Giacometti sculptures, courtesy Eykyn Maclean

By Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor

Here’s a look at shows running in Manhattan’s East 60s at Marianne Boesky, Friedman & Vallois and Eykyn Maclean.

BOESKY:  Alighiero Boetti’s show at Boesky’s uptown lair on 64th street centers around a 10-foot long drawing of the components of his studio, Tracce del racconto (Tracing the story).  The pieces focus on an obsession with oppositions and his newer work in alternative mediums such as ballpoint pen, stamps, envelopes and fabric.

On display are a number of his “woven texts” – rainbow-hued alphabet grids which, when deciphered, portray prophetic phrases in Italian. The piece that gives the exhibition its title spells Un’idea Brillante in this conceptual format.

Boetti is paired with contemporary artist Jay Heikes, fresh off his praised October show at Boesky’s Chelsea space. Heikes evokes natural elements to complement his Arte Povera idol in the surrounding rooms, including a rusted root bronze sculpture aptly titled Generational Anxiety.

FRIEDMAN & VALLOIS: A show of striped ceramic vases by artist Daniel Buren is currently on display at the Madison Avenue Deco gallery. The show, Hundred Vases, showcases Buren’s signature contrasting bands of color. The project began with ten sketches, which were then turned to cardboard maquette models and then each cast in ceramic editions of ten. Buren chose the ten colors to be used, and then differentiated each one of the ten identical vessels by applying a different color. This created the 100 unique vases.

Vases range from 15 to 28 inches high in rectangular, trapezoidal and cylindrical shapes. Prices range from $5,200 to $16,000 for the vases. Of the 20 vases in the exhibit, 7 have sold by the time we visited, (including the two priced at $5,200), according to the gallery.

EYKYN MACLEAN: The private dealer’s inaugural exhibition is a not-for-sale show of Giacometti works on loan from the artist’s heirs and French collections. In Giacometti’s Studio – An Intimate Portrait, curated by Yale art historian Michael Peppiatt, is a glance into the artist’s creative process. Works include rough sketches of cultural icons and Giacometti studio frequenters, such as Georges Braque, Jean-Paul Sartre and Igor Stravinsky.

The family also donated a selection of the many scribbles he placed over almost every surface of his cluttered Montparnasse studio. (One such doodle covers a telegram signed from Matisse, another a copy of Van Gogh’s self portrait on a page of a Post-Impressionism textbook.)

The Giacometti collection also features a great many of the preparatory works for his famous sculptures. A series of busts of his brother, Diego, and the whimsical La Nez are on display in the third floor gallery. The Pinocchio-like sculpture with a gaping smile is a Surrealist-influenced piece from 1947. The head is suspended in a cage-like metal structure, while the foot-long nose pokes through the square plane.

Un’idea Brillante: Alighiero e Boetti; Generational Anxiety: Jay Heikes (through January 15) at Marianne Boesky Gallery, 118 East 64th Street
Daniel Buren: Hundred Vases (through January 29) at Friedman & Vallois, 27 East 67th Street
In Giacometti’s Studio – An Intimate Portrait (through December 18) at Eykyn Maclean, 23 East 67th Street

Alighiero Boetti "Un'idea Brillante" 1992, Embroidery on linen. Courtesy Marianne Boesky Gallery

Jay Heikes, "Generational Anxiety," 2008 Bronze, iron and rust. Courtesy Marianne Boesky Gallery.

Daniel Buren vases. Courtesy Friedman & Vallois.

Daniel Buren vase. Courtesy Friedman & Vallois.

Daniel Buren vase. Courtesy Friedman & Vallois.