Chelsea's Silver Lining

Undervalued: Ifétayo Abdus-Salam
Though the group exhibition “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” at Von Lintel Gallery has already come down, it’s not too late to discover Abdus-Salam’s camp yet brilliant, Cindy Sherman-esque re-creations of African-American film stars. This 11-by-14-inch archival inkjet print of Pam Grier from an edition of 10 transforms the artist into a gun-toting, Afro-coiffed, and lingerie-clad femme fatale who menacingly points her automatic at the viewer. (Other subjects in the series include ’40’s siren Dorothy Dandridge and Paris icon Josephine Baker.)

Grier, of course, is the ’70’s film star of Jackie Brown fame. Abdus-Salam convincingly portrays her in these first-rate cameos and shows that Sherman is not the only chameleon in town. Priced at $1,500 (unframed) or $2,000 with artist frame, the value is scripted to appreciate. Ifétayo Abdus-Salam, "Pam Grier II" (2006)

Courtesy the artist and Von Lintel Gallery