Kara Walker’s solo exhibition at Sikkema Jenkins (Sikkema Jenkins and Co. is compelled to present the most astounding and important painting show of the fall art show viewing season!, until 14 October) lives up to its loquacious title and the media buzz it has generated. These new works demand attention to how brutal and pervasive racism is in the US. With Walker's signature silhouettes and large, frenzied depictions of racist tropes, physical and sexual violence and defecation, the works sometimes resemble history paintings. Some works confront art history, such as A Piece of Furniture for Jean Leon Gerome (2017), referring to the 19th-century Orientalist painter, which shows a nude black woman sponge-bathing a white woman.
The Light and Space artist Mary Corse does not consider her work to be complete until it is experienced by a viewer—and a visit to her solo exhibition of recent work at Lehmann Maupin (until 7 October) shows why. The light that hits her large-scale, black-and-white striped canvases is a crucial part of the work. The white stripes have a silk sheen when viewed from a distance and the black ones, made of tiny acrylic squares that resemble sequins, twinkle as you move around. Textures only become clear up close and Corse uses the same reflective material that is used to make road markings. The exhibition also shows one historic work by Corse, Black Light Painting (1975), which uses the same materials as the new works to demonstrate the consistency of her style.
You need to look closely to appreciate the Morgan Library and Museum’s exhibition Magnificent Gems: Medieval Treasure Bindings (until 7 January), which shows rare surviving examples of intricate, delicately rendered book covers made from precious metals and gemstones. Diamonds, sapphires, garnets and pearls demonstrate the significance of luxury—not only as status symbols, but also to venerate the religious texts inside. One stunning example is the Carolingian Lindau Gospels (around 875), which shows the crucifixion, a group of mourners and personifications of the sun and moon in gold repoussé. The show also includes small objects of worship in precious materials, such as a French silver gilt shrine with 60 pearls and gems that holds a statuette of the Virgin and Child and features colourful enamel scenes on its inner wings.