Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Sunday, May 6–ongoing
Mary Corse’s Untitled (Black Earth Series) (1978). © Mary Corse. Courtesy the artist and Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles; Lehmann Maupin, New York; and Lisson, London.
1. “Mary Corse” at Dia:Beacon
It’s rare for an artist to receive her first solo museum show 50 years after accepting her BFA. It’s nearly unheard of for such an artist’s first two solo museum shows to open within a month of one another, at two of the most august institutions in New York. But that’s the story with Mary Corse. The first of her long-deserved twin openings happened yesterday at Dia:Beacon, where eight works by Corse are now on long-term view until at least 2021. Although the pieces range from her signature paintings embedded with light-refracting glass microspheres to shimmering clay tiles fired in an enormous kiln designed and built by the artist in the 1970s, the exhibition shows the surprising diversity in Corse’s mission to, in her words, “put the light in the painting”—and welcome viewers into an active conversation with the mysteries of their own perceptions.
Location: Dia:Beacon, 3 Beekman Street, Beacon
Price: $15 general admission for adults; $12 for students and seniors
Time: Thursday–Monday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Tuesday, May 8
Zoe Leonard created the “Fae Richard Archive,” on view in her current Whitney Museum exhibition, for Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film The Watermelon Woman. Photo courtesy of Zoe Leonard.
2. The Watermelon Woman at Alamo Drafthouse
At “Zoe Leonard: Survey,” on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art through June 10, I was captivated by a display case full of what appeared to be a collection of archival photographs documenting the life and career a little-known lesbian black actress named Fae Richards. Leonard actually made the images for Cheryl Dunye’s 1996 film The Watermelon Women, inspired by the all-too-often uncredited work of black women in cinema. Dunye’s film, a landmark work of New Queer Cinema and the first feature-length movie directed by a black lesbian woman, is returning to the screen at Brooklyn’s Alamo Drafthouse this week. Coupled with Leonard’s exhibition, it makes for a perfect double feature.
Location: Alamo Drafthouse, 445 Albee Square W #4, Downtown Brooklyn
Price: $12
Time: 7 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, May 9
Isabel Wilkerson and her book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. Photo by Joe Henson, book cover courtesy of Penguin Random House.
3. Isabel Wilkerson on The Warmth of Other Suns at the Museum of Arts and Design
Isabel Wilkerson, the National Humanities Medalist and decorated author and historian, gives a lecture on her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. The book inspired MoMA’s celebrated 2015 exhibition of Jacob Lawrence’s “Migration Series.” A book signing will follow the talk.
Location: The Museum of Arts and Design, 2 Columbus Circle
Price: $20
Time: 6:30 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
An excerpt from The Blind Man. Courtesy of Ugly Duckling Press.
4. “An Evening of Readings and Discussion with Barry Schwabsky and Friends” at Anita Rogers Gallery
Anita Rogers Gallery and Ugly Duckling Press are teaming up celebrate the current exhibition “The Divine Joke,” curated by Barry Schwabsky and on view through June 2, as well as the publication of a new edition of The Blind Man, Marcel Duchamp’s 1917 Dada magazine. Schwabsky will be joined by writer and artist Christopher Stackhouse, art critic and poet John Yau, The Blind Man editor Sophie Seita, author Diana Hamilton, artist James Hoff, and Ugly Duckling Press’s Matvei Yankelevich.
Location: Anita Rogers Gallery, 15 Greene Street
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, May 10
David Bowie, “Life on Mars?” music video still. Photo ©Mick Rock, 1973/2018.
5. “Music Video Night: Mick Rock on David Bowie” at the Brooklyn Museum
Legendary rock music photographer Mick Rock hosts a discussion about the music videos he created with David Bowie, currently the subject of the blockbuster exhibition “David Bowie is,” on view through July 15. Watch the videos for “John, I’m Only Dancing,” “The Jean Genie,” “Space Oddity,” and “Life on Mars?” as well as an unreleased music video that will be given its first ever public screening.
Location: The Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor
Price: $16 (includes museum entrance, but not tickets to “David Bowie is”)
Time: 7 p.m.–9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, May 10–Saturday, June 17
Philip Pearlstein, Two Models, Rooster Weathervane, Luna Park Lion, and Blow-up Dinosaur (2016). Courtesy of the artist and Betty Cunningham Gallery.
6. “Philip Pearlstein: Today” at Betty Cunningham Gallery
Those interested in how artists reinterpret their favorite tropes later in life would do well to view this selection of recent paintings by Philip Pearlstein, which bear a strong resemblance to those he made two to three decades earlier—right down to the patterned carpeting in many of the domestic interior scenes. The catalogue for this show reproduces an article Pearlstein wrote in 1971 avowing his desire to “create strong aggressive paintings that would compete with the best of abstraction,” which remains his goal.
Location: Betty Cunningham Gallery, 15 Rivington Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Thursday, May 10–Saturday, June 23
Robert Irwin’s Untitled (2018). © Robert Irwin/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photograph by Mark Waldhauser.
7. “Robert Irwin: New ‘SCULPTURE/CONFIGURATIONS‘” at Pace Gallery
The fact that Irwin is even producing new work at the age of 89 is noteworthy. That his new work shows that he is still operating at the height of his powers is, frankly, remarkable. Fresh off a stunning installation at Sprüth Magers Los Angeles earlier this year, the artist will debut a series of column sculptures constructed from various configurations of acrylic panels, as well as a corresponding set of ink-on-Mylar drawings. As always with Irwin, the pieces will be conditioned to the particularities of the site and will challenge our understanding of space, light, and physicality. Go for the perceptual experience. Stay to absorb the hope that we can all find a way to keep getting stronger with age.
Location: Pace Gallery, 32 East 57th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 4 p.m.–7 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Friday, May 11–Sunday, May 13
Courtesy of the Queens Museum.
8. “Open Engagement 2018: Sustainability” at the Queens Museum
For the tenth iteration of the grassroots conference Open Engagement, the Queens Museum will host a series of critical conversations and lectures that address the current state of socially engaged art. Events will take place at a constellation of sites, from a barge in Brooklyn to El Museo de Los Sures. Featured artists include Lucy Lippard and Mel Chin, who is the subject of an exhibition at the Queens Museum.
Location: Queens Museum, New York City Building, Queens, among others (see full schedule for detailed locations)
Price: Sliding scale registration starting at $75
Time: Full schedule available online
—Caroline Goldstein
Through Sunday, May 13
Andy Warhol, The Chelsea Girls (1966), screenshot in double screen. ©2018 the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, a museum of Carnegie Institute.
9. “The Chelsea Girls Exploded” at the Museum of Modern Art
MoMA’s latest film series is dedicated to Andy Warhol’s provocative documentation of New York’s radical, underground 1960s art scene. His experimental 1966 split-screen film, The Chelsea Girls, shot in part at the iconic Hotel Chelsea, is the subject of a new book, Andy Warhol’s The Chelsea Girls. If you missed the two 16mm screenings of The Chelsea Girls this past weekend, you can catch the digital version next Sunday at 3 p.m., and numerous other related films by the artist, some of which have never been seen before, over the course of the next two weeks.
Location: Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street
Price: $12 per screening
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, May 19
Installation view of “Anne Collier” at Anton Kern Galley. Courtesy of Anton Kern Galley.
10. “Anne Collier” at Anton Kern Gallery
For her fifth solo exhibition with Anton Kern, Anne Collier presents new works from her ongoing series “Woman Crying,” zooming in on the tears of women in romance comics from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s.
Location: Anton Kern Gallery, 16 East 55th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Polina Barskaya, Hudson at Night (2018). Courtesy of Monya Rowe Gallery.
11. “Polina Barskaya: Brightwater Avenue” at Monya Rowe Gallery
Monya Rowe unveils its new gallery space with Polina Barskaya’s paintings, depicting quiet domestic scenes that document her daily life in the Russian neighborhood of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn.
Location: Monya Rowe Gallery, 224 West 30th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, June 16
Ashley Teamer, Rated Rookie (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Fort Gansevoort.
12. “Ashley Teamer: Rated Rookie” at Fort Gansevoort
New Orleans-based artist Ashley Teamer’s exhibition of sculpture and paintings feature intricate collages made from basketball trading cards. Although her work incorporates cards from both the WNBA and NBA, the men’s faces are both more immediately recognizable and more fraught with the history of collectibles—rookie cards were often considered more valuable but ultimately became worthless after being overproduced, leaving a glut of material for Teamer to use.
Location: Fort Gansevoort, 5 Ninth Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein