Karl Wirsum (1939 – 2021) used the clean style of commercial graphics and the abstracted form of a dissected frog Screamin’ Jay Hawkins (1968). who used this painting as the cover for his album Because Is In Your Mind (1970). Best known fir his 1956 song “I Put a Spell On You” and his sensational live performances, Hawkins appears here in full song, raining amoeba-shaped sweat down on a man wearing “armpit rubber,” like old fashioned galoshes, to keep the moisture at bay.
At first glance, The Candy Store (1969) by Richard Estes looks like a photograph. But spend a moment with it, and the illusion begins to unfold into something far more complex.
Painted at the height of the emerging Photorealism movement, The Candy Store captures a New York City storefront window filled with jars of sweets, signage, and fluorescent lighting. Yet what makes the painting so compelling isn’t just the meticulous detail — it’s the layered reflections that transform a simple shop window into a study of perception. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: The Candy Store By Richard Estes→
There’s a certain kind of image that doesn’t just sell a product—it sells a fantasy. In her 1988 painting Chanel Lipsticks, Turkish photorealist Nur Koçak captures that phenomenon with striking precision — and then quietly dismantles it.
At first glance, the work looks like a page torn from a glossy magazine. A lineup of pristine lipsticks, unmistakably tied to Chanel, gleams under perfect lighting. The surfaces are immaculate, the colors rich, the composition seductive. Everything about it signals luxury, control, and desire. It’s the kind of image designed to make you want — not just the lipstick, but the life it promises. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Chanel Lipsticks By Nur Koçak→
There’s something undeniably arresting about encountering a giant, disembodied eye in the middle of the city —e specially one that seems to be watching from all directions at once. Installed near the iconic Flatiron Building in the Flatiron District, Charlotte Colbert’s Dreamland Sirens (2025) transforms a familiar urban crossroads into something far more surreal. Continue reading Charlotte Colbert’s Dreamland Sirens in the Flatiron District→
Untitled (in Honor of Leo at the 30th Anniversary of his Gallery), 1987 (All Photos by Gail )
In these uncertain times, I find myself drawn more and more to the comfort of nostalgia — especially the kind tied to art and the people I experienced it with. For me, that means thinking back to when my close friend, artist Geoffrey Dicker, was still living in New York and we were inseparable. For years, Thursdays meant gallery-hopping through Chelsea — sometimes a dozen openings in a night —and weekends were reserved for museums. Art wasn’t just something we looked at. It was everything. Continue reading Dan Flavin’s Grids at David Zwirner Gallery→
