Six Contemporary Art Shows to See in New York City in September

La rentrée, the back-to-school, the end of the summer, or whatever anyone wants to call it, usually makes people sad, edgy or relieved.  I’m actually excited for this season, in particular because so many good art and design shows will be opening in September.  It was really, really hard to choose only six but here they are:

Keiichi Tanaami at Sikkema Jenkins (From September 2 to October 4)

This Japanese legend of pop art is having his first solo show in the US since 2005 and it promises to be colorful, sarcastic, fun and completely unexpected.  There will be graphic design, animation, collages, painting, film, sculpture, record covers for the Monkees & Jefferson Airplane and much more.

Jacob Hashimoto at Mary Boone Chelsea (From September 6 to October 24)

I’m a hopeless fan of Jake and would like to get forever lost in one of his installations.  I’m always stunned at the amount of work and detail that goes into creating and building each of his pieces. This time around, the solo show titled “Skyfarm Fortress” will be the first large-scale site-specific installation that Jake has ever done in New York. It doesn’t matter how much I write about it, it will have to be seen in person to have spectators embraced in every sense of the word.  

Hans Kotter at Debuck Gallery (From September 11 to October 4)

I saw Kotter’s work for the first time about five years ago in an art fair and fell in love with his light columns.  I liked his work so much that I placed it in one of my client’s collections and they didn’t even blink when they saw the piece I suggested.  Now he is back with a show that is called “…Interruption” and it will show an increased use of three-dimensionality in his already mind-blowing color-changing LED pieces. Unmissable. 

Jose Parla at Bryce Wolkowitz (From September 12 to October 18)

Jose has had an astronomical ascent in his career in the past few years and I’m happy to see him succeed.  Always inspired by the symbols, images and writings that have accompanied his life since he was a little child, this show will have some of that along with elements drawn from Jose’s extensive traveling around the world. There will be a large mural and several paintings.  This promised to be a very poetic/rebellious/introspective show.

Sebastian Errazuriz at Salon 94 (From September 12 to October 10)

Sebastian has been featured in this website before and I really think he has one of the smartest minds in the world of art and design.  The genius of Sebastian lies in part in his ability to easily and eloquently express his concept without making his audience lost or isolated. Aptly named “Functional Sculptures” the show promises to show pieces of art that also serve a purpose.

Nir Hod Hod at Paul Kasmin (From September 11 to October 18)

This Israeli artist has been steadily showing great paintings and sculptures and his gigantic oil globe was the talk-of-the-town at Art Basel Miami Beach last December.  In this show called “Once Everything Was Much Better, Even The Future” Nir will show mostly sculpture in a very extravagant setting.