Each week, we search for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. In light of the global health crisis, we are currently highlighting events in person and digitally, as well as in-person exhibitions open in the New York area. See our picks from around the world below. (Times are all E.S.T. unless otherwise noted.)
Wednesday, May 19
Katherine Wilson-Milne, Wendy Cromwell, and Julia Fowler. Photo courtesy of Schindler Cohen and Hochman.
1. “The Risks and Rewards of Art Collecting,” a virtual panel by Schindler Cohen and Hochman LLP, Wendy Cromwell Art LLC, and CSM Capital Corporation
The rewards of collecting art may be clear, but what key legal and practical risks should collectors be aware of with respect to buying, selling, and managing their works? Join art advisor Wendy Cromwell, art lawyer Katherine Wilson-Milne, and financial expert Julia Fowler for a discussion on best practices for your art collection. They will touch on issues including pre-purchase due diligence and documenting art transactions, such as purchase, sale, loan, and donation contracts. They will also explore potential pitfalls and matters related to living with art, including insurance, care, placement, storage, and appraisals.
Price: Free with registration
Time: 11 a.m.
—Eileen Kinsella
Wednesday, May 19–Sunday, May 23
Roldán Lauzán Eiras, Viento Turquesa (Teal Wind), 2021. Courtesy of JCamejo Art.
2. “The Affordable Art Fair” at the Metropolitan Pavilion
The return of IRL art fairs continues in New York with the spring edition of the Affordable Art Fair, where everything costs less than $10,000—including an entire wall of $500-and-under works. The fair is offering a hybrid in-person/digital model, with one-on-one “Shop With a Specialist” Zoom consultations. For physical visitors, there will also be “a special site activation” by Francisco Donoso from Brooklyn art advisory Domingo Comms, featuring a site-specific mural made of mylar panels titled Playground.
Location: Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, New York
Price: $30 general admission
Time: Private view Wednesday, 5 p.m.–9 p.m.; Thursday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Tanner West
Thursday, May 20
Reggie Watts; Nina Katchadourian; Glenda R. Carpio. Photo courtesy of Pace.
As part of her Pace gallery exhibition “Cumulus,” Nina Katchadourian will chat on Zoom with musician Reggie Watts and writer Glenda R. Carpio about the ways in which we encounter humor, and the effects it has on us.
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 2 p.m.
—Nan Stewert
Howardena Pindell, Autobiography: Water (Ancestors/Middle Passage/Family Ghosts), 1988. Courtesy of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut. The Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund, 1989.
4. “Howardena Pindell in Conversation with Margot Norton” at Pace
The latest talk connected to the New Museum’s exhibition “Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America” (through June 6) will feature artist Howardena Pindell and curator Margot Norton.
Price: Free with
Time: 2 p.m.
—Tanner West
Installation view of “Treasure of a Nation/Collection Revealed” at the National Gallery of Iceland. Image courtesy of the Icelandic Art Center
5. “Icelandic Art: Artists and Influences” at the Consul General and Trade Commissioner of Iceland
Reykjavík Art Museum chief curator Markus Thor Andresson, Albright-Knox Museum curator Tina Rivers Ryan, and art critic and freelance curator Gregory Volk will have a virtual conversation to discuss the uniqueness of Icelandic art and artists and the major influences at work.
Price: Free with registration
Time: 3 p.m.
—Eileen Kinsella
Bethesda Fountain, the focal point of Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace, features the only sculpture that was part of the original design for the park. Angel of the Waters was designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and dedicated in 1873. Photo courtesy of Central Park.
6. “At the Hands of Women: The Female Sculptors of NYC’s Public Art Webinar” at the New York Adventure Club
Much has been made in recent years about how New York City only had five public statues dedicated to real women in history. (Efforts to rectify the imbalance are in the works.) But the artists behind the city’s public art have also been overwhelmingly male. Art historian and museum educator Sylvia Laudien-Meo hosts a virtual tour celebrating the city’s women sculptors, particularly those who defied the odds to place their work on the streets of New York. Featured artists include Emma Stebbins, the first woman ever commissioned by the city for a major public artwork—Central Park’s famous Bethesda Fountain—Alison Saar, creator of Harlem’s Harriet Tubman memorial; and Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, founder of the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Price: $10
Time: 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, May 20–Sunday, June 27
Natalie White working on her “Bleach Paintings” series. Photo by Adam Reich, courtesy of the artist.
7. “Natalie White: The Bleach Paintings” at Freight and Volume, City
Former artist muse and model Natalie White has been an artist in her own right for years, and she’s branched out from photography to painting during the pandemic, making work with what she had available while on lockdown in Mexico City. That meant turning her bedsheets into canvases, taping them up on a glass door, and painting with bleach.
Location: Freight and Volume, 97 Allen Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., or by appointment
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, May 20–Saturday, July 10
Stephanie H. Shih. Photo courtesy of Dinner Gallery.
8. “In Good Taste” at Dinner Gallery
Don’t go hungry to Dinner Gallery’s group show featuring depictions of food in art by artists including Walter Robinson, Yen Yen, and Nicole Dyer. In addition to addressing important issues such as consumerism, food waste, and the role of food in cultural identity, the exhibition is also supporting a good cause, with a portion of sale going to God’s Love We Deliver, which prepares and delivers high-quality meals to people suffering from AIDS, cancer, and other illnesses. Gallery staff, artists, and collectors will be volunteering to help cook with the organization three times during the run of show, as well as collecting canned goods to donate to the local community fridge, Chelsea Fridge + Cupboard, located at 55 West 15th Street.
Location: Dinner Gallery, 242 West 22nd Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. by appointment
—Sarah Cascone
Friday, May 21
Pair of cut glass and silver “Harlequin” earrings, probably English, (ca. 1760). Photo courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York.
9. “Cheyney McKnight Presentation” at the Corning Museum of Glass, Corning, New York
In conjunction with the Corning’s current show “In Sparkling Company: Glass and the Costs of Social Life in Britain During the 1700s” (through January 22, 2022), curator Christopher Maxwell will speak with Cheyney McKnight, founder of Not Your Momma’s History, about the lives and experiences, particularly at the dressing table, of enslaved 18th-century women who worked as ladies’ maids. Tune in on the museum’s Facebook page or YouTube to watch.
Price: Free
Time: 12 p.m.
—Nan Stewert
Friday, May 21 and Friday, May 28
The hanging of Jacques Louis David’s Portrait of Antoine-Laurent and Marie Anne Lavoisier at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Photo by Eddie Knox, ©Oxford Films, 2021.
10. Inside the Met on PBS
PBS debuts a three-part documentary series Inside The Met, originally set to debut last year as New York’s beloved Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrated its 150th anniversary. Instead, the documentary crew captured the behinds the scenes chaos as the institution faced an extended closure and a multimillion dollar budgetary shortfall due to the pandemic. Beyond that immediate crisis, the series also examines the ways in which museum leadership has been forced to grapple with issues of representation, diversity, and inclusion as the Met looks to the future. The first two episodes, “The Birthday Surprise” and “All Things to All People?,” drop this Friday, with the finale, “Love and Money,” airing next Friday.
Price: Free
Time: 9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, May 29
Joseph Delser Costa, Newports (2020). Courtesy of Clampart.
11. “Joseph Desler Costa: Soft Powers” at Clampart, New York
You have until Memorial Day weekend to see this vibe-y photography show of American artist Joseph Desler Costa at Chelsea’s ClampArt Gallery. Costa blends imagery one can find in stock photography or advertising campaigns with a Vaporwave aesthetic. This marriage of stylistic elements is a fresh but nostalgic combination and “replicate(s) advertising’s subtle, yet heavy-handed ability to commodify and create desire and identity,” as the exhibition’s press release states.
Location: Clampart, 247 W 29th Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Cristina Cruz
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