This week, Arts contributor Ashlie Cotton has highlighted a few note-worthy openings in the neighborhood. If you are a local artist with a show opening in or around the LES, please let us know.
The Lower East Side is constantly abuzz with gallery openings, and I’m sure this week’s warm spring-like weather got a lot of people in the mood to check out some of the neighborhood’s most interesting new shows. Here are a few suggestions. Start off at Heist Gallery (27 Essex) tonight from 6-8PM and catch the vibrant and hilarious show, “Cake Mix.” New York based photographer Dustin Wayne Harris presents pictures of cakes baked for him by women he has dated.
For Harris, the cakes are comparable to a Rorschach test. Believe it or not, he practices the unique art of “cake reading,” in which he can predict the outcome of a relationship. I, for one, will never be able to bake a cake for a dearly beloved in the same way again.
On Friday, there is an exciting group show, “Friends in High Places,” opening at Christopher Henry Gallery (127 Elizabeth Street), from 6-9PM. 17 artists present work in abstract painting or sculpture. The show also deals with the idea of networking in the art community, as a small number of participants recommended artists for the show, who in turn made recommendations of their own. One artist deserving special attention: Ernesto Burgos, who presents a sculpture that invigorates the gallery with its jagged geometric shapes and its monotone color pallet. Another intriguing use of abstraction comes from artist Angie Drakopoulos, who creates work that is both scientifically symmetrical and cosmically beautiful, resembling some sort of exotic amoeba.
Another tantalizing opening on Friday: “Noiseless,” by Italian artist Cristiana Palandri at Scaramouche Gallery (55 Stanton) from 6-8PM. The show includes an installation by the artist, made specifically for the art space, as well as drawings and sculptures. Palandri’s work integrates human hair and animal bones; creating an effect that is beautifully natural and organic, and at the same time, “hauntingly reminiscent of death and decomposition.”
