Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Tuesday, October 15
Storm King president John Stern speaks at the Storm King Art Center’s fifth annual Gala Dinner
and Live Auction at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York. Photo by Benjamin Lozovsky, courtesy BFA.
1. “Storm King Art Center Annual Gala and After Party” at the Rainbow Room
As always, Storm King’s big fall fundraiser at the Rainbow Room will feature stunning views of Manhattan from 65 floors up at 30 Rock. The evening will honor artist Lynda Benglis, who had a 2015 show at the massive sculpture park, and Nancy Nasher, daughter of Raymond Nasher, who lent his name to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University and the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, both of which she helped him found. For the third year running, there’s also an after party, with music from the art world’s favorite DJ, April Hunt.
Location: The Rainbow Room, 30 Rockefeller Plaza
Price: After party $200
Time: Cocktails, 6:30 p.m.; dinner, 7:30 p.m.; after party, 9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Take Home a Nude for the New York Academy of Art at Sotheby’s New York. Courtesy of BFA.
2. “The New York Academy of Art’s Take Home a Nude Art Auction + Party” at Sotheby’s
One of the most reliably enjoyable art world galas, Take Home a Nude is known for its surprisingly high-stakes silent auction—exotically clad stilt walkers appear periodically to warn guests when the bidding is about to close in each room, and the food and drink are reliably excellent. You can bring home works by well-known artists as well as New York Academy of Art students, including works drawn from live models at Will Cotton’s annual Take Home a Nude drawing party. This year’s edition honors painter Dana Schutz, who’ll be offering a new work for the occasion.
Location: Sotheby’s New York, 1134 York Avenue
Price: $300
Time: Cocktails 6 p.m., live auction 8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, October 16
Patti Smith at Park Avenue Armory on March 31, 2015 in New York City. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images.
3. “The Crucible of Creativity With Anthony Alofsin & Patti Smith” at the Museum of the City of New York
Architect and author Anthony Alofsin will speak with performer and artist Patti Smith about his new book, Wright and New York: The Making of America’s Architect, and how the city of New York served as a fount of inspiration for his subject, Frank Lloyd Wright. The evening also includes a reception.
Location: Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Avenue at East 103rd Street
Price: $60
Time: 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Don McCullin, Early Morning, West Hartlepool, England (1963). Photo courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery.
4. “A Conversation With Don McCullin” at Howard Greenberg Gallery
Photojournalist Don McCullin will reminisce about his 60-year career documenting sites of conflict, including Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and Syria, with CBS This Morning co-host and journalist Anthony Mason.
Location: Howard Greenberg Gallery, 41 East 57th Street
Price: Free, with limited seating
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Tanner West
Thursday, October 17—Saturday, June 13
Marino Marini, Pomono (1945). Fondazione Marino Marini, Pistoia
5. “Marino Marini: Arcadian Nudes” at the Center for Italian Modern Art (CIMA)
Marini’s career was kick-started in the 1920s with sculptures of female nudes that adhered closely to archaic forms, including Egyptian, Etruscan, and pre-Classical Greek styles. This exhibition will be the first in the US to present the best examples of Marini’s large nudes, from the Pomona of 1941 to the Dancer of 1949. The sculptures will be exhibited alongside a series of small bronze nudes created by the artist in Tenero, Switzerland, in the late years of the Second World War (1943–1945).
Location: The Center for Italian Modern Art, 421 Broome Street, 4th floor
Price: General admission $10; guided tours $15
Time: Thursday–Saturday, 2 p.m.–6 p.m. with tours at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays
—Eileen Kinsella
Thursday, October 17
New Museum staff with Marcia Tucker (back row, upper left) and (clockwise, from left) A.C. Bryson, Allan Schwartzman, Susan Logan, and Michiko Miyamoto. Photo courtesy of Warren Silverman/the New Museum.
6. “Out of Bounds: The Collected Writings of Marcia Tucker Book Launch and Panel Discussion” at the New Museum
The New Museum celebrates its late founder, Marcia Tucker, with an event timed to the publication of Out of Bounds: The Collected Writings of Marcia Tucker. One of the museum’s first curators, Allan Schwartzman, now executive vice president at Sotheby’s, will be among the art-world leaders speaking on a panel about Tucker’s legacy. The talk is moderated by the book’s editor and the director of the New Museum, Lisa Phillips.
Location: The New Museum, 235 Bowery
Price: $15
Time: 7 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, October 17–Saturday, November 16
Sanam Khatibi, Fantastic Beasts (2019). Courtesy of P.P.O.W
7. “Sanam Khatibi: An Hour Before the Devil Fell” at P.P.O.W.
Belgian artist Sanam Khatibi paints nude figures frolicking in ethereal landscapes in works reminiscent of Renaissance paintings. The almost palpable softness of these pictures draws viewers in, and the ambiguity of the subject matter makes them feel like they are intruding on sacred rituals. The show is her first with the gallery.
Location: P.P.O.W., 535 West 22nd Street, 3rd Floor
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Neha Jambhekar
Thursday, October 17–Saturday, December 14
Saskia Noor Van Imhoff, detail of #+40.00, 2019. Courtesy of the artist and GRIMM Amsterdam | New York.
8. “Saskia Noor van Imhoff: #+40.00” at GRIMM
For her first solo exhibition at GRIMM, the Canada-born, Amsterdam-based multidisciplinary artist Saskia Noor van Imhoff chose not to hold back. Her environmental installation #+40.00 creates a bewitching closed system that challenges visitors’ conclusions at every new turn. Color-filtered ambient light, a gallery floor covered wall-to-wall in salt crystals, a grouping of plaster sculptures that nod to human anatomy and decaying statuary, vine-like tubes of neon light slashing through the tableau—even the humidity in the space varies from zone to zone. What does it all mean? The only way to find out is to experience it for yourself.
Location: GRIMM, 202 Bowery
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Thursday, October 17-Sunday, December 7
Howardena Pindell, Autobiography: Phoenix (Christmas/Car, 1990) (1992). Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery.
9. “Howardena Pindell: Autobiography” at Garth Greenan Gallery
This exhibition explores the “Autobiography” series by Howardena Pindell, which she made in the aftermath of a car accident that left her with severe memory impairment. As a method of coping with her injuries, the artist began making work that reflected her mental state as it ebbed and flowed.
Location: Garth Greenan, 545 West 20th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Thursday, October 17–January 5, 2020
D.A. Jasper, Aliens (circa 1990). Photo by Ola Baldych, courtesy of Poster House.
10. “Baptized By Beefcake: The Golden Age of Hand-Painted Movie Posters from Ghana” at Poster House
Poster House explores the “Golden Age” of hand-painted movie posters in Ghana, in the 1980s and ’90s. Work by 22 artists feature characters from such blockbuster films as Rambo and Terminator.
Location: Poster House, 119 West 23rd Street
Price: $12 general admission
Time: Wednesday–Monday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tanner West
Friday, October 18–Sunday, February 9, 2020
Edith Halpert at the Downtown Gallery, surrounded by some of her artists, in a photograph for Life magazine in 1952. Photograph © Estate of Louis Faurer. Courtesy of the Jewish Museum.
11. “Edith Halpert and the Rise of American Art” at the Jewish Museum
Though you may not know her name, so much of American art history is owed to one of the country’s first female gallerists, the Russian emigre Edith Halpert. In the first survey to look closely at Halpert’s career, the Jewish Museum tracks her rise through her support of artists ranging from Jacob Lawrence to Georgia O’Keeffe.
Location: The Jewish Museum, 1109 5th Avenue
Price: $18 general admission
Time: Sunday-Saturday, 11 a.m.–5:45 p.m.;Thursday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.–5:45 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Friday, October 18
Donald Judd in 1970. Photo Paul Katz, courtesy Judd-Hume Prize.
12. “Film Screening and Talk: The Artist’s Studio: Donald Judd” at Metrograph
In celebration of the release of Donald Judd: Interviews from David Zwirner Books, Metrograph will screen Michael Blackwood’s documentary film The Artist’s Studio: Donald Judd, followed by a conversation between the director and the book’s co-editors, Flavin Judd and Caitlin Murray. The night will kick off with the premiere of archival footage of Judd in Marfa. You can also visit the Judd Foundation at 101 Spring Street any time between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, October 19, for a marathon reading with free with registration.
Location: Metrograph, 7 Ludlow Street
Price: $15
Time: 5:45 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Saturday, October 19
Tourmaline. Photo courtesy of the Barnard Center for Research on Women.
13. A Blade of Grass Assembly at the Museum of the Moving Image
A Blade of Grass is teaming up with the Museum of the Moving image to present an event on art and social justice. Activist, filmmaker, and writer Tourmaline will give a keynote presentation, while separate program topics will include presentations on how the visual arts intersect with mental illness, disability, and gender presentation, and how film can be used to combat stereotypes about immigrants.
Location: Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Avenue, Queens
Price: Full day, $35; half day, $20
Time: 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Storm Prototype (2007). Photo courtesy of the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum.
14. “Weather Report: A Symposium on Art and Weather” at Western Connecticut State University
The voice of New York weather, WCBS 880 meteorologist Craig Allen, is hosting a cross-disciplinary symposium for artists and researchers about art and weather. Speakers include New York Botanical Garden vice president Todd Forrest and artists Kim Keever and Pat Pickett, both of whom are featured in the Aldrich Museum’s current exhibition, “Weather Report.” On view through March 29, 2020, the show features work from artists including Nick Cave and Andy Goldsworthy that explore not only weather, but the earth’s climate and atmosphere.
Location: Western Connecticut State University, 181 White Street, Science Building Room 125, Danbury, Connecticut
Price: Free with registration
Time: 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, October 19
Alma Thomas, Summer at its Best, (1968). Courtesy of Mnuchin Gallery.
15. “Alma Thomas: Resurrection” at Mnuchin Gallery
The last time that Alma Thomas, the great African American painter known for her colorful abstractions, had a solo show in New York City was way back in 1976 at Martha Jackson Gallery. For the occasion, Mnuchin Gallery has secured institutional loans from across the country, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, and the Tampa Museum of Art.
Location: Mnuchin Gallery, 45 East 78th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20
Drawings by Karen Mainenti. Photo courtesy of Ground Floor Gallery.
16. Gowanus Open Studios from Arts Gowanus
Over 3,000 local artists and art organizations have signed up to show at this year’s Gowanus Open Studios. In addition to catching artists at work, you can also explore the local gallery scene, including Ground Floor Gallery. Their current show, “Message in a Bottle: Karen Mainenti” (on view through November 3), expands upon Mainenti’s booth at this year’s SPRING BREAK Art Show, staging a boutique filled with drawings, paintings, and sculptures that critique gendered advertising messaging.
Location: Various locations throughout Gowanus
Price: Free
Time: 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, October 20
Nam June Paik, Music Is Not Sound (1988). Photo courtesy of James Cohan.
17. “Nam June Paik: Music Is Not Sound” at James Cohan
James Cohan presents the work of pioneering video artist Nam June Paik, including Main Channel Matrix (1993–96), a monumental video wall made up 65 television sets playing his 1973 broadcast Global Groove on loop. The wide-ranging footage intercuts contemporary dance from Merce Cunningham with television commercials, rock music concerts, traditional Korean performance, and news broadcasts.
Location: James Cohan, 291 Grand Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Friday, October 25
Tavares Strachan, Smalls (from Hidden Histories series) (2018). Photo courtesy of SFA Advisory.
18. “Tavares Strachan: Smalls (from Hidden Histories series)” at SFA Advisory
SFA Advisory’s new Tribeca space is showing a new body of work by Tavares Strachan inspired by his involvement with Space X and research about Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., the first African-American astronaut, who died during training. It’s curated by Neville Wakefield, who will be doing monthly projects with SFA Advisory next year.
Location: SFA Advisory, 45 White Street
Price: Free
Time: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, October 27
Thomas Fougeirol, Monoprint, Invasive Species. Courtesy of the artist.
19. “The Role of a Flower” at OSTUDIO
This group show curated by Marie Salomé Peyronnel focuses on floral works, including a new series of Dutch Masters-inspired Polaroid still lifes by Siri Thorson, monoprints of weeds by Thomas Fougeirol, and the colorful thread works of Sophia Narrett.
Location: OSTUDIO, 366 Stockton Street, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Naudline Pierre, A Light in the Dark (2018).
20. “Procession” at Vacation Gallery
The Lower East Side’s always en-pointe Vacation Gallery is also home to pop-ups for galleries wanting a temporary downtown outpost. Now, Los Angeles’s Shulamit Nazarian has taken residence, hosting the kaleidoscopic group show “Procession,” which weaves together artistic questions surrounding the body, religion, love and storytelling. Be sure not to miss the work of Brooklyn’s own Naudline Pierre, whose angelic and sublimely colorful images are like those of a modern-day William Blake, alongside other excellent recent work by Trenton Doyle Hancock, Annie Lapin, Mark McKnight, Fay Ray, Michael Stamm, Cammie Staros, and Summer Wheat.
Location: Vacation Gallery, 24A Orchard Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–7 p.m.
—Katie White
Through Saturday, November 2
Anna Weyant, Put Yourself in My Shoes (2019). Courtesy of 56 HENRY.
21. “Anna Weyant: Welcome to the Dollhouse” at 56 HENRY
Dollhouses—little miniaturized worlds of domesticity—are poetically redolent of girlhood dreams. But they’re also almost comically spooky. Anna Weyant’s new exhibition of paintings navigates that tension with wry aplomb through 12 works, including depictions of dollhouses that call to mind the Surrealist scenes of René Magritte.
Location: 56 HENRY, 56 Henry Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–6p.m.
—Katie White
Through Wednesday, November 13
Ralston Crawford, Torn Signs (1974–76). Courtesy the Vilcek Foundation.
22. “Ralston Crawford: Torn Signs” at the Vilcek Foundation
This eye-opening show, curated by Emily Schuchardt Navratil, looks at two of the American modernist Ralston Crawford’s major points of focus: his photographs of torn advertisements and his fascination with the Spanish city of Seville, which he visited on several occasions during its holy week festivities. On the gallery’s ground floor, closely cropped photos from his “Torn Signs” series lead visitors to a 1974–76 abstract painting of the same name. Upstairs, pictures by Crawford of holy week processions in Spain, with hooded figures carrying ornate relics, are arranged alongside abstract paintings that borrow formal elements from the pictures. Altogether, the show emphasizes how Crawford returned to certain compositions again and again, refining elements, playing with forms, altering colors, and exploring the boundaries of different media. Free tours of the show, which usually take place on Mondays and Wednesday, will be supplemented with three tours on Saturday, October 26. On the show’s final Friday, November 8, the gallery will be open until 8:30 p.m.
Location: The Vilcek Foundation, 21 East 70th Street
Price: Free; advance registration required
Time: Mondays, Wednesday, select Saturdays, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.; advance registration required, see website for details
—Pac Pobric