Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. In light of the global health crisis, we are currently highlighting events 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 EST unless otherwise noted.)

Opening Monday, October 19

Shoplifter, Sunny, Party, and Gothy, from the “Nervelings” series. Photo courtesy of Suite Caroline.

1. “Shoplifter: Nervelings” at Suite Caroline, New York

You don’t normally expect to see cutting-edge contemporary art—pun intended—at the hair salon, but then most artists aren’t crafting their sculptures entirely from neon strands of synthetic hair. That’s the medium of choice for Icelandic artist Shoplifter, who represented her native country with a stunning immersive installation in last year’s Venice Biennale. Her latest work is a commission by Lena Ott, the founder of Soho hair salon and an expert in unconventional, brightly colored hair coloring—a match made in heaven if there ever was one. (The two met through Icelandic pop star Björk, naturally.) The trio of colorful hair stalactites, specially designed for the space, are suspended above the hair washing stations, offering salon patrons a unique vantage point on the work as they enjoy a shampoo and conditioning.

Location: Suite Caroline, 65 Green Street #2F, New York 
Price: Free to see, salon services extra
Time: Monday–Friday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Tuesday, October 20

Agnes Pelton, Untitled (1931). Courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

2. “Ask a Curator: Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist” at the Whitney 

The Whitney Museum of American Art presents an interactive “Ask a Curator” talk about the fascinating life and work of Agnes Pelton, the little-known modernist whose oeuvre has been compared to Hilma af Klint. Pelton is the subject of a Whitney retrospective, “Agnes Pelton: Desert Transcendentalist” (on view through November 1). The conversation, to be held on Zoom, will be hosted by curator Barbara Haskell and senior curatorial assistant Sarah Humphreville. They’ll present an overview of the show and then take questions from the audience.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 7:00 p.m.

—Noor Brara

Production still from the Art21 “New York Close Up” film, “The Incredulity of Jacolby Satterwhite.” © Art21, Inc. 2020.

3. Antwaun Sargent and Jacolby Satterwhite in Conversation

Artbook @ MoMA PS1 is hosting an East Coast virtual launch of Young, Gifted and Black, writer and curator Antwaun Sargent’s book about Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi’s  collection of work by artists of African descent. Sargent will speak with multimedia artist Jacolby Satterwhite.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 7 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Image courtesy of the Observer.

4. “Arts Power 50 Webinar, Equity in the Arts” at the Observer

The Observer celebrates the release of its Arts Power 50 list with a virtual talk featuring Kemi Ilesanmi, executive director of New York’s Laundromat Project; Kibum Kim, partner at Los Angeles’s Commonwealth and Council; and Nicola Vassell, founder of Concept NV, the art advisory behind Swizz Beatz’s Dean Collection.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 4 p.m.

—Nan Stewert

Wednesday, October 21

Rachel Whiteread. Photo by Werner Hannapel, courtesy of Gagosian.

5. “Artist Spotlight: Rachel Whiteread” at Gagosian, New York

This week, Gagosian’s “Artist Spotlight” series, which trains attention on one artist per month, offers an exclusive look at a sculpture by British artist Rachel Whiteread, to be revealed on the gallery’s website on October 23 and be available for purchase for 48 hours. The gallery will also release an accompanying video in its Gagosian Quarterly series on October 21, for which Whiteread discusses the effect that the pandemic has had on her work with Ann Gallagher, former director of the British Art collection at the Tate.

Price: Free
Time: All day

—Neha Jambhekar

Lina Puerta. Photo by Michael Palma.

6. “Panel Discussion: Womanhood and Women’s Rights” at KODA, New York

KODA, a social practice-based residency for mid-career artists, celebrates the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage—and encourages Latinx voters to head to the ballot box—with a panel discussion featuring artists Lina Puerta and Elia Alba, and art historian Tatiana Reinoza, led by sociology professor Ginetta Candelario.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 6 p.m.–7:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone 

Stephanie H. Shih, Pandemic Survival Kit (2020). Image courtesy of the artist and Friends Indeed Gallery, San Francisco

7. “Bridging the Bay Area Art World” at 8-Bridges, San Francisco

8-bridges is a new gallery platform, named for the eight bridges that cross the San Francisco Bay. In this Zoom discussion, directors of three area institutions will discuss curatorial agendas and building bridges between audiences: Julie Rodrigues Widholm, the new director of Berkeley Art Museum; Alison Gass, the new director of Ithe CA San Jose; and Jay Xu, director of the Asian Art Museum. Author and art sociologist Sarah Thornton will host.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 6 p.m.

—Eileen Kinsella

Wednesday, October 21–Wednesday, November 25

Kamari Carter, Ballad for Black Blood (2020). Photo courtesy of Midnight Projects.

8. “Kamari Carter: Temporary Parallelism” at Midnight Projects, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City

It’s the inaugural show from Midnight Projects, a curatorial venture from Erin Kim that will stage shows across the New York metropolitan area. The centerpiece of this exhibition of Los Angeles artist Kamari Carter is A Ballad for Black Blood, a video work commissioned for the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha, Nebraska, that pairs a tranquil view of the ocean and blue skies with EMS audio from the day Colorado police arrested Elijah McClain, a young African American man who died after law enforcement placed him in a chokehold.

Location: Midnight Projects, Mana Contemporary, 888 Newark Avenue, Jersey City
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 5 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday by appointment

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, October 21–November 30

Andy Moerlein, Pale Wave (2020). Photo courtesy of the artist.

9. “Interpreting the Natural: Contemporary Visions of Scholars’ Rocks” at the Korean Cultural Center, New York

Contemporary artists present work in a wide range of materials, all inspired by Asian scholars’ rocks—whether it be the distinct traditions of Korea’s Suseok (of Parasite fame), Japan’s Suiseki, or China’s Gongshi. Expect ceramic sculptures by Laura Cannamela, wood carvings from Andy Moerlein, and even digital explorations by the form Furen Dai, to name just a few artists in this group show curated by Donna Dodson.

Location: Korean Cultural Center New York, 460 Park Avenue 6th Floor, New York
Price: Free with timed appointment
Time: Virtual opening reception, 5 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Tanner West

Through Thursday, October 22

Installation view of Ian L.C. Swordy sculptures at KOAN. Courtesy of KOAN.

10. New Sculptures by Ian LC Swordy at KOAN, Brooklyn

Tom Beale, an artist and onetime proprietor of the beloved “no-profit” gallery Honey Space, is inaugurating his new venture in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with a series of sculptures by New York artist Ian LC Swordy. Like Honey Space, which operated rent-free in Chelsea until 2012—until developers finally booted it to make way for residences—KOAN is a quirky, DIY affair, built out of granite countertops and wood that Beale salvaged to construct the mini courtyard space. The gallery bills itself as “intermittent, idiosyncratic, available by appointment and word of mouth.” Catch Swordy’s works for a few more days before they travel to Los Angeles, where Moskowitz Bayse will show them in November.

Location: KOAN, Red Hook, Brooklyn (address available on request)
Price: Free
Time: Monday–Thursday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m., by appointment

—Rachel Corbett

Thursday, October 22

National Women’s History Museum honors Tarana Burke and Dana Bash on May 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for The National Women’s History Museum)

11. “The Necessity of Tomorrow(s): Tarana Burke and Nadya Tolokonnikova” at the Baltimore Museum of Art

I will be honest with you—I do not deem most online talks to be must-see TV. But this one is, I promise! Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement, and artist, activist, and founding Pussy Riot member Nadya Tolokonnikova will be in conversation with New York Times staff writer Jenna Wortham, discussing activism, healing, and more. The event begins with a performance by artist and musician JOJO ABOT and ends with a Q&A and screening of short films selected by the speakers. Catch it on Facebook Live, YouTube Live, or bmatomorrows.org.

Price: Free
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

—Julia Halperin 

View of “The Other Escapes, the Ones You Can Open in Yourself” at Wave Hill, New York. Courtesy of the artist.

12. “Gracelee Lawrence in Conversation with Eileen Jeng Lynch” at Wave Hill 

On the lush grounds of Wave Hill in the Bronx, visitors may happen upon an unusual fountain in the shape of a woman’s body, which lies down over her knees seemingly under the weight of her unusual head, made in the shape of a trumpet flower. The work, The Other Escapes, the Ones You Can Open in Yourself, is by artist Gracelee Lawrence and references the Greek myth of Narcissus, while toying with overlaps and tensions between the natural world and the manmade. Wave Hill curator Eileen Jeng Lynch joins Lawrence for a Facebook Live conversation about these themes. 

Time: 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Price: Free 

—Katie White

Macon Reed, Against Doom TV. Courtesy of Pratt.

13. “Against Doom TV: Abolitionism + Electoral Politics” at Pratt Institute, Fine Arts, New York

Artists Macon Reed and Amy Khoshbin—Pratt’s fine arts civic engagement fellow—promise a new twist on the virtual panel discussion with a virtual event that takes the form of an interactive variety show featuring interviews, seances, and awards shows, all on the topic of abolitionist art making. Featured guests include City Council candidate Whitney Hu.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 7 p.m.–8:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone 

Removal of the statue of Cecil Rhodes by sculptor Marion Walgate from the campus of the University of Cape Town, 9 April 2015.
Photo by Desmond Bowles.

14. “The Forum // Zoé Samudzi and Nicholas Mirzoeff” at the Lab, San Francisco

San Francisco art and performance space the Lab launches the Forum, a new event series featuring artists and activists, with a conversation on visual politics between Zimbabwean-American writer and activist Zoé Samudzi and theorist Nicholas Mirzoeff.

Price: Free with registration
Time: 8 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, October 22–Sunday, November 8

Grace Kennison, Barn Fire, 2020 Courtesy of Young Space

15. “Life in a Pressure Cooker” at Young Space

For those who are still hesitant about venturing out to see art, here’s a fantastic way to do so from the comfort of your couch: Young Space presents this exciting online exhibition guest curated by Adam D. Miller, co-founder and director of the Pit, Los Angeles. As the name poetically suggests, the show “reflects the artists’ daily investigations of identity, relationships and expression within a new reality.” “Life in a Pressure Cooker” stands as a shining example of the way that emerging art has exploded during the pandemic, opening new paths towards buying and selling art.

Price: Free
Time: All day

—Neha Jambhekar

Friday, October 23

Film still, Aggie (2019). Courtesy of Catherine Gund.

16. “Film and Talk: Aggie” at the Parrish Art Museum

The Parrish is hosting the 2019 documentary Aggie, directed by Catherine Gund about her mother, philanthropist and art collector Agnes. The film is in part an intimate love letter from daughter to mother, but also serves to educate those unfamiliar with the elder Gund’s story about the powerhouse philanthropist, who notably sold a Roy Lichtenstein painting off her own living room wall to start the Art for Justice Fund, kicking off an initiative to fight for prison reform. The first screening will be followed by a talk with Catherine and Agnes Gund, Dorothy Lichtenstein, and curator Corinne Erni. The second screening will be followed by a pre-recorded conversation.

Location: The Lichtenstein Theater at the Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill, New York
Price: $30 for the 6 p.m. screening, $20 for the 8:45 p.m. screening
Time: 6 p.m. and 8:45 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein