#derek eller

Jameson Green at Derek Eller

Alyson Shotz at Derek Eller

Nancy Shaver at Derek Eller

Karl Wirsum at Derek Eller

Real and virtual space combine in provocative ways in Melissa Brown’s new paintings at Derek Eller Gallery. Inspired by routines that have been upended by the pandemic, Brown pictures include familiar New York haunts like the Met Museum but with digital distortions, and interior scenes that feature screens or mirrors to suggest portals into other worlds. Here, a hand shifts two balls around in front of the window of an empty train overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset - a frenetic activity in a strangely quiet place. (On view on the Lower East Side through Dec 19th.) Melissa Brown, Commute, flashe, oil, acrylic on DiBond, 72 x 54 inches, 2020.

Titled ‘Devotional Flowers,’ Mimi Lauter’s show of soft pastel and oil pastel blooms at Derek Eller Gallery suggests mystical experience as a sunflower morphs into a blazing sun and landscape. Critics have praised the young LA artist’s work as ‘enthralling’ and ‘rapturous.’ Today and tomorrow are the final days to test for yourself the transcendent power of Lauter’s petals. (On view on the Lower East Side through March 18th). Mimi Lauter, Untitled, gouache, watercolor, soft pastel and oil pastel on paper, 11.5 x 8 inches, 2018.

With their squat bodies, long legs and tiny heads, William King’s sculpted caricatures of important men or at least self-important ones are a highlight of Derek Eller Gallery’s current group show. Arms akimbo, each seems to demand to know what’s going on, as if they don’t quite approve of the work of nearby paintings on clothing by Annabeth Marks, Annie Pearlman’s vivid abstractions and Rachel Eulena Williams’ stitched canvases. (On view on the Lower East Side through Feb 11th.) William King, Red and Black, vinyl, aluminum, 73 x 37 x 17 inches, c. 1985.

David Kennedy Cutler pushes the idea of self-display by putting a scanned and printed effigy of himself in a vitrine in his latest solo show at Derek Eller Gallery. Wearing one of his signature plaid shirts, further enhanced by a kale and bread pattern, Kennedy Cutler refers to his role as consumer as the audience consumes his artwork. (On view on the Lower East Side through June 25th). David Kennedy Cutler, Fourth Self, plywood, Plexiglas, dummy and wooden hammer, 76 x 22.5 x 18 inches, 2017.