This Week in Art Openings: Esther Mahlangu, Olaf Nicolai & Zefrey Throwell

Esther Mahlangu, “Reacquiring”

You don’t have to be able to pronounce Ndebele to appreciate the traditional South African shapes and patterns Esther Mahlangu paints -- that she then makes nontraditional by painting on different types of objects. The zig-zagging and angular style of Ndebele painting is found in South Africa and Zimbabwe exclusively as murals on dwellings, but Mahlangu applies it to flat boards and canvasses as well as pre-Apartheid helmets, tanks and police insignia. This “Reacquiring” series looks back to a time before Apartheid, when forced removals and displacements scattered Ndebele families from their homes. Mahlangu is widely regarded as the most important Ndebele artist working today, and this is her first solo exhibition in the United States.

Kyle Kauffmann Gallery, 355 W. 39th St., (212) 594-8086. Opening reception Wednesday., Mar. 26 from 6-8 p.m. Through May 10.

Olaf Nicolai, “Considering a multiplicity of appearances in light of a particular aspect of relevance. Or: Can art be concrete?”

It’s not just the title of his exhibit that’s intense. Berlin-based artist Olaf Nicolai’s installation (which marks his U.S. debut) features 16 wildly colored, contrasting Iris prints on custom-painted walls, with 400 color books on worktables with every shade in between -- it’s a psychedelic funland. Iris prints -- rarely used today -- are made in a special printing technique that recalls the groovy, radical political flyers of the 1960s. This is Nicolai’s first gallery show in the United States.

Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art, 534 W. 22nd St., (212) 645-2030. Opens Friday, Mar. 28. Through May 10.

Zefrey Throwell, “Nudity, Psychosis, Death: Anything on Fire Is Beautiful”

San Francisco artist Zefrey Throwell explores human behavior by exhibiting the mundane and the horrific in this rousing video and multi-media installation, “Nudity, Psychosis, Death: Anything on Fire Is Beautiful.” It’s all about honesty for Throwell, who says that his art isn’t “half as twisted, beautiful, macabre or hilarious as what the average person walking down the street thinks about on an hourly basis.” But we think the video of the little girl fearlessly stroking a massive python might be a little twisted.

Gallery 138: 138 W. 17th St., (212) 633-0234. Opening reception Friday, Mar. 28 from 6-8 p.m. Through Apr. 25.