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

Tuesday, July 30

Jenny Holzer at the Guggenheim Museum. Photo: Ander Gillenea/AFP/Getty Images.

1. “Jenny Holzer: Reflections on Artistic License” at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Jenny Holzer holds court on her contributions to “Artistic License,” the first artist-curated exhibition in the Guggenheim’s history. The show sees her and five other titans of contemporary art—Cai Guo-Qiang, Paul Chan, Julie Mehretu, Richard Prince, and Carrie Mae Weems—each install one level of the rotunda with works from the collection made between the turn of the 20th century and 1980. Hear how and why Holzer chose what she chose, and what it revealed to her about the famed institution’s history and mission.

Location: The Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Avenue
Price: $25 for non-members; $20 for members; $18 for students. Tickets include same-day museum admission. Buy them here.
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Tim Schneider

Wednesday, July 31

“Jeff Way: Topsy Turvy” installation view at Lesley Heller Gallery. Photo courtesy of Lesley Heller Gallery.

2. Jeff Way Artist Talk at Lesley Heller Gallery

During his show “Topsy Turvy” (open through August 17), the artist Jeff Way, a fixture of the downtown New York art scene from the 1960s to ’80s, will speak about how he made his new body of work, and how they related to his earlier performance work.

Location: Lesley Heller Gallery, 54 Orchard Street
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Tanner West

Wednesday, July 31–Saturday, September 7

“Khatia Esartia: Out of the Cave.” Courtesy of Marisa Newman Projects.

3. “Khatia Esartia: Out of the Cave” at Marisa Newman Projects

For her second exhibition at Marisa Newman Projects, Khatia Esartia is building a site-specific installation with soft plastic tubes and black elastic bands used to patch cracks in the walls. As per the show description, “everything is for sale, with prices as arbitrary as the artist decides.”

Location: Marisa Newman Projects, 38 West 32nd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Friday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Opening Thursday, August 1

SuperReal at Cipriani 25 Broadway. Photo courtesy of the Moment Factory.

4. “SuperReal” at Cipriani

The latest pop-up museum experience to take New York, “SuperReal” is the brainchild of the Moment Factory, a “multimedia entertainment studio”—whatever that is. The experience looks to create convincing illusory worlds, with five interactive environments meant to illustrate abstract concepts.

Location: Cipriani, 25 Broadway
Price: $24
Time: Monday–Wednesday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Thursday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, August 1–Sunday, August 4

Will Kurtz, Mrs. Beazley (2016). Photo courtesy of the artist and New York Academy of Art.

5. “New York Academy of Art Fellows: Past and Present” at 30 Jobs Lane

Each year, the top three students in the New York Academy of Art win the Academy Fellowship, sponsored by Chubb Insurance. Curated by Joyce Varvatos, this exhibition features 33 works by 11 academy fellows, including Will Kurtz, known for his life-size paper animal sculptures, and Erin Pollock, who works in stop motion animation.

Location: 30 Jobs Lane, Southampton
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Nan Stewert

Thursday, August 1–Saturday, August 31

6. “Adam Magyar: Stainless, 42nd Street” at Times Square Arts

New York City straphangers are immortalized in Adam Magyar’s slow-motion video documenting a subway platform in the moments of the train’s arrival. The photographer and videographer’s ongoing “Stainless” series, shot through the window using a customized high-speed camera, has captured subway stations around the world.

Location: Broadway Plazas between 42nd & 47th Streets
Price: Free
Time: Opening, reception, Friday August 2, 11 p.m.–12 a.m.; daily 11:57 p.m.–12 a.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Thursday, August 1–Sunday, October 6

Huang Hai-Hsin, Gothic Picnic (2018). Courtesy of Eli Klein Gallery.

7. “Paintings from Taiwan” at Eli Klein Gallery

For its last summer exhibition, Eli Klein Gallery has assembled an array of works that pop with color by nine contemporary Taiwanese artists. An integral part of the wider Chinese contemporary art movement, these artists bring their unique artistic perspective to this exciting show.

Location: 398 West Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Neha Jambhekar

Friday, August 2–Sunday, August 4

BOFFO Fire Island Performance Festival. Image courtesy of BOFFO.

8. BOFFO Fire Island Performance Festival 

For its fifth annual Fire Island Performance Festival, BOFFO has teamed up with queer New York art space OCDChinatown to present work in performance, dance, and music by nine artists and collectives. Inspired by the historic importance of dance to the LGBTQ community, this year’s theme is Dancing in the Face of Adversity, named after a 1989 disco-track compilation from Island Records. Young Boy Dancing Group will kick off the weekend with its US debut on Friday night, with an immersive Ryan McNamara performance on Saturday.

Location: Fire Island, various locations
Price: Performances free, Saturday benefit lunch, $200
Time: Friday, 6:30 p.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, lunch 2 p.m.–4 p.m. and performances 4 p.m.–11 p.m.; Sunday, performances 1 p.m.–7 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Saturday, August 3

Julian Schnabel, Lou Reed. Courtesy of the New York Public Library.

9. International Lou Reed Tai Chi Day at the Brooklyn Public Library

The Brooklyn Public Library is launching its first ever Lou Reed Tach Chi Day in honor of the Velvet Underground frontman’s 30 years of studying the martial art form. Start off the day with meditation with Ren Guang Yi, Reed’s teacher of 12 years, followed by a morning of demonstrations and classes. Reed’s widow, the artist Laurie Anderson, has helped organize the event, which also includes an exhibition of the late musician’s tai chi literature and weapons.

Location: Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 8 a.m.–11 a.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Saturday, August 3, 10, and 17

Summer Streets. Photo courtesy of the New York City Department of Transportation.

10. Summer Streets on Park Avenue

As the city shuts down one of its biggest thoroughfares to vehicular traffic, a number of free arts and culture activities will be offered at various stations along the street. This week, Asia Society will be giving out free tattoos while Materials for the Arts will be helping visitors build mobiles from reusable materials. Next week’s participating institutions include the International Center of Photography and the Africa Center (with El Museo del Barrio), which will offer a workshop on making Taíno jewelry.

Location: Park Avenue from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park
Price: Free
Time: 7 a.m.–1 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Sunday, September 29 

11. “Tschabalala Self” at Art Omi 

Though Art Omi may be best known as a sculpture garden, it is also home to a gallery space. Here, that space will take center stage with a new exhibition of work by Tschabalala Selft. The artist’s practice combines sewn textiles, print, and painting, to create often exaggerated depictions of the black, and often female, body. “The fantasies and attitudes surrounding the Black female body are both accepted and rejected within my practice, and through this disorientation, new possibilities arise,” Self has said. These works make reference to a rich history of creation, from quilting traditions to Cubist fragmentation of the body, with favored art historical depictions, from the mythological Leda and the Swan, to the odalisques of Manet, re-envisioned in a new and more pertinent light. 

Location: Art Omi, 1405 County Route 22, Ghent
Price: Free
Time:  Open daily, 9 a.m.–5 p.m

—Katie White

Through Friday January 3

Erik Demaine, Sunflower (2018). Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Mathematics.

12. “Math Unfolded: An Exhibit of Mathematical Origami Art” at the National Museum of Mathematics

Math and beauty aren’t necessarily two words that seem to go together, but the Japanese art of origami relies on mathematics to create its intricate folded paper designs. So, embrace your inner nerd and head to the National Museum of Mathematics, where the work of 20 artists is on view along with explanations of the math that brought their visions to life in a new temporary exhibition that opened over the weekend. And if you’re especially interested in the subject, there’s a conference, “Math Unfolded: The Mathematical Art of Origami,” taking place August 4–6 in New York City.

Location: National Museum of Mathematics, 11 East 26th Street
Price: $18 general admission
Time: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone