Amy Yao: AZN Clam at 47 Canal

AZN CLAM, by Amy Yao and on view at 47 Canal, are a collection of wall-mounted sculptures and a site specific installation that tackle the definition of invasiveness through language. Using the specific example of non-scientific names given to invasive plants and animals, Yao wants to point out the inherent xenophobia and anxieties of foreign origins. The title of Yao’s exhibition is in reference to the Asian Clam that migrated to the Americas in the late 1900’s. 

Using: concrete, pvc pipes, clam shells, and plastic pearls, and recognizable shapes, Yao uses common materials in her sculptures to create familiarity through  natural and unnatural spaces that inhabit. The sculptures are shaped in swirls, stars, and hearts, and contain seashells invading the concrete, in reference to the invasive Asian Clam. Around a corner, Yao’s  installation room is  bathed in bright warm light, and is partially open to viewers. All you can see of the office is through a partially open door. In a very corporate looking office room with shelving and a round table with chairs surrounding it, the floor of the office floor is filled with pearlescent plastic balls. Aiming to address and poke fun at the pedestal some arts masters and their work are put on, the romantic energy of the room is in contrast with the common ball pit. 

Comparing the installation room to the sculptural pieces, the room feels disconnected. While it might have come from a similar train of thought to the concrete works and fits into Yao’s overall dialogue, the sudden change of medium and color palette has the ball pit room seeming like an entirely different artist and an afterthought. 

- Sarit Luftman
 

The Living Museum at FIERMAN

  

    

    FIERMAN’s show, featuring artists from the Living Museum at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center, is one of those rare exhibitions that feels genuinely alive. The Living Museum has been around since the 1980s, offering space for psychiatric patients to make art freely—no pressure, no rules, just creative expression. This show brings those feelings of raw creativity to an established gallery space through a mix of paintings, drawings, collages, and sculptures made over the past 30 years.

    The show features a wide range of styles, mediums and approaches, however, it is tied together through a strong sense of individuality and uniqueness. For example, Christina Constantine’s paintings are bold, and seemingly spontaneous with large sweeps of color, whereas John Tursi seems to work with a more calculated approach. He utilizes intricate geometric shapes through use of spirographs and french curves. Though each piece tells a unique story, together they create a cohesive narrative of lesser featured artists. 

    That being said, the exhibition feels slightly cramped. The space at FIERMAN doesn’t quite give the works room to breathe. Each piece is packed with emotion and energy that I believe needs a little more room to shine. Regardless of the lack of space, the power of these works are expressed loud and clear. The show reveals how creativity often thrives in the most unexpected of places, and how the Living Museum continues to foster a creative safe-space for artists in psychiatric care. 

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 Earth and Cosmos at the Americas Society brings together the works of Beatriz Cortez and rafa esparza, exploring themes of migration, memory, and the movement of ancient knowledge across space and time. The exhibition merges ancient traditions with contemporary artistic practices, focusing on the transference of cultural artifacts and their impact on modern identities.

One of the key pieces, esparza’s Hyperspace: -100km + ∞ (2025), is a sculpture made from basalt and adobe, referencing the Olmec colossal heads and the journey of magma from the Earth’s crust to the surface in its use of basalt. The combination of raw materials and esparza’s family's connections to adobe-making infuses the piece with a deep connection to his ancestral land of Durango, Mexico.

Cortez’s Cabeza de Jaguar (Monumento #47) (2022) and Gift of the Artist to the Ancient Object Labeled as Human Head Emerging from Monster Jaws (2023) stand in contrast to Esparza’s earthy, grounded sculpture through their use of sharp, industrial steel. The jagged forms show the violence and fragmentation caused by colonial looting and displacement of Indigenous artifacts. 

While the exhibition succeeds in its use of materials and grounding abstract themes in tangible forms, it occasionally falls short in offering new insights about displacement and cultural preservation. The thematic focus on migration, memory, and colonial legacies, although important, feels somewhat familiar and expected given how frequently these subjects appear in contemporary art. For example, the use of 3-D printed replicas of artifacts, while visually compelling, does not offer a fresh perspective on cultural heritage or its complexities.

 

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 Exhibition Review: Beatriz Cortez x rafa esparza: Earth and Cosmos at the Americas Society

Earth and Cosmos at the Americas Society brings together the works of Beatriz Cortez and rafa esparza, exploring \themes of migration,memory, and the movement of ancient knowledge across space and time.The exhibition merges ancient traditions with contemporary artistic practices, focusing on the transference ofcultural artifacts and their impact on modern identities.

One of the key pieces, esparza’s Hyperspace: -100km + (2025), is a sculpture made from basalt and adobe,referencing the Olmec colossal heads and the journey of magma from the Earth’s crust to the surface in itsuse of basalt. The combination of raw materials and esparza’s family's connections to adobe-makinginfuses the piece with a deep connection to his ancestral land of Durango, Mexico.

Cortez’s Cabeza de Jaguar (Monumento #47) (2022) and Gift of the Artist to the Ancient Object Labeledas Human Head Emerging from Monster Jaws (2023) stand in contrast to Esparza’s earthy,grounded sculpture through their use of sharp, industrial steel. The jagged forms show the violence andfragmentation caused by colonial looting and displacement of Indigenous artifacts. 

While the exhibition succeeds in its use of materials and grounding abstract themes in tangible forms, itoccasionally falls short in offering new insights about displacement and cultural preservation. The thematicfocus on migration, memory, and colonial legacies, although important, feels somewhat familiar and expectedgiven how frequently these subjects appear in contemporary art. For example, the use of 3-D printed replicasof artifacts, while visually compelling, does not offer a fresh perspective on cultural heritage or its complexities.

Danka Latorre, Current Season 472-02

REVISED. Cy Twombly’s Landscape Abstractions and the Fragility of Nature

Cy Twombly’s Landscape Abstractions and the Fragility of Nature

Gagosian Gallery

Cy Twombly’s Untitled paintings from 1981–1986, created in Bassano in Teverina, Italy, mark a profound shift in his engagement with nature and abstraction. Rendered in lush greens and layered with fluid gestures, these works evoke the sensory immediacy of earth, air, and water—an elemental trinity at the heart of both nature’s rhythms and human experience.

The sense of light, speed, and moisture shifts between the drawings, creating a dynamic atmosphere. People often seek a connection with nature, projecting their own experiences onto the landscape, while the painter uses the landscape not just as subject matter, but as a medium to explore perception and emotion. The abstract drawings invite curiosity; as the viewer moves around the works, the quatrefoil-shaped frames act like portals, subtly changing the viewer’s perspective with each step. The spatial arrangement of the four paintings reflects a journey through the same landscape, each canvas offering a different atmospheric condition—like varying degrees of fog. This progression is not linear but fluid, echoing the ever-changing nature of both the environment and human perception.

The broader cultural significance of these works lies in their subtle commentary on humanity’s growing disconnection from the natural world. Though abstract, the paintings suggest a quiet plea for reconnection—where the liquidity of paint mirrors the ebb and flow of the natural forces that sustain life. In this way, Twombly transforms abstraction into a poetic form of environmental reflection, inviting viewers not only to see the landscape, but to feel its diminishing presence in contemporary life. The works resonate with a collective awareness shaped by modern society—a shared sense that nature, once central to human experience, is now increasingly distant or overlooked.

Marshmallow Laser Feast: “Entwined” (Revised)

Exhibited by Bitforms Gallery, “Entwined” is Marshmallow Laser Feast’s first solo US show. Displaying digital natural landscapes, the works show the artist’s vision of the connection between humans and the natural environments around us. At the entrance of the gallery space, mounted is Breath Cycles. Depicting a pair of lungs inhaling and exhaling, the shape fluctuates between human lungs and the twisting organic branches. 

Entering through a heavy curtain, we are brought into a cyber-forest. Each of the digital works feature visuals of forests, trees, and vegetation, pulsing visually and audibly to a beat. The tree trunks, large and filling the screen, are a captivating sight. Made from tiny 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 breathe along with the beat, evoking the unconscious connection between human life and the vegetation around us. 

- Sarit Luftman

REVISED: 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 emotions in her paintings—how it holds both beauty and danger, 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, which depict long-haired dogs crying pearly tears into seashells floating above oceanic bodies of water. There’s something incredibly moving about the imagery—those tears, both delicate and weighty, with their pearly sheen, are a hopeful 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 a transformative one, inviting you to dive into the depths of what lies beneath the surface.

John Zorn: Hermetic Cartography at The Drawing Center

Hermetic Cartography is a show at The Drawing Center showcasing seven decades of work by John Zorn. Known predominantly for his avant-garde music practice, the exhibition presents Zorn’s lesser-known visual art from across his expansive career. For those familiar with his audio work, the chaotic and expressive musicality is echoed in his striking colors, patterns, and hybridized visual language. Even to the uninitiated, the more recent abstract pieces present graphical landscapes that, through radiating dashed lines or smoky curves, evoke explosive or serene feelings.

The formality of the museum setting, accompanied by three concerts held as part of the show, marks a shift from Zorn’s typical place outside the mainstream. Yet a small room tucked behind a curtain recalls the underground atmosphere of his musical legacy. Devoted to his 1970s Theatre of Musical Optics project, the dark, intimate space gathers an array of manipulated objects used in silent performances. It acts as a core, binding the show’s energies to Zorn’s broader practice.

The overwhelming array of notebooks, scores, drawings, and objects defines a personal visual language of mark-making by an already groundbreaking artist. Stepping into the exhibition feels like stepping into one of Zorn’s scores - jumbled and frenetic, yet somehow intuitive and whole.

Tyler Ballon's "Flying High"

  Tyler Ballon's solo exhibition tackles issues of identity in painting of Black bodies and makes historical references to traditions of monumental painting traditionally done for presidents and kings, through pastiche mending them to classical figurative painting in order to reflect the past, present, and future of black youth in America today. Announcing the glory and struggle of Black youth in sports and music but also deeper ties of community ambition and the annals of history. The subject matter of the painting is black high school students on the football field in their marching band and football uniforms. A simple concept that is handled well, being clear right off the bat about what it is and wants to accomplish, as well as having the added depth of a homage to Manet and the choosing of the specific schools named after leaders of the community at large. The schools are Abraham Lincoln High School for the footballers and Malcolm X Shabazz High School for the marching band players. 

      "I realised there is an interesting dichotomy between sports being a tool for success and having Black bodies being used to advance America’s ambition," Ballon remarks in a statement accompanying the exhibition online.

    Bellow are the paintings The Execution of Emperor Maximillian (1867) with Ballon's work Bear Arms/Second Amendment (2024-25), Ballon chooses to show the young men in the marching band protecting cheerleaders rather than Manet's violent depiction of the death of the Habsburg royal via firing squad. Showing the desire for a change in perception of Black youth bearing arms. Ballon had this to say also on the press release:"perceptions of Black men bearing arms, reclaiming their image as patriots and protectors" This mending and correcting of a style of painting normally done to appease the royal and upper classes and making it serve the people is effective and easy to understand. Depicting everyday people and giving them the same respect as monarchs and a careful consideration and care which shines through in subject matter and the paintings lifelike touch and attention to detail.

 revised: GREY ART GALLERY: ANONYMOUS WAS A WOMAN

The Grey Art Museum's, Anonymous Was a Woman: The First 25 Years showcases works made by 41 women artists over the age of 40, each a recipient of the AWAW grant, which now consists of $50,000 awarded annually to 15 women. The exhibition features an array of media including sculpture, video, photography, and painting. A centerpiece in the second room of the show, Rona Pondicks Magenta Swimming in Yellow (2015-17), features a resin cast translucent magenta head, halfway submerged in a block of translucent yellow resin. This piece acts as a conceptual anchor for the exhibition as it evokes a feeling of being stuck, which goes hand in hand with the mission of the foundation Anonymous Was a Woman, as it allows women to emerge from this obscurity by providing a means for them to create work. Other works include Petah Coyne’s Untitled #1242 (Black Snowflake) (2007–12), a large black chandelier composed of materials such as wax, glass, steel, ribbons, tassels, and a taxidermy peacock, which was made in reference to the bombing of Hiroshima. Jennifer Wen Ma’s Paradise Interrupted: Disintegration (2014) consists of three large hanging mirrored acrylic panels, adorned with intricate black paper forms, the mirrored surfaces making viewers confront themselves as they view the artwork. While the exhibition successfully demonstrates diverse material range, the amount of work often overwhelms the space, diluting the power of individual pieces.

REVISED: The End Time! by Fia Huston

THE END TIME!

By: Fia Huston

     The End Time! by Sin Wai Kin at Canal Projects was groundbreaking and timely given today’s climate. 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 awareness. 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 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 tough reality for the queer community. The other main work of the exhibition, Essence (2024), further explores this by displaying a faux perfume ad, allowing the viewer to look inward at their own biases/experiences, involving themes of self-realization within a society that capitalizes off of these journeys of self-discovery. As film was the medium, the visual 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 idea of constructing one’s reality beyond societal standards and norms for the benefit of queer communities that are underrepresented in today’s culture. It was a powerful and thought-provoking multimedia experience that left a lasting impression on those who engage with its themes.

(First draft) Shim Moon-Seup A Certain Scenery Solo Show

Perrotin Gallery, New York | February 28 – April 12, 2025

In A Certain Scenery, Shim Moon-Seup presents a suite of seascape-inspired paintings that hover between recollection and repetition. The exhibition, composed largely of works from his ongoing series The Presentation and Re-Present, cultivates a space of durational looking, at times compelling, at others perhaps overly subdued.

Each canvas is structured through horizontal bands of acrylic, rendered in restrained palettes of blue, gray, and black. In The Presentation (2022), the delicate tonal gradations mirror the slow rise and fall of ocean swells, while other compositions verge on the monochromatic, evoking nightfall or visual disappearance. Depending on the viewer’s disposition, the repetition can feel contemplative, or verge on monotony.

Shim’s background as a sculptor informs his approach to the surface. There is a density to the brushwork, a sense of paint accumulating like sediment or dragging across resistance. This materiality hints at transformation, though it occasionally feels tethered to the conceptual weight of his medium shift. Without the contextual anchor of his sculptural past, the paintings risk becoming formally elegant but effectively distant.

Ultimately, the exhibition is less concerned with depiction than with presence. Shim offers not an image of the sea, but its rhythm, insistent, measured, and unresolved. It is an atmosphere more felt than defined, one that hovers on the edge of stillness and returns the gaze with quiet persistence.

Exhibition Review: Cy Twombly’s Landscape Abstractions and the Fragility of Nature

  Exhibition Review: Cy Twombly’s Landscape Abstractions and the Fragility of Nature

galleries at 980 Madison Avenue, 

On view in Gagosian’s recent exhibition, Cy Twombly’s Untitled paintings from 1981–1986, created in Bassano in Teverina, Italy, mark a profound shift in his engagement with nature and abstraction. Rendered in lush greens and layered with fluid gestures, these works evoke the sensory immediacy of earth, air, and water—an elemental trinity central to both ecological life and human experience.

The sense of light, speed, moisture change between drawings, people always putting themself connect with nature while painter using landscape as the object. The abstract way of drawing bring viewer’s curiosity and memories out of box. As one moves through the series, the quatrefoil-shaped frames act like portals, subtly altering the viewer’s perspective with each step. The spatial relationship between the paintings mimics a journey through a landscape—not linear, but fluid and ever-changing.

The social resonance lies in the subtle commentary on humanity’s disconnection from nature. These paintings, while abstract, suggest a plea for reconnection—where the liquidity of paint mirrors the ebb and flow of natural forces that sustain life. In this way, Twombly transforms abstraction into a poetic form of environmental reflection, inviting viewers not only to see, but to feel the landscape’s fading presence in our collective consciousness.

(Revised Version) Shim Moon-Seup, A Certain Scenery, Perrotin Gallery, New York | February 28 – April 12, 2025

In A Certain Scenery, Shim Moon-Seup presents a body of paintings that draw on memories of the sea and the quiet persistence of natural rhythms. The exhibition, composed mainly of works from his ongoing series The Presentation and Re-Present, invites extended viewing, offering moments of subtle beauty, though occasionally lapsing into uniformity.

Each canvas features horizontal bands of acrylic, painted in restrained palettes of blue, gray, and black. In The Presentation (2022), shifts in tone across the bands recall the slow undulation of waves. Other works approach full monochrome, invoking the obscurity of night or the sensation of vanishing into horizonless space. This repetition of form and palette may evoke meditative stillness, or, for some, a sense of stagnation.

Shim’s early work as a sculptor remains palpable in his treatment of surfaces. The brushwork accumulates like sediment, as though pulled across textured resistance. This physicality suggests a transformation between material and gesture. However, without the grounding context of his sculptural practice, the paintings occasionally risk becoming aesthetically resolved but emotionally remote.

Rather than aiming for traditional representation, the show engages with sensation and presence. Shim does not depict the sea so much as evoke its pulse, steady, unresolved, and quietly insistent. These paintings do not demand attention but instead reward patience, returning the viewer’s gaze with a kind of hushed persistence.