Featured item from THE LIST: Rona Pondick at Marc Straus

Early in her career, Rona Pondick made a cast of her own head that ever since has been a faithful starting point for sculptural explorations. She may well be best known for the sphinx-like small metal sculptures, often seen at the former Sonnabend Gallery, in which a bird or animal body sports her ubiquitous visage. In her first show with Marc Straus, the old familiar object/subject finds itself suspended in resin and luminously pigmented. At once crafted and aloof, materialized and ethereal, these enigmatic presences force the issue of self versus non-self in the endless recurrence of this perpetually youthful old head. DAVID COHEN