Sculpture Roundup in Chelsea

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There was a lot of good sculpture in Chelsea this month, more that I can write about in individual posts, so this is a collection of exhibitions that I saw, liked and photographed. This post is more show than tell, but I have slipped in some info from press releases and, quelle surprise, a few opinions.
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Jaume Plensa

In the Midst of Dreams, Galerie Lelong, through October 24

Working with true subjects, Plensa then altered their faces for these illuminated cast-resin heads so that race and/or gender are indeterminate

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Below: Serenity in proportionally altered, laser-cut stone
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Rebecca Warren

Feelings, Matthew Marks Gallery (22nd St.), through October 24

Warren presents the female form--in plaster, unfired clay, painted bronze or welded steel--in a range of expression from figuration to abstraction, and with an attitude that swings from humorous to aggressive. She's in thorough control of her metier, but to be honest, with all those materials and points of view, this feels more like a group show. And is it me, or does this piece seem to channel R. Crumb?

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Linda Stein

Women of Valor, Flomenhaft Gallery, through October 24

Stein focused on armor and superheroes in this two-artist show (with painter Jaune Quick-To-See Smith). You probably can't see it without a detail, but the surface is swathed in laser-print copies of Wonder Woman cartoons--a totemic expression of power and protection

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David Kennedy Cutler
No More Right Now Forever, Derek Eller Gallery, Through October 24

Views above and below, with sculptures barely visible: Clear plexiglass sheets heat-molded with the impression of the artist's body



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Vincent Fecteau
New Sculpture, Matthew Marks Gallery (24th St.), through October 24
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For these fluid forms I thought felt, but no. They're painted papier mache. What's more, they all began over the armature of a semi-inflated beach ball. I'm reading from the press release now: "The works have similar looking curves because of their shared beginnings, however each piece has been worked into an entirely new form."
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Nancy Graves
Nancy Graves, Ameringer/McEnery/Yohe, through October 24



The late sculptor, known for large-scale welded forms that referenced animal life (her famous camels) and a jungle of botanical life, is here represented by an installation of small polychromed bronze sculptures from the 1980s
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From the press release: "During these years, Graves used bronze casting to create elements from a variety of organic and manufactured items, which she then arranged, welded together, and painted with rich and colorful patinas."

My favorite, below: Wax Works VII, 1987, bronze with baked enamel, 10 x 17.5 x 14.5 inches



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Andy Yoder
Man Cave, Winkleman Gallery, through October 24



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From the guy who brought you the 10-foot licorice wingtip shoe comes a show that subverts the idea of masculinity, of what makes guy things guy things. I'm not sure the fur life preserver and gilded bowling pin make the point as much as his rose-covered garage door or lead crystal hubcaps, but in the process he also forces one to question what makes flowers and lead crystal girl things).

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Type A
Ruled, Goff + Rosenthal, through October 17
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Type A is Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin. The piece you're seeing is a gallery installation of 2000 plumb bobs, which occupy so much of the space that you have to flatten yourself against the wall to get past it. I'm not sure I would have been so drawn to the work if it hadn't been for the collaboration of the sun.

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The strong afternoon light created a staccato rhythym via shadows that hit the floor in sharp perpendicular to the plumbs, below. I'll have to revisit the installation on a cloudy day and let you know

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Anselm Reyle

Monochrome Age, Gagosian, through October 24

I didn't respond to most of the work in this show. I found it too big, too shiny, too full of itself. But I did like the work above, a modular relief (possibly of pressed or cast steel) modulated from behind with changing lights. I managed to get two shots before the guards rushed over to say "No pictures."

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