Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Monday, June 11
Robert Clohessy as Frank, Laurie Simmons as Ellie, John Rothman as John, all portraying characters from A Clockwork Orange in My Art , written & directed by Laurie Simmons. Photo credit: Dylan Nelson.
1. Laurie Simmons’s My Art at Nitehawk Cinema
Laurie Simmons’s first feature film has screened at film festivals and had a limited theatrical engagement back in January, but chances are you still haven’t seen the movie, in which she plays a middle-aged artist looking for inspiration. The artist-turned-filmmaker, who also has a solo show at Mary Boone Gallery, through July 27, will end the night with a Q&A.
Location: Nitehawk Cinema, 136 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn
Price: $16
Time: 7:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Film still from Tour Without End. Photo courtesy of Laura Parnes.
2. Tour Without End at the Kitchen
It’s the New York premiere of Tour Without End, in which Laura Parnes cast real-life artists and musicians such as Lizzi Bougatsos, Nicole Eisenman, and K8 Hardy to play versions of themselves as members of the fictional band Munchausen. Equal parts documentary and comedy, the self-described “multi-platform project/film” was shot in DIY music venues in downtown New York between 2014 and 2018, capturing the city’s rapid gentrification. The screening will feature live musical guests.
Location: The Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street
Price: $15
Time: 8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Monday, June 11–ongoing
Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Snowman at the Art Institute of Chicago. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
3. “Artist’s Choice: Peter Fischli, If Everything Is Sculpture, Why Make Sculpture?” at the Museum of Modern Art
Although summer will soon be upon us, you can plan on keeping cool at the MoMA: Despite the heat, the museum’s sculpture garden will play host to a sculpture of a real snowman. The Peter Fischli and David Weiss piece, which previously astounded visitors at the Art Institute of Chicago and SFMOMA, is locked away in a temperature-controlled vitrine, powered by electricity in a technologically advanced twist on a simple snow sculpture that anyone can typically create. Weiss died in 2012, but Fischli selected the work, first staged in 1990, for his entry in the museum’s “Artist’s Choice” exhibition series, begun in 1989, and never before held outdoors.
Location: Museum of Modern Art, Sculpture Garden, 11 West 53rd Street
Price: $25
Time: Saturday–Thursday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Friday, 10:30 a.m.–8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Tuesday, June 12
The interior of Louise Nevelson’s Chapel of the Good Shepherd (1977) at Saint Peter’s Church. Image courtesy of Nevelsonchapel.org.
4. “Art and Architecture Panel: Louise Nevelson’s Chapel of the Good Shepherd” at Saint Peter’s Church
To inaugurate a new campaign to restore Louise Nevelson’s in situ artwork, Chapel of the Good Shepherd (1977) at the landmark Saint Peter’s Church, art historians and Nevelson acolytes are hosting a panel and reception. Nevelson originally designed the chapel in her signature monochromatic relief style, with geometric forms layered on top of one another, recalling the artist’s earlier all-white installation, Dawn’s Wedding Feast (1959). Restoration experts will be on site, along with Laurie Wilson, a biographer of the artist.
Location: Saint Peter’s Church, 619 Lexington Avenue at East 54th Street
Price: Free
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Crowds at the Museum Mile Festival. Photo courtesy of Museum Mile Festival.
5. The Museum Mile Festival at Nine Upper East Side Museums
Since its founding in 1978, the Museum Mile has offered one night of free admission to the Jewish Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, El Museo del Barrio, and the Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum. It’s basically the city’s biggest block party, featuring live music and entertainment, plus free access to exhibitions including the Guggenheim’s new Giacometti show and “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” at the Met.
Location: Fifth Avenue, East 82nd–East 105th Streets
Price: Free
Time: 6 p.m.–9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, June 13
Performance piece by Gerard & Kelly. Image courtesy of Pioneer Works.
6. “Gerard & Kelly in Conversation with Johanna Burton” at Pioneer Works
The artistic duo Brennan Gerard and Ryan Kelly, aka Gerard & Kelly, will be speaking with art critic and curator Johanna Burton, to discuss their current exhibition “CLOCKWORK” (on view through July 1). The pair made headlines for their collaboration with Solange Knowles, who shares an affinity for minimalist architecture, dance, and exploring queer and feminist spaces—all of which are part of Gerard & Kelly’s ongoing series “Modern Living.” The conversation with Johanna Burton will delve into that project, and will be followed by a screening of “CLOCKWORK.”
Location: Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Red Hook
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: Doors 7 p.m.; Conversation 7:30 p.m.–9 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Jim Fletcher “playing indian” to act as a proxy for the Informants at Artists Space. Photo by Jason Hirata. Courtesy of the Whitney.
7. “The New Red Order Presents: The Savage Philosophy of Endless Acknowledgment” at the Whitney
If you’ve ever felt that some arts institutions volunteer just enough rhetoric about decolonization and change to avoid having to decolonize or change, this event is your antidote. The New Red Order comprises a collective of Indigenous peoples who collaborate with self-described informants to create video and performance works that function as a radical “calling out [and] calling in.” At the Whitney, they will stage a performance aimed at elucidating how to go deeper than lip service on issues of institutional diversity, progressive action, and Indigenous advancement.
Location: Whitney Museum, Floor 3, Susan and John Hess Family Gallery and Theater, 99 Gansevoort Street
Price: Free with advance registration
Time: 7 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Wednesday, June 13–Saturday, July 7
Steve Forster, Hanging On 2018). Courtesy of the New York Academy of Art.
8. “New York Academy of Art: Summer Show” at Flowers Gallery
From 650 submissions from New York Academy of Art alumni, faculty and students, a jury that included Richard Vine, managing editor of Art in America; Nicole Berry, the director of New York’s Armory Show; and Ambre Kelly, co-founder of New York’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show has selected 80 works of painting, drawing, and sculpture.
Location: Flowers Gallery, 529 West 20th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, June 14
A spread from Natalie Frank’s book O. Photo courtesy of Natalie Frank.
9. Natalie Frank in Conversation With Claire Gilman at Mast Books
As she prepares to wrap up her current exhibition “Natalie Frank: O,” which closes at Half Gallery on June 16, painter Natalie Frank will speak with the Drawing Center curator Claire Gilman at Mast Books. She’s also signing copies of her new book of the same name; O. The works, based on the controversial erotic French novel, The Story of O, were originally slated to appear at Sara Kay Gallery, which backed out of the exhibition over concerns about the paintings’ graphic nature.
Location: Mast Books, 72 Avenue A
Price: Free
Time: 7 p.m.–9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, June 16
Sergio Camargo, Untitled (1964). Photo courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery.
10. “Sergio Camargo” at Sean Kelly Gallery
Despite being a leading Brazilian artist of the 20th century, showing in the Venice Biennale in 1966 and 1982, and Documenta IV in 1968, Sergio Camargo (1930–1990) has never had a solo show in the US. His abstract sculptural compositions, in wood, stone, terracotta, and bronze, include freestanding works and reliefs hung on the gallery walls.
Location: Sean Kelly Gallery, 475 Tenth Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
“Jitish Kallat: Decimal Point” at Sperone Westwater. Photo courtesy of Sperone Westwater.
11. “Jitish Kallat: Decimal Point” at Sperone Westwater
In his first solo show at Sperone Westwater, Jitish Kallat presents works on paper, sculptures, an installation, and a photo series, “Sightings,” comprising extreme close-ups of pieces of fruit that look more like images of outer space.
Location: Sperone Westwater, 257 Bowery
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, June 17
Sophia Narrett, Right Before (2017–18). Photo courtesy of BRIC.
12. “Sophia Narrett: Certain Magic” at BRIC
Sophia Narrett’s gorgeous embroidered pieces are densely detailed, vibrantly colored depictions of fantasy-tinged domestic scenes. Traditionally relegated to the realm of craft, in Narrett’s capable hands embroidery becomes an equal to painting, in works by turns romantic, playful, and borderline disturbing.
Location: BRIC House Project Room, 647 Fulton Street (entrance on Rockwell Place), Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, July 8
Daniel Gordon, Still Life with White Poppies with Blue Lemons (2018). Courtesy of James Fuentes.
13. “Daniel Gordon: Blue Room” at James Fuentes
For his newest exhibition at James Fuentes, Daniel Gordon doubles down on his cut and paste, pictures-within-pictures aesthetic, installing five new still-life photographs within the context of a site-specific mural. Oh, and everything is a shade of blue.
Location: James Fuentes, 55 Delancey Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Taylor Dafoe
David Levine, Casting (2004). ©2018 David Levine.
14. “David Levine: Some of the People, All of the Time” at the Brooklyn Museum
In his new exhibition, David Levine responds to the current cloud of suspicion surrounding the 24-hour news cycle. In the age of fake news, where demonstrations can feature paid protestors, bots have infiltrated social media, and shooting survivors are accused of being “crisis actors,” how can anyone know what is real and what is being done for political gain? A rotating cast will perform throughout the gallery, which is filled with art, allowing them to blend into the crowd so that the audience isn’t sure where real life ends and the piece begins. Each performance lasts 45 minutes, and there’s no seating or tickets, allowing museum visitors to come and go as they please.
Location: The Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway
Price: General admission $16
Time: Wednesday, Friday–Sunday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m.–10 p.m.; performances Thursday, 2 p.m.–9 p.m.; Fridays–Sundays, 1 p.m.–6 p.m.; First Saturdays (on July 7), 2 p.m.–9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone