nature of time itself, exposing the social and cultural rituals—birth, graduation, marriage, death—that shape our perception of aging and existence. Its glitching visuals and fragmented sequences alternate between “past,” “present,” and “future,” echoing the disjointed nature of memory. The exaggerated performances, the spectacle of the actors, and the depiction of the “live” audience create a layered experience that demands engagement. At once an acute commentary and a playful subversion of contemporary art and media, The End Time emphasizes our mortality through the bleakness of pop culture’s hyper-consumable nature.

Carriage Trade is Reconsidering Viewership in The Age of Social Media

The eleventh installment of “Social Photography” at Carriage Trade has been extended nearly an entire month, a lucky break for anyone who has not yet gotten the chance to visit the exhibition. The show is a collection of images sent via email by artists, friends, contributors, or associates of the gallery, hung in a grid along facing walls. The consistent formatting of the images, as well as their unpredictable content, is comparable to the visual abundance of social media, minus the big bad algorithm controlling your experience. 

In this space we, the viewers, are given the opportunity to direct our experience with the photographs, letting our own desires dictate how much attention we give to each image. While someone interested in the hustle and bustle of city life might find themselves drawn to photographs shared by Amalia Ulman or Eli Coplan, reality tv watchers will likely have their interest piqued by the photograph of a “Selling Sunset” star sent in by Shelly Silver. I, myself, took a photo (an iPhone photo of an iPhone photo–it’s all very meta) of an image with someone watching a scene from the 2024 film “Challengers” on an airplane. Lucky for me, I get the power of deciding when and how I use that photo, if at all, without the looming presence of an algorithm pushing a predetermined agenda–how refreshing.

Bradley Kronz, 2024, inkjet print, 7" x 5"

-Lily Duren, Current Season 472-02

Bride of The Far Side at Post Times

 Bride of The Far Side at Post Times

       Post Times Gallery’s exhibition Bride of The Far Side is an eclectic show that foregrounds kitschy, offbeat, often highly saturated paintings and sculptures imbued with humor and overabundance.

       Rather than a press release, the show is accompanied by a poem by Morgan Ritter, which contains the phrase “throwing goop into the heat”. Many of the works in the show are made of mixed media, allowing the artists to enact this metaphor of "throwing goop" literally.

        Tamara Gonzales’ painting Orange Tabby consists of acrylic, glitter, and other collage elements. It is childlike: acrylic handprints provide patterning to the cat with triangle eyelashes and rectangle whiskers. The painting is excessive, full of physical and conceptual "goop". 

Likewise, Marnie Weber’s Log Lady & Dirty Bunny, features a sculpture of a human-sized bunny-man with pink eyes, cocked ears, and an oversized bow sitting patiently atop a log from which a woman’s face emerges. As with Gonzales’ contribution, this work overflows with excess materials, textures, and symbols.

           Even when works in the show are not mixed media, they employ excess. Constance Tenvik’s acrylic painting High Tea is a brightly colored painting that teems with activity, people, patterned clothing, decadent jello and cakes, and an ornate floor. These elements illustrate a colorful scene that walks the line between kitsch and fine art.