Science Fiction and Humor
"Weird Tales," an exhibition of paintings by the Puerto Rican artist Jose Luis Vargas, will open at the Tripoli Gallery in Wainscott on Saturday, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. It will continue through Nov. 14.
As a child, Mr. Vargas became interested in paranormal occurrences and U.F.O. sightings, and he has said that science fiction can act as a metaphor for life and a way to communicate the personal and collective experience. His large oil paintings are populated by recognizable human forms, text, flowers, and pulp science fiction magazines from the 1940s to the '70s. A sense of humor permeates his work.
Vibrant Metal Sculpture
"Take Flight," an exhibition of work by the Springs sculptor Phyllis Baker Hammond, is at the J. Mackey Gallery in East Hampton through Nov. 30. Ms. Hammond uses an improvisational method to create sculptures from sheets of metal that are bent, hammered, and powder-coated in brightly colored paint.
In 2017 she was commissioned to execute "Beyond the Edge," a series of sculptures installed in the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at the United Nations, She is also known for "Redefining Space," a 12-foot sculpture installed in Ube, Japan, to commemorate the bombing of that country during World War II.
Roast of the Town
"Guy Pene du Bois: Society as He Saw It," an exhibition of paintings by the early-20th-century American Modernist, is at Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts in East Hampton through Sunday. Du Bois painted "pointed, sometimes witty, scenes of New York society," says the gallery.
Also on view are works by George Bellows, Oscar Bluemner, Charles Burchfield, Robert Henri, John Marin, and Thomas Moran, as well as historical designs by Frank Lloyd Wright and Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Harper's in Paris
Harper's Gallery of East Hampton will take over Galerie 75 Faubourg in Paris next week with an exhibition of work by 14 gallery artists. Presented on the occasion of the inaugural Paris+ par Art Basel art fair, the show will open on Tuesday and remain on view through Nov. 18.
Go Figure
"Passion's Glow," an exhibition of figure paintings by Marilyn Church and Liz Slome, opens Thursday at the Lucore Art Gallery in Montauk and will continue through Nov. 1.
While Ms. Church has worked for many years as a courtroom artist at high-profile trials, her fine art paintings allow for more nuance. The figures are not specific, the backgrounds are ambiguous and fluid, and some of the paintings lean toward abstraction.
Ms. Slome had a long career as a graphic designer, and her paintings, which incorporate bright, retro colors, celebrate the creativity of the photographic and fashion trends that mark popular culture.
A reception will be held on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m.
Life During Lockdown
New at The Ranch in Montauk is "Doomsday Paintings," a body of work by the California-based artist Aaron Curry. On view through October, the exhibition includes recent paintings and collages that the artist produced during the pandemic lockdown.
Claustrophobia and the viral explosion are among the subjects of the works, which span both galleries in the West Barn. They include images and text from external and internal sources, ranging from a burning metropolis and shrieking figures to abstracted explosions and ballooned phrases.
Two Painters
An exhibition of paintings by Carl Bretzke and Viktor Butko will open at the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor on Saturday with a reception from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Mr. Bretzke is an accurate observer of urban and rural plein-air scenes, including several from Sag Harbor. "Movie Night" captures the glow of the cinema's neon sign, and pedestrians illuminated by light from a variety of sources.
Mr. Butko spends six months each year on Shelter Island, painting the local landscape. His "Sunset at Dering Harbor" captures the quality of a descending sun and the stillness of approaching twilight.
The show will run through Nov. 6.
The Primacy of Color
Recent works by Gus Yero and George Singer are at the Sara Nightingale Gallery in Sag Harbor through Tuesday. Both artists look to the outside world in a collection of abstract and narrative paintings that give color a prominent role in the storytelling.
Mr. Singer, who is self-taught, says that he approaches painting as a non-verbal form of expression where color, shape, and texture are the vocabulary.
In the work of Mr. Yero, who has studied with Larry Poons and Joanna Pousette-Dart, the application of one color leads to another, forming a language and creating shapes.
The artists share a home and studio in East Hampton.
Death, Rebirth, Color
"Processions," a show of sculpture by Enrique Cabrera and paintings by J. Oscar Molina, will open Friday at Oscar Molina Gallery in Southampton and remain on view through Nov. 8.
Mr. Cabrera's sculptures in the series "Palmarius" are decorated skulls in silver and bronze. Symbols of death and rebirth, skulls represent the root of the artist's Mexican heritage.
Paintings by Mr. Molina from the series "Children of the World" are characterized by intense color, rhythmic line, and dynamic gesture. The series is inspired by the artist's memory of his journey from El Salvador to the United States.
A reception is set for Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Lincoln Portraits
"My Affair With Abraham Lincoln," an exhibition of portraits of Lincoln by Roz Dimon, will open Friday at the Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. It will continue through Jan. 8.
The show features 19 drawings of the 16th President created between December 2020 and February 2021. They include 14 digital drawings and five mixed-media natural drawings based on the iconic photograph of Lincoln created by Alexander Gardner in 1863.
Margaret Hoover, the host of PBS's "Firing Line," will interview John Avlon, a CNN political analyst, about his new book, "Lincoln and the Fight for Peace," on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.
