Art and inspiration free in Chelsea

Art fanatics may find themselves in a pickle when trying to map out which exhibits to visit this winter. The $15 charge at the Guggenheim can really start to weigh on the wallet after a few visits, and MoMA's Tim Burton exhibit is sold out before you can even snag a ticket. Thankfully, the Chelsea art galleries cater to all artistic tastes, free of charge. If you're into painting, sculpture and installation, then you'll never know what you might find. The art world is neatly packed into these 10 blocks between 10th and 11th avenues, and it's an easy walk from one gallery to another. These three exhibits are among the highlights of this winter season in the Chelsea galleries.

Galerie Lelong — Emilio Perez, Breakfast by the Light of the Moon
528 W. 26th St.

If you're into abstract art, but admire good use of mechanical skills — that is, if you're sick of seeing art that "looks interesting" but could have been done by a fourth grader — check out Emilio Perez' exhibition at Galerie Lelong. Perez stretches a piece of latex over a solid-colored wood panel and then attacks the surface with a huge paintbrush, smearing streaks of aqua, maroon and black across his canvas. With a sharp blade, he cuts intricate and detailed designs into the latex, revealing the solid-colored wood beneath it. The end piece is abstract; upon closer inspection, it shows a true craftsmanship in the delicate way he cuts the latex. As the organic shapes swim and twist into each other, it's not hard to see a face in one corner of the canvas, or even entire body.

Gana Art — Park Jihyun, Incense Series: Weightlessness
568 W. 25th St.

Korean artist Park Jihyun uses burning incense sticks to make tiny dots in soft rice paper. In the style of Pointillism, the dots swim around the designs of trees. The viewer walks through a line of these feathery rice papers hanging from the ceiling, as though walking through clouds or swaying immaterial curtains. In Korean, the word for incense sounds very similar to the word for utopia. With that in mind, you might come close to escaping the bustle of the city, in your mind, while visiting this exhibition.

PaceWildenstein — Richard Misrach
534 W. 25th St.

With film cameras becoming nearly obsolete, Richard Misrach observes the beauty of negatives as they wither away to make room for the digital era of photography. With enormous large-scale photographs of landscapes, Misrach takes the positive photo and reverses their true colors to their opposites — their negatives. In their negative glow, his grand, sweeping landscapes of Nevada and Oregon can be mistaken for digitally-mastered photographs. This exhibit offers a temporary escape from the concrete jungle into the captivating landscapes of the West. Unfortunately, Misrach's exhibit ended on Feb. 20 — so if you didn't get the chance to see it keep an ear out for his upcoming exhibits in Chelsea.