- Source: CULTURED MAGAZINE
- Author: JACOBA URIST
- Date: DECEMBER 4, 2020
- Format: ONLINE
Five New York Gallery Shows To See This Winter
Despite the prospect of a second pandemic wave and a long winter looming, Manhattan galleries are safely offering an extraordinary lineup of solo presentations this month with both electrifying newcomers and contemporary masters worth a masked visit. Indeed, this year has reminded us there is no substitute for contemplating works of art in real life and that New York City is as resilient as cities come. From meticulous, layered compositions to enchanting, timely ceramics, here are five inspiring art exhibitions to see now.
Installation view of Kenny Rivero's I Still Hoop at Charles Moffett gallery. Photo by Daniel Greer.
Charles Moffett, Kenny Rivero
“I Still Hoop”
Visual artist and musician Kenny Rivero’s show “I Still Hoop” at Charles Moffett gallery in Tribeca comprises fourteen paintings that reflect the social reckoning of 2020. Created this year from the artist’s memories and childhood experiences, the semi-autobiographical works explore the enduring fears of a person of color, through the prism of Rivero’s native Washington Heights—a New York neighborhood confronting violence in the 1980s and ’90s—as well as his Dominican-American identity. The pieces are simultaneously resonant and playful around an aesthetic throughline that makes this relative newcomer stand out. Lamps and Socks, for instance, riffs on the stereotype, Rivero explains, that Dominicans don’t like to wear socks, depicting them sneaking out in the gauzy, pre-dawn light of a New York streetscape. In his studio, Rivero alternates between music and art making; the result is an abstract, painterly narrative that feels nuanced, lyrical and improvisational, hailing an important voice in the art world.
