James Panero reviews Gary Petersen: Not Now, But Maybe Later at Theodore:Art (through Feb 22), Philip Taaffe at Luhring Augustine Bushwick (April 26), Through the Valley: New Paintings by Devin Powers at Lesley Heller Workspace (closed), Fran O’Neill: Painting Her Way Home at Life on Mars (through Feb 15), Sideshow Nation III: Circle the Wagons at Sideshow Gallery (through March 15), and Paperazzi IV at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery (through Feb 15).

Panero remarks on Petersen's "geometries of classical modernism [mixed] with space-age memories and feel-good color", Taafe's "process … that look[s] beyond the recent abstract canon to draw on a worldwide history of geometric form.", Powers' "wild abstract reliefs that sometimes break and burn right through the picture plane", and O'Neill's "uniquely physical process… a set of movements captured in one long exposure." Of the latter two group shows, Panero writes: "Taken together, the efforts of these two small independent galleries have accomplished more than any museum department or curatorial committee has done in showing us the energy of the artist’s studio today."