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

Monday, December 11, 2017–Sunday, January 21, 2018

John Walker, Move (2017). Courtesy of New York Studio School.

1. “John Walker: The Sea and The Brush” at New York Studio School
The New York Studio school and teamed up with Alexandre Gallery to present a John Walker show featuring new paintings. For this show, Walker draws from the power, rhythms, and beauty of the Northern New England seacoast. “The works contain the repetitive restlessness of Kusama’s infinity works and the clarity of Matisse’s cut-outs… the drawings show an intimate side of Walker’s process and initial impulses,” notes the exhibition description.

Location: New York Studio School, 8 West 8th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception December 12, 5:30 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Hannah Pikaart

Tuesday, December 12

Pete Souza’s Obama: An Intimate Portrait. Photo of courtesy of Little, Brown and Company.

2. Pete Souza Presents Obama: An Intimate Portrait at the School of Visual Arts
On the occasion of the publication of his new book, Obama: An Intimate Portrait, former White House photographer Pete Souza will talk about his unique job and some of the most iconic images he made during his eight years documenting the president in unprecedented detail.

Location: SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street
Price: Free
Time: 2 p.m.–4 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Joseph Rodriguez’s Friday Night at Dominoe Social Club (1987). Photo courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.

3. “Book Launch: Joseph Rodriguez’s El Barrio in the ’80s” at the Museum of the City of New York
Brooklyn-raised photographer Joseph Rodriguez’s book Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the ’80s is a snapshot of a time and place, a community that remained vibrant and hopeful despite its struggles with crime, drugs, AIDS, and chronic unemployment. Currently the subject of an exhibition, “Joseph Rodriguez | Spanish Harlem: El Barrio in the ’80s,” on view at the Bronx Documentary Center through December 23, he’ll talk about his work with MCNY prints and photography curator Sean Corcoran.

Location: Museum of the City of New York, 1120 Fifth Avenue at East 103rd Street
Price: $15
Time: 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Installation view of Paolo Cirio’s Obscurity (2016). Courtesy of the artist and ISCP. Photo by Martin Parsekian.

4. “Paolo Cirio in Conversation with Julia Powles: Ethics, Documentary, and the Internet” at International Studio & Curatorial Program
This conversation for the exhibition Concrete Truth: Art and the Documentary will discuss how “free speech can be reconciled with the right to a dignified image of vulnerable individuals, both on the Internet and in the field of art.” The artists will use Cirio’s Obscurity to examine representation and its ethics. Obscurity takes over 10 million Internet mugshots and blurs their identity in light of the “Right to Be Forgotten Law” being proposed in the United States.

Location: International Studio & Curatorial Program, Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time:  6:30 p.m.–8 p.m.

—Hannah Pikaart

Tuesday, December 12–March 11, 2018

Anonymous goldsmith, detail of the Domitian dish from the Aldobrandini Tazze (c. 1587–99). Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

5. “The Silver Caesars: A Renaissance Mystery” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Aldobrandini Tazze is a set of a dozen Renaissance-era silver gilt cups, each standing over a foot tall and decorated with portraits and scenes from the reign of the first 12 Roman emperors, based on the writings of the Roman historian Suetonius. The work of an unknown Renaissance silversmith, the Tazze is considered one of the world’s best examples of 16th-century European silverwork and has not been displayed as a complete set since being separated in the mid-19th century.

Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Price: $25 suggested donation
Time: Sunday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, December 14

Jonas Mekas, A Dance with Fred Astaire. Photo courtesy of Anthology Editions.

6. Jonas Mekas A Dance With Fred Astaire Reading and Book Signing at agnès b.
Jonas Mekas hosts a reading and signing of his new book, A Dance With Fred Astaire ($55), a scrapbook of sorts documenting the life and career of the 94-year-old filmmaker and founder of New York’s Anthology Film Archives through ephemera, diary entries, and anecdotes.

Location: agnès b. Galerie Boutique, 50 Howard Street
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, December 14, 2017–Saturday, January 21, 2018

Shinji Murakami’s LED Puppy (Generation 6), 2017. Photo courtesy of Catinca Tabacaru.

7. “Shinji Murakami: Lateral Thinking With Withered Technology” at Catinca Tabacaru
Long inspired by1980s video games, Shinji Murakami has transformed Catinca Tabacaru’s Lower East Side gallery into a pixelized landscape with sculptures made from LED lights embedded in clear resin cubes. The show is timed to the unveiling of Le Coeur (The Standard), a new large-scale installation covering the roof of Le Bain, the penthouse bar at New York’s Standard Hotel.

Location: Catinca Tabacaru, 250 Broome Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, December 14, 2017–Saturday, January 28, 2018

William Ehrlich’s Ruby Chrysanthemum Pin. Rubies, black diamonds, Brazilian hematite, red PVD plated German silver. Image courtesy of Marilyn White PR.

8. “William Ehrlich Clèment Massier: All That Glitters” at Jason Jacques Gallery
Jeweler William Ehrlich and late ceramist Clément Massier unveil a collaboration of their works at Jason Jacques Gallery. “The pairing of masterworks by the two artists, presented side-by-side for the first time, seeks to explore the connections between art pottery and jewelry as an homage to Art Nouveau design.”

Location: 29 East 73rd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, Thursday, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Hannah Pikaart

Friday, December 15

An inflatable snowman at the 2016 holiday party at MoMA PS1. Courtesy of MoMA PS1/Charles Roussel.

9. “Night at the Museum: Artist Holiday Party” at MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1 hosts a holiday-themed year-end Night at the Museum party, transforming the courtyard’s VW Dome into a giant, immersive snow globe and offering seasonal cocktails at a cash bar. Guests will be able to visit the exhibitions, including the Carolee Schneemann show, or dance to DJ sets by Kindness, USHKA, and GORGON.

Location: MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Queens
Price: $15
Time: 8 p.m.–12 a.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Lyle Ashton Harris’s Lyle, Gay Pride Parade, San Francisco (1989), from Today I Shall Judge Nothing That Occurs (Aperture 2017). Courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

10. “Lyle Ashton Harris” at the Whitney Museum of American Art
Lyle Ashton Harris has published a book, Today I Shall Judge Nothing That Occurs, based on his Ektachrome archive, documenting his friends, family, and lovers alongside historic events affecting the LGBTQ and African diasporic communities. Organized with the Aperture Foundation, this talk celebrating the publication features Gregg Bordowitz, Johanna Burton, Kimberly Drew, Christopher Y. Lew, Catherine Lord, Jason Moran, Robert Reid-Pharr, Mickalene Thomas, and Iké Udé as speakers.

Location: Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street, Third Floor
Price: $10
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, December 17

Carrie Mae Weems promotional poster for “The Shape of Things.” Photo courtesy of Carrie Mae Weems.

11. “Carrie Mae Weems: The Shape of Things” at the Park Avenue Armory
Join the Armory artist-in-residence, Carrie Mae Weems, as she invites participants to join her in a series of readings, performances, conversations, and other artistic responses held throughout the day. These responses will revolve around the history of violence in the US, which is invoked in much of Weems’s work. Notable participants include choreographer and dancer Kyle Abraham, poet Elizabeth Alexander, and performance and installation artist Tania Bruguera.

Location: 643 Park Avenue
Price: $45
Time: 12:00 p.m.–10:00pm

—Hannah Pikaart