Work of Ross, Butler among compelling exhibitions
Richard Ross: Juvenile-In-Justice
Ross focuses on the lives and stories of incarcerated youth. The exhibition is composed of photographs Ross has taken, excerpts from his interviews with those in the juvenile courts and detention facilities and items he has seen during his visits to juvenile incarceration centers across the United States. Over the course of five years, Ross has visited more than 200 institutions in 31 states and has spoken with more than 1,000 juveniles. This exhibition is a moving reminder that the U.S.’s heavy reliance on juvenile incarceration is unique among the world’s developed nations.
Through Feb. 16, at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts (31 Mercer St., btw. Grand & Howard Sts.) Hours: Tues.-Sat., 10am-6pm. Call 212-226-3232 or visit feldmangallery.com.
Installation view of “Black Cake” (curated by Alex Gartenfeld, at Team Gallery, New York).
Black Cake
Organized by New York-based curator Alex Gartenfeld, this exhibition is inspired by Beltane — an ancient Gaelic festival celebrated in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. The custom included a cake, which would determine the sacrificial victim (whoever received the piece that had been blackened over the coals was pushed into the fire). Featuring works by Sam Anderson, Ed Atkins, Cecily Brown, Monica Bonvicini, Massimo Grimaldi, Josephine Halvorson, Tommy Hartung and Steffani Jemison, among others, “Black Cake” examines artists’ use of sweetness across mediums and treatments.
Tommy Hartung: “The Bible Part Two: Chapter Two (2013, single-channel HD video, color, sound, 5 minutes). See “Black Cake,” page 24.
Through Feb. 16, at Team Gallery. At 83 Grand St., btw. Wooster & Greene Sts. and 47 Wooster St., btw. Grand & Broome Sts. Hours: At 83 Grand, Tues.-Sat., 10am-6pm and Sun., 12-6pm. At 47 Wooster, Wed.-Sat., 10am-6pm and Sun., 12-6pm. Call 212-279-9219 or visit teamgal.com.
Sharon Butler: Precisionist Casual
Butler’s canvases are stapled, washed, unstretched — and yet arranged on stretchers. Part precise and part casual, Butler’s abstractions are sparked by the urban setting, structures and HVAC architecture she observes from the windows of her Bushwick studio. In this new body of work, stretchers are transformed from hidden supports into integral components of the work. Wrapped with wrinkled tarps, for example, they provide both a sense of imperfection and balanced structure. Overall, Butler embraces the imperfect and incomplete to establish an enticing tension between impulsiveness and grounded rigor.
Through Feb. 17, at Pocket Utopia (191 Henry St., btw. Clinton & Jefferson Sts.). Hours: Wed.-Sun., 11am-6pm. Call 212-375-8532 or visit pocketutopia.com.
Richard Ross: “Orientation Training Phase, Youth Offender System, Pueblo, Colorado, 1” (2010, Digital Inkjet Print, 24”x38”).
Orientation Training Phase (OTP), part of the Youth Offender System (YOS) Facility in Pueblo, Colorado. OTP performs intake and assessment of convicted kids and is set up to run like a boot camp, with staff yelling at kids all the time. All of the kids at OTP have juvenile sentences with adult sentences hanging, meaning that if they mess up, they will have to serve their adult sentence. For example, a juvenile could be the reserving a two-year juvenile sentence with 15 years hanging. See page 24.
