Ajay Kurian, Nine Flags (Installation View), via Art Observed

Artist Ajay Kurian returns to 47 Canal Gallery for a show of new works this month, delving into the recent American political landscape, and the fraught politics of identity, interiority and authenticity that have dominated the political discourse in the past years.  Responding in particular to the near-constant presentation and proliferation of the American flag in the language and iconography of a resurgent American nationalism, Kurian has created his own series of flags, fragmented transformations of this same language to explore new possibilities for an American populace.  

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Amy Yao, Foreign Investments (Good Ramen) (2017), via Art Observed

For the last several years, the artists represented by 47 Canal have stood at the forefront of contemporary sculpture. It is easy to see the influence of artists like Josh Kline, Anicka Yi, and Amy Yao when looking at the work of younger artists exhibiting at galleries like Hotel Art Pavilion and Real Fine Arts, and their investigations of materials inextricable from the landscape of modernity makes them a distinctly notable entry in the evolution of New York’s arts history.  Amy Yao, who splits her time between Los Angeles and New York, brings her work back to 47 Canal this month with her new exhibition, Weeds of Indifference. Though Yao has had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, Oslo, and Paris within the last two years, Weeds… is her first solo show in NYC since 2013. In that interval, Yao’s work has lost none of its bite, but that is not to say that things are still the same.

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Trevor Shimizu, Sophia’s Teddy (2016), via Art Observed

Currently on view at 47 Canal, Trevor Shimizu has realized a swirling fantasia of parenthood, a series of paintings, sculpture and video that turn the act of parenting into an otherworldly, almost surreal experience through his ragged, often comedic sensibility.     (more…)

Jamie Kenyon, formerly of Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, is joining 47 Canal as that gallery director.  “My move to 47 Canal feels very natural, having grown friends with both Margaret and Oliver, and many of the artists since moving to New York three years ago,” Kenyon says. (more…)

Trevor Shimizu, Girlfriend Wants a Baby, (2010), all images Courtesy 47 Canal

Again, a solo show of the work of Trevor Shimizu, is currently on view at 47 Canal now through April 6.  From the work itself to the press release of this show, the dry wit and intense self-awareness of Shimizu’s voice reverberates throughout each work.

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New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair 2012, all photos by E. Simone for ArtObserved

The NADA fair is home to the some of the youngest, and most surprising artists and gallerists during Art Basel week, and is often described as a respite from the big-named, shiny, high-altitude atmosphere of the main fair. Dealers and collectors come to NADA searching out the new artists they think have the most potential, reveling in the discovery.

Keith Farquhar, Leslie Fritz Gallery (formerly Renwick Gallery) (more…)