Must See Painting Shows: May

May is traditionally the last month of the art world “season.” As summer looms, rhythms change and many galleries choose to mount group exhibitions instead of solo shows. It makes sense, after all, why try to promote an individual’s work when your clients are scattered to various vacation spots around the world? Fortunately, many galleries are ending the season with a bang and presenting A-level solo shows by artists of all career points. On the higher end of the scale are the exhibitions of established painters like Brice Marden, Bill Jensen and Carroll Dunham. All three are on view this month with shows that demonstrate the continued vitality of their respective projects. Dunham’s show and Blum & Poe in Los Angeles, which is effectively a retrospective of his works on paper, is not to be missed. Many feel that he treads too much on the territory carved out by Philip Guston, but this exhibition demonstrates a bewildering range of work and a pictorial language that is all his own. New York is always filled with painting shows, but there is truly a lot to see this month. Lower East Side galleries have a number of shows with emerging artists who are pushing painting in all sorts of directions, Michael DeLucia, Noam Rappaport and Ned Vena, among them. At the artist run Canada gallery, Xylor Jane is just about to open an exhibition of new work; Jane is a fascinating painter whose compositional strategies spring from mathematics. Just over the bridge in Brooklyn, past New American Paintings’ cover artist, Ryan Mrozowski has opened a show at Pierogi that is well worth leaving “the island” for. Chelsea boasts a number of great shows. Don’t miss the work of our old friend Chuck Webster at Zieher Smith; his latest paintings are an extraordinary integration of his painting and drawing practice. Dana Schutz, the artist who many credit as having rejuvenated the activity of figure painting in the early 2000s, opens her first solo exhibition at Friedrich Petzel this month after migrating from her long time dealer Zach Feuer. There is no way to overstate Schutz’s importance. From our perspective at New American Paintings, she is one of the most important artists to emerge in the past decade, not only because of the quality of her work, but due to her almost instantaneous influence over a younger generation of painters. - Steven Zevitas, NAP Publisher

Dana Schutz | Flasher, oil on canvas, 75 x 88 inches.

NEW AMERICAN PAINTINGS ARTISTS ON VIEW

Why Paint Now? (Featuring Shara Hughes, NAP #58, Ben Steele, NAP #100, Katherine Taylor, NAP #58, #70) April/May 2012 Kiang Gallery Jiha Moon (NAP #63, #70, #82) April 14 – May 25, 2012 Saltworks Paul Shakespear (NAP #7, #38) April 20 – May 22, 2012 Howard Yezerski Gallery Alex Lukas (NAP #92) April 26 – June 2, 2012 Steven Zevitas Gallery

Alex Lukas | Untitled, Ink, acrylic, gouache, watercolor and silk-screen on paper, 25 x 72 inches.

Steve Locke (NAP #86) May – June, 2012 Samson Scott Reeder (NAP #95) May 12 – August 24, 2012 Kavi Gupta

Scott Reeder | Untitled, acrylic and enamel on canvas, 54 x 38 inches.

Paul Lamantia (NAP #47, #83) April 13 – May 26, 2012 Packer Schopf Gallery Richard Hull (NAP #101) April 20 – May 19, 2012 Western Exhibitions

Richard Hull | The Comedian, oil on wax ground on linen, 36 x 30 inches.

CTRL group two (Featuring David Dupuis, NAP #62) April 13 – May 19, 2012 Bryan Miller Gallery Ted Larsen (NAP #5, #90) April 28 – May 25, 2012 McMurtrey Gallery Christopher Baird, Todd Bura, Ruth Laskey (NAP MFA Annual, 2004) April 28 – May 26, 2012 Jancar Jones Gallery Allison Schulnik (NAP #55, #79) May 26 – July 7, 2012 Mark Moore Gallery Ted Vasin (NAP #31, #73, #91) April 14 – June 6, 2012 101 Exhibit

Ted Vasin | Plugin, acrylic on canvas, 58 x 83 inches.

Ryan Mrozowski (NAP #80) April 27 – May 27, 2012 Pierogi

Ryan Mrozowski | Bbiirrdd, acrylic on canvas over panel.

Jason Yarmosky (NAP #98) May 3 – June 2, 2012 Lyons Wier Gallery Carlos Vega (NAP #62) April 26 – May 26, 2012 Jack Shainman Gallery Leslie Wayne (NAP #56) May 2 – May 26, 2012 Bridgette Mayer Gallery Marc Katano (NAP #25) April 26 – June 2, 2012 Stephen Wirtz Gallery Libby Black (NAP #67, #85) April 13 – May 26, 2012 Marx & Zavattero

Libby Black | Axl (November Rain), pencil on paper, 6.5 x 8.5 inches

Topography of Painting (Featuring Bill Thompson, NAP #7, #44) April 5 – May 12, 2012 Patricia Sweetow Gallery Luke Butler (NAP #79) March 23 – May 5, 2012 Silverman Taravat Talepasand (NAP #43, MFA Annual 2006, #79) May 12 – June 2, 2012 Guerrero Gallery

Taravat Talepasand | Mohammad meets Jesus, egg tempera on linen, 44 x 30 inches.

Brion Nuda Rosch (NAP #97) April 5 – May 12, 2012 Greg Kucera Gallery, Inc. Adam Sorensen (NAP #49) May 3 – June 2, 2012 James Harris Gallery

Adam Sorensen | Heaps, oil on linen, 67 x 79 inches

OTHER NOTEABLE SHOWS

BOSTON: It’s Hard to Leave When You Can’t Find the Door March 3 – April 11, 2012 LaMontagne Gallery CHICAGO: Carmen McLeod May 10 – June 22, 2012 Rhona Hoffman Gallery Laura Fayer May 4 – June 2, 2012 Thomas Robertello Gallery Matthew Metzger PUBLISHER'S PICK April 20 – May 25, 2012 Tony Wight Gallery Arturo Herrera May 10 – June 23, 2012 Corbett vs. Dempsey Jon Pestoni April 29 – June 10, 2012 Shane Campbell Gallery

Jon Pestoni | Untitled, gouache on paper, 14 x 11.5 inches.

DALLAS/HOUSTON: Jason Yates May, 2012 Barbara Davis Gallery Bo Joseph May 12 – June 23, 2012 McClain Gallery Al Souza April 28 – May 26, 2012 Moody Gallery KANSAS CITY: David Ford April 27 - June 23, 2012 Dolphin Gallery

David Ford | Love Us, acrylic on paper, 24 x 32 inches. LOS ANGELES:

Architectural Dispositions PUBLISHER'S PICK April 28 – June 9, 2012 Thomas Solomon Gallery Bill Jensen PUBLISHER'S PICK April 28 – June 2, 2012 ACME Robert Overby April 28 – June 16, 2012 Marc Selwyn Fine Art Dennis Hollingsworth March 23 – May 24, 2012 Michael Kohn Gallery Carroll Dunham PUBLISHER'S PICK April 21 – May 26, 2012 Blum and Poe

Carroll Dunham | Untitled, watercolor crayon and pencil on paper, 16 x 11.25 inches.

Jonas Wood PUBLISHER'S PICK March 31 – May 12, 2012 David Kordansky Gallery Dasha Shiskin Elizabeth Neel April 7 – May 12, 2012 Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects Charlene Liu April 14 – May 19, 2012 Taylor De Cordoba Dean Monogenis April 14 – May 26, 2012 Walter Maciel Gallery

Dean Monogenis | The Nearest Faraway Place, acrylic on wood panel. 60 x 72 inches.

Brian Porray May 19 – June 23, 2012 Western Project Frederick Hammersley PUBLISHER'S PICK March 22 – May 12, 2012 LA Louver David O’Brien May 12 – June 16, 2012 Richard Heller Gallery NEW YORK: Justin Adian April 29 – June 8, 2012 Blackston Mary Griffiths March 31 – May 12, 2012 Bureau Gallery Xylor Jane PUBLISHER'S PICK May 6 – June 3, 2012 Canada Michael Delucia April 29 – June 2, 2012 Eleven Rivington

Michael DeLucia

Sam Gordon April 26 – May 26, 2012 Feature Inc. Noam Rappaport May 2 – June 10, 2012 James Fuentes Ned Vena PUBLISHER'S PICK April 28 – June 16, 2012 Clifton Benevento Robert Moskowitz April 14 – May 20, 2012 Kerry Schuss Larry Rivers April 26 – June 15, 2012 Tibor de Nagy Tauba Auerbach PUBLISHER'S PICK May 5 – June 9, 2012 Paul Cooper Gallery Lucian Freud May 1 – June 9, 2012 Acquavella Galleries Neil Gall May 2 – June 2, 2012 David Nolan Gallery

Neil Gall | On the Beach, oil on linen, 76 1/8 x 97 ¾ inches.

Gabriel Hartley PUBLISHER'S PICK April 12 – May 26, 2012 Foxy Production

Gabriel Hartley

Shay Kun April 26 – June 9, 2012 Benrimon Contemporary Billy Sullivan PUBLISHER'S PICK May 8 – June 16, 2012 Nicole Klagsbrun William Bailey PUBLISHER'S PICK March 29 - May 12, 2012 Betty Cunningham Gallery David Rathman PUBLISHER'S PICK April 6 – May 12, 2012 Larissa Goldston Gallery Chantal Joffe May 4 – June 22, 2012 Cheim & Read Jill Moser PUBLISHER'S PICK April 19 – June 9, 2012 Lennon, Weinberg, Inc.

Jill Moser | Ghosting, ail, acrylic on canvas, 47 x 63 inches.

Nigel Cooke PUBLISHER'S PICK March 31 – May 12, 2012 Andrea Rosen Gallery

Nigel Cooke | Nature Love You, oil on linen, backed with sailcloth, 90 4/7 x 126 inches.

John Wesley May 2012 Fredericks & Freiser Brice Marden PUBLISHER'S PICK April 21 – June 23, 2012 Matthew Marks Tom McGrath PUBLISHER'S PICK April 29 – June 10, 2012 Sue Scott Gallery

Tom McGrath | Untitled, oil on canvas over panel, 20 x 30 inches

Dana Schutz PUBLISHER'S PICK May 2 – June 16, 2012 Friedrich Petzel Gallery Lasrissa Bates April 28 – June 16, 2012 Monya Rowe Gallery Florian Schmidt May 4 – June 16, 2012 Zach Feuer Dan Walsh PUBLISHER'S PICK March 17 – April 21, 2012 Paula Cooper Gallery Jutta Koether May 2012 Bortolami Chuck Webster PUBLISHER'S PICK April 26 – May 25, 2012 Zieher Smith

Chuck Webster | Untitled, oil on panel, 76 x 108 inches.

Yan Pei-Ming May 4 – June 23, 2012 David Zwirner PHILADELPHIA/DC: Gene Davis May 5 – June 23, 2012 Marsha Mateyka Gallery Jill O’Bryan April 28 – June 2, 2012 Gallery Joe Marcia Hafif May 2012 Larry Becker Contemporary Art Jennifer Bartlett April 20 – May 25, 2012 Locks Gallery SAN FRANCISCO: Alex Zecca April 27 – June 9, 2012 Gallery 16 Kate Shepherd PUBLISHER'S PICK March 30 – May 4, 2012 Anthony Meier Fine Arts Barbara Takenaga May 3 – June 23, 2012 Gregory Lind Gallery

Barbara Takenaga | Minus Red, acrylic on wood panel, 24 x 20 inches.

Heiko Muller May 10 – June 16, 2012 Jack Fisher Gallery SEATTLE/PORTLAND: Jen Erickson May 3– June 2, 2012 Punch Gallery Ryan Pierce May 3 – June 23, 2012 Elizabeth Leach Gallery