New Shows from Eddie Martinez, Jack Early & Glenn Ligon
Art shows you can’t miss this week in New York. We pick only 3.
1. Eddie Martinez @ Mitchell-Innes & Nash
January 30 — March 5
Brooklyn-based Eddie Martinez is known for his large-scale, energetic canvas works that combine dense layers of oil and enamel paint with collage elements to affect a textured, dynamic surface. However, in his new exhibit, Martinez also heavily incorporates his skills as a painter — with most of the works having begun as sharpie drawings on paper before being enlarged and silkscreened onto canvas. The smaller, sketch-like origins of the new works allow them to be especially agile and flexible, compared to the movement within larger pieces.
On view at 534 West 26th Street, New York, NY.
2. Glenn Ligon @ Luhring Augustine
February 27 — April 2
Today, Luhring Augustine opens What We Said the Last Time, a new exhibit of work from Glenn Ligon, building upon Ligon’s video exhibition that has been on view at the gallery’s Brooklyn location since mid-January. The new show features 17 inkjet prints that document the artist’s copy of James Baldwin’s 1953 essay “Stranger in the Village,” which recounts Baldwin’s experience as a black man in Switzerland. Ligon kept a copy of the book in his studio for inspiration and was intrigued with the paint and marks it had accumulated over time — physical indications of his engagement with the text. The prints are also accompanied with a curatorial project from Ligon that chronicles how artists’ studios can act as sources of cultural and political shifts.
On view at 531 West 24th Street, New York, NY.
3. Jack Early @ Fergus McCaffrey
February 18 — April 9
In his largest solo exhibition to date, Jack Early showcases a new body of paintings and sculptures. While still implementing the tongue-in-cheek provocation that defined his early works (many of them created in partnership with Rob Pruitt), Early’s newer pieces focus more on his own narrative and approach to story telling. The new works include images of furniture and wallpaper from Early’s childhood home, combined with references to pop culture images from the artist’s youth. Thus, visitors glimpse an intensely personal approach to Americana, both cliche and indisputably real at the same time.
On view at 514 West 26th Street, New York, NY.
