Sean Mellyn creates twisted scenes of Americana that expose the underbelly of our affected national character, family life, and the things people are hiding from—or behind. Mellyn implies that we’re all part of one big game show—and the prize is getting to be part of contemporary society, warts and all. His work teeters at the intersection of kitsch, camp, and high art, reveling in its sheer weirdness. At times cold, with the aloofness of 1950s advertising imagery, the work nevertheless sucks the viewer in with its pristine surfaces, meticulous craftsmanship, and three-dimensional elements.

Mellyn’s solo effort “FRIDAY.” is on view until December 8 at Anna Kustera gallery, where he has shown since 1996. Seven contemporary symbolist paintings and one painted bronze sculpture of a snowman on top of a stack of boxes share space and an overarching feeling of faux emotions. There’s a sense of irony and apathy permeating the work, summed up in the largest canvas, Calvary, in which group of children toting toy six-shooters kidnap a snowman in an archetypal red wagon. The classic conundrum of whether the glass is half full or half empty is seen in Pilate, where a bored-looking little girl rests her head on her hand, which is positioned on a shelf next to a hand-blown glass with water inside. What makes it particularly compelling is the arm of the girl—a lifelike appendage made of resin. In Dismas and Gestas, holes are cut out of the canvas to reveal emotionless faces hiding beneath a painted brown paper bag. We can see ourselves in Mellyn’s “unknown comics,” and it’s not a pretty picture.

ARTINFO asked Mellyn to recommend exhibitions in New York. Here are his top picks:

1. Dawn Clements: Conditions of Desire at Pierogi 2000, through November 12
“This exhibition features mesmerizing drawings of Clement’s surroundings. Dense and packed with imagery, these works on paper seem as though they could go on forever. Clements positions herself to see all things around her with opposing points of view. I found myself trapped in her world. Cool.”

2. Amy Longenecker-Brown: New Paintings at Monya Rowe, through November 24
“Strange and wonderful paintings, especially “The Companion Series,” with titles like Monday with Jesus, Tuesday with Clooney, and Saturday with Guston. Each one unfolds like a reoccurring dream. The walls, furniture, and setup stay the same in each painting, but the characters and the props change. It’s the first time I laughed with a piece of art in a long time.”

3. Folkert de Jong: Les Saltimbanques at James Cohan Gallery, through November 24
“Picasso’s rose-period harlequins become three-dimensional painted and carved sculpture. Poetic and haunting. Vincent Price’s House of Wax meets the sad clown who laughed in the face of humanity. Foam insulation never looked so good.”

4. Jackie Nickerson: Faith at Jack Shainman, through November 10
“Beautiful photographs of nuns and priests in Ireland would be the short description, but these are more like Vermeer or Renaissance portraits, given Nickerson’s skill with light, color, and staging. I’m still digesting what it means to see a young man in a priest collar juxtaposed with the “current” image of a young man in a military uniform, wounded...”

5. David Dupuis: Lost on the Frontiers of Heaven and Hell at Derek Eller Gallery, through November 24
“Plain and simple: I just like the work.”

Bonus pick:
“The dancing man in rabbit ears, black-and-white-striped clothes, and a red rubber glove on the corner of Bedford Avenue and North 7th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. So far he’s been there daily for the last week and is a fantastic living combination of all the shows listed above.”