Sophia Heymans: "Everything Dancing" at Shrine Gallery NYC

Sophia Heymans: "Everything Dancing" at Shrine Gallery, NYC

Heymans' show "Everything Dancing" transforms the blank walls of Shrine into a lush world dominated by nature. She emphasizes the interconnectedness of humanity and the natural world, and how one does exist without the other. 

"Everything Dancing" is arranged so that the viewer is surrounded by the bright greens, yellows and blues of the works in the same way that the human figures in her paintings are embraced by foliage and landscape. There is pure and organic interconnectedness in the way the figures interact with the natural elements around them, like a celebration of living things in all of their forms, human and non-human. In fact, it is only when the viewer stands closer to the painting that the lines of bodies and faces begin to distinguish themselves. According to Shrine, the artist even combines natural elements like moss and seeds into the oil paints she uses to immerse herself further into her work and strengthen the her art's connection to nature. 

Commentary on how the modern human attitude toward nature has changed can be derived from Heymans' exhibition, as many pre-modern societies were built upon the worship of natural elements, as can be seen from the Hall of Bulls at Lascaux to ancient Mayan temples. Only in the last few centuries has colonialism and urban expansion begun to control, delineate from and destroy nature because of the idea that we are above it. Through dynamic figures interwoven and swaying among vibrant landscapes, "Everything Dancing" encourages us to remember our roots and celebrate our one-ness with the world around us.

-Emma Szabo

Sophia Heymans's "Everything Dancing"

   

  On exhibition at Shrine, Sophia Heymans's "Everything Dancing" is a series of visionary landscapes centered around human's relationship to nature. Heymans's work is vibrant, and joyful.  In the work itself, Heymans combines paint with twigs, seeds, and grass, creating not just texture, but a direct connection to the plant biodiversity she paints in the pieces. Though her works range in size, they are all rectangles, creating an effect we are peering out of a window onto the natural spiritual world. 

In "Everything is Dancing", Heymans creates a narrative in every piece. In her mystical depictions of earth, she highlights human interdependence with the natural world. Her paintings encapsulate the feeling of an epiphany of beauty in feeling free in nature, and as her spiritual figures dance in the landscapes, they beckon us to do the same. 

 Through her combination of storytelling, vibrant green tones, and dancing figures, I deeply appreciated Heymans paintings From her joyful storytelling, Heymans encouraged me and other viewers to take time to truly indulge in the beauty of earth. 

-Rachel Genito*

Josh Kline: "Social Media" at the Lisson Gallery

Josh Kline’s “Social Media” explores the way bodies become fragmented by the precarity of the labor conditions in the digital age. His works are visceral reflections of the present moment in time. 

Life sized reproductions of human limbs are juxtaposed with office objects such as keyboards, computer chairs and cell phones, wrapped with the packaging of major e-commerce companies, images of bank statements, and credit cards. Hollowed out, the limbs bleed with social media apps and credit card statements. The fragmented body parts are adorned with workwear such as boots, denim and trucker hats – the typical attire of the e-commerce worker. 

 

Klein compares blue-collar workers to the identities of artists and creators. Presented in an objective and sterile way as static, utilitarian objects, the sculptures are carefully laid atop tables, in cubicle-like white rooms. The viewer is a witness to the figurative crime scene of dismemberment. Each work is separated by an enclosed wall, creating a feeling of anticipation as the viewer continues throughout the exhibit, not fully knowing what scene to expect next, such as a life-sized recreation of the artist’s body wrapped in plastic. “Social Media” reflects on how the ubiquity of monetary value affects the way workers perceive themselves, newly intertwined with the use of the body as a commodity in the digital sphere. 

- Ekaterina Maisheva #

Sara Cwynar's Baby Blue Benzo at 52 Walker

Sara Cwynar's Baby Blue Benzo

   Sara Cwynar’s exhibition Baby Blue Benzo, is a photography and installation based show that creates a unique gallery experience from the moment you walk in. The floors are covered with lush grey carpet, and many walls are filled with floor length photographs. These photographs are printed on tabloid sized papers and individually taped together with bright tape, highlighting the materiality. The outside perimeter of the show is a combination of these large scale images and more traditional gallery style hung work consisting of silkscreen and chromogenic prints of collages. The imagery is bright, consumeristic, and slightly retro, giving the show a technicolor and nostalgic feeling. This is further emphasized through the film running in the middle of the gallery. A wide screen projector is playing a 21 minute long video featuring the Blue Benzo along with Pamela Anderson and other models in the same bright and decorated atmosphere as the 2D components of the show. 

    Because of the compelling film and ceiling high images, the more typical work, although matching the same aesthetic, falls a little short and is simply overpowered. They try to compensate for this by getting creative with the placement of the photographs, however, that is not strong enough to balance the works and leaves you a little dissatisfied.

-Alexa Toews #

Jordan Casteel's "Field of View"

        On View at the Hill Art Foundation, Jordan Casteel’s “Field of View” is a combined body of work from the ten most recent years of the artist’s career. The conversation between paintings creates a concise vision that works well with her vibrant color palette to depict scenes of friends, family, and neighbors in New York City. The symmetrically halved compositions found in pieces like Traveling Mercies, 2019, suggest intentional planning and make for pleasant viewing.

 

Traveling Mercies by Casteel, 2019, Oil on Canvas

    As “Field of View” implies, photography is relevant to the artist’s methods. Casteel is known for taking photographs of her subjects before beginning her paintings. I would normally find this method sanitizing as it tricks artists into painting simply what is seen in the photograph, leaving the works flat and lifeless. However, in this case, the intimate scenes of candid humanity highlight Casteel’s presence in capturing the image both behind the camera and in front of the canvas.

        Additionally, “Field of View” encourages us to reflect on sites within sites, as the works depict scenes from throughout New York. I think Casteel is the perfect artist to facilitate this, but I also think it to be dissonant. “Field of View” is up in Chelsea, once a neighborhood that was affordable and accessible to marginalized groups; as I pondered sites within sites, it became hard to ignore that we were perusing work about the working class and people of color while in a neighborhood that has transformed into a beacon of their own displacement.

- Alex Lopez-Martinson*

Pieter Schoolwerth, “Supporting Actor” — 3rd update

Pieter Schoolwerth’s Supporting Actor at Petzel Gallery features works of painting, sculpture, and film, combined in complex installations. The space is organized as a loop, providing two ways of approach. Choosing the left path brings you to a cubicle that represents a smaller version of the gallery. Inside are smaller-sized paintings, electrical equipment next to a small dummy, and a red tunnel closed at the other end. On the outside of the cubicle are works of plastic composite reliefs that form abstract silhouettes of fluid figures and landscapes. Rounding the corner, the space opens to large canvases coated in thick smears of paint that blend hues and tones into space-age computer-generated realities. Onepainting, Behind the World, appears to depict a psychedelic disco scene taking place on a spiraled green and black floor. Tiny dancers populate the foreground while giants boogie in the background. On the opposite wall is a life-sized model of a bathroom flipped on its side. The bathroom’s mirror opens back up to the red tunnel which leads back to the miniature version of the gallery. Finally, the gallery wraps around to a large black box room where a mind-bending CGI-animated film plays several scenes accompanied by a disorienting soundtrack by musical artist Aaron Dilloway. In one sequence, an animated version of Dilloway is seen standing in a bizarre club with liquid alien creatures; think Star Wars cantina but stranger. 

Schoolwerth’s work brings attention to the sensitive boundary that divides painting from technology, as well as the boundary between reality and the unreal. The visual intensity of Schoolwerth’s paintings, achieved in giant swirls of smeared pigment on large canvases, stretches the viewer’s image-processing power to its very limit. The result, while certainly overstimulating, is undeniably spectacular and refreshing.

Wendy Clarke: Love Tapes

Wendy Clarke’s Love Tapes explores what love means to the people of New York City in 1980. Using video, Clarke becomes a collector of stories, engaging in a process that captures individual experience. She invites strangers to sit alone in front of a camera and speak for 3 minutes about the love in their lives. Though brief, the videos provide an intimate glimpse into the feelings and histories of participants.

Each tape presents a unique perspective on love, reflecting the depth and intricacy of the word. A woman speaks softly about a man she lost, describing an attachment that endures beyond death. A young man rambles about how he longs for the fulfillment of romantic love and, by the end of his segment, gazes directly into the eye of the camera, declaring that “love is eternal.” A sense of fluidity is felt as viewers move seamlessly from one video to the next, immersing themselves in these varied interpretations. 

As I watched the piece, I thought about my own definitions of love. Being loved is to be seen and acknowledged, and Clarke’s Love Tapes does exactly that. It recognizes the rare feeling of connection and voices it earnestly through the art of filmmaking. By sharing these personal anecdotes, Clarke not only shows the complexity of love but also invites us to consider our understanding of the emotion.

Kaitlyn Eoff *