Sanya Kantarovsky On Them installation view
Luhring Augustine Chelsea, New York
Goings On About Town: Luhring Augustine through June 15
In Kantarovsky's new paintings, the distortions of modernist figuration take a tragicomic turn, and telltale contemporary references—a puffy parka, say, in a wintry scene that foregrounds a disconsolate snowman—assume an eerie storybook edge. The Moscow-born artist, who lives and works in New York, favors an unusual aerial perspective in several works. Egon Schiele looms large in the harshly expressive hospital scene “Needles,” a portrait of a listless green woman wearing a gown printed with flowers and syringes, wrapped in the embrace of a naked man. In the large canvas “Life of the Party,” a group of figures huddle together while a headless baby plays the accordion. Rendered in muddy hues except for its dappled gold background, the composition, weirdly enough, suggests an homage to Gustav Klimt.
Read full article at newyorker.com
