Part 2: Catherine Opie’s new portraits and landscapes, + London, Milan, Stockholm, and Boston

6. Piet Mondrian at David Zwirner

London

24 Grafton Street, London

Piet Mondrian Early Mondrian: Painting 1900-1905
November 26, 2015 – January 23, 2016

Piet Mondrian Irrigation Ditch with Two Willows, ca. 1900-1902 Oil on canvas on panel

Piet Mondrian, Irrigation Ditch with Two Willows, ca. 1900-1902 Oil on canvas on panel

Medium: Painting

“Curated by Karsten Schubert, the exhibition will provide a concise view of the artist’s figurative landscape paintings from 1900-1905, highlighting the period prior to his involvement with De Stijl and Neo-Plasticism, for which he is best known. The selection of works, which depict the Dutch countryside outside of Amsterdam, reflect Mondrian’s lifelong interest in nature and represent some of the earliest examples in his evolution toward increasingly geometric abstractions.

The dense, small-scale paintings included in this exhibition mark a highly prolific period in Mondrian’s engagement with figurative landscape painting—an early but deeply significant stage in the artist’s methodical progression from naturalistic representation to complete grid-based abstraction. Prior to moving to Paris in 1911 at age 39, Mondrian spent the early part of his life in his native country of the Netherlands, where he attended the National Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam from 1892 to 1897. “

7. Eva Hild at Galleri Andersson/Sandström

Stockholm

Hudiksvallsgatan 6, 113 30 Stockholm

Eva Hild
January 14 – February 20th

Eva Hild, Sinkhole. Hand molded porcelain. Image courtesy Galleri Andersson/Sandström

Eva Hild, Sinkhole. Hand molded porcelain. Image courtesy Galleri Andersson/Sandström

Medium: Sculpture

“Her sculptures are like cells exposed to pressure and movement. They are constructed by hand by using a thin layer of mud, but it is the voids and empty space in between that defines the contours of the mass. Hild’s unique technique uses the absence of material to define the impression presented. The outside as well as the inside are displayed and the very advanced forms express both fragility and incredible power simulateously. The abstract shapes move in and out of themselves, like a sea shell half worn down by waves. Although the sculptures can be characterized as voluminous, they likewise give a sensuous ease.”

Watch our video interview: Eva Hild at Nancy Marigolis Gallery

8. The Fourth Prose at Laura Bulian

Milan

Via G.B. Piranesi 10, Milano

La Quarta Prosa – The Fourth Prose

November 19 2015 — March 25 2016

Stalin’s Bay (Bay name of I.V.Stalin). Gulag Country, Lenin’s Bay (The bay name of V.I.Lenin) Country of Sun, 1981 paper, watercolor, pen-diptych 51 × 36.5 cm each. Image courtesy Laura Bulian Gallery

Stalin’s Bay (Bay name of I.V.Stalin). Gulag Country, Lenin’s Bay (The bay name of V.I.Lenin) Country of Sun, 1981 paper, watercolor, pen-diptych 51 × 36.5 cm each. Image courtesy Laura Bulian Gallery.

Medium: Drawing, Painting

“Typewritten pages, drawings and collages of multiple materials, graphic alphabets, handwritten no- rebooks, duplicated flyers, series of postcards, photocopied slogans, newspaper pages, limited run homemade pamphlets, tattoos and poem-objects are at the centre of e Fourth Prose. e exhibition illustrates a “pre- Gutenberg” landscape, despite being a constituent part of the Russian cultural tradition since Cubo-Futurism or El Lissitzky, in the 70s it embraced both the form of ideological dissent of the clandestine circulation of samizdat* publications and attitudes in conceptual art throughout Eastern Europe.”

*Samizdat is an acronym for two Russian words meaning self-published.

9. Equal Dimensions at Barbara Krakow Gallery

Boston

10 Newbury Street

Equal Dimensions
December 12, 2015 – January 30, 2016

Robert Barry Untitled, 1990 Black gesso and colored pencil on canvas

Robert Barry Untitled, 1990 Black gesso and colored pencil on canvas

Medium: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture

“Equal Dimensions, began as a simple attempt to show works that utilize the square, yet quickly developed into a presentation of pieces that, while using rectilinear forms, are more about equality through comparison than just formal similarities.

Specifically, a chance opportunity to exhibit Erwin Heerich’s 1967 cardboard sculpture (that presents six different sized variants on one arrangement) called to mind numerous related works, both from that time (Josef Albers, Liliana Porter, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback) and also from a later date (Artschwager, Barry, Bochner, Downsbrough, LeWitt, Judd, McCollum, Paolini, Prina, Rosen), and so an exhibition was formed.”

The exhibition features works by Josef Albers, Richard Artschwager, Robert Barry, Mel Bochner, Peter Downsbrough, Erwin Heerich, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt, Allan McCollum, Giulio Paolini, Liliana Porter, Stephen Prina, Kay Rosen, Robert Ryman, Fred Sandback.

10. Catherine Opie at Lehman Maupin Gallery

New York/Chelsea

536 West 22nd Street

Catherine Opie: Portraits and Landscapes
January 14 – February 20, 2016

Catherine Opie, Untitled #7, 2012 pigment print 40 x 60 inches 111.1 x 161.9 x 5.7 cm LM22031 © Catherine Opie. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

Catherine Opie, Untitled #7, 2012 pigment print 40 x 60 inches 111.1 x 161.9 x 5.7 cm LM22031 © Catherine Opie. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong

Medium: Photography

Portraits and Landscapes, on view at 536 West 22nd Street, encompasses recent formal portraits and abstract landscapes that are inspired by the genres of European portraiture and American landscape photography. Utilizing the classical technique of chiaroscuro, Catherine Opie’s subjects—including culturally significant figures such as fashion designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte, artist Kara Walker, and director John Waters—are posed in front of a black drop cloth and theatrically lit, intimately dramatizing the details of the face and body. She emphasizes their unique characteristics while also suggesting an allegorical dimension beyond their individual identity. Interspersed amongst these commanding portraits are abstract landscapes that defy any recognition of their geographical location. Capturing pinnacles of the American landscape, Opie reduces the images to blurred light and elementary abstract form to elicit visceral reactions that resonate with oblivion, the sublime, and the unknown.”

Exhibition information and images come are courtesy of the featured galleries. Images copyrighted by the featured artists.

This article © galleryIntell