With Frieze New York - and a growing cohort of satellite fairs - still in full swing and the auction houses in previews for their spring contemporary sales, there would seem to be no rest for the art lover this month. Sophie Calle to the rescue. The artist’s latest exhibition, ’Rachel, Monique’, is a haunting multimedia tribute of sorts to her late mother. Installed in the chapel of the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest on East 90th Street, it offers an ideal place to pause and reflect on the way back from Randall’s Island.
Palate and soul at least partially cleansed, the intrepid viewer can plunge back into the gallery scene, where a variety of notable exhibitions are seizing the momentum of Frieze, offering shows that run till long after the art fair closes its doors. Los Angeles gallery Blum & Poe is inaugurating its New York gallery with a colour-saturated survey of Mark Grotjahn’s butterfly paintings, while nearby Luxembourg & Dayan is preparing to unveil ’The Shaped Canvas, Revisited,’ a group show that will explore the enduring virtues of looking beyond the rectangle.
In West Chelsea, Hauser & Wirth has filled its downtown space with a stunning range of new works by Sterling Ruby, who has found a throughline in the tension between horizon lines and circular forms. The poignant contrasts and bold colours are amplified in Maccarone’s first exhibition of the work of the late Sarah Charlesworth (1947-2013), whose ’Objects of Desire’ series juxtaposes rephotographed imagery in coded hues. Things move to the digital realm at Friedman Benda, which is showcasing Dutch designer Joris Laarman’s experiments with 3D printing and generative design tools.
Be sure to save room for dessert. David Zwirner has transformed one of its spaces into a factory churning out Chocmelos - chocolate-covered marshmallows that are the spongy signature candies of Colombia’s Colombina - for the gallery’s first show with Oscar Murillo. Best known for his expressionistic paintings, the Columbian-born artist has looked to his own heritage and imported a full-time staff to work the assembly line for an installation that evokes feelings of both displacement and delight. And the candy, free for the taking, is delicious.
