Venus Over Manhattan

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk: The Second Coming, the gallery’s debut solo exhibition with artist and cultural activist Xenobia Bailey. This landmark presentation—Bailey’s first solo gallery exhibition in New York City in over two decades—explores her signature method of crochet, featuring some twenty recent and historic works that comprise an immersive installation. Notably, this presentation marks Bailey’s first gallery exhibition since the unveiling of “Funktional Vibrations” in 2015, the artist’s large-scale mosaic commissioned by the MTA for the 34th Street Hudson Yards subway station, one of the largest works ever commissioned by the authority. Staged in advance of Bailey’s participation in the Seattle Art Museum’s exhibition “Poke in the Eye: Art of the West Coast Counterculture,” the exhibition will feature a series of public programs that activate the presentation. Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk: The Second Coming will be on view at 39 Great Jones Street from May 15th through June 15th, 2024.

Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present a major solo exhibition of new and recent paintings by Chéri Samba, one of the preeminent artists at work in Africa today. Samba is a pivotal figure in the history of African contemporary art, celebrated for his vibrant and detailed paintings that depict everyday life in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as broader social, political, and economic issues facing his country, his continent, and the world. Born in 1956 in Kinto M’Vuila, DRC, Samba’s work transcends the local, and has garnered him international recognition, with his work held in major institutions around the world, including the Centre Pompidou, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Fondation Cartier. Following a retrospective of his work at the Musée Maillol in Paris, his exhibition at Venus Over Manhattan marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York City his 1994 exhibition at Anina Nosei Gallery. Chéri Samba, organized in collaboration with André Magnin and Magnin-A, Paris, will be on view at 55 Great Jones Street from May 8th through June 15th, 2024.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan and 56 Henry are pleased to present a collaborative, two-venue exhibition of new work by Al Freeman. On view simultaneously at 39 Great Jones St. and 56 Henry St., the exhibition marks the first solo presentation dedicated to the artist’s drawing practice. Featuring recent drawings of book covers and album covers, the exhibition is titled Covers: Drawings 2023–2024, referencing both the subjects depicted and Freeman's appropriative strategy of reinterpreting existing works. The exhibition will be on view at both 39 Great Jones Street and 56 Henry Street from April 6th through May 6th, 2024. An opening reception will take place at 56 Henry on Saturday, April 6th, from 6:00 - 8:00 pm. Covers marks the artist's first solo presentation with Venus Over Manhattan, and her fourth with 56 Henry.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to announce Reflections on Porgy & Bess, a major solo exhibition of new paintings by Chicago-born, New York-based artist Claude Lawrence. Spanning the gallery’s spaces at 39 and 55 Great Jones Street, this presentation—Lawrence’s first with Venus—debuts a suite of exuberant, monumentally scaled canvases created in response to composer George Gershwin’s 1935 masterpiece Porgy & Bess. Lawrence’s abstract paintings unfold sequentially, echoing the opera’s sweep and emotional impact through the artist’s radiant abstraction and confident improvisation.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Pole Position, a solo exhibition of new paintings by artist Michael Kagan. Pole Position debuts Kagan’s exhilarating Formula One portraits, a series which features racecar drivers and their machines. This work represents a significant shift for Kagan, diverging from the depictions of astronauts, spacecrafts, cockpits, and mountaintops which first brought him acclaim. The title, Pole Position, refers to the lead car on the starting grid, as determined by the fastest driver during qualifying races. Opening February 15, Pole Position will be on view at 55 Great Jones Street through March 9, 2024.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present A Boy’s Head, an exhibition of new paintings by Seth Becker. The presentation marks the artist’s debut solo exhibition in New York City, and the gallery’s inaugural solo presentation of his work. Borrowing its title from a poem by Miroslav Holub, A Boy's Head follows Becker’s participation in the gallery’s 2022 exhibition Small Paintings. Venus Over Manhattan will publish a small catalogue in conjunction with the exhibition, which will be on view from February 1st through March 9th at 39 Great Jones Street.

(New York, NY) — Opening February 1, 2024, Venus Over Manhattan presents Ecce Homo, a testimonial film written and performed by painter Maryan. Filmed in 1975, Ecce Homo recounts Maryan’s harrowing experience as a young Jewish man during the Holocaust. The film is composed of Maryan’s anecdotal narration interspersed with arresting images of human violence, from the Holocaust to the K.K.K to the Vietnam war. Grappling with his survival in a post-Holocaust world, Maryan questions what it means to be human, and laments the bitter suffering that exists across the globe. A selection of archival materials, used by the artist during the production of the film, will also be on view.

(New York, NY) – Beginning Friday, November 17th, Venus Over Manhattan will present the first solo exhibition in the United States of work by Japanese artist Yuichiro Ukai, organized in collaboration with the Kyoto gallerist Yukiko Koide of Yukiko Koide Presents. This presentation of 14 new works by the artist marks Ukai’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, and follows a recent acquisition of his work by the American Folk Art Museum in New York. A catalogue, featuring a new text by Kenjiro Hosaka, Director of the Shiga Museum of Art, will accompany the exhibition. The presentation will be on view at the gallery’s 39 Great Jones Street location through January 13, 2024.

(New York, NY) – Beginning November 16, 2023, Venus Over Manhattan will present "Retinal Hysteria," an expansive two-venue exhibition curated by Robert Storr, who was previously Senior Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, and Dean of the Yale University School of Art.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Cloisters and Oysters, an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Sophie Larrimore. The presentation will be on view at 55 Great Jones Street, from October 18th to November 11th, 2023. This is Larrimore’s first solo presentation with the gallery.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present The Motherland, an exhibition of new paintings by New-York-based Japanese artist Susumu Kamijo. This exhibition marks Kamijo’s first solo exhibition with the gallery since announcing representation of the artist earlier this year, and will be on view at 39 Great Jones Street from October 18th to November 11th, 2023.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present an exhibition of ten new paintings made by acclaimed artist Peter Saul over the course of 2022 and 2023. This major exhibition marks the 89-year-old artist’s first solo presentation of new work in New York since 2021, and his fifth solo exhibition with the gallery. The presentation will be on view at the gallery’s 39 Great Jones Street location, from Thursday, September 7, through Saturday, October 14.

(New York, NY) – Opening this September, Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to announce concurrent presentations featuring historical Vanuatu figures from the Ambrym and Banks Islands and gouaches by Alexander Calder. These exhibitions will be on view at Independent 20th Century, hosted at the historic Battery Maritime Building at Cipriani South Street from September 7th through 10th, and at Venus Over Manhattan’s gallery space at 55 Great Jones Street, on view from September 5th through October 7th, 2023. Marking the gallery’s second participation at Independent 20th century, the presentations reprise the gallery’s 2019 exhibition that staged Vanuatu figures alongside Alexander Calder’s Crags.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is delighted to present This Too Shall Pass, a group exhibition curated by Racquel Chevremont. Taking its title from a time-honored adage, the presentation explores concepts of impermanence, transience, personal memory, and ongoing change. Assembling work in diverse media by both young and established artists, the exhibition gathers painting, drawing, and sculpture by eleven artists who incorporate figurative and abstract representations of flowers in their work. Carefully selected for their explorations of multi-layered themes surrounding floral imagery, the works on view feature flowers and botanical elements to convey the essence of impermanence and embody the strength that lies within their fragility. “This Too Shall Pass” will be on view at 55 Great Jones Street from July 11 through August 4, 2023.

(New York, NY) – Beginning Tuesday, June 27, Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Sally Saul: People and Vases, an exhibition of new work by the Hudson Valley based artist. Comprising a selection of exuberant ceramics imbued with the artist’s signature blend of whimsy and sensitivity, this show marks Saul’s first exhibition with the gallery since it announced representation of the artist in 2022. These ceramic sculptures—vessels, human figures, flora, and fauna—illustrate the continued development of Saul’s singular, decades-long ceramic practice. Presently Saul’s work can be seen on view in “Funk You Too! Humor and Irreverence in Ceramic Sculpture” at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York as well as highlighted in two recent books, Clay Pop, published by Rizzoli this March and Funk You Too! the catalog published by MAD in conjunction with the museum’s exhibition. Sally Saul: People and Vases will be on view at 39 Great Jones Street from June 17 through Friday, August 4, 2023.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present In My Room, an exhibition showcasing works on paper and board by Ana Benaroya, Tom of Finland, and Karl Wirsum. This presentation comprises a series of seventeen new drawings by Ana Benaroya, alongside six pieces by Karl Wirsum from 1966-67, and three by Tom of Finland from the 1970s and 1980s. "In My Room," the first exhibition to focus exclusively on Benaroya’s works on paper and to consider them in conversation with those of her forebears, explores questions of personal identity, queerness, and alternative art histories. The exhibition, accompanied by a publication featuring a new text by Emile Mausner, will open on Thursday, June 8, and remain on view at 55 Great Jones Street through July 8, 2023.

Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Richard Mayhew: Natural Order, the inaugural presentation at its new gallery space at 39 Great Jones Street. This landmark exhibition, featuring some twenty paintings and works on paper, marks the gallery's debut exhibition with the artist, and features key loans from the collections of important supporters of Mayhew's practice. A catalogue will accompany the exhibition, and in September the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art will open a survey of Mayhew’s work, titled “Richard Mayhew: Inner Terrain.” Venus Over Manhattan’s exhibition, organized in collaboration with ACA Galleries, will be on view from May 6th through June 23rd, 2023.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Dustin Yellin: Cave Painting, a solo exhibition of new work by the New York-based artist Dustin Yellin which explores the interconnectivity of the natural world, humans, and our advancing technological landscape. Comprising a series of new paintings, Cave Painting represents an important shift to painting for the artist whose practice in recent years has focused most notably on sculpture. An illustrated catalogue, published by the gallery, will be released in conjunction with the exhibition. The exhibition opens on April 30, 2023 at 55 Great Jones Street, and runs through June 3.

(New York, NY) – Beginning March 16, Venus Over Manhattan will present Cornelius Annor: A Fabric of Time & Family, an exhibition of new paintings by the Accra-based artist whose vibrant canvases offer glimpses of Ghanaian life through figures in states of gathering, leisure, and repose. In the series of fifteen works on view, Annor depicts scenes culled from photo albums, archives, recollections, and imaginings—a group of paintings that radiate kinship and hearken to both classical art historical paradigms and the unique aesthetics of modern African portraiture. On view through April 22 at the gallery’s Great Jones Street location, this presentation marks the artist’s second solo exhibition with Venus Over Manhattan.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Anastasia Bay: The Stumbler’s Parade, an exhibition of new work by the Brussels-based artist. Comprising a series of twelve paintings inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s masterpiece The Blind Leading the Blind (1568), the exhibition is Bay’s first in New York City, and her debut presentation with Venus Over Manhattan. Anastasia Bay: The Stumbler’s Parade will be on view at 55 Great Jones Street from February 9th through March 11th, 2023.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is delighted to present Hurly-Burly, the gallery’s first solo exhibition by the New York-based artist David Deutsch, presented jointly with Eva Presenhuber. The collaborative show features 40 works across the two spaces, located at 55 Great Jones Street and 39 Great Jones Street, respectively.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Robert Colescott: Women, an exhibition organized to trace the development of the artist’s depictions of female subjects over the course of his sixty-year career. Serving as a coda to the recent, critically-lauded traveling museum retrospective Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott, this presentation charts the evolution of Colescott’s ambitious practice through some thirty works produced between 1955 and 1996. Organized in close collaboration with The Robert H. Colescott Separate Property Trust, Venus Over Manhattan’s exhibition is the first to trace the development of Colescott’s representations of women through major works from key moments in his career. Robert Colescott: Women will be on view at Venus Over Manhattan’s downtown location at 55 Great Jones Street from November 15, 2022 through January 14, 2023.

(New York, NY) – Beginning October 12th, Venus Over Manhattan will debut Jack & Venus, an exhibition of new paintings by New York-based Japanese artist Susumu Kamijo, at the gallery’s 55 Great Jones Street location. This presentation comprises one part of a two-venue show: Jack Hanley Gallery will simultaneously open an exhibition under the same title in its TriBeCa space. Kamijo is critically admired for graphic compositions featuring abstracted poodles as vehicles for an ongoing exploration of pattern, color, and surface. With the works in Jack & Venus, the artist has incorporated new components—birds and foliage—expanding his deceptively charming visual vocabulary. The group of eleven vivacious paintings on view at Venus have been executed in a horizontal format— another shift in Kamijo’s approach—and with the artist’s delightfully expressionistic brushwork. Jack & Venus, Susumu Kamijo’s first exhibition with the gallery, will be on view through November 11th.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to announce Manhattan Universe, its first exhibition with revered Tokyo-based artist Keiichi Tanaami (b. 1936). Breaking rank by bridging traditions of manga and ukiyo-e with Pop in the postwar period, Tanaami shocked the collective nervous system by incorporating Western contemporary cultural references drawn from animated cartoons and commercial advertisements, giving rise to a truly modern visual language that continues to exert international influence. Opening September 8th, this exhibition includes new monumental paintings; intimately-scaled canvases from the artist’s compulsively constructed Pleasure of Picasso series; and the recent video work Red Shadow—all in Tanaami’s optically dazzling style. His deployment of blazing color, dizzying layers of imagery, and canny mixture of American and Japanese cultural references capture the movement and energy of a society at once in constant motion and in search of desperately needed peace. Keiichi Tanaami: Manhattan Universe will be on view at the gallery’s 55 Great Jones Street location through October 8th, 2022.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present PERSON(A) a group exhibition exploring multifarious interpretations of autobiography. Through various modes of expression, both figurative and abstracted, the works featured contend with identity as explored and expressed through diverse means including in depictions of objects, avatars, interiors, and environments. Complicating notions of the locus of selfhood by decentering the axiomatic “self-portrait” these works typify the anamorphic and multifaceted nature of identity. Through these distinctive articulations mining the autobiographical becomes a portal for meditation on notions of subjecthood and experience.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Jim Nutt: Portraits, an exhibition of rarely seen paintings and works on paper by one of the most important artists to emerge from Chicago in the last fifty years. Comprising some twenty examples of his work, the exhibition focuses on the portrait format that has structured Nutt’s practice for nearly forty years. Presentations of Nutt’s work are exceedingly rare: Venus Over Manhattan’s exhibition marks the first solo presentation in New York in over a decade, and the first solo gallery presentation in the United States since the MCA Chicago’s 2011 retrospective, “Jim Nutt: Coming Into Character.” Featuring previously unexhibited works, Jim Nutt: Portraits will be on view at 55 Great Jones Street, the gallery’s downtown location, from May 24th through June 25th, 2022.

(New York, NY) – Venus Over Manhattan is pleased to present Swept Away, an exhibition of new works by Ana Benaroya. The presentation will inaugurate the gallery’s new downtown space, located at 55 Great Jones Street. The exhibition comprises seven paintings and seven works on paper that depict women’s bodies—the artist’s central theme—considered through their relationship to water. Swept Away is Ana Benaroya’s first solo exhibition with the gallery and will be on view from April 8th through May 21st.