Each week, we search for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events, both digitally and in-person in the New York area. See our picks from around the world below. (Times are all ET unless otherwise noted.)
1. “Ben Davis in Conversation With Julieta Aranda and Naeem Mohaiemen” at Haymarket Books
Artnet News’s own Ben Davis has a new book of essays, Art in the After-Culture: Capitalist Crisis and Cultural Strategy, and he’s celebrating its release with a virtual conversation with artists Julieta Aranda and Naeem Mohaiemen. They’ll consider how art is being shaped by global crises and the dysfunctions of capitalism, and whether culture can still be a force for social good in our increasingly troubled world.
Price: Free
Time: 5 p.m.–6:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, March 30
Portrait head of Marcus Cocceius Nerva, re-carved from a portrait of the Roman Emperor Domitian. AD 96–98, Roman. Marble. Image courtesy Getty Museum
2. “What to Do With a Smashed Statue, From Antiquity and Today” at the Getty
What happens to monuments after they are toppled or smashed? It’s a timely question given the events of recent years amid ongoing calls for social justice. The afterlives of statues can bring communities together—or drive them further apart. Art historian Erin Thompson, whose recent book examines controversies over American monuments, and Patricia Eunji Kim of New York University and Monument Lab, discuss how the destruction and transformation of statues in ancient times can inspire creative responses to controversial monuments today.
Price: Free with registration
Time: 11 a.m. P.T. (2 p.m. E.T.)
—Eileen Kinsella
Wednesday, March 30–April 30
A photo by Bruce Bennett in “Easy When the Love Don’t Hide.” Photo courtesy of the artist and Baxter St.
3. “Easy When the Love Don’t Hide” at Baxter Street, New York
Baxter Street is partnering with YoungArts on the first New York solo show of photographs by Bruce Bennett, a 2014 YoungArts Winner. He’s created an immersive installation of large-scale black-and-white images that explore issues of race, gender, sexuality, and class in a celebration of Black love. “Black love is fighting for your family, loving the ones who share the same magic as you, even if they are impoverished, differ in sexual orientation, mentally unstable, uneducated, or incarcerated,” Bennett said in a statement. “It’s about defending them when there is no gravity to ground them and fighting for self and others because they are the only ones you have.”
Location: Baxter St, 126 Baxter Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 5 p.m.–8 p.m. Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, March 31–Saturday, May 7
Andy Goldsworthy, Red Flags (Maryland) (2020). Photo courtesy of Galerie Lelong, New York.
4. “Andy Goldsworthy: Red Flags” at Galerie Lelong, New York
For his latest show at Galerie Lelong, Any Goldsworthy presents Red Flags, a set of 50 reddish-brown flags colored with earth from each state. The artist, who first showed the work at New York’s Rockefeller Center for Frieze Sculpture 2020, was inspired when he saw state flags flying at the site in November 2019. “Collectively, I hope they will transcend borders,” Goldsworthy wrote when proposing the public art installation. “The closeness of one flagpole to another means that in certain winds the flags might overlap in a continuous flowing line. My hope is that these flags will be raised to mark a different kind of defense of the land. A work that talks of connection and not division.” At the gallery, the flags, now weathered due to exposure to the elements, will be shown alongside two related films.
Location: Galerie Lelong, 528 West 26th Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, March 31–Sunday, April 10
The Winter Show. Photo courtesy of the Winter Show.
5. “The Winter Show 2022—in Spring” at 660 Madison Ave, New York
When the omicron variant derailed plans for the in-person return of the Winter Show, New York’s premiere antiques fair, the seasonal event had to pivot: not only is it opening in the spring, but it’s also moved this year into the old Barneys New York department store. Fashionable window displays are sure to lure in passersby to peruse its 5,000 years of art and design objects from 70 international dealers.
Location: 660 Madison Ave, New York
Price: $30 general admission
Time: Opening night preview party, 5 p.m.–9 p.m.; Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 12 p.m.–4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Saturday, April 2
Artist Mel Chin and some of the many collaborators of the Fundred Project, pictured with the Fundred Reserve. Photo by Yassine El Mansouri.
6. “VIVA Brooklyn! With Mel Chin” at the Brooklyn Museum
To celebrate the return of its free First Saturday program, the Brooklyn Museum has enlisted Mel Chin to stage the finale of his Fundred Project, launched in 2008 in an effort to end lead poisoning and to help communities recover from contaminated water and soil. The environmental artist has worked with nearly half a million kids to make “Fundred Dollar Bills” and present them to national politicians to demonstrate the value of working to ensure a future in which there is no lead poisoning.
Location: Brooklyn Museum Plaza, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn
Price: Free with registration
Time: 5 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Katie Stout, Chandelier (2021). Photo courtesy of R and Company, New York.
7. “Nasher Prize Dialogues: The Uncanny Politics of Objects” at the University of Texas
For its annual Nasher Prize weekend, honoring Nasher Prize laureate Nairy Baghramian. the Nasher Sculpture Center is holding a panel discussion about the increasingly blurry borders between art, craft, furniture, and design with artists Minjae Kim, Su Wu, Peter Shire, and Katie Stout.
Location: The Crow Collection of Asian Art, 2010 Flora St, Dallas, Texas, and on Vimeo
Price: Free with registration
Time: 12 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, April 17
8. “Beneath Tongues: Swiss Institute Annual Architecture and Design Series” and “Real Madrid: Bloodsuckers” at the Swiss Institute, New York
It’s your last chance to catch these shows at the Swiss Institute. “Beneath Tongues,” curated by artist Sable Elyse Smith, brings together 15 artists, seven writers, and an ensemble of musicians to reveal the elemental role of language, sound, and noisemaking in establishing new realities. “Real Madrid: Bloodsuckers,” meanwhile, is the first solo show by the artist collective in the US and showcases a new body of work that expands on the challenges of dealing with bed bugs. Real Madrid, which was founded in Geneva in 2015, stages exhibitions in which hand-crafted objects mix with commercial products. The name of the collective itself is a knock-off of the popular Spanish soccer team.
Location: Swiss Institute 38 St Marks Place, New York
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Friday, 12 p.m.–8 p.m.; Saturday 12 p.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 12 p.m.-6 p.m.
—Eileen Kinsella
Through Saturday, May 7
Rose Nestler, The Red Shoes. Photo courtesy of Mrs., Queens.
9. “Rose Nestler: Too Bad for Heaven, Too Good for Hell” at Mrs., Queens
Make sure to catch Rose Nestler’s first solo exhibition at Mrs. gallery. The Brooklyn-based artist, who works in wall-mounted fabric sculptures, presents a body of work that at first glance exudes femininity through its subject matter and composition. But deeper inspection reveals a more sinister meaning influenced by the artist’s personal views, societal culture, and grim fairy tales. The show also includes a new video by the artist titled Satisfying Slime Storytime.
Location: Mrs., 60-40 56th Drive, Maspeth, Queens
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday, 12 p.m.–5 p.m.
—Neha Jambhekar
Through Saturday, May 7
Luke O’Halloran, Kenny building a house of cards (2022). Courtesy of Nicelle Beauchene Gallery.
10. “Luke O’Halloran: Cards Cats People and Stars” at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York
Luke O’Halloran’s paintings depict precarious moments of chance suspended forever like houses of cards, spinning slot machines, moments of magic tricks. O’Halloran’s new works, all made in 2022, zoom in and out from quotidian moments of gambling to a painting of a star-cluttered the Milky Way.
Location: Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, 7 Franklin Place, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.—6 p.m.
—Katie White
Through Sunday, May 8
Work by Joel Gaitan. Photo courtesy of 56 Henry.
11. “Joel Gaìtan: Lágrimas de Oro” at 56 Henry, New York
Head to 56 Henry for a very rare showcase of Nicaraguan and Mesoamerican culture. Inspired by the legend of La Llorona, Catholicism, and aspects of his personal life, Joel Gaìtan’s ceramics are also humorous and erotic. Gilded details like the name chain on Reina de Tegucigalpa and the pierced nipples on Se Vende Pitaya bring the (at first glance) traditional forms into contemporary life and joyfully accent the red, terracotta vessels. As the Miami-based sculptor recently said in an interview with W magazine: “We get stuck in this Latinidad box, but in reality, we are so different from each other… My goal is to break out of this Latinidad culture. I’m Nica. And I want you to learn what that means.”
Location: 56 Henry, 56 Henry Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12–6 p.m.
—Cristina Cruz
Through Saturday June 4
Installation view of “Courage Before Expectations,” curated by Keith Rivers at the FLAG Art Foundation. Photo by Steven Probert. Image courtesy FLAG Art Foundation.
12. “Courage Before Expectation” at the FLAG Art Foundation, New York
This group exhibition curated by former NFL player Keith Rivers feels like a lineup of can’t-miss blue chip names and artworks. It’s inspired by quotes that reflect the combination of Rivers’s life in sports and his passion for contemporary art, as well as an exploration of the pursuit of dreams and aspirational trajectories. It includes works by Etel Adnan, Mark Bradford, Sonia Gomes, Philip Guston, Carmen Herrera, On Kawara, Kerry James Marshall, Thaddeus Mosley, and Laura Owens.
Location: FLAG Art Foundation, 545 West 25th Street, 9th Floor, New York
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Eileen Kinsella