Visiting Henry Taylor: B Side

Issue #14: January 11 - 17

Author

Art Pulse NYC
January 11, 2024

🫶 Highlights 🫶

🚨 Ed Ruscha (MoMA), Ruth Asawa Through Line (Whitney), and Anj Smith (H&W) are closing in the coming days!

🎉 New exhibits at David Zwirner & Rachel Uffner (+ opening receptions at each). Tonight, an event at the New Museum on the Herstory “City of Ladies” exhibit.

💖 Read our Ongoing Favorites below.

 📢 Read about the Henry Taylor: B Side exhibit below!

🚨 Last Chance

In the Museums

ED RUSCHA / NOW THEN

📍 Museum of Modern Art

⏰ closing on January 13th

🗓️ pop art

❓showcasing the six-decade career of influential postwar American artist, Ruscha, featuring diverse mediums with a focus on American culture

📏 large exhibit (~90 works)

➕ also the Emerging Ecologies: Architecture and the Rise of Environmentalism exhibit is closing on Jan 20th

Ruth Asawa Through Line

📍 Whitney Museum of American Art

⏰ closing on January 15th

🗓️ modern (1950s - 2000s)

❓geometric and minimalistic drawings inspired by the renowned sculptor’s upbringing and experiences

📏 medium exhibit

Self-captured

A few additional galleries closing this week:

In the Galleries

Anj Smith: Drifting Habitations

📍 Gladstone | 530 W 21st

⏰ closing on Jan 13

❓ large-scale paintings exploring atopia, a concept related to the fluidity of experiences and perceptions of the world, especially around the relationship between self and space

Smith, Anj. “Double Flowering (of the Marsh Marigold)”. 2022. | Self-Captured

Tim Eitel: something there is somewhere outside

📍 Pace | 540 W 25th

⏰ closing on Jan 13

❓ 8 new paintings that contemplate the interplay between art, space, and time, responding to elements of the gallery setting

Eitel, Tim | Self-Captured

David Diao: On Barnett Newman, 1991 - 2023

📍 Greene Naftali | 508 W 26th

⏰ closing on Jan 17th

❓ showcasing the six-decade career of Diao, highlighting his interested in Abstract Expressionist Barnett Newman

🎉 Just In

In the Museums

Heads Up: Herstory: Responses to “The City of Ladies” Tonight!

📍 New Museum

⏰ Tonight, Thursday, Jan 11 at 6:30 pm

❓ Scholar Sophie Lewis, poet Simone White, and writer Kate Zambreno respond to the special “City of Ladies” installation that brings together women and genderqueer artists across centuries.

🔗 see event details ($10).

No new major exhibits are opening in the museums.

In the Galleries

James Welling: Thought Objects

📍 David Zwirner | 533 W 19th St

⏰ opening on Jan 11th

❓ photographer Welling explores the evolution and technical aspects of photography, using digital tools in unconventional ways and examines what we define as a photograph

➕ opening reception on Jan 11 at 6-8 pm

Hana Yilma Godine: A Brush in the Universe

📍 Rachel Uffner | 170 Suffolk St

⏰ opening on Jan 13th

❓ Ethiopian painter Godine paints women in spiritual, otherworldly landscapes, vividly using oil, acrylic, and textiles

➕ opening reception on Saturday, January 13, 6-8 pm

➕➕ also check out the upstairs gallery where Christopher Paz-Rivera: Due Time is opening

Godine. ‘SINGLE PAINTING #17’. 2023. | Source

Mika Tajima: Energetics

📍 Pace Gallery | 540 W 25th St

⏰ opening on Jan 11th

❓ sculptural, textile, and sensorial works inspired by quantum mechanics, philosophy, and the concept of plasticity, exploring themes of technology and identity

➕ opening reception on Thurs, January 11, 6-8 pm

Tajima | Source

In addition:

💖 Ongoing Favorites

📢 Editor’s Updates

You have just a few weeks left to see the raw, figurative works of Henry Taylor in his ongoing exhibit at the Whitney, ‘Henry Taylor: B Side’. With powerful themes, vibrant colors, and dynamic brushstrokes, the exhibit poignantly captures the Black American experience, encouraging empathy and social criticism.

Taylor, Untitled | Self-Captured

Taylor’s works are primarily intimate portraits, beautifully portraying a range of subjects from prominent figures like the Obamas to everyday people. He impressively communicates emotions and stories, reminiscent of Alice Neel’s style, with close-ups leaving the viewer eye-to-eye with the sitter.

He also powerfully draws attention to the challenges faced by Black Americans, with themes such as poverty and dangerous interactions with the police. In the work below, Taylor commemorates Sean Bell, who was tragically killed by the NYPD on the eve of his wedding. Taylor’s handwritten message on the piece, “Really I want to say I didn’t know you but I love you” notes how personal Bell’s story felt to Taylor — someone he could’ve easily known.

Taylor, “Homage to a Brother”, 2007 | Self-Captured

The texture of Taylor’s brushstrokes and his use of color make for truly beautiful pieces. It’s all the more remarkable given that Taylor has a quick and instinctual approach to art-making, often drawn from memory. The name of the exhibit ‘B Side’ (which refers to the side of a record album with more experimental songs) reflects this approach.

Taylor, Untitled | Self-Captured

If you want to learn more, check out NYTimes’s interactive profile on Taylor, and The New Yorker’s critique of the exhibit. And, be sure to stop by the Whitney to see the exhibit by January 28th.

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