Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Monday, March 25
Funerary relief from Syria, Palmyra (circa 150–200). Photo courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1. “The Charles K. Wilkinson Lecture Series—Responses to Rome in the Middle East and Egypt” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Three academics will explore how the Roman empire influenced the art and architecture in the ancient Near East, Roman Egypt, and the Islamic world. The speakers are Lucinda Dirven of the University of Amsterdam, Karla Kröper, of the Egyptian Museum in Munich, and Nadia Ali of New York University.
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Price: Free with museum admission (general admission $25)
Time: 2 p.m.–5 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Mourners from the union that represented the Triangle employees gathered 10 days after the fire to remember the dead and call for workplace safety reforms. Photo courtesy of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union Archives, Kheel Center, Cornell University.
2. “Back in Class – Women You Wish You’d Heard About: Labor Rights and Activism” at the New-York Historical Society
March 25 is the anniversary of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the deadly disaster that killed 146 people—predominantly women—and became an impetus for much-needed labor reform. To mark the occasion, and Women’s History Month, a museum educator will give a presentation on women activists and a tour of the current exhibition “Ladies’ Garments, Women’s Work, Women’s Activism,” on view through July 21. (There’s also a sold-out salon on Friday, March 29, featuring Alice Kessler-Harris, Margaret M. Chin, Janette Gayle, and Nick Juravich.)
Location: The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at Richard Gilder Way (West 77th Street)
Price: $20
Time: 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Tuesday, March 26–Thursday, April 25
Installation view of Torkwase Dyson, “Nautical Dusk,” 2018, at the Colby College Museum of Art. Photography by Gabe Souza. Image courtesy of the Colby College Museum of Art.
3. “Torkwase Dyson: I Can Drink the Distance” at the Cooper Union
Torkwase Dyson’s new installation continues her exploration of how the human body adjusts in response to planned spaces and engineered environments. This time, she mines forms that are prominent in various types of industry, including agriculture, energy, and defense, to create four “relational zones” which she will alter throughout the exhibition’s run. The result is a manifestation of her research into forced migrations ranging from the transatlantic slave trade to those triggered by climate change today. (Note: The opening reception will take place during the show’s second week, following a lecture by Dyson in the school’s Great Hall on Tuesday, April 2.)
Location: 41 Cooper Square (on Third Avenue, between Sixth and Seventh Streets)
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 2 p.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday–Sunday, noon–7 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Wednesday, March 27
A photo by Marie Tomanova from her book Young American. Photo courtesy of Paradigm Publishing.
4. Book Launch for Marie Tomanova’s Young American at Dashwood Books
Marie Tomanova celebrates the launch of her new book, Young American (Paradigm Publishing), with a book signing. Featuring photos from her 2018 Czech Center exhibition of the same name, the book includes an introduction by Ryan McGinley, who inspired Tomanova to become a photographer. “This is a future free of gender binaries and stale old definitions of beauty,” writes McGinley. “I wish all of America’s youth culture looked like Marie’s photos of Downtown, diverse and inclusive.”
Location: Dashwood Books, 33 Bond Street
Price: Free
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Photographer Bill Cunningham, left, and New York Times production artist John Kurdewan. Photo courtesy of Steven Stolman.
5. “Working for Bill: Close-Up on a Fashion Legend” at the Museum of the City of New York
New York Times production artist John Kurdewan speaks with designer and author Steven Stolman about what it was like working with the late street fashion photographer Bill Cunningham, for whom he helped produce weekly columns in the paper for 20 years.
Location: The Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at East 103rd Street
Price: $20
Time: 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, March 27–Sunday, March 31
A shot of the crowd at the Affordable Art Fair, 2018. Courtesy of the Affordable Art Fair. Photo: Philip Reed.
6. The Affordable Art Fair at the Metropolitan Pavilion
Want to buy art but don’t know where to start? Head to the Metropolitan Pavilion for the spring edition of the Affordable Art Fair. All works are priced between $100 and $10,000, with a special wall devoted to art under $500. Like any art fair, there will be a lot of noise to filter through in order to find something you actually like. But unlike most fairs, where prices aren’t posted (and sometimes differ based on who is doing the asking), the Affordable Art Fair makes sure each object is accompanied by a price label. The fair hosts work by more than 400 artists from 69 local, national, and international galleries as well as a program of performances, talks, and tours.
Location: Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street
Price: $10–$70
Time: Private view, Wednesday, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Thursday, 12 p.m.–9 p.m.; Friday, 12 p.m.–8 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
— Julia Halperin
Wednesday, March 27–Wednesday, April 24
Sophia Wallace, Cliteracy. Photo courtesy of Project for Empty Space.
7. “Narrative Threads” at Project for Empty Space
After the 2016 presidential election, the Newark art non-profit Project for Empty Space was inspired to found a feminist artist residency program. Now in its third year, it has expanded to include six residents: Aimee Gilmore, Katrina Majkut, Julie Marie Seibert, fayemi shakur, Sara Jimenez, and Sophia Wallace. The gallery’s exhibition space has been closed while they’ve worked on projects like Wallace’s “Clitoracy” campaign to educate the public about what the clitoris looks like and Majkut’s needlepoint renditions of common women’s products such as tampons.
Location: Project for Empty Space, 2 Gateway Center Gallery, Newark
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Wednesday, March 27
Shao Yong, Landscape Kingdom – 1 (2018). Courtesy of Crossing Art.
8. “Shao Yong: Landscape Kingdom” at Crossing Art
In his first US solo show, Chinese artist Shao Yong presents work from his “Landscape Kingdom” and “Abstract Ink” series. Drawing on traditional Chinese ink painting techniques, Shao takes a spiritual approach to his work, which is influenced by Western abstraction.
Location: Crossing Art, 559 West 23rd Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tanner West
Wednesday, March 27–Sunday, September 1
Algis Griškevičius, The First Lithuanian Astronaut (2009). Courtesy of the Bronx Museum.
9. “Useless: Machines for Dreaming, Thinking, and Seeing” at the Bronx Museum
From Jean Tinguely’s self-destroying machines to Wim Delvoye’s excrement-producing ones, artists have long celebrated the inutility of their occupation. Now, the Bronx Museum is paying tribute to this longstanding pursuit of uselessness in its new show, which it says originated with Aristotle’s belief that knowledge is valuable in itself and ought to be divorced from practical aims. Artists including William Kentridge, Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Roxy Paine, Rebecca Horne, and others will present “a selection of curious machines created by artists with the goal of stirring dreams, feelings, critical thinking, and ironies; for seeing what microscopes, telescopes and cartographies cannot show; for flying without taking-off; in short, for doing the impossible.”
Location: The Bronx Museum, 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m.
—Rachel Corbett
Thursday, March 28–Thursday, May 23
Anton Ginzburg, VIEW_5A_01 (2018). Courtesy of Helwaser Gallery.
10. “Anton Ginzburg: VIEWs” at Helwaser Gallery
Inaugurating its new location on Madison Avenue, Helwaser Gallery presents its first exhibition with New York-based artist Anton Ginzburg. The show brings together Ginzburg’s latest body of work, VIEWs, which centers around a series of geometric, wood panel paintings based on the “binocular field of human vision.”
Location: 833 Madison Avenue, Third Floor
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; opening reception: Thursday, March 28, 2019 from 6 – 8pm
—Taylor Dafoe
Thursday, March 28–Tuesday, April 23
Fernando Botero, Concierto Campestre (2017). Courtesy of David Benrimon Fine Art.
11. “Botero 2019” at David Benrimon Fine Art
David Benrimon unveils his new Fuller Building space with a solo show of work by Fernando Botero, who, at 86, is still working today. The exhibition includes examples of his paintings, works on paper, and sculptures.
Location: David Benrimon Fine Art, 41 East 57th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Thursday, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, March 28–Saturday, May 4
Left: The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Christina (2001-13). Right: Joseph Cornell, Untitled (Yellow Sand Fountain) (1959). Courtesy of ACA Galleries.
12. “Bruce High Quality Foundation: The End of Western Art” at ACA Galleries
For the collective’s first US exhibition in three years, curator Nemo Librizzi will pair works by the Bruce High Quality Foundation with the very artists that the collective references throughout their oeuvre. That includes examples of ancient art, Renaissance artists such as Giorgio Vasari, and 20th-century masters such as Pablo Picasso, Chaim Soutine, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Marcel Duchamp, and Joseph Cornell, among others.
Location: ACA Galleries, 529 West 20th Street #5E
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday –Saturday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
—Eileen Kinsella
George Widener, Magic Square (2016). Courtesy of Ricco/Maresca.
13. “Playing Games: Chance, Skill, and Abstraction” at Ricco/Maresca
Can anything be considered art? Ricco/Maresca answers this question by juxtaposing old-fashioned board games alongside George Widener’s “Magic Square” works to elevate these anonymously designed, turn-of-the-century objects into modern art.
Location: Ricco/Maresca, 529 West 20th Street, third floor
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Neha Jambhekar
Thursday, March 28–Sunday, May 5
Sara Ludy, Cygnus (2019). Courtesy of bitforms gallery.
14. “Sara Ludy: Unearth” at bitforms gallery
You may have missed the final supermoon of 2019 last week, but Sara Ludy’s new show at bitforms gallery has all of the celestial vibes you could want. For her second solo show, the artist continues to pursue lines of inquiry related to fictional, utopian environments and the imagined beings that inhabit them.
Location: bitforms gallery, 131 Allen Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday, noon–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Friday, March 29–Sunday, March 31
Harvey Redding, Subway Toilet Twink (2018). Courtesy of the Leslie-Lohman Museum.
15. “Harvey Redding: Recent Erotic Creations” at the Leslie-Lohman Museum
Inspired by the idealized gay sex icons that he encountered in TV, film, and porn magazines, Harvey Redding’s romanticized, colorful images of gay men were created using an automated silk screen Risograph printer. The show features 40 3-D multimedia works.
Location: Leslie-Lohman Project Space, 127-B Prince Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Neha Jambhekar
Saturday, March 30
Claire Sherman, Vines (2018). Courtesy of DC Moore Gallery.
16. Claire Sherman in Conversation With Melissa Messina at DC Moore
On the occasion of her show of landscape paintings, “New Pangaea” (through April 6), Claire Sherman will speak with independent curator Melissa Messina about her work, which explores romantic notions of the sublime in nature.
Location: DC Moore Galery, 535 West 22nd Street
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 4 p.m.
—Nan Stewart
Through Sunday, March 31
Pat Phillips, Induction Cut (2018). Courtesy Catinca Tabacaru, New York.
17. “Pat Phillips: SubSuperior” at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery
This is your last chance to catch 2019 Whitney Biennial artist Pat Phillips’s exhibitions of paintings at Catinca Tabacaru Gallery. The UK-born, Louisiana-raised painter’s work draws on his experience growing up in a Southern suburb among four other black families that paid the bills by doing blue-collar work. “Out of the folks who looked like myself, we had a bus driver, janitor, factory worker, a Baptist preacher/lawyer, and my dad…a Corrections Officer at the local prison,” the artist says in a statement. One of the most confident pictures in the show depicts a man getting a shave in a barber shop. The show also speaks to Phillips’s interest in in graffiti, and includes an actual porta potty covered in scrawls.
Location: 250 Broome Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.
—Pac Pobric
Through Sunday, April 7
Courtesy of Y2K group.
18. “Stephanie Hier: Gridded and Girdled” at Y2K group
Situated in a small room within a six-story Tribeca building is an immersive installation by Canadian-born artist Stephanie Hier. Hier’s new body of mixed-media work, which includes dyed linens, latex, oil, ceramic, and temporary tattoos are playfully echoed by wall decals and a multi-colored checkered floor. The result is a “rabbit hole” art viewing experience that is becoming increasingly sought after by museum and gallery goers.
Location: Y2K group, 373 Broadway, #E18
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.
—Cristina Cruz