Dan Flavin show warms the heart in cold Chelsea (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
You don’t have to seek out a fireplace, Christmas tree, and cup of cider to escape the chills of the holiday season; instead, you can bask in the warm glow of “Dan Flavin: Series and Progressions,” at David Zwirner in Chelsea through December 19, multiple connected spaces in which Flavin’s minimalist light sculptures bounce soft reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, and more off one another. But as welcoming as most of the show is, one of Flavin’s barriers, “untitled (to Helga and Carlo, with respect and affection),” cuts the last room in half, a stark difference from the other pieces, as well as “alternating pink and gold,” which runs around the walls of the cavernous gallery next door. Several other shows worth seeing are also closing on December 19. In Luke Smalley’s “Sunday Drive – A Memorial Exhibition” at ClampArt, the photographer, who passed away in May at the age of fifty-three, has created a narrative series in which three hot young women visit their hot young boyfriends in prison, but Smalley, as was his wont, focuses on the macho males, who seem to have walked right out of a Bruce Weber shoot.
Form meets function in Judd furniture show (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
If you’re still seeking warmth, stop in to see “Bill Viola: Bodies of Light” at James Cohan and allow yourself to be hypnotized by the thirty-minute high-def video “Old Oak (Study),” as the sun rises and sets behind a stunning tree. The show also features eight other short video projects, including several that involve water in a fascinating way. And if you do decide to head to Chelsea to see these last-chance displays, be sure to stop by Julie Saul from 4:00 to 6:00, when New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast will be signing copies of THEORIES OF EVERYTHING in conjunction with the exhibition “Sad Sacks, Worry Warts, Hellions & Bad Eggs: A New Print Series,” which continues through January 9. In addition to the fun prints are several of Chast’s charmingly decorated pysanka Easter eggs. Also on view at Julie Saul is “Heads: A Group Exhibition,” featuring works by Rineke Dijkstra, Soo Kim, Gary Schneider, Tanya Marcuse, and others. Finally, if you find yourself getting tired from all the running around, do not – we repeat, do not – take a seat in any of the chairs at Sebastian + Barquet, where a little-known side of Donald Judd is being revealed through December 23. It turns out that he loved making functional furniture, and several examples of his work are on display, looking very Judd-like.