“Works Off Canvas” at Denny Gallery, through Sep. 8
A concise and surprising group show at one of the Lower East Side’s newer galleries (it opened in early 2013 with a solo show by Amanda Valdez, one of the four artists in “Works Off Canvas). In addition to Valdez’s abstract assemblages incorporating embroidery thread and fabric, the exhibition includes Michael Rudokas’s compositions of layered semitransparent materials like tulle and chiffon, and Wayne Adams’s tactile faux fur pieces. Lauren Seiden’s graphite-on-paper reliefs—sheets of paper scrunched, creased and carefully wrapped around the stretcher—look like they were carved in marble and dusted with shimmering pigment.