Art21 New York Close Up

Weekly Roundup

Mary Reid Kelley. "The Syphilis of Sisyphus," 2011 (still). HD video, sound. Courtesy of the artist, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.

Mary Reid Kelley. “The Syphilis of Sisyphus,” 2011 (still). HD video, sound. Courtesy of the artist, Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.

In this week’s roundup Mary Reid Kelley channels myth, Gabriel Orozco thinks in circles, Kiki Smith and Cindy Sherman explore witchery, and more:

  • Mary Reid Kelley‘s video The Syphilis of Sisyphus is one of four videos screening at the Institute of Contemporary Art (Boston, MA). The exhibition, Mary Reid Kelley, is composed of historical or myth-based live action, stop-motion animation, and narrative videos. The main character for each video is Reid Kelley, who appears costumed, bewigged, and with her face painted white and black. On view through October 27.
  • Gabriel Orozco has a show up at Fruitmarket Gallery (Edinburgh, Scotland) as part of Edinburgh Art Festival. Orozco’s painting The Eye of Go (2005) is the starting point for the exhibition, which looks at how its circular geometric motif (part of the artist’s way of thinking and collecting ideas) recurs in his other paintings, sculptures, and photographs. On view through October 18.
  • Kiki Smith and Cindy Sherman are included in the group show Witches and Wicked Bodies at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, Scotland). The show explores how witches and witchcraft have been depicted by artists over the past 500 years. On view through November 3.
  • Bruce Nauman‘s artwork is on view at York St Mary’s contemporary art gallery (York, England). The exhibition Bruce Nauman concentrates on the artist’s interest in the ambiguities of language, bringing together a selection of work, from early neon word pieces to video works, in which he employed actors to explore language and its delivery. On view through November 10.
  • James Turrell: A Retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) explores nearly fifty years of Turrell‘s career. Included in the show are early geometric light projections, prints, drawings, and installations exploring sensory deprivation and seemingly unmodulated fields of colored light. On view through April 6, 2014.
  • Yinka Shonibare MBE has joined forces with chef Matthew Phelps to hold a series of sensory tingling supper clubs at Guest Projects (London, UK) where creative minds can engage with the ideas of a well-known artist through food. Most recently, the venue hosted Barbara Kruger.
  • Diana Al-Hadid‘s self-titled exhibition will soon open at the SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah, GA). The show highlights the artist’s unique exploration of art historical references to examine sculptural and pictorial space and convey a world turned upside down. The exhibition runs August 17, 2013-January 5, 2014.