October Gallery Guide

Here are Artmuse Selects’ must-see gallery shows for October!

1. Trenton Doyle Hancock: Something American at James Cohan

Trenton Doyle Hancock’s practice spans twenty-five years; his work has perhaps never felt as timely. Densely layered and collaged, these works exhibit Hancock’s signature style and distinct iconography as they grapple with the cultural expression of an American identity that is marred by the evils of white supremacy. In many of these works, Hancock depicts a confrontation between his protagonist Torpedo Boy (a Black superhero) and a grotesque Klansman (culled from the work of Philip Guston). Hancock’s works are so rich, they illicit a constant re-visiting, both visually and intellectually.

Through October 17

48 Walker Street & 291 Grand Street

Pictured: Schlep and Screw, Knowledge Rental Pawn Exchange Service, 2017 (above); It’s Just a Matter of Trust at this Point (for Chadwick), 2020 (below)

2. Henni Aftan at Karma

Vignettes of small moments that might be ignored, Henni Aftan’s cinematic paintings depict what we might otherwise ignore—intimate glances of our everyday. Part of Aftan’s larger practice of mining the overlap between personal and collective memory, these intimate recent works invite the viewer to pause and see the beauty that can be gleaned even within a glance.

Through November 1 

188 & 172 East 2nd Street

Pictured: By the Pool, 2020

3. Josh Smith: Spectre at David Zwirner

Josh Smith’s beautiful paintings, now on view at David Zwirner, reflect city streets during the Covid-19, emptied of people and bustle yet still beautiful and life-filled. Reflecting on the experience of life during lockdown, Josh Smith has produced a beautiful series of large-scale cityscapes rendered in vivid oils on linen that meditate upon presence and absence and human life.

Through October 24, open by appointment

34 East 69th Street

Pictured: Installation view

4. Angela Heisch: Figures, Faces, Places at Davidson Gallery

Figures, Faces, Places at Davidson Gallery presents a group of new paintings by the New Zealand-born artist Angela Heisch (who is now based out of Brooklyn). Heisch’s abstract visual vocabulary consists of pulsating color and seemingly-balanced forms to suggest landscape, portraiture, and figure within the mind’s eye, resulting in paintings that possess a visual ebb and flow that call for a closer look. 

Through October 31, open by appointment

521 West 26th Street

Pictured: Angela Heisch / Courtesy of Davidson Gallery

5. Gina Beavers: World War Me at Marianna Boesky Gallery

Gina Beavers’ sculptural paintings pose deep explorations into self and female identity when put into pressure under the microscope of social media and the digital age. To create these sculptural paintings, Beavers lays her paint so thickly onto her canvas she is able to then “sculpt” her paint using a knife (the larger works include the addition of foam to add volume). Beavers’ practice includes scouring the internet for images that conjure an intense emotional reaction within her, from disgust to joy; the artist then inserts herself into the subject-hood of these images:

"For the new works in World War Me, I began to use these tools on my own body, borrowing techniques from the internet to make certain artists and their work a part of my own physical self. I am interested in the ways existing online is performative, and the tremendous lengths people go to in constructing their online selves. Meme-makers, face-painters, people who make their hair into sculptures, are really a frontier of a new creative world,” the artist said.

Through October 17, open by appointment

509 West 24th Street

Pictured: Installation views

6. 20/20 at Bryce Wolkowitz

20/20 is an celebratory group show at Bryce Wolkowitz in honor of the gallery’s twentieth anniversary! The exhibition brings together painting, photography, moving image, and sculpture to honor themes of the innovation and vision inherent to its program. Covering a range of themes including ecology, the body-politic, social justice, and more, artists include Alan Rath, Cortis & Sonderegger, Edward Burtynsky, Jim Campbell, José Parla, Niko Luoma, Oliver Jeffers, Paula Scher, Peter Sarkisian, Stephen Wilkes, Tatyana Murray, Wang Ningde, and Yorgo Alexopoulos.

Through November 1

505 West 24th Street

Pictured: Stephen Wilkes, Polar Bears Churchill Mantiboa, 2019 (above); Alan Roth, Eyeris VII, 2014 (below)

7. Matthias Weischer at Grimm Gallery

Matthias Weischer creates rich collages filled with thickly-laid oil that depict groovy and complex interiors. The artist’s practice is fascinating: Weischer first constructs stage-sets in his studio, which the artist then uses as source material for his complex paintings. The resulting works are theatrical in their nature as they explore space and domestic life.

Through October 17

202 Bowery

Pictured: Bulb, 2020 (above); Stage, 2020 (below)

8. Kyle Dunn: Into Open Air at P.P.O.W.

With his spectacular paintings, Kyle Dunn creates surreal psychological landscapes for his acrobatic characters that reference Italian cinema, horror, science fiction novels, and painting tradition. The result are theatrical works that wonderfully display the artist’s humor as well as his penchant for depicting contorting figures and surreal landscapes of sorts.

Through October 17

535 West 22nd Street

Pictured: Reading, 2020

9. GaHee Park: Betrayal (Sweet Blood) at Perrotin

GaHee Park’s sensual and surreal paintings exemplify the artist’s practice of creating melodramatic paintings that are both psychologically and aesthetically arresting. Through her unique visual language, Park’s paintings and drawings teem with intimacy and surrealism as they bring together familiar objects with deep psychologies.

Through October 17

130 Orchard

Pictured: Shadow Kiss, 2020

10. André Hemer: These Days at Hollis Taggart

André Hemer’s new paintings and sculptures, made while in quarantine, meditate upon the moon’s cycle and punctuate brief moments in time. Reflecting on the sudden quiet that his hometown Vienna experienced when Covid-19 hit, these works incorporate dynamic compositions and forms to depict momentary stillness, as if Hemer’s subject is frozen in time.

October 8 - November 7

521 West 26th Street

Pictured: These Days (June 12, 20:12 CEST), 2020

11. Artists for New York at Hauser & Wirth

Artists for New York is a group exhibition featuring uplifting work by Hauser & Wirth’s celebrated artists to raise funds for New York’s beloved non-profit arts institutions that have been impacted by Covid-19. All of the participating artists have donated their work to the show, and proceeds will go to: Artists Space, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Dia Art Foundation, The Drawing Center, El Museo del Barrio, High Line Art, MoMA PS1, New Museum, Public Art Fund, Queens Museum, SculptureCenter, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Swiss Institute, and White Columns. This wonderful exhibition include works by Jenny Holzer, Matthew Wong, Rashid Johnson, Nicholas Party, Tschabalala Self, among others, and illustrates how art is essential to recovery.

Through October 22

542 West 22nd Street, open by appointment &

32 East 69th Street, open by appointment

Pictured: Jenny Holzer, From Survival (1983-85), 2020, by Graham Kelman, courtesy of Jenny Holzer and Hauser & Wirth