On view: Vladimir Kanevsky and Johannes Vermeer
One show to see (and review) + a few notes on what’s happening at the Frick. Subscribe to join the waitlist and receive regular updates on shows around town. - Sarah + Alexandra
Vladimir Kanevsky, Lemon Tree, 2024-2025, porcelain and metal.
On view:
Last month, the Frick Collection at 1 East 70th Street reopened its doors to the public after a five-year long renovation. Ukrainian artist Vladimir Kanevsky welcomes you into the space with Porcelain Garden, a display of precise floral and fauna sculptures, made from metal and porcelain, to mimic the actual flowers present at the Frick’s original opening in 1935. There are also a handful of Vermeer’s on view throughout the very opulent museum, but keep an eye out for a dedicated exhibition, Vermeer’s Love Letter, opening this June.
On Vermeer:
His small and remarkably precise paintings are known for their light, or more specifically, for the unifying source of light in each of his compositions. Contemporary artist Sarah Sze notes how his interiors, full of draping and shadow, will nearly always be cut by soft, streaming brightness from a window, positioned to the top left of the painting. “Vermeer’s windows are compositional jumping-off points in deep space, where the eye moves from a milk bottle to a map of the world, out of a window to the sky.” If you’ve seen one of Sze’s sculpture or installation works (whether in a museum or a public space), you’ll notice Vermeer’s heavy influence, even all these centuries later. Her installations, like Vermeer’s windows, act like liminal portals between inside and outside, between where you sit and the rest of the world.
Notice the consistent placement of the light source.
More shows to review
LOUISE FISHMAN: always stand ajar, at Van Doren Waxter. Through June 2.
Randy Wray, Prehistory, at Karma. Through June 21.
K Allado-McDowell, The Known Lost, at the Swiss Institute. Through September 7.