Zoe Leonard's "Display" at Maxwell Graham

"Display" at Maxwell Graham displays new photographic work from Zoe Leonard. Six medium size photos of suits of armor, originally taken at the Musée de l’Armée and the Worcester Art Museum in the 1990s, attract attention amid the gallery’s white walls and high ceilings. Sandwiched to the walls with only pins and sheets of plexiglass, there is an undeniable sparseness to the show. This is to Leonard’s favor, bringing both the content of what is displayed and the intent in the act of displaying to the forefront.

While a knight in armor may capture a sense of masculine heroism, empty suits as seen in Display I(1990/2025) seem more like shells; The masculine becomes evident as performance. The clunky, borderline comedic poses of the armor further undercut any sense of heroism. What remains then, in addition to performance, is the implication of violence. 

Leonard has historically used photography to question and confront looking and how something is made to be looked at. In this lens, one questions not only the violence inherent in the armor, but also in the display case itself – that armor on display, valorizing it, and that displays isolate what they contain, stripping it of context. In an era where there is a renewed focus on masculine violence and cruelty from the state, the hollow nature of these suits ring more true.

'Sixties Surreal' at the Whitney

 By Isabella Mendez

The exhibition explores the profound cultural changes of the sixties in America through a surrealist style. The diverse array of artists offers many perspectives on topics like the Civil Rights Movement, space exploration, war, and feminist sexual revolutions. 

Particularly interesting was Luchita Hurtado's Untitled, 1971. The painting shows a nude female figure looking down at an apple with a chevron pattern behind it. The painting places the audience as the figure, inviting them to be part of the work and feel a stronger connection to it, though the meaning remains ambiguous. The apple captivates the eye, almost central to the piece, and vibrates against the intense blue background. While not explicitly stated, one can assume this work was made in support of the feminist revolution.

Similar to Hurtado's piece, most of the work featured in the exhibition captures viewers' attention and raises awareness of the social issues of the time. Each section echoes the "unreal" feeling that surrealism pushes: first, three large camels greet you at the entrance; then, a dark room filled with psychosexual work; then more structural work; followed by political and feminist work. The floor plan and layout of the exhibition can feel disorienting, and the deep purple and vibrant orange chosen for some walls add to the "unreal" feeling. However, I did appreciate the exhibition's approach in showing parts of history in a modern way.

While there were various takes on surrealism, it was interesting to see artists' voices united by the liberating style.

Luchita Hurtado's Untitled, 1971

Sophie Calle: "On The Hunt"

 Sophie Calle’s curiosity of people - specifically ordinary, everyday people - is undeniable. She has an ability to turn her subjects into art without asking much of them at all. She presents to us what is already there, and what has always been there, and we see it with a whole new perspective. 

Calle is a journalist more than a visual artist, but every written page is strong enough to stand on its own behind glass. Seeing her work in a gallery setting was a new experience, and because most of her work is in writing, can be slightly overwhelming. Select pages of her pieces are framed, some with very small text, the pages lining an entire room. Due to this, her work isn’t best received if the viewer is under a time constraint, there is a lot to take in.

One of her most memorable works was The Address Book. After finding a lost address book on the streets of Paris, Calle set out to create a map of the anonymous owner. She interviewed each of the contacts and eventually constructed a portrait of him. The piece became a eulogy for a living person; his own words completely absent from his life story.

Calle has the soul of a true writer. While her pieces gave a taste of her artistry, her work is best consumed over time, alone, in the solitude of the reader.

Alix Cléo Roubaud "Correction of perspective in my bedroom"

Alix Cléo Roubaud

Correction of perspective in my bedroom

Galerie Bucholz

Curated by Hélène Giannecchini

Gigi Moss

            Walking into Galerie Bucholz, a single window filters a small amount of natural light into the room. The photos of Alix Cléo Roubaud are small, even in the delicate glass framing them, they take up little more space than a sheet of copy paper. Laterally displayed at eye level, they invite the viewer into their personal space to study. In this strangely liminal gallery I feel as if I have stumbled upon an empty or abandoned office space, cold white walls and dark grey carpet are illuminated only by stark LED lighting. This environment engages the ephemeral quality of Roubaud’s work. Entirely shot in the bedroom of her Paris apartment, a deeply personal space in contrast to the sterility of the gallery. In this space there are no distractions, the viewer must concentrate on the images and the feelings they stir. In her diaristic work, a documentation of life in this one space, the interactions and relationships fill these images with a solemn sentimentality. The bedroom becomes an embodiment of her consciousness as it transforms in different photos - some very grounded in the physical space and others where the room disappears and the only backdrop is negative space. Her work feels like trying to recall a memory. The longer I observe, the more her memories bleed into my memories, all harsh edges and borders are dissolved.

 

Formal Wear by Diane Simpson

Walking into the winding maze created by Diane Simpson, viewers encounter a series of sculptures that blur the boundaries between the two-dimensional plane and three-dimensional space. Constructed from corrugated board, fiberboard, aluminum, brass, linoleum, and galvanized steel, these forms shift under changing viewpoints, generating a dynamic sense of disorientation. Each angle reveals a new composition — a geometry that feels at once architectural and domestic, familiar yet estranged. In this tension between deconstruction and material familiarity, Simpson evokes fragments of everyday life where the body invisibly dwells.

The exhibition continues on the lower level, where Simpson reveals her meticulous process. Sketches and photographs of historical women’s formal wear accompany axonometric drawings rendered on graph paper at a 45-degree angle. These preparatory works expose how each sculpture originates from garments — corsets, collars, pleats — translated into structured, abstracted volumes.

This sequence offers a subtle revelation: as viewers move from the gallery’s upper floor to the lower one, they trace the transformation of clothing into form, and function into abstraction. The realization of the body’s absence becomes central — its ghostly presence implied through the negative space between metal and board. Simpson presents an original and inspiring reimagining of how the overlooked structures of daily life and wears shape both form and identity.

Formal Wear by Diane Simpson at The American Academy of Arts and Letters

Underskirt, 1986 

Oil stain and paint on MDF, cotton mesh 

Courtesy of the artist and Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago

    Diane Simpson’s Formal Wear, spread across two floors at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, felt like walking through a spatial sketchbook, each work being translated from drawing into geometry. The show traces Simpson’s decades-long dialogue between clothing and architecture, showcasing how the nature of fabric can serve as both support systems and expressions of form.

    I was especially drawn to the play of distortion in her pieces, the way geometry becomes fluid, softened while maintaining its complexity. Underskirt (1986), with its green lattice and gauzy cotton scrim, looked like scaffolding and fabric that was beautifully suspended. Amish Bonnet (1992), is perched on a shelf, with brass tubing bending into an almost breathing curve. Lastly, Window Dressing (2007–08) composed of hard industrial materials, somehow evokes the softness of cloth, creating tension between rigidity and drape. Her works reminded me of industrial design prototypes, objects whose precision carries quiet emotion. 

    

    Simpson’s mastery of materials is deeply evident in her work, controlled yet deeply human. Her sculptures don’t imitate garments but reimagine how structure might inhabit space as if they were built to stand on its own, inviting interpretation rather than delivering a fixed message. Leaving Formal Wear, I felt both grounded and inspired; Simpson transforms geometry into something that evokes warmth, proving that discipline and distortion can coexist beautifully.

Window Dressing, Window 6: Collar & Bib-Deco (2007/2008)
Linoleum, paint on aluminum and wood, industrial fiber
Courtesy of the artist and Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago

Rodrigo Hernández: A Personal Constellation of Images

 Chrystal Gayle

October 17, 2025

Blog Post Entry Assignment

On view from September 3 to October 23, 2025, Rodrigo Hernández’s first exhibition with the gallery offered a quietly captivating journey through material, myth, and memory. Hernández, known for working across painting, relief, sculpture, and installation, used this exhibition to form what he called a “personal constellation of images.” The title, borrowed from a poem by Bernadette Mayer, hinted at the show’s poetic rhythm, where meaning seemed to float between dream and reality.

Walking through the exhibition felt like entering a space that balanced restraint and imagination. Many of the works shimmered with subtle gold tones, like visual echoes of something ancient yet newly discovered. In one striking piece, a delicate figure seemed to emerge from a hammered brass surface, the smooth curves of the form suggesting rest, reflection, or perhaps a kind of spiritual surrender.

Another piece, also rendered in gold toned relief, presented a structured, almost architectural composition. Its overlapping panels created a sense of rhythm and containment, and at the very bottom, a small human figure walked across the scene. The scale shift was fascinating, as if this lone figure were navigating the towering structures of memory or history itself. The way Hernández layered planes and textures gave the work an almost cinematic feeling, as though time was unfolding vertically.

Weather Report by Shara Hughes

    Shara Hughes' exhibition at the David Kordansky Gallery features nine paintings that redefine the experience of being human. Made using oil, acrylic, and dye, each artwork encompasses its own world of feeling and self reflection, creating a standalone experience for both the artist and the viewer. The vertical orientation of the paintings is meant to be immersive and intimate for the viewer, as if they are within the piece.

    MaMa (2025) is one piece representing a forest with vivid colors of reds, oranges, and yellows falling from the flower at the top. Many emotions are reflected, some contradicting each other. There's intensity yet calmness, precision yet free-flowing energy. The movement and liveliness represented through various aspects of nature, the intricate details and textures, and the luminosity really pull the viewer into all of the paintings. It feels like you could look at these paintings forever with how detailed and immersive they are, which allows the viewer to fully experience the emotions within the works.

    The exhibition space is organized in a way where it allows you to move from one painting to another as if you are exploring different journeys of thoughts and feelings. I appreciate the gallery's big open space being split by a wall in the middle, as it makes the spaces feel smaller and adds to the intimate experience that Hughes' is creating in her works. However, I also wish there was a way to have a smaller space yet to also see all the paintings surrounding you.

Sasha Gordon; Haze

 

Sasha Gordon’s new exhibition Haze, currently on view at David Zwirner contains oil paintings entwined with interrealing narratives that unravel through each painting.The themes comes from myths, Asian cinema, and Gordon’s own memories. A biographical element is evident as the figures resemble the artist herself. 

It Was Still Far Away depicts an explosion that lights up the background. In contrast, the central figure is nonchalant, clipping her toenails with her headphones on. This figure is depicted in different scenes for each work. In some, she eats her nail clippings, is forced to be underwater, and is fed by another figure that looks almost identical to herself. 

Personally, the immense detail in Flame Like Blush stood out to me, where the figure is bathed in a blazing orange that casts a vivid glow onto the face. The reflection of clouds in her eyes is a hint of the continued narrative through her work, as it resembles the explosion from It Was Still Far Away and provides a reason for the radiant illumination and sweat. 

Overall, Gordon’s works are realistic yet uncanny. The continued narrative of the figure put in bizarre scenes combined with her own life evokes a psychological and dream-like experience. The exhibition not only allows the viewer to be immersed in each work but also to see it as a whole, connecting the continuing themes that are threaded through each piece. 

Hayden Holmes

The Drawing Center’s installation of In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney exhibits nearly 100 works that serve as benchmarks of the different stylistic stages of Delaney’s career. Drawing the focus away from some of his more famous on-canvas works, the exhibition details the unfolding of Delaney’s life, and in turn, his journey’s effect on the development of his artistic style and overall presence in the world of art. With supporting materials such as the literature of his close friend James Baldwin and newspaper clippings documenting society’s reaction to the success of such black creatives, the gallery halls bounce between the different eras of Delaney’s genius.

While both the stylized portraiture and representational landscape compositions of Delaney’s works from the 1930s to the early 1950s do feature variations of the primary colors, the majority of his works lack a true blue. Layers upon layers of sheer teals, aquas, and turquoises can be found in his abstract watercolor paintings, inks drawings, and oil prints, but in none did he dare tamper with out-of-the-tube ultramarine. In only a fingerful of self portraits from late in his life and career did he employ such hues. These works, however, do not necessarily fit with his other pieces from those years in the 1970s.

Detritus: Tom Friedman at Lehmann Maupin

 

Detritus: Tom Friedman at Lehmann Maupin

Tom Friedman’s solo show commands the viewer to look at the ordinary objects that fill our lives.

The exhibition explores both solitary subjects and elaborate compositions that create webs of focus

rather than a singular point of interest. 

His cluttered compositions begin as photographs which the artist then works to replicate as paintings. Reflections and individual contours abstract during this process. In Detritus, the abstract stands next to the fully rendered, exemplified in spirals morphing out of other objects. The bird’s eye view gives a warped sense of scale and grandeur abstracting the painting further. 

The paintings that illustrate singular objects also act as collections. Their details become pieces of a complicated group. Wise Old Sage depicts a crumpled up water bottle, unrecognizable at first due to its large scale and magnification. The over 50” x 40” painting requires the viewer to stand back for a full view, a clear demand of attention. Parallel white lines running down the work and light brushstrokes contour the form, seemingly abstract until a recognizable image forms. 

The strength of this show is found in the detail of a singular subject and in the cluttered compositions painted at a grand scale. The ordinary is elevated by being placed at our feet, the only perspective in which collections can be fully seen and recognized as a sight to behold. 

- Lucia Bautista  HAD 472-02

*Revision*

Robert Longo; The Weight of Hope at the Pace Gallery

Robert Longo’s exhibition The Weight of Hope continues his exploration of large-scale, hyper-realistic charcoal drawings. The works confront the turbulence of contemporary American life by combining the visual authority of photojournalism with the restrained emotional depth of classical painting, prioritizing idealized beauty and harmonious composition over individual expression. The exhibition suggests that in the age of political crisis and collective grief, images can still represent collective memory and experience. Throughout the show Longo depicts symbols of hope, crisis, power, and destruction, alongside figures representing social, political, or historical events in order to explore ideas of intimacy and monumentality. 

I was drawn to Longo’s piece Untitled (St. Louis Rams / Hands Up), 2016 depicting wide receiver Nick Toon with his arms raised in protest of the police killing of Micheal Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Longo captures the charged stillness of Toon’s stance, turning a fleeting gesture into a lasting symbol. 

Equally striking is the work Untitled (Iceberg for Greta Thuberg), 2020 which depicts a towering iceberg as a fragile symbol of ecological urgency, showing the precariousness of systems — natural, political, and moral — under threat. 

Though visually stunning, the exhibition at times leans heavily towards melodrama. Its solemnity, boarding on self seriousness, and moral ambition feels heavy-handed, partly due to Longo’s highly aestheticized approach and reliance on appropriated media imagery. The absence of diverse perspectives — due to his primary focus on Western, white, corporate, and male-coded symbols — limits the breath of his social critique, making the show both visually commanding and conceptually constrained.

Audra Castle

Revised - version 2

Austin Martin White; Tracing Delusionships

                                                                        Composite Ruin 1 (after Piranesi), 2025

    Austin Martin White has crafted an endearing display of work with Tracing Delusionships at Petzel Gallery.

The show includes eleven pieces, depictions of dark and whimsical worlds, the majority of which are at a very

large scale. White evokes a unique dimensionality within some of his paintings, a depth achieved through a

layering of materials. Screen mesh forms the base of the canvas, creating a moiré pattern with the illusion of

wavy stripes in the background, appearing almost holographic. I found his paintings much more interesting

than his works on paper due to this quality of the mesh, as it adds movement to the pieces as the moiré shifts and

changes with the angle at which you view it.

     I was drawn to his series of paintings titled Composite Ruins that were painted with this technique and layered

with thick, textured, brightly colored paint. These pieces are truly monumental and impressive to stand before.

As you move closer, the image of massive ruins falls away and the marks become an abstract maze of vibrant

color. This experience of oscillating between these two dimensions in the work made them feel like a psychedelic

vision.

    White was inspired by artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi, whose work I can see in these pieces- Yet Piranesi's

detailed etchings of ruins give the impression that they are recordings of an earthly traveler, while White's

paintings feel completely otherworldly. Outside of his Composite Ruins series I found his interpretation of the

Massacre of the Children of Bethel arresting. This piece references the artist Bob Thompson’s La Mort des Enfants,

a version of the biblical massacre of the innocents. This reinterpretation of his influences reinforces his similar

motivation to reimagine history and its crumbling civilizations. I found this show to be inspirational in its

unique material exploration, and strong in its conceptual ties to the imagery regarding reinvention.

Massacre of the Children of Bethel Variation 5 (after B. Thompson), 2025

*Revision

In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney

Ahmed Bioud, 1961

Oil on paper

Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY

The exhibition "In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney" features works on paper, a medium that is not as visually striking in terms of color, contrast as oil painting, and are generally smaller in scale than works in other media, making them easily dismissed as drafts. But this exhibition expresses a different view, that Beauford Delaney's works on paper showcase his more experimental side.

His works reveal a sense of ease and freedom. They are vivid and have obvious brushstrokes with no transitions, making the drawings feel relaxed. Some of the paintings contain short, superimposed lines that enrich the texture and visual depth of the paintings. I was impressed by his work, "Ahmed Bioud." The theme is a portrait of the artist's close friend. The artist didn't describe many details of the subject's features in the painting; the outline of the portrait is broken and overlapped with each other, creating a sense of memory together with the main color of yellow. This gave me more space for imagination about the unseen forms and the portrait's inner world. The work employs a combination of oil paint on paper, which presents transparent sheen.

The exhibition focuses on Beauford Delaney's neglected, non-traditional techniques, such as oil and pastel on paper to express the artist's thoughts, but the overly dense display of small-sized works in paper media makes viewing the show tedious and fatiguing. If the exhibition displayed the works in themed sections, it might help regulate the viewer's pace and bring more interest to the audience. WC 244 ROSEN CHEN LUO

Haze by Sasha Gordon (at David Zwirner Gallery)

 

Sasha Gordon: Haze, David Zwirner, New York, 2025

In Sasha Gordon’s exhibition Haze, Gordon captures her body and flesh in a hyperrealistic style presenting bizarre and somewhat surreal scenarios. Painting herself eating toenails Gordon had clipped in a previous painting, the works of Haze build a witty narrative illuminating the interface of alter egos. 

To follow Gordon’s visual storytelling, viewers must walk through the large, white gallery as the paintings are hung far from one another, each earning their own wall. The gallery’s absence of wall labels is disorienting, referring to the ambiguous stories Sasha Gordon wishes to convey. 

Although her themes of the body and the bizarre align with the imagery familiar from Surrealist art, certain pieces in Haze lend themselves more to cliche rather than uniquely imaginative artistry. The alter ego storyline was created to explore the tug-of-war between an individual’s personas that at times may be at odds, introducing an internal struggle to find personal reconciliation. Amidst Gordon’s darker and combative pieces like Pruning, the imagery projects the artist's sense of humor. While the humor adds to the complexity of emotions, it detracts from the exhibit’s overall impact.

Haze is a notable exhibition with which audiences can ponder, laugh and engage. Ultimately, art meets the audience where they are, making each person’s journey through the exhibit unique.