Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. See them below.

Tuesday, April 23

Lorraine O’Grady at the 2014 Future Feminism exhibition. Image courtesy the Hole NYC.

1. Skowhegan Awards Dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street

At its 2019 gala, storied artist residency Skowhegan is honoring artist Susan Unterberg, the newly unmasked philanthropist behind the Anonymous Was a Woman grants, with its Governors’ Award for Service to Artists. Lorraine O’Grady will take home the Skowhegan Medal for Conceptual and Cross-Disciplinary Practices, while Francesco Clemente will be recognized for his painting, and Paula and Peter Lunder for their patronage of the arts. An after party with two surprise performances will follow the cocktail hour and dinner.

Location: Cipriani 42nd Street, 110 East 42nd Street
Price: Dinner from $1,250; after party $75
Time: Cocktails, 6:30 p.m.; dinner 7:30 p.m.; after party, 9 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, April 24 

“Drawn Together Again” at FLAG Art Foundation, installation view. Photo by Steven Probert, courtesy of FLAG Art Foundation.

2. “Drawn Together Again” panel discussion at the FLAG Art Foundation

This panel event moderated by gallery founder Glenn Fuhrman features four of the over 120 artists in FLAG’s current exhibition, “Drawn Together Again” (on view through May 18): Ewan Gibbs, Hilary Harkness, Jim Torok, and Justin Wadlington.

Location: FLAG Art Foundation 545 West 25th Street, 9th Floor
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m., with discussion beginning promptly at 6:15 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Wednesday, April 24 

Brad Phillips, Cristine Without a Single Hair Out of Place (2019). Courtesy Harper’s Apartment.

3. “Brad Phillips: What You Do When You Don’t Go Outside” at Harper’s Apartment

In this small but wonderful exhibition of paintings, Canadian artist Brad Phillips captures the intimate details of time spent in his apartment, either alone or with his wife Cristine, over the past year. Sharp wit and bittersweet nostalgia characterize the exhibition, with American television playing a central role. Wilma Flintstone, Mickey Mouse, and the NBC peacock all make appearances, conjuring the memory of childhood sick days or the monotony of unemployment. But there is also a more complex sense of urgency and care at work. In Cristine Without a Single Hair Out of Place, we see the back of his wife’s head, her hair neatly parted in the middle and in two long braids. In his meticulous rendering of each hair, Phillips offers a heartwarming testament to the particularities of a deep love and affection.

Location: Harper’s Apartment, 51 East 74th Street, buzz 2X
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Katie White 

Wednesday, April 24–Friday, July 19

Jonas Wood, Red Pot with Lute Player #2 (2018). © Jonas Wood, courtesy Gagosian.

4. “Jonas Wood” at Gagosian

Jonas Wood is good with all kinds of patterns, and what’s so impressive about his work is his remarkable ability to pack in so many different ways of painting into a single picture. This show of around 15 paintings and 15 works on paper includes depictions of interiors and exteriors, ceramic vessels and pots, and Wood’s own family members. “There’s no narrative or title or anything like that,” the artist told us during a wide-ranging interview in March. And there doesn’t need to be. Wood’s work offers delightful, simple pleasures. All you need to do is look and enjoy.

Location: Gagosian, 555 West 24th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Pac Pobric

Thursday, April 25

Free Arts teens selecting marble pieces for their project at Sam Moyer’s studio. Photo courtesy of Free Arts.

5. Free Arts NYC 20th Annual Art Auction at Phillips

Free Arts NYC, which connects underserved youth with artists a unique mentoring programs, is holding its annual gala event. The evening celebrates artists Sam Moyer, who recently opened her Brooklyn studio to local teens for a day of art-making workshops, and Eddie Martinez, as well as founding Free Arts board members Linda and Richard Schaps. Mia Moretti will DJ the cocktail hour, which doubles as an art show with works up for grab in the silent auction by the likes of Alex Katz, KAWS, Jessica Craig-Martin, and Mika Tajima. Dinner is by chef Hugo Uys, with a live performance by harpist Emily Hopkins.

Location: Phillips, 450 Park Avenue
Price: Cocktails $350; dinner from $1,000
Time: Cocktails and silent auction, 6 p.m.–8:30 p.m.; dinner and live auction 8:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, April 25–Saturday, June 1

Robyn O’Neil, An Unkindness (Triptych), 2019. Photography by Heather Rasmussen. Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery.

6. “Robyn O’Neil: An Unkindness” at Susan Inglett Gallery

After years spent meticulously sketching virtuosic scenes in graphite that dance between the apocalyptic and the absurd, Robyn O’Neil’s new exhibition finds the artist disrupting her practice with the use of color and new methods. Although the show is titled after the technical term used to describe a flock of ravens (like the one dominating the central triptych), it could just as easily apply to the process by which O’Neil created her latest drawings, which she alternately assaulted with sandpaper, boiling water, and razor blades. Her chosen techniques add a fresh layer of emotional immediacy to her signature renderings of a natural world simultaneously awful and awe-inspiring.

Location: Susan Inglett Gallery, 522 West 24th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Tim Schneider

Thursday, April 25–Saturday, June 15

Josh Smith, Name (2019). © Josh Smith. Courtesy of the artist and David Zwirner.

7. “Josh Smith: Emo Jungle” at David Zwirner

This show marks the American artist’s first outing with the gallery since he joined in 2017. Smith has said that he “thinks in paint” and considers his work as a physical manifestation of the creative process. This lineup of new, semi-abstract paintings, then, offers a chance to see what’s been on his mind.

Location: David Zwirner, 519, 525, and 533 West 19th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Nan Stewart

Thursday, April 25–Saturday, June 15

Julie Curtiss, Woman in High Heels, 2018. Courtesy of the artist and Anton Kern Gallery

8. “Julie Curtiss: Wildlife” at Anton Kern Gallery

Julie Curtiss: Wildlife marks the artist’s first solo exhibition at Anton Kern Gallery. The French-born, Brooklyn-based talent will present paintings, sculptures, and gouaches that depict “New York City, nature, and tropes of femininity.” At the heart of the show is an eight-foot-tall centerpiece, her largest work to date.

Location: Anton Kern Gallery, 16 East 55th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Neha Jambhekar

Thursday, April 25–Saturday, April 27

Jewish Museum director of digital JiaJia Fei. © Xavi Torrent. Courtesy of Talking Galleries.

9. Art World Conference at New York Law School

This career development conference aims to teach business skills and financial literacy to artists and art-world professionals to whom that expertise may not come naturally. The program includes panel discussions and workshops featuring the likes of Jewish Museum social media guru JiaJia Fei, Hyperallergic’s Hrag Vartanian, and artist Mickalene Thomas. It’s sponsored by Morgan Stanley, Kickstarter, the Creative Independent, and Spring Place.

Location: New York Law School, 185 West Broadway, Tribeca
Price: $200–500
Time: Thursday opening party, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

—Tanner West

Thursday, April 25–Friday, May 31

Jennifer Rochlin, Pot of Flowers, Bethany Hamilton, Sgraffito Figures (2019). Image courtesy of the artist and Geary.

10. “Ayse Wilson: I Found Your Note” and “Jennifer Rochlin: Superbloom” at Geary Contemporary

This compelling double-header includes new paintings by Ayse Wilson, a New York-based Turkish-American artist whose work draws from memory and emotion to remind viewers of youth, innocence, and the the sense of timelessness associated with being a child. Meanwhile, Jennifer Rochlin, a painter trained in ceramics, also presents new work here. The cast of characters strung together on her coiled pots range from P22, the mountain lion immortalized for living in Los Angeles’s Griffith Park near the Hollywood sign, to Bethany Hamilton, the famous child surfer who lost her arm to a shark.

Location: Geary Contemporary, 185 Varick Street
Price: Free
Time: Thursday opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Eileen Kinsella

Thursday, April 25–Friday, June 28

Frida Kahlo, Me and My Parrots (1941) Frida Kahlo, Me and My Parrots (1941) Private Collection © 2019 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

11. “Surrealism in Mexico” at Di Donna Galleries

Friday, April 26

Heidi Bucher, Bett (Bed), 1975. Photo courtesy of Lehmann Maupin.

12. “The Life and Legacy of Heidi Bucher ” at Lehmann Maupin

Lehmann Maupin’s curatorial director, Anna Stothart, will moderate a panel discussion with Ziba Ardalan of the Parasol unit foundation, Simon Castets of the Swiss Institute, and Ruth Erickson of ICA Boston on the life and legacy of Swiss artist Heidi Bucher (1926–1993). The gallery’s exhibition on the artist, “Heidi Bucher: Site of Memory,” will be on view from April 25 to June 15.

Location: Lehmann Maupin, 501 West 24th Street
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: Doors at 6 p.m., discussion 6:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Friday April 26–Sunday, April 28

Katherine McMahon, No Tack. Courtesy of Katherine McMahon.

13. “Wild Animals” at Paradice Palase

This two person pop-up show features paintings of animals by Katherine McMahon, creative director at ARTnews magazine and programming director at Elaine de Kooning house in East Hampton, and Kayla Camstra, an art handler at Gagosian Gallery. Inspired by our tendencies to anthropomorphize animals, the works on view aim to point out our own animalistic tendencies.

Location: Paradice Palase, 1263 Bushwick Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Saturday, April 27

Esperanza Spalding performs at the Pioneer Works Village Fete. Courtesy of photographer Angela Pham and BFA.

14. Myth and Logic Village Fete After Party at Pioneer Works

For its sixth annual Village Fete, Pioneer Works is honoring artist Mickalene Thomas with its Visionary Award. After-party tickets won’t get you in to see a special post-dinner performance from singer-songwriter Maxwell, but the organization is promising appearances by Hailu Mergia, Chances with Wolves, and “special guests” as well as an open bar, food trucks in the garden, and art activations throughout the building. You also might spot a few celebrities, as David Byrne, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Rock, Esperanza Spalding, Olivia Wilde, and Jason Sudeikis are all on the host committee. The dress code is “transparency and illusion.”

Location: Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
Price: $200
Time: 9 p.m.–12 a.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Saturday, April 27–Sunday, April 28

DUMBO looking at Brooklyn Bridge. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

15. “DUMBO Open Studios” 

One of the best ways to celebrate spring is by perusing the studios along Brooklyn’s waterfront at DUMBO open studios. In a very informal and relaxed setting, see what local and emerging artists are up to at various locations taking part in the area’s four residency programs: Sharpe-Walentas, Smack Mellon, Triangle NYC, and Art in General.

Location: Various locations, see detailed map for specific studios
Price: Free
Time: Studios are open 1 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Through Sunday, April 28

“The Orchid Show: Singapore” at the New York Botanical Garden

“The Orchid Show: Singapore” at the New York Botanical Garden. Image courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden.

16. “The Orchid Show: Singapore” at the New York Botanical Garden

Singapore’s having a bit of a cultural moment. The city basically co-starred in the hit 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, and was also the first destination visited in the most recent version of The Bachelor, with Colton Underwood. Here in the Bronx, the Botanical Gardens is highlighting the island nation’s natural beauty in its annual Orchid Show, staged in collaboration with the Gardens by the Bay and Singapore Botanic Gardens. The show pays homage to the Singapore garden’s 18 Supertrees, which feature 162,900 plants, and the National Orchid Garden’s Arches, which have 600 newly created hybrid species.

Location: The New York Botanical Garden, Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, 2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx
Price: Weekends, $28; Weekdays, $23
Time: 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (open Monday, April 22, for the Easter holiday)

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, April 28

Still image from Meshie, the Child of a Chimpanzee. Courtesy of Henry Cushier Raven.

17. “Wild Lives: Ming of Harlem and Meshie, Child of a Chimpanzee” at the Museum of the Moving Image

This double feature juxtaposes two movies about living side by side with wild animals. Ming of Harlem, Phillip Warnell’s award-winning 2014 documentary about the tiger and alligator that Antoine Yates kept in his Harlem apartment, is paired with Meshie, Childe of a Chimpanzee, a home movie by Henry Cushier Raven, the American Museum of Natural History’s curator of human and comparative anatomy. Shot in 1931, it documents Raven’s children’s interactions with Meshie, a baby chimpanzee that he brought back to Long Island from West Africa. Meshie is now among the taxidermy specimens on view at the museum’s Hall of Primates, but Raven’s son, Harry Raven, now 91, will be on hand to speak about their experiences together. From the AMNH’s library, the film is being screened publicly for the first time.

Location: Museum of the Moving Image, Redstone Theater, 36-01 35 Avenue, Astoria, Queens
Price: $15
Time: 2 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, April 28–Sunday, June 2

Rutene Merk, Kamea (2019). Courtesy of Downs & Ross.

18. “Rutene Merk: Sprites” at Downs & Ross

What if your Sim had a soul? Rutene Merk’s pixelated yet eerily lifelike portraits are sure to spark this question. The Lithuanian artist makes her US solo show debut at Downs & Ross this weekend.

Location: Downs & Ross, 96 Bowery, 2nd Floor
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Cristina Cruz

Through Sunday, June 16

LaKela Brown, Composition with Gold Teeth (2019). Courtesy of the artist and 56 Henry.

19. “LaKela Brown: Surface Possessions” at 56 Henry

In LaKela Brown’s sculptural reliefs, gold-colored jewelry and other objects are embedded in the flesh of white plaster. Brown’s work references the 90’s hip-hop she grew up listening to along with Egyptian and Greco-Roman adornments.

Location: 56 Henry, located at 55 Gansevoort Street
Price: Free
Time: Thursday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein