Last chance: Judy Glantzman and Jeronimo Elespe

Two shows worth seeing in Chelsea close tomorrow. Judy Glantzman's work (pictured above) features layered images of body parts -- faces, hands, feet -- in mysterious, mandala-like configurations. (Sorry for the crappy photo -- it really doesn't do this work's subtle shimmer any justice.)

Sometimes the figures emerge from unprimed canvas in the colors of bruised skin. Faces turn into other faces, spout tears which become animals, and then out of the shape will form a bird. If it sounds strange, it is. Sometimes the paintings are like a Renaissance sketchbook, with exuberant lines searching for forms.

Judy Glantzman at Betty Cuningham Gallery, through Oct. 11.

Jeronimo Elespe's work can be the reverse, like forms searching for a subject. He creates his small oil on aluminum panel work over long periods of time, layering colors and shapes in a way that ends when masses start to develop. I like this his work is so small (yes, that's my beefy finger next to one of his landscapes). It's quite intimate, and the process of attention shows in waves as layers emerge, one over the other. Elespe works from memory, which alters how things look as people and places start to be less discrete and confined. That elusive, open quality sprouts from this work.

Jeronimo Elespe at John Connelly Presents, through Oct. 11.