Georg Baselitz, “Die Kreuztragung (Christ Bearing the Cross),” oil on canvas, 1984
Leo Koenig Inc.
545 West 23rd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Tuesday through Saturday through January 14 (closed 12/31)
212-334-9255
www.leokoenig.com
The holiday season always includes screenings of such films as White Christmas, the musical with Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, and Black Christmas, Bob Clark’s bloody slasherfest, as well as multiple versions of such favorite seasonal tunes as “Blue Christmas,” which has been sung by everyone from Elvis Presley and the Partridge Family to Céline Dion and She & Him. This year Chelsea’s Leo Koenig Inc. gallery is adding “Dark Christmas” to the mix, a wide-ranging collection of paintings, photographs, and sculptures that date from the 1930s to the present examining secular and religious iconography, with a particular focus on the human body. Curated by Stephanie Schumann and Leo Koenig, the exhibition features numerous works that have been deemed obscene and sacrilegious along with pieces that are more abstract and not as easy for naysayers to condemn. Among the more clear-cut examples are Tony Matelli’s “Jesus Lives,” Ana Mendieta’s “Untitled (Body Print),” Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ,” Georg Baselitz’s “Die Kreuztragung (Christ Bearing the Cross),” and Kiki Smith’s “Daisy Chain”; the show also includes works by Bruce Nauman, Sigmar Polke, Arnulf Rainer, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Nicola Tyson, Christopher Wool, Hans Bellmer, Paul McCarthy, and others. So if you’re looking for something a little different to do to conclude your holidays, you might want to head into Chelsea to check out this unique and, at times, very colorful look at Christmas.