ART

Self-Taught Artists | Through Sat., March 26

Piled on a trash heap, destined for destruction, the 400 meticulous watercolors of Josef Karl Rädler (1844-1917) were saved by a nurse, who recognized the work's value as art of the insane.

Celebrating its 65th anniversary, Galerie St. Etienne briefly examines the history of European and American self-taught artists ranging from the early 1800s to the late 20th century. "Self-taught" is the latest catchall to replace earlier unspecific terms such as "naive," "primitive," "Art Brut" and "outsider."

From Grandma Moses (1860-1961) with her popular scenes of rural life, to Henry Darger's (1892-1973) strange, often disturbing illustrations of his Vivian Girls at war, the exhibit allows a quick study of this varied and unruly category.

Unlike insider art, where the artist's lives remain, for the most part, private, the personal lives and mental health of the self-taught are appreciable components. On display are visionaries like Minnie Evans (1892-1987), whose swirling patterns and mystic symbols were inspired, she claimed, by an inner divine voice. There are examples of the mentally ill, whose doctors suggest the patients are trying to heal their mental turmoil by creating ordered systems in their artwork.

Then there are the itinerant painters, who but for economic misfortune might have progressed through the ordinary channels to insider status. These artists' lives are particularly sad and difficult, even in the face of success. The show features the Polish artist Nikifor (1893-1968). Born with a speech defect, the bastard son of an impoverished laundress created beautifully rendered townscapes. Or John Kane (1860-1934), who taught himself to paint late in life after a series of tragedies left him destitute. The show features several examples of his work, including an amusing painting of Kane's stern old wife staring over his shoulder as he earnestly paints at the easel.

Otto Kallir, the gallery's originator, immigrated to New York from Austria in 1939, escaping certain death at the hands of the Nazis. A promoter of European modernists, Kallir was also an enthusiastic supporter of self-taught artists, and his granddaughter and business partner carry on the tradition.

Though the gallery and its presentation are plain, the show's statement, rich with insight and historical detail, brings the story of this art, with its dynamic, often difficult relationship to the elites of modernism into play. Against all odds, and often in total obscurity, these artists were driven to create, to express the power of the individual.

Galerie St. Etienne, 24 W. 57th St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-245-6734; Tues.-Sat., 11-5, free.

-Julia Morton

Kim Keever | Through Sat., Feb. 19

In a place untouched by the hands of man, a distant volcano begins to erupt. Thick red lava oozes down its side, slowly seeping toward the flat green earth. Up in the sky, yellow dust clouds gather, slowly effacing an alien sunset.

No, this is not the opening of a sci-fi novel, but in Kim Keever's world, the flying saucers don't seem far off. Each landscape the artist invents seems both familiar and foreign, like a dream of a primordial past or a post-apocalyptic future.

Keever constructs lunar landscapes in a 100-gallon fish tank and brings them to life with various pigments and colored lights. The resulting images, captured with a large-format camera, are imbued with a remote and uninhabitable grandeur that references the early photography of the American West. Imagine Ansel Adams marching across Mars on horseback, his bag packed with a few sheets of first-rate acid.

Take a close look at these large-scale prints, however, and something strange and unexpected happens. Tiny bubbles form on desolate rocky surfaces, thin black marks emerge and a gathering fog appears in the forefront to expose the glass surface of the tank. By deliberately revealing the artifice of his constructions, Keever reveals the illusory nature of these worlds as they appear to us-like semi-conscious dreams glimpsed through half-open eyes.

Feigen Contemporary, 535 W. 20th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-929-0500; Tues.-Sat., 11, free.

-Laurel Angrist

Philippe Aini

Through Fri., March 4

Fashion and art collide head-on in French artist Philippe Aini's display of paintings, sculpture and 10 wearable-fashion installations. Fusing sexual fantasy with macabre religious imagery, Aini's work varies in style from childlike to ferocious. Using women's fashions to explore figurative representation, Aini's "Prete-art-portee" collection mixes found objects with traditional materials. Garish and provocative, even the most avant-garde among you will be fashionably challenged.

Gramercy 32 Fine Arts Gallery, 32 Gramercy Park S., Suite 15D (betw. 3rd & Lexington Aves.), 212-780-0932; Tues.-Sun., 10-6, free.

-Julia Morton

Jason Fox

Through Sat., Feb. 19

Extraterrestrial rockers and John 3:16 afros are a riot-when they're the product of a twenty-something, Williamsburg loft-dweller. But how about when they're painted by a 41-year-old introvert? Jason Fox's intentionally erratic brushstrokes, Van Gogh-like markings and washed-out neutrals have always ensured his work is absent of ironic detachment, and as time goes by, it only gets more bizarre (i.e., interesting). Oh, you'll laugh all right-but only because you're so awed and uncomfortable.

Feature Inc., 530 W. 25th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-675-7772; Tues.-Sat. 11-6, free.

-Sean Manning

Meschac Gaba: Tresses | Through Sun., March 27

Until now, Meschac Gaba, a native of Benin, was best known for "Museum of Contemporary African Art," an exhibit meant to challenge the traditional ways Western countries display African art. Unconventional to say the least, the exhibit comprised a group of room scenes displayed within the walls of each host museum. Exemplifying the notion that art is boundless and at times indefinable, the show was meant to influence Western countries that often confine art to museums or galleries.

Gaba dreamed up "Tresses," his first solo exhibition in the U.S., during his time living in New York. The idea was a response to the wonder he felt in the presence of the overpowering architecture that is the New York skyline. But the inspiration also followed his choice topics, as he devised a plan to use hair to weave the notions of public space, globalism and commercialism. "When I lived in New York, I felt very small among the enormous skyscraper buildings. I envisioned the buildings on top of my head, which brought me to the idea of making a series of wigs," said Gaba. "I have always looked at these wigs like a house that can be carried on the head, which is as fashionable as the architecture."

Situated on top of mannequins, the collection of 18 sculptures includes the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building as well as models of conference centers and banks in Africa. The stark contrast of dark hair on white mannequins brings out the depth achieved through weaving techniques and different-colored braids. But like the towering skyscrapers themselves, some of the pieces in "Tresses" look too much alike.

The Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 W. 125th St. (betw. Lenox Ave. & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.), 212-864-4500; Weds.-Fri., 12-6, Sat. 10-6, Sun. 12-6, $7, $3 st./s.c.

-Andrea Toochin

Sleep Spaces | Through Sun., March 13

"Sometimes at the moment of sleep strange figures are born and disappear," wrote the French Surrealist poet Robert Desnos in 1926. d.u.m.b.o.'s current show takes its title and concept from Desnos' poem, offering up eight emerging artists who put their own spin on reality.

Starting with Emily Lutzker's The Thing on the Wall, an installation of plastic piping draped with white fabric worms that look like the