Doug Wheeler

Doug Wheeler’s “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12” installation view via David Zwirner Gallery

The serendipitous grids of New York City where there is at least one of every thing and every one, are imbued with the spirit of infinity. With his first solo gallery show, 72 year-old American artist Doug Wheeler has bestowed the city with a more traditional, yet whimsical portal to infinity called “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12.”

The lobby of David Zwirner Gallery becomes a waiting room as it caps viewers to seven at a time. Patrons shift around a semi circle until called up to remove their shoes and replace them with white medical booties. They form a line against a wall in front of a glowing empty white room and receive a standard set of “do not touch” instructions. Upon entering the room and walking toward the wall, a silent now what? hangs in the air. Hands reaching out to the wall don’t stop, as there is none. The fourth wall is an illusion created by white light that perfectly matches the room. This is the greatest moment of the experience, like Wonderland’s Alice stepping through her mirror. Bewildered, viewers continue to walk, unsure of where the void ends. A vague heat surrounds the area but it’s unclear whether it’s coming from the powerful light or adrenaline. Eyes cease to function, as there is nothing to focus on. It is the same somewhat frightening sensation we can experience in a completely dark space, where there is no difference between opened and closed eyes. But never do we get a chance to experience this with pure white light instead of blackness.

Several feet ahead, there’s a rounded incline, the only indication that the space doesn’t continue on forever. Instinctively, everyone looks back and sees an intricate rig of lights. Though impractical, solitary time for each visitor would make the experience much more powerful.

Doug Wheeler’s “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12” is now on view at David Zwirner Gallery in Chelsea until February 25^th.

Lisa Yuskavage

Lisa Yuskavage "Afternoon Feeding" 2011, via David Zwirner

In a contemporary art environment that shies away from figurative representation, Philadelphia-born Lisa Yuskavage boldly paints female nudes and has created her own cast of signature plush, erotic, brooding, youthful characters. In her latest exhibition at David Zwirner, Yuskavage has enlarged her usual scale to dimensions a viewer must walk across to see in full, a development that likely goes hand in hand with her more prevalent use of vast landscape.

A toxic yellow-green smoggy glow envelopes her fertile figures, who coyly display and contemplate themselves as cartoonish but dangerous Lolitas. But these are not simply portraits. Yuskavage’s works contain entire cinematic scenes filled with art historical references. Her process as of late usually begins with free association that reveals itself to be symbolic. Yuskavage then grabs hold of this glimmer and enhances it into a flash.

The highlight of the exhibition is Yuskavage’s first triptych, which began as a single panel and evolved organically into a more than 25-foot-long piece. A very personal interview with the artist in this season’s issue of BOMB Magazine details her artistic journey so far, including pivotal advice that emboldened her to bring her own provocative personality to her paintings. Read the transcript here.

Lisa Yuskavage is now on view at David Zwirner in Chelsea until November 5^th.

Yutaka Sone

Yutaka Sone "Little Manhattan" (detail), 2007-09, via David Zwirner

Originally trained as an architect, Japanese artist Yutaka Sone has focused his inclination for obsessive detail on sculpture at his latest exhibition Island at David Zwirner.

The entire first room of the exhibit is devoted to a single white marble sculpture. With the help of photographic reproductions, helicopters, and Google Earth, Sone created “Little Manhattan.” Weighing in at two and a half tons, the scaled model includes every street, avenue, building, and bridge east to west. The jagged edges drop off and seem to melt like a curtain of wax.

In the next room, more marble sculptures mingle with banana trees made from steel framework and rattan, a natural plant fiber. He paints them a bright but true-to-life green that pops in a white room filled with white objects. In a series of more marble sculptures called “Light in between Trees,” Sone brings physicality to rays of light. He carves the rays in rounded cartoon proportions that add a pop art element to an otherwise classically informed work of realism.

In Island, Sone exposes the cultural ambiguity of such a landform by playing with the natural and architectural connotations of the word through contrasting forms of jungles and cities. Be sure to see more of his stunning pieces in this survey of selected works.

Yutaka Sone Island is on view at David Zwirner until October 29^th.