Contributed by Sharon Butler
The new year brings good news for Bushwick gallery goers: The L Train, which was scheduled for a 15-month shutdown to undergo repairs beginning this year, is NOT shutting down. This is a welcome decision for the artists and galleries that live and work along the path of the L–Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Ridgewood in particular. Of course, it’s not such good news for the people who already packed up and left the neighborhoods in anticipation of a hellish 15 months without train service. // Last night was all about Chelsea, where a slew of galleries had blockbuster openings. I stopped by Pace and saw James Siena’s powerful new large-scale paintings of jagged interlocking lines. Everywhere I went, artists were abuzz about Dana Schutz’s knockout show at Petzel. “She’s finally moved beyond the Whitney fiasco … her work is better than ever … she’s brilliant,” they said. At Shainman on W24th St, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye presented a group of thoughtful figurative paintings that build on her 2017 solo show at the New Museum. She continues to fuse the darker palette of the Ashcan School with heavy brushwork that evokes artists like Marsden Hartley. Her images mainly feature black (umber, raw and burnt) men, reading, smoking, and sitting at tables, but she has a few other ideas as well. And finally, The Painting Center has mounted a generous group show of small work to celebrate its 25th anniversary. The Center has a fascinating history, so stay tuned for a future post about that. In the meantime, here’s the Two Coats selected list of shows that are up right now.
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Upper East Side
Silas von Morisse presents at ChaShaMa (Space to Present) / Matthew Cole From Tokyo To Berlin / 485 Madison Avenue, New York City, NY / January 11 to 27
Bookstein Projects / Jan Müller: Flowers / 60 East 66th St., 3rd Floor, New York, NY/ January 17 to February 23
Petzel Gallery / Adam McEwen / 35 E 67th St., New York, NY / January 22 to February 16
Johannes Vogt Gallery / Walter Robinson: Salads, Candles, and Money / 958 Madison Avenue, New York, NY / closes January 26
Victoria Monroe Fine Art / Group show: Paintings and Works on Paper / 67 E 80th Street, New York, NY / closes January 12
Art + Leisure / Joe Nanashe & Jamie Powell / 1571 Lexington Ave, New York, NY / January 26 to February 24