Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Tuesday, April 18
Harvey Quaytman, Hone (1988). Courtesy of Van Doren Waxter.
1. “Harvey Quaytman: Hone” Panel Discussion at Van Doren Waxter
In conjunction with the gallery’s current exhibition of hard-edged Modernist paintings by the late Harvey Quaytman, on view through April 28, artists Josh Blackwell, Keltie Ferris, and Julia Rommel will participate in a conversation moderated by William Smith.
Location: Van Doren Waxter, 23 East 73rd Street
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.
—Eileen Kinsella
Joan Miró, Femmes au bord du lac a la surface irisee par le passage d’un cygnet (Women at the Edge of the Lake Made Iridescent by the Passage of a Swan), 1941 (detail), from the “Constellations” series. Courtesy of Acquavella Galleries.
2. “Calder/Miró: Constellations” Panel Discussion at the Morgan Library
Power galleries Pace and Acquavella are joining forces to present the first comparative exhibition of Alexander Calder and Joan Miró’s “Constellations” series, on view April 20–May 26. Although the artists created the works independently of one another when they were separated by an ocean during World War II, they share a common interest in form and line. The artists’ grandchildren Alexander S.C. Rower and John Punyet Miró—who also oversee the estates of their famous family members—will speak to the art historian Jordana Mendelson about Calder and Miró’s friendship and their uncanny aesthetic ESP.
Location: Morgan Library and Museum, 225 Madison Avenue
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6:30 p.m.
—Julia Halperin
Wednesday, April 19–Thursday, May 20
Julius Von Bismarck, “Good Weather.” Courtesy of Marlborough Contemporary.
3. Julius Von Bismarck, Lucas Ajemian, and Betty Tompkins at Marlborough Contemporary
No less that three solo shows bow at Marlborough Contemporary this week, with Julius Von Bismark’s “Good Weather,” Lucas Ajemian’s “A clean glitch,” and Betty Tomkins’s “Viewing Room” all celebrating their openings.
We’re especially excited about Von Bismark’s sculptures, photographs, and video installation, created during his recent travels to Columbia, Venezuela, and Mexico. According to the gallery’s statement, he was inspired by the contrast between “our Victorian inclination towards an ordered taxonomy against the cruel and chaotic reality of the wild.”
Location: Marlborough Contemporary, 545 West 25th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, April 19–Saturday, May 27
Gavin Kenyon, Untitled (2016). Courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles/New York/Tokyo.
4. “Gavin Kenyon: Shrouds” at Blum & Poe
In this second solo exhibition at Blum & Poe gallery, Gavin Kenyon creates nothing from something—in bronze and steel casts made from the negative space underneath a gesso-quilted-coverlet, his works are obviously weighty, yet based on materials that evoke softness and comfort. The resulting “object” is reminiscent of Wendell Castle’s 1985 Ghost Clock, a trompe-l’oeil that challenges its concept by nature of its execution.
Earlier works by the Brooklyn-based artist are explorations of verticality—totemic sculptures that are similarly confounding in their materialism. His oeuvre of formless objects in the vein of Claes Oldenburg merge with the craftsmanship of a minimalist sculptor, to create visually and conceptually challenging explorations of space.
Location: 19 East 66th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Thursday, April 20
Raúl de Nieves and Mia Locks with his work at the Whitney Biennial. Courtesy of the Kitchen.
5. Art21 film premiere + talk with artist Raúl de Nieves and curator Mia Locks at the Kitchen
Artist Raúl de Nieves’s specially commissioned faux stained glass window are undoubtedly a highlight of the current Whitney Biennial. Art 21 is premiering their new documentary about the work’s creation, the latest film in their latest “New York Close Up” series at the Kitchen. Following the screening, the artist will speak with exhibition co-curator Mia Locks and conversation moderator Tina Kukielski, Art21’s executive director and chief curator.
Location: The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street
Price: Free with advance registration
Time: Doors, 10 a.m.; screening, 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, April 20–Friday, May 26
Audrey Flack, Fiat Lux (2017). Courtesy of Hollis Taggart Galleries.
6. “Audrey Flack: Master Drawings from Crivelli to Pollock” at Hollis Taggart Galleries
In her first new show of paintings after nearly three decades of working of almost exclusively in sculpture, Audrey Flack remixes art history, blending images drawn from the Old Masters, Pop art, and other movements. This process illuminates connections across the centuries, highlighting, for instance, the similarities between classical printmaking and contemporary comic books.
Location: Hollis Taggart Galleries, 521 West 26th Street, 7th Floor
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, April 20–Friday, June 2
Rodney Graham, Media Studies ’77 (2016). Courtesy of 303 Gallery.
7. “Rodney Graham” at 303 Gallery
Rodney Graham is the star of his upcoming exhibition, taking on a variety of fictional identities for a new series of photographic lightboxes. From a jazz drummer pausing to eat at a nightclub to a sleepy antiques store owner or a 1970s-era professor, he slips seamlessly into each role, creating images that draw on both cinematic traditions and art history.
Location: 303 Gallery, 555 West 21st Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, April 20–Sunday, September 17
Faith Ringgold, For the Women’s House, 1971. Courtesy of Rose M. Singer Center, Rikers Island Correctional Center. © 2017 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
8. “We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85” at the Brooklyn Museum
This upcoming exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum shows how black women artists reacted to, and worked in, a time of profound change and the emergence of second-wave feminism. The works included explore how activism evolved in the 1970s and ’80s, shifting away from peaceful disobedience towards more forceful tactics, direct action, and institutional critique.
Included in this exhibition are works by Ana Mendieta, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O’Grady, Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, Lorna Simpson, and many more. Featuring art in nearly every medium, “We Wanted a Revolution” paints a complex picture of art and social change. Get a first look at the show at Thursday night’s opening reception, where DJ Reborn will be paying tribute to the music of revolutionary black women.
Location: The Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn
Price: $20 adult tickets, $12 for seniors and students, $6 for children ages 12–19, free for children 11 and under
Time: Opening reception, 7 p.m.–10 p.m.; Tuesday, Friday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
—Sarbani Ghosh
Friday, April 21
Groupmuse at Pioneer Works. Courtesy of Pioneer Works.
9. A Listening Experiment Massivemuse at Pioneer Works
Groupmuse, which brings chamber music to living rooms across New York City, will blur the lines between music and performance art with its next large-scale event, featuring the music of the conductor-less Shattered Glass string ensemble in collaboration with the Choregraphies for Survival Group.
Billed as “classical music immersion [that] gives the audience opportunities to engage with the music and the musicians,”the evening hopes “to engage the senses in deep modes of observation, using classical music as the medium for expanding, heightening, and investigating one’s perceptive capacities.”
Location: Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook, Brooklyn
Price: $25
Time: 7 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
MaryKate Maher, Cavern (detail), 2017. Photo courtesy A.I.R. Gallery.
10. Maxine Henryson, MaryKate Maher, and Alison Owen at A.I.R. Gallery
A.I.R. Gallery opens its current gallery season with three different shows by A.I.R. artists. Maxine Henryson’s show “Contrapuntal” examines the similarities and differences between Italian and German culture, showcasing photographs of historical markers in her two photo series “To See with My Own Eyes” and “Reflections in the Field of Consciousness.” In “Invisible Float,” the work of MaryKate Maher explores materials that reference landscape, drawing from the extreme climates and ecosystems of the Icelandic tundra and the Californian desert. “Only Connect” highlights the work of Alison Owen, who creates work from the studio remnants/ephemera of other people’s art practices, including A.I.R. Gallery NYC artists, current and former Fellows, and National members.
Location: 155 Plymouth Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Sarbani Ghosh
Saturday, April 22
Carrie Mae Weems, Mother Daughter. Courtesy of the Watermill Center.
11. “In Process: Lexy Ho-Tai, Lotte Nielsen & Carrie Mae Weems” at the Watermill Center in Water Mill
As one of this year’s Inga Maren Otto Fellowship recipients, legendary photographer Carrie Mae Weems is spending the month of April in residence at the Watermill Center. The public will have the chance to see what she’s up to, along with works from video artist Lotte Nielsen and costume designer Lexy Ho-Tai, at the center’s latest In Process event.
Weems will present a refined version of Grace Notes: Reflections for Now, the song cycle/performance she debuted at the 2016 Spoleto Festival. In response to the killings of young black men and women, and the escalating violence against black Americans nationwide, the work features, music, song, spoken word, dance, photography, and video, for which Weems enlisted the help of artists, poets, musicians, and composers.
Location: Watermill Center, 39 Water Mill Towd Rd, Water Mill
Price: Suggested donation $10
Time: 2 p.m.–4 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Wednesday, May 3
Mercedes Matter, Untitled, Reclining Nude (c.1954–1956). Courtesy of the Estate of the Artist and MBFA.
12. “Mercedes Matter: A Survey: Paintings and Drawings from 1929–1998” at Mark Borghi Fine Art
Despite the prevalence of AbEx shows every few weeks in New York, this one is worth checking out. Born into art-world royalty (her father was modernist painter Arthur Beecher Carles), it’s almost inconceivable that Mercedes Matter is still a hidden gem. She studied art under the tutelage of Alexander Archipenko and Hans Hofmann, and in 1964 she founded the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture. This is the first solo exhibition of the artist at Mark Borghi Fine Art. The selection of works on view was part of a travelling exhibition from 2009 through 2011.
Location: 52 East 76th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein