Pace Chelsea Art Galleries Featuring Tim Hawkinson, Yoshimoto Nara, and Richard Misrach
One of the biggest players in the Chelsea gallery scene is Pace, whose trio of large spaces on 25th Street are always a solid choice when you’re making your art-viewing rounds.
Right now, in particular, the Pace gallery is really killing it, with all three of their Chelsea spaces featuring very different but equally terrific shows through the end of June. So take a few hours between now and then, and use Pace as your starting point for a lively afternoon of gallery-hopping, before the art-world’s annual summer slowdown hits in July.
Tim Hawkinson at Pace Chelsea Art Galleries
My favorite of the current Pace trio is probably the Tim Hawkinson exhibition at their 508 gallery. Hawkinson always comes up with compelling, slightly crazy work, using found objects both organic (eg, pine cones) and mechanical (bicycle chains), to create bizarre, semi-disturbing sculptural pieces. Here, for instance, is the stunning Animal Treasures, a ten-foot-tall “fountain” of species, each clutching the next by the scruff of the neck. Tagalong, the giant yellow seahorse in the back room, is made from resin impressions of Hawkinson’s joints: knuckles for the smaller “scales”; elbows and knees for the larger. And Kookabura, a “human-bird-man-machine” hybrid looks as if it’s about to launch on to passersby, propelled by its magnificent palm-frond tail.
Richard Misrach On The Beach Series
Right next door in Pace’s 510 gallery you’ll find a spectacular collection of large-scale photographs by Richard Misrach, called On the Beach 2.0. These lovely, vaguely voyeuristic photos were all shot by Misrach from the balcony of his Hawaii hotel, zooming in on random figures out in the ocean, or lounging on the sand. As cool as these are, the shots without people are maybe even more fascinating, as the interplay of sunlight and the water’s motion create an almost painterly effect. I’d hang any one of these in my home. Or better yet: two or three of them.
Yoshimoto Nara’s Art at Pace 534 Gallery
Finally, down the block a bit at Pace’s 534 gallery, Japanese neo-pop artist Yoshimoto Nara has set up shop with sculptures and paintings all portraying his signature manga-esque children. But don’t be fooled by the at-a-glance innocent subject matter. As none other than David Byrne says: “On the surface, they’re pretty damn cute. But Nara has stepped outside that world in a big way. The kids and dogs in his pictures and bronzes are defiant, angry, annoyed, and pissed off. They have rebelled against their roots, and their big eyes are cold, slightly alien. Nothing is scarier than something that is the opposite of what it seems—a cute kid who is in fact a bad seed.” If you like this, take a look at more of his pieces from his exhibition at the Asian Society Museum, here!
More Information on Pace Chelsea Art Galleries
All three Pace Chelsea galleries are located on 25th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues, and are open on Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00. The Tim Hawkinson, Yoshimoto Nara, and Richard Misrach shows will all be up through June 29. For more information please see the Pace website.
Posted in NYC Events | Tagged Chelsea art galleries nyc • Pace Gallery NYC • Richard misrach on the beach • Tim hawkinson art • Yoshitomo nara art
