You would've thought having been approached by the evergreen musician Aimee Mann to do the art for her latest album, @#%&*! Smilers, would've given Gary Taxali a big head. On the contrary, the modest artist contends that you should go on and buy the album, "Not only because I did the artwork, but because it's a great album." Taxali also had a little time to present BlackBook with a revelatory glimpse behind the serendipitous synthesis of his inimitable vision with Mann's exacting sound, what it means to be a Chump, and how he came to create a limited range of toys for the Whitney Museum.

You might prefer an undersea adventure to take place under the actual sea, but if scuba gear's too daunting, head over to the Jonathan LeVine gallery for a salty taste of "Les Trésors de la Tanière de Neptune," a solo exhibition from self-taught Philadelphia-based photographer and sculptor Adam Wallacavage. Inspired by his obsession with the ocean and its creatures, Wallcavage has created several "functional light fixtures" that resemble octopi dangling from the ceiling. The fully illuminated sea-creatures come in various sizes and vibrant hot pink and sea green colors, and they're surrounded by custom-made wallpaper designed by Wallacavage himself.

The Last Judgment by Alex Gross.

In "Mysteries and Manners," on display now at the excellent Jonathan Levine Gallery, Alex Gross pulls from American and Japanese commercial art, Victorian wedding photography, Flemish painting, and world history to influence his poignant, chaotic world of ambivalent faces and surreal settings. Similar to a Mark Ryden or Ray Caesar aesthetic, the subjects presented in each oil painting, all of whom display some sort of beautiful stillness, create a juxtaposition of peaceful, subdued expressions against a slew of complex themes.