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.