Steina exhibit opening at Buffalo AKG

By Jimmy Keller
(Image above: Steina, Orbital Obsessions, 1975–77 (still). Single-channel video, black and white, sound; 24:24 min. Courtesy the artist and BERG Contemporary, Reykjavík)

Welcome to Hive Highlights; a weekly exhibits roundup from Buffalo Hive. This showcase is meant to point you to gallery openings, ongoing exhibits, closings, artist talks and happenings in the visual arts community of Western New York for the week/end ahead. These lists are not designed to be comprehensive, instead providing a keyhole into the creative hum of our region. 

1. Steina: Playback, on view at Buffalo AKG Art Museum
   OPENING Friday March 14, with a Talk on March 13, 7-8 p.m. in the Lipsey Auditorium
   1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York 14222
   
   Explore works by Steina Vasulka , as Natalie Bell and Helga Christoffersen curate this new media artist’s first solo show in over a decade. The first floor of the Gundlach Building is filled with retrospective arrays and environments of Steina’s original take on new media. It was not influenced by television at the time, but rather inspiring from her musician based background and take on human perception. 
   
   Born in Iceland, Steina moved to Buffalo with her husband Woody in 1973. They both contributed to the revolutionary avant-garde movement specifically in Buffalo in the ’70s at Media Study Buffalo and as part of the University of Buffalo’s Media Studies Department. Steina exhibited at the Albright-Knox in 1978 with what she describes as “machine visions.” Woody Vasulka died in 2019. View this exhibition through June 30 and don’t miss the curators talk on Thursday, March 13, at 7 p.m.
   
   For more information: https://buffaloakg.org/art/exhibitions/steina-playback
   
   
   Steina, Geomania, 1986 (still). Two-channel multi-monitor video installation, color, sound; 15 min. Courtesy the artist and BERG Contemporary, Reykjavík)
   
   
2. Jenine Marsh: Microcosm, on view at The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art
   ONGOING through Saturday, March 29.
   30 Essex Street, Rear D, Buffalo, NY 14213
   
   Works by Toronto-based sculpture artist Jenine Marsh takes a relevant stance on what society believes and portrays as important. She invites viewers to navigate the ideas of utopia, currency and labor and question the meaning of “paradise.” This is a great contemporary exhibition at BICA, open through March 29.
   
   For more information: https://www.thebica.org/exhibitionsarchive/jenine-marsh 
   
3. Peter Stephens: Marvelous Sauce, on view at Rivalry Projects
   ONGOING, Open through April 18
   106 College Street, Buffalo, NY 14201
   
   New paintings and works on paper by Buffalo-based artist Peter Stephens take over the walls of the Rivalry gallery space. His abstract works precisely bleed color and emotional perceptions through his matrix style. View his work Wednesday through Saturday from 11 to 5 p.m.
   
   For more information: https://www.rivalryprojects.com/peterstephens-marvelous-sauce