Dena Schutzer--Wash and Fold

Red Folding (oil on canvas, 2017)

The Bowery Gallery in Chelsea is currently presenting a collection of work by Dena Schutzer for the exhibition Wash and Fold. For her third solo show at the gallery, Schutzer unveils paintings and etchings that primarily depict a typical day inside a Yonkers laundromat. "A local laundromat was my source, a place to watch for action that I could twist into a composition. I was attracted to the intimate displays of basic struggle to maintain order and dignity. The handling of fabrics that we cover, dry, and wrap our bodies in is private yet becomes shared in public," explains Schutzer.

Man Folding (oil on canvas, 2017)

Schutzer's combination of blue, yellow, and green colors are highlighted in Laundry-Blue and Yellow depicting a woman wearing a yellow-green T-shirt as she stands in front of a washing machine carrying a $20 in her hand. She wears a blue bracelet and blue nail polish and highlighted blue dreadlocks in her hair. This blue, yellow, and green color scheme is also seen in the colors of the washing machine, which is dark blue, the bottle of detergent which is yellow with traces of green, and a sky blue-colored dryer.

Laundry-Blue and Yellow (oil on canvas, 2017)

Another notable painting with a similar color scheme is Girl on Yellow Chairs that effectively illustrates the notion of lazy, summer days. As the name suggests, the painting features a young woman, presumably in the summertime as she’s wearing grey shorts and a sea-green colored tank top in light pink flip-flops, lying on her back sprawled out on a row of bright yellow seats, her arms outstretched over her head carrying her smartphone in a blue case. Above her on top of the machines are three bottles of detergent; two green and one outline in yellow. A similar black and white etching entitled Girl on Chairs With Figures features the same image of the outstretched woman but features her lying on the chairs with her head and arms facing the right side of the images rather than the left and other patrons are seen taking their clothes out of dryers or putting them away.

Girl on Yellow Chairs (oil on canvas, 2017)

Girl on Chair With Figures (etching, 2017)

Besides her laundromat paintings, Schutzer also offers paintings depicting daily life in her Yonkers neighborhood. These include Man on Soda Bottle depicting a man in the park relaxing on a blue picnic blanket resting his head on a nearly empty bottle of soda or Gatorade. On one side of him are a pair of headphones and on the other side a woman can be seen resting on her stomach with her head resting on her arms, and in the background are trees with curved branches and park-goers strolling around the hilly landscape. Another painting that takes place outdoors in an open area entitled Pushups depicts two teenage boys facing across from one another pushing their body weight using an exercise table with tree in the foreground with the branches leaning over to the left of the image.

At the Bowery Gallery 530 W. 25th St., through Mar. 24. The gallery is open Tue.-Sat. from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.

Man on Soda Bottle (oil on board, 2015)