In a dimly-lit room, the subtle scent of cinnamon and clove infused the air from two unbelievable dirt installations. On view at Dia Chelsea through July 2024, artist Delcy Morelos presented El abrazo, an exhibition of two site-specific sculptures that invite a sacred connection to soil that may have been the most surprising and satisfying experience with art in New York earlier this year.
Artist Antonio Santín presented shockingly hyperreal oil paintings that depict life-size undulating ornate rugs. On view at Marc Straus Gallery in February, each painting is a surprising illusion of a carpet in 3D space, but up close, they’re even more impressive. Painstakingly applied with a modified syringe, thousands of tiny brushstrokes demand sustained inspection and a new fascination for both textile and paint.
Legendary artist Frank Stella continues to prove his unparalleled curiosity and capacity for reinvention. His exhibition – Frank Stella: Recent Sculpture – at Jeffrey Deitch in New York’s SoHo neighborhood presented five massive sculptures with color-shifting elements that feel as if they could lift into the air at any second. The exhibition was a visual rollercoaster of surprising form, color, gravity, and scale in a space that invites multi-level vantage points.
Vik Muniz, the master of creating unbelievable images out of unexpected things, debuted his latest series, Legal Tender, at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. on the west side of Manhattan. Included in a double-feature exhibition, Muniz’s work once again celebrates everyday material, ignites the imagination, confuses reality, and questions current systems of symbols and representation.
For over 2 decades, artist Tara Donovan has transformed everyday objects in her work – from plastic straws, Styrofoam cups, and toothpicks – creating ethereal visual magic through highly-precise unexpected accumulations. Her May exhibition Stratagems on view at Pace Gallery in New York, debuted 11 new towering sculptures that are created from thousands of used CDs.
In June, Hiroshi Sugimoto’s series of photographs were on view at Lisson Gallery in New York City in an exhibition titled Optical Allusion. The famed photographer captures blurry abstract images of refracted daylight that, displayed alongside the real prism that was used in their creation, invites tangible experience with light and time.
Every July, most New York contemporary galleries present “group exhibitions” – a dizzying variety of intelligent curation, unexpected juxtapositions, and exciting introductions to new artists. The galleries also switch to “summer hours” (closed on weekends), so available viewing time can be limited. Two exhibitions, which together presented over 60 artists, smart themes, and plenty of surprises: Mother Lode: Material and Memory on view at James Cohan Gallery at two locations in Tribeca, and Patterns on view at Luhring Augustine Gallery across both their Tribeca and Chelsea locations.
The always-incredible contemporary art space Dia Beacon, located just outside New York City, hosted two additional awe-inspiring installations by Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Steve McQueen. Paired with the many additional world famous installations on long term view, a trip to Beacon is always worth the trip.
Artist Liza Lou’s exhibition Painting at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in New York debuted 12 new works made from tens of thousands of colorful glass beads that resemble brushstrokes. It’s a color and texture surprise that offers more intrigue the closer you view – a hybrid between paint and pixels, light and extreme physicality. Inspired by her experience viewing paint through a microscope, Liza Lou again pushes her signature material into fresh and unexpected possibilities.
Joel Shapiro’s sculptures are radiantly joyful, they defy gravity, and seem to move as you walk around them. His exhibition at Pace in New York, Joel Shapiro: Out of the Blue, was everything you want from a Shapiro with with new surprises. Presenting his largest wood sculpture to date, along with a dozen small studies and bronzes, it was a playfully intelligent experience with color, space, material, and movement that keeps you circling.
The work of Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson has always felt like a surreal supercharge for the senses, as if somehow experiencing the strange magic of sight for the first time. His exhibition Your psychoacoustic light ensemble was on view at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery in New York with a range of perception-tripping new works, including watercolors that emulate spectral light, new color-shifting glass sculptures, and a surprising room where sound becomes visible and light feels audible. The whole thing adds up to an ethereal and wondrous dive into the rabbit hole for both the senses and the psyche.
Check out the rest of Design Milk’s end of the year coverage here!
