Sigmar Polke at Leo Koenig
If an artist must be a brave experimenter, Polke was one of the greats. The magnificent exhibition of his photoworks spans the years 1964-2000. Polke’s impressively varied career is as politically provocative as it is clever and entertaining. Among the images on display: a series of photograms in which Polke toyed around with the effects of radioactive materials on the photographic process. Not to be missed.

Through September 3rd.
www.leokoenig.com

Matthew Ronay at Andrea Rosen
Ronay’s creepy and mind-bending forest is one of the most theatrical installations currently on view in New York. Walking through his mostly black-and-white (with occasional moments of primary color) mystical totems and stalagmites is like landing on a new planet, one that is full of secret handshakes and codes and is reluctant to give up its secrets. The otherworldly, post-modern shade that the works throw is effective. This is art that looks back at you while simultaneously ignoring your presence.

Through August 12th
www.andrearosengallery.com

“Re: Empire” at Team
Whip smart gallery director Miriam Katzeff has put together a memorable show featuring work from Alex Da Corte, Josh Kolbo, Justin Matherly and Dominic Nurre. Kolbo’s giant folded giant C-prints utilize the form of a Robert Morris wall work as their layers tell documentary tales in glimpses of images. Nurre, one of the most noteworthy of the current crop of young New York artists, contributes a leaning section of wall complete with architecturally efficient glory/peepholes. But it is Justin Matherly’s duo of concrete and elderly folks’ walker sculptures that waltz away with the show. Matherly’s artwork is titled To know death one must fuck life in the gall bladder, called salute the future/ To know life one must fuck death in the gall bladder, called salute the future (2011) and the gray creature-like duo boasts smokestacks that resemble erect trunks. The cutouts in the shapes of male genitals put one in mind of a tongue-in-cheek outhouse door. At the 47 Wooster Street space.

Through August 5th
www.teamgal.com

“Monkey Wrench” at Horton Gallery
Certainly one of my favorite gallery stops on any walking tour of Chelsea, Horton Gallery continues to grow its reputation with the group exhibition dubbed “Monkey Wrench.” With works by Michael Berryhill, Stacy Fischer, Hilary Harnischfeger, Sally Ross, Kate Steciw, and Wallace Whitney, the show features painting, photography and one sculpture that appear to be flirting with abstraction while at the same time refusing to succumb to it completely. Michael Berryhill’s small oil-on-canvas works (all 2011) are among the most forceful paintings I’ve seen in some time.

Through July 22nd
www.hortongallery.com

“Belief & Understanding” at Nicole Klagsbrun
A cerebral summer group offering with works by such innovative creators as Martin Creed, John Giorno, Josh Kolbo, Joshua Smith, Anicka Yi and Denise Kupferschmidt. (Lynda Benglis is also in the show.) Writer Giorno is putting his poems on gallery walls, perhaps because he was encouraged to do so by boyfriend Ugo Rodinone. Any show that includes work by genius Martin Creed is well worth a visit.

Though July 28th.
www.nicoleklagsbrun.com

B.Wurtz: Works 1970-2011 at Metro Pictures
One of the best loved artists in the rarified world of the New York gallery scene since the 1980s, Wurtz is one of the foremost practitioners of coaxing humble materials—plastic bags, wires, shoelaces—to become great poetry. Fluent in many visual languages, Arte Povera is the artist’s milieu, and the alchemical miracles he has generated have often become reference points in our collective mental files.

Through August 5th
www.metropictures.com

Phoebe Washburn: Nunderwater Nort Lab at Zach Feuer
Zach Feuer Gallery may have recently lost its crown jewel artist, Dana Shutz (who despite having blossomed under Feuer’s tutelage defected to Friedrich Petzel Gallery) but it still can boast of representing the brilliant Phoebe Washburn. Along with a concurrent exhibition at Mary Boone Gallery, Washburn has built an installation from scrap wood, buckets and plant life that is, among other things, and homage to the midday meal. That the room-within-a-room has been constructed in part from bits of her previous installations makes it all the more rich.

Through August 12th
www.zachfeuer.com

John Bock at Anton Kern
Although his live performances can range from mildly amusing to stunningly dreary, Bock’s artifacts and constructions are usually compelling. For the current installation at Anton Kern, entitled “Im Schatten der Made (In the Shadow of the Maggot)” the kooky inventor/artist is showing a black-and-white video saga (along with costumes, props and collages) that runs over an hour and evokes Robert Wilson, the German Expressionists and Frankenstein. It is arguably his most important work to date.

Through August 12th.
www.antonkerngallery.com
watch an excerpt from the film here:
http://www.antonkerngallery.com/video/bock2011.html

Bronx Calling: The First AIM Biennial at The Bronx Museum
Put together by curators Wayne Northcross and Jose Ruiz, the Artist in the Marketplace (AIM) program has found a home at one of the great artistic resources in New York, The Bronx Museum. It includes five site-specific projects at Randall’s Island, which though technically part of Manhattan, has always been thought of as more Bronx-like in its identity. The Biennial features sculptures, works on paper, video installations, photographs, and other works by the 72 participants in the 2011 AIM program.

AIM artists: Hannah Smith Allen, Tomer Aluf, Thomas Bangsted, Nina Barnett, Joell Baxter, John Bent, Gabriela Bertiller, Lea Bertucci, James Bills, Chris Bors, Laura Braciale, Calvin Burton, Anton Cabaleiro, Brian Scott Campbell, Noa Charuvi, Andrew Chan, Michelle Cheikin, Cecile Chong, Matthew Conradt, Corey D’Augustine, Katherine Daniels, Dennis Redmoon Darkeem, Priscila De Carvalho, Dennis Delgado, Stella Ebner, Nicky Enright, Carl James Ferrero, Xavier Figueroa, Veronica Frenning, Christine Gedeon, Sarah Granett, Kira Greene, Debbie Grossman, Nathan Gwynne, Meg Hitchcock, Erik Hougen,Michael Clyde Johnson, Laura Kaufman, Hein Koh, Nick Lamia, Heidi Lau, Robert Lucy, Jongil Ma, Luis R. Maldonado, Jr., Glendalys Medina, Kenneth Millington, Monica Moran, Julia Oldham, Maia Cruz Palileo, Shani Peters, Gregory Reynolds, Jacob Rhodes, Viviane Rombaldi Seppey, Allyson Ross, Alan Ruiz, Jennifer Sanchez, Romy Scheroder, Tina Schneider, Gabriel J. Shuldiner, Hrvoje Slovenc, Christopher Smith, Jessica Stoller, Benjamin Tiven, Jerry Torrens Torrens, Meghan Wilbar, Randal Wilcox, Scott Wolfson, Natalie Collette Wood, Karla Wozniak, Sean Wrenn, Marina Zamalin, and Jenny Zhang.

Through September 5th
www.bronxmuseum.org

Ryan Trecartin: Any Ever at PS 1
One of the most talked-about exhibitions in New York at the moment, Trecartin’s tour-de-force of an installation utilizes his signature desexualized, voice-altered characters in sloppy and colorful post-gay drag. I overheard museumgoers describing the artist’s videos as “camp.” To my way of thinking, that analysis misses the point. For one thing, camp is unintentional, and Trecartin’s deliberate mash-up/send-up of home video, pre-adult angst and consumer society is careful to be just caustic and clipped enough to thwart our impulse to laugh. The contemporary references in a Trecartin vid are essential and will age well. His frantic wackiness manages to be thought provoking in the old-fashioned sense. These videos will really bake your noodle.

Through September 3rd
www.ps1.org