Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Monday, August 13–Friday, September 28
Keith Haring’s Untitled (1982). © 2018 The Keith Haring Foundation, courtesy of Acquavella Galleries.
1. “White | Black” at Acquavella Gallery
Who says white and black are boring? Acquavella Gallery is presenting a group show that explores the vast range of artwork in just those two colors. The show includes work by Miquel Barceló, Louise Bourgeois, Jean Dubuffet, Jacob El Hanani, Keith Haring, and Robert Longo, among many more.
Location: Acquavella Galleries, 18 East 79th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Wednesday, August 15
Uptown Bounce at the Museum of the City of New York. Photo by Filip Wolak.
2. “Uptown Bounce: A Space Odyssey” at the Museum of the City of New York
The final night of MCNY’s summer block party series is inspired by the museum’s current exhibition, “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs,” and the director’s classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Enjoy free admission to the show plus a DJ set from Operator Emz of Mobile Mondays!, featuring the sounds of otherworldly pop icons, such as David Bowie, Janelle Monae, Grace Jones, Elton John, and Prince.
Location: Museum of the City of New York, 1230 Fifth Avenue at East 104th Street
Price: Free with registration
Time: 6 p.m.–9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, August 16
Steffani Jemison and Jamal Cyrus, Alpha’s Bet (2011). Installation at the New Museum. Photography by Naho Kubota. Image courtesy of the artist.
3. “No Guts, No Galaxy: Alpha’s Bet with Steffani Jemison” at Red Bull Arts New York
Join artist Steffani Jemison for the penultimate edition of “No Guts, No Galaxy,” the ongoing series of artist-curated slideshows presented in conjunction with “RAMMΣLLZΣΣ: Racing for Thunder” (on view through August 26). Inspired by the protean Rammellzee’s contention that language “possesses the potential to reimagine structures of power,” Jemison’s slideshow ties together touchstones as disparate as William Styron’s 1967 novel The Confessions of Nat Turner and the scribbles of past presidents to open our minds to the unexplored possibilities of verbal communication.
Location: Red Bull Arts New York, 220 West 18th Street
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Through Friday, August 17
Portia Munson, Pink Project; Bedroom (1994–2018), installation view at the FLAG Art Foundation, 2018. Photo by Steven Probert, courtesy of the FLAG Art Foundation.
4. “Dime-Store Alchemy” at the FLAG Art Foundation
The cabinet of curiosities takes center stage in FLAG’s summer group show, featuring contemporary artists who work in the tradition of Joseph Cornell’s box constructions, with artworks framed by cabinets, shelving, or other containers. Don’t miss the tornado of femininity that is Portia Munson’s Pink Project; Bedroom, a room-size installation featuring thousands of garments, toys, and other assorted projects in shades of bright, uber-girly pink. Other highlights include a vitrine enshrining birthday presents given one year to Sophie Calle, Susan Hiller’s extensive collection of tiny vials of holy water, and a carefully arrayed cabinet of cigarette butts smoked by Damien Hirst and his studio, in a piece that predates his better-known “Medicine Cabinet” series.
Location: FLAG Art Foundation, 545 West 25th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Saturday, August 18
Clay. Photo courtesy of the SculptureCenter.
5. Clay Club at SculptureCenter
For the second year, SculptureCenter celebrates its beginnings as the Clay Club, founded in 1928 by sculptor Dorothea Denslow. In its early days, the Clay Club used to hold annual picnics on Staten Island where guests would work together to create monumental public sculptures. SculptureCenter has enlisted artists Alisa Baremboym, ektor garcia, Ficus Interfaith, Steffani Jemison, Sara Magenheimer, and Jesse Wine & Cassie Griffin to take part in a modern-day revival of this tradition, replete with 2,000 pounds of clay up for grabs.
Location: SculptureCenter, 44-19 Purves Street, Long Island City
Price: Free
Time: 10 a.m.–2 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, August 18
Clintel Steel, Olympio Series, 300 Relay #1 (2016). Courtesy the artist and Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York.
6. Summer Group Show at Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery
We are officially in the dog days of summer when it’s too hot to move or even think too much. So what’s more appropriate than an art show that doesn’t even have a name (not even “Untitled”)? Instead, this exhibition is headlined by a short string of August-appropriate emojis—a beach umbrella, sun, and whale—with an equally easy-on-the-eye selection of artworks on view This week is your last chance to catch this light-hearted summer group show.
Location: Klauss von Nichtssagend Gallery, 54 Ludlow Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday to Sunday, 11 a.m.—6 p.m.
—Eileen Kinsella
Through Sunday, August 26
Matija Bobicic, The Genie (2018). Photo courtesy of Marvin Gardens.
7. “Matija Bobicic: Under the Rainbow” at Marvin Gardens
Slovenia-based artist Matija Bobicic and New York’s Jonathan DeDecker have concurrent exhibitions at Marvin Gardens, with new paintings by Bobicic and five new large-scale mixed media works from De Decker. It is the first New York solo show for both artists.
Location: Marvin Gardens, 1540 Decatur Street, Ridgewood, Queens
Price: Free
Time: Sunday, 1 p.m.–5 p.m.; and by appointment
—Sarah Cascone
Through Friday, August 31, 2018
Alina Perez, Karaoke (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Monya Rowe Gallery.
8. “Something Lush and Hot, Drippy” at Monya Rowe Gallery
“Something Lush and Hot, Drippy,” the title of a three-week-long group exhibition at Monya Rowe Gallery in Chelsea, could just as easily be a description of the works in it. The group show features rich, peculiar portraits from four up-and-coming painters: Heidi Hahn, Vera Iliatova, Haley Josephs, and Alina Perez.
Location: 224 West 30th Street, #1005
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
—Taylor Dafoe
Through Sunday, September 2
United Visual Artist, Spirit of the City (2018) at A/D/O. Photo courtesy of A/D/O.
9. “United Visual Artists: Spirit of the City” at A/D/O
Inspired by the skyscrapers of New York City, United Visual Artists have erected a towering, motorized art installation in the brick-walled courtyard of Brooklyn co-working space A/D/O. Nine-foot-tall golden mirrored columns spin slowly, catching the light to create a carnivalesque kaleidoscopic effect that recalls Manhattan at sunset.
Location: The Courtyard at A/D/O, 29 Norman Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Monday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, September 9
Emily Furr, Double Barrel (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Sargent’s Daughters.
10. “Emily Furr: Mother Lode” at Sargent’s Daughters
Brooklyn-based artist Emily Furr’s paintings are small, but they pack a punch. The show’s title, “Mother Lode,” invokes the words’ primary meaning: a rich source. Furr’s paintings illustrate phallic symbols and shapes, but the artist counteracts that energy with references to the cosmos, which she views as feminine.
Location: Sargent’s Daughters, 179 East Broadway
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Joakim Ojanen, Smokey Octopus Thoughts (2018). Photo courtesy of Fisher Parrish Gallery.
11. “The Ashtray Show” at Fisher Parrish
In celebration of its one-year anniversary, Fisher Parrish hosts its fourth show dedicated to everyday objects found in the home. This show is all about the ashtray, which the gallery believes is primed for a resurgence as marijuana is legalized. Whimsical, colorful sculptures by the likes of Katie Stout, Tom Sachs, and Misha Kahn, elevate the humble ashtray to the realm of art.
Location: Fisher Parrish, 238 Wilson Avenue, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m., or by appointment
—Sarah Cascone