Rebecca Morgan, Mark Mulroney, Montgomery Perry Smith, Three's Company @ Mrs.

So, chances are you might not have made it out to Maspeth to see Mrs., yet well bad on you. They have been putting on a consistent string of quality shows with Threes Company being a stellar example of what they have been up to just outside the range of the subway system. The show features a large sculpture piece by Montgomery Perry Smith that looks like a large beige alien hair braid that floats in front of a light blue wall with Mark Mulroney’s grid of New England landscapes that bring to mind illustration from a children’s book. The blue of the wall and the simplicity of the landscapes make Montgomery Perry Smith’s large alien sculpture seem less menacing and adding a touch of whimsy to the show. That tension between the other worldliness of Montgomery Perry Smith sculptures and the seeming familiarity of Mark Mulroney landscapes makes for a perfect set up for Rebecca Morgan’s R. Crumb-like portraits, which walk a very slippery line between loving characterization and biting criticism. The bright, almost pastel palate is a wonderful match for the large blue wall, producing in an excellent show of work in a stellar gallery that is well worth a trip out to Maspeth.

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Mrs. (60-40 56th Dr., Btw. 60th & 61stSts., Maspeth, NY)

Kate Stone, As It Was (As It Were) @ Rubber Factory

Following Ryan Oskin’s excellent show at Rubber Factory, Kate Stone’s show is laying down the gauntlet for photography galleries in New York. They have raised the bar by establishing a clear point of view on the medium. Stone’s show featured a blood red carpet, a mini maze of 2x4s that look like the inner workings of walls. A fake wall broken off waist high, as well as little photo collages of weathered interiors mixed with sketches of buildings that meander and disappear into the whiteness of the page. The whole room is a wonderful meditation of red and white that continuously breaks apart and disappears into frozen fragments, a dream of an old remembered space. The show is a wonderful example of photography as installation that picks up where Oskin’s show left off, pushing the boundary of photography into something both amazing and not at all photographic. Pushing the boundaries of the medium and into installation is a clear interest at the Rubber Factory. It should be interesting to see where they go next.

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Rubber Factory (29c Ludlow St., Btw. Hester & Canal Sts.)