A key figure in the irreverent, boisterous Cologne scene of the 1980s, Cosima von Bonin produces eccentric sculptures and installations that evoke a “mad romp through the margins of popular culture,” as Faye Hirsch recently wrote in A.i.A. The focus of this exhibition is the artist’s fascination with the sea. Ocean imagery recurs throughout von Bonin’s eclectic body of work, and this show features sculptures of lobsters, sharks, and other aquatic creatures as well as an installation that includes a lifeguard stand. The curators argue that the sea is a multi-faceted symbol for von Bonin: beneath the shimmering water is a dark and unknown world. —William S. Smith
Pictured: View of Cosima von Bonin’s exhibition “Who’s Exploiting Who in the Deep Sea?” 2016, at SculptureCenter. Photo Kyle Knodell.