Last week, Marianne Boesky Gallery held their opening reception for two new group exhibitions Material World, and Sublime Spirit. 

Material World, curated by Gina Beavers, features 22 artists that take a look into the power behind everyday objects. Featuring work by Ghada Amer, El Anatsui, Sanford Biggers, Allison Janae Hamilton, Mike Kelley, Claes Oldenburg, Rosemarie Trockel, Leslie Wayne, and many more, the exhibition showcases art made from recycled objects, showcasing how the things we surround ourselves with everyday can take on a second form. The artists were influenced by items that inhabit their day to day lives, taking inspiration from conventional human elements that may at times be overlooked. Focusing in on settings like homes and office spaces, to the use of the clothes we wear, and trash we toss out, all of these elements come together to signify how ordinary objects still have a story, and can signify a greater meaning than what is on the surface. 

Sublime Spirit features works from 12 different artists, including Jay Heikes, Nicola Bailey, and ceramicist Kim Booker, among others, and explores the animalistic urge to give oneself to nature as opposed to living within society’s binaries. The landscapes featured in the exhibition were either built from memory or imagination, using natural settings as a way to romanticize the idea of checking out man-made society, and the fantasy behind living purely within a natural setting. 

In Luiza Gottschalk’s piece, Summer, she showcases a pair of eagles, as a warm sunset guides their journey. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the current society we live in today especially as technology plays a dominant role in our lives. The urge to want to be a part of our natural elements has never been more appealing, for many, as much as it is today. 

Material World and Sublime Spirit are on view at Marianne Boesky Gallery through July 26.