Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- German artist Anselm Reyle evokes candy wrap. Most of his new paintings and sculptures at Gagosian Gallery in New York’s Chelsea district shine and glisten.

On view are 19 works, the bulk of them done since the artist joined the mega-dealer’s stable in 2007.

Until then, Reyle was known for his stripe paintings and crumpled foil in Plexiglas boxes. The expanded production budget has pushed the artist (as well as his prices) into the realm of the monumental, though the disco party feel of the earlier works is still palpable.

Reyle’s monochromes come in orange, magenta, blue and purple. Silver-sprayed hay bales are scattered around. Most surfaces are either reflective or metallic.

What I initially took for a large pastel-blue painting, turned out to be a 23-foot-long metal panel he had found on the street in East Germany. Across the gallery, a relief that resembled Richard Serra’s Cor-ten steel turned out to be made of plastic (with light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, shining through).

Junk appears frequently in his works, but it’s usually transformed into something iridescent. Some sculptures on pedestals have been purposefully imprinted by Reyle’s feet and hands. A small African trinket from a flea market is cast as a 7-foot-tall abstract bronze with the polished purple exterior of a new race car.

Prices range from 10,000 euros to 1.1 million euros ($14,947 to $1.6 million). “Monochrome Age” runs through Oct. 24 at 555 W. 24th St. Information: +1-212-741-1111; http://www.gagosian.com

Slasher

Rosy Keyser’s new paintings and sculptures at Peter Blum gallery in Chelsea look charred, torn and battered.

Pain is palpable in most of the 19 pieces, though they are also filled with resilience and exuberance.

Keyser slashed through two large-scale canvases, “The Ray” and “Heaven and Other Poems,” exposing their wooden support and attaching cascading fringe. One of these works is propped against the wall by two metal brackets as if it were too weak to hold its own weight.

Like old skin, some canvases hang loosely. Low-quality paint is thrown on the surface and slapped around violently. Other materials include rusty nails, metal, sawdust, ropes and at least one milk crate.

In “Valentine for a Prizefighter,” Keyser incorporates sanded down beer cans. In “Insomnia,” twine protrudes from the painted black surface.

The most powerful is “Eastfacing, Downwind,” made of a 7.5-foot-tall steel pole and an attached horizontal 6.4-foot metal chain. The macabre windsock has “Shangri-La” carved on its base.

Prices range from $5,000 to $25,000. “The Moon Ate Me: New Paintings” runs through Nov. 14 at 526 W. 29th St. Information: +1-212-244- 6055; http://peterblumgallery.com.

Irony

“If it screams, shove it. If it vomits, starve it,” advises conceptual artist Barbara Kruger in “Between Being Born and Dying,” her latest project in New York.

The artist is known for graphic black-and-white prints overlaid with declarative statements, usually offering a critique of sexism, consumerism and other societal sins.

The new work is all text, but its message is lost.

Kruger’s aphorisms are written in massive black-and-white letters all over the Lever House’s atrium, both inside and outside. They are printed on vinyl panels covering the floor, windows, walls and columns. The results are striking but disorienting.

The 17-foot-tall letters are so big you can’t take it all in at once -- or at all.

“If it laughs, choke it. If it cries, drown it. If it sighs, shame it. If it loves, buy it.”

What this means is anybody’s guess. Given that Aby Rosen, the Lever House’s owner who commissioned the work, is an avid consumer of contemporary art and real estate, it’s safe to assume Kruger was going for something ironic.

“Between Being Born and Dying” is on view until Nov. 21 at 390 Park Ave. Information: http://www.leverhouseartcollection.com.

(Katya Kazakina is a reporter for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are her own.)

To contact the reporter of this story: Katya Kazakina in New York at kkazakina@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 22, 2009 00:55 EDT