Tomorrow evening is the closing reception for a cute, fun and colorful show, Vibrant Intersections, hosted in a Flatiron interior design studio, 443 PAS, which doubles as an exhibition space for artists.

Vibrant Intersections showcases the work of five artists who’s origins range from California, to West Africa to our very own Big Apple. The five artists’ work also demonstrate very different styles which all converge around the common thread of vibrant color.

Andrea Lebouff, Tuscany, oil on canvas & Seamus Liam O’Brien, Coming Soon, acrylic on paper – at 443 PAS

Artists Malado Baldwin, Damon Johnson, Andrea LaBouff, Seamus Liam O’Brien, and Justin Terry offer some colorful insight into their work this week at 443 PAS.

For those of us not getting out of the concrete jungle in August, this exhibition may be the refreshing influx of color and sunshine you’re looking for and you have only a few more days to catch it!

Group Show
Vibrant Intersections
443 PAS
June 19 – Aug. 17
Closing Reception: TOMORROW WED. 8/15, 6-8pm
443 Park Avenue South, Suite 604
New York, NY 10016

Last week on The Bare Square we talked about artists who use light as a medium to create their work. The next exhibition at  Little John Contemporary affords viewers the opportunity to personally interact with art made with light.

Artist Peter Bynum creates his work with acrylic on tempered glass with L.E.D. lights in a steel bracket.

No. 763 by Peter Bynum at Little John Contemporary

Bynum began this work after his time working in New York’s East Village with a photo editor. When he saw the way slides became rich and vibrant when placed on a light box he asked himself why he couldn’t do that with painting.

In an interview with art historian and curator Dede Young, Bynum explained, “The bus shelters in New York started getting big, backlit print ads, maybe 6 feet by 8 feet. The colors were so bright, even at night, and I thought: What if light saturated a big painting the same way it saturates these big photographs, with the light coming through paint from the Other Side, like a giant light box. So I was looking at this as a way to expand the visual territory available for painting.”

No. 141 by Peter Bynum at Little John Contemporary

“There’s some sort of secret world in the paintings that is brought out with this light that comes from behind and presses beyond the edges of the glass. This goes so far beyond what traditional painting on canvas has ever been able to achieve. Peter Bynum has made one breakthrough after another, and pushed the language of painting into a new place. It changes the conversation,” said Dede Young about the artist’s work.

Brighten up a September day with Peter Bynum’s Illuminated Paintings at Little John Contemporary.

- Jen Wallace

Peter Bynum
Illuminated Paintings
Little John Contemporary
Sept. 6 – Oct. 6
547 West 27th Street, Suite 207
New York, NY 10001

Your colorful fun summer of art continues with more color and even more fun this week at Eli Klein Fine Art in Soho.

Eli Klein focuses on the work of contemporary Chinese artists and this week explores the work of artist Zhang Gong.

Painter and animator Zhang Gong takes visual trips to different locations: the beach, a discotheque, Beijing and our very own New York City. And a cartoon entourage joins you on your trip to these expansive and beautifully executed illustrative landscapes.

Zhang Gong, Weekend in New York, acrylic on canvas, at Eli Klein Fine Art

Zhang Gong’s newest collection of paintings entitled Where We Go is inspired by animation and western pop-culture. You’ll see familiar characters like Donald Duck, Simpsons, Minnie Mouse, and Tim Burton’s Victor Van Dort in a whole new series of cheeky, realistic renderings. Iconic scenes and pop-like figures illustrate these highly detailed paintings that immerse the viewer.

Coming from a country known for censorship and detached from western entertainment, Gong highlights cultural and generational differences between his Chinese and American contemporaries. Gong’s gang of American and Japanese cartoon figures mock and explore the existent gap between China and the rest of the world.

Go to Eli Klein this week to see this work in person and enjoy a colorful commentary on culture.

- Jen Wallace

Zhang Gong
Where We Go
Eli Klein Fine Art
July 26 – Aug. 31
Opening Reception: THURS. 7/26, 6-8pm
462 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Leave your 3D glasses at home and head to Paul Kasmin Gallery for Sculpted Matter, a group show of significant contemporary sculpture.

Bernar Venet, Grib 1, torch-cut, waxed steel at Paul Kasmin Gallery

The landmark show spans both of Kasmin’s ground floor Chelsea gallery locations – one on 27th & 10th and the other just around the corner on 27th between 10th & 11th Ave.

Sculpted Matter touts a list of 21 very accomplished contemporary sculptors including Carl Andre, Tara Donovan, Dan Flavin, Sol LeWitt, Alyson Shotz, and Frank Stella (just to name a few).

Jill Magid, I Can Burn Your Face Vincent IV, 7mm neon, transformers and wires at Paul Kasmin Gallery

Museums like the Guggenheim, National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art as well as publications like Wall Street Journal, Art in America, ArtNews and the New York Times celebrate these artists’ work.  Find out why with an in-person 3D experience at Paul Kasmin.

- Jen Wallace

Sculpted Matter
Paul Kasmin Gallery
June 21 – August 17
Opening Reception: THIS THURS, June 21, 6-8pm
293 10th Ave & 515 W 27th St.
New York, NY

How many times a day are we confronted with some form of advertisement?

Whether its billboards while driving or posters when walking, we’re destined to witness at least one image beckoning us to try McDonald’s new breakfast special!

With advertisements following our every move, Jen Recommends Erik Schoonebeek‘s Phantom Hand exhibition at the Jeff Bailey Gallery, as the NYC artist explores the graphics and symbols behind commercial advertising.

Untitled (C-51) by Erik Schoonebeek - gouache and acrylic on book cover

Jen describes Schoonbeek’s abstract acrylic and gouache paintings and drawings as “wild whirlwind’s of color and design” that plaster the surfaces of old book covers, found paper, and other materials.

“His small works of art compile clever compositions comprised of remastered “graphic cues and amorphous narrative” using bold color, embellished texture, and pattern punctuated by the original surface”, Jen said.

She continued, “As Schoonebeek’s first Solo show in the big apple, what better place to address advertising than amidst its swarming residency all over New York City!”

So next time you see that McDonald’s breakfast burrito advertisement call to you from the side of a 12th Street building, hopefully you will have seen Erik Schoonebeek’s show — we’ll see you there!

- Ava Cotlowitz

Erik Schoonebeek
Phantom Hand
Jeff Bailey Gallery
June 14 – July 13
Opening Reception: THIS THURS, June 14, 6-8pm
625 West 27th Street
New York, NY