“It’s not a key,” Enrique Martínez Celaya warns of the text Empires: The Writing, which accompanies his first solo exhibition at Jack Shainman, now on view at the gallery’s two venues in Chelsea under the titles Empires: Land and Empires: Sea.[1] I meet Celaya in early September, when we walk through the shows on the eve of the artist’s departure for his home in Los Angeles. Empires[…..]
Palermo: Works 1973–1976, now on view at David Zwirner’s 20th St. gallery in Chelsea, speaks at close range. Unlike the gallery’s concurrent solo exhibitions—devoted to Suzan Frecon and Alice Neel—there’s no mounting symphony behind this selection of works by Blinky Palermo. The exhibition has moments of real depth, but situated between the abundance of the Frecon and Neel shows, it is in danger of functioning[…..]
Tomi Ungerer: All in One, now on view at the Drawing Center, is a joyful retrospective of the artist’s career as children’s-book author, satirical cartoonist, political illustrator, and erotic artist. Sadly it’s also incredibly timely. Because though Ungerer was a beloved illustrator, he was also rejected for the explicit imagery in his political and erotic work. As we engage in a global conversation about shock[…..]
