James Kalm visits an exhibition of works by John Lees at Betty Cuningham Gallery, New York, on view through November 28, 2015.

Kalm notes that: "This exhibition … is a welcome relief from a recent bombardment of 'Zombie Formalism' and 'Flipper Art'. Lees often lingers over these works for decades, providing his quotidian subjects with an obsessive materiality that is contrasted with a near spiritual invocation. The several drawings and studies of 'Man in an Armchair' give viewers an opportunity examine the artist's process of refining and complicating the image, before finally reaching a satisfying level of completion."