New Exhibits to Kick Off Chelsea Gallery Season

CHELSEA — Gallery season is about to go into full swing, with many curators and artists in the neighborhood readying their installations to open after Labor Day. Even though many galleries were located in the mandatory evacuation zone during Hurricane Irene, none have delayed their openings as a result. Here's some of the exhibitions opening up next week:

The Pleasure of Slowness

Fifteen artists have contributed video, photography, sculpture and more in this celebration of Milan Kundera's novel Slowness at the Bertrand Delacroix Gallery (535 W. 25th St). The exhibition will also feature a reading group to discuss the novel every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. during its run. "The Pleasure of Slowness" runs from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8.

Jack Whitten

The prolific abstract painter returns to Alexander Gray Associates (508 W. 26th St.) for the gallery's fifth anniversary. This solo exhibition consists of entirely new work by Whitten, and features "Apps for Obama," a massive acrylic collage reminiscent of an iPad home screen. The exhibition runs from Sept. 7 to Oct. 15.

Cool Guys Like You

Jennifer Dalton says that most television-interview shows feature significantly more men than women, and aims to find out why — or at least satirize the situation — with large-scale works bearing names like "What Does an Important Person Look Like?" Dalton's solo exhibition premiers September 9 at the Winkleman Galley (621 W. 27th St.).

WE BEGIN WITH THE NOISE

Davina Semo's new solo exhibition at the Martos Gallery (540 W. 29th St.) bends, etches and warps the raw materials that make up the city. Semo mixes together concrete, chains, street markings and more to display the odd symmetry and beauty of the city's urban life. The show runs from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8.

Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?

Chinese artist Xu Bing's exhibit, which has toured around Europe, gets its New York debut at the Spinning Wheel Building (5 W. 22nd St.). The exhibit uses dust Xu collected from the streets of lower Manhattan after 9/11, spread across the floor and engraved with a Chan Buddhist poem. The installation runs from Sept. 8 to Oct. 9.

Bronx • Brooklyn • Queens

Tim Okamura brings a collection of life-sized portraits to the Lyons Wier Gallery (542 W. 24th St.) The works all focus on the raw beauty of New York women in the three titular boroughs. Okamura's first solo exhibition in New York focuses on what he calls the "queens" of the boroughs in each painting.