1. Tom Sachs, Space Program: Mars at The Park Avenue Armory, through June 17
Sachs and a small army of assistants transform the vast Armory into a lunar landscape dotted with vehicles the artist has crafted from his signature material—plywood.
2. Taryn Simon, A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters 1-XVIII at MoMA through Sept 3
For four years, Simon travelled the world documenting bloodlines and related (often tragic) stories in a photo series that questions what determines our fate.
3. Thomas Demand at Matthew Marks Gallery (522 West 22nd location) through June 23
Known for huge photos of meticulous paper sculptures, Thomas Demand outdoes himself in a stop-motion video pieced together from 2,400 frames that recreates a scene from a cruise liner tossed by rough seas.
4. Richard Avedon, Murals and Portraits , at Gagosian Gallery through July 27
In colossal scale, Avedon’s photographic murals from 1969—71 capture: Warhol’s Factory crew; Allen Ginsberg and his family; the Mission Council, US government administrators who pursued the Vietnam War; and political radicals The Chicago Seven.
5. Kehinde Wiley, An Economy of Grace , at Sean Kelly Gallery through June 16
Love it or hate it, Wiley’s pattern-heavy photorealist paintings have made him one of the country’s most successful artists in terms of wealth and renown. His latest show features portraits of African-American women, a first for the artist.
Merrilly Kerr, who runs New York Art Tours, will be presenting this list as an occasional feature here at The Gallery for the benefit of our New York-area readers. This is her inaugural column.
