6 Can't-Miss Art Shows Of The Week Of June 20, 2016

By Adam Leher JUNE 21, 2016

New York City is one of the most expensive cities to live in in the world. Why do we do it? The food? The nightlife? The bustle? The culture? Most likely, your answer is all of the above. But living in the most important art city in the world can be overwhelming. What does one see when there is so much to see? Every week, I’ll be sorting through all the upcoming New York City art shows to pick the unmissable, so you don’t have to.

Connecticut-born artist Wendy White blurs the lines between painting, sculpture and installation drawing on influences from a variety of cultures and cultural idioms: gender binaries, architecture, branding language, and even athletics. Athletics prove to be of particular importance in regards to White's new exhibition at Eric Firestone Gallery, Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is an iconic skateboard brand that, while having fallen from relevance in the contemporary skateboarding industry, is remembered as being emblematic of the sun-tanned and distinctly Californian freedom of skateboarding culture in the 1980s. White fetishized the freedom and all-around "good time" vibes that Santa Cruz skateboards represents. The exhibition juxtaposes lighthearted imagery (rainbows, hearts) with more menacing iconography (the proverbial black cloud, a cigarette advertisement). White indulges her nostalgic glee for the promised lifestyle of a post-Baby Boomer skateboarding youth while contrasting it with deep cutting reality checks. No matter how free the lifestyle of Santa Cruz might be, adulthood is just around the corner.