Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking shows, screenings, and events. See them below. 

Tuesday, October 29

Courtesy of Wunderkammer NYC.

1. “WUNDERKAMMER: A Beautiful and Bizarre Taxidermy Showcase” at the Bell House

Looking for something unique to do for Halloween? Look no further than WUNDERKAMMER. Twenty taxidermists from across the nation will present their most creative creatures to a panel of expert judges, including Ryan and Regina Cohn of the Oddities Flea Market, museum taxidermist George Dante, and rogue taxidermy legends Katie Innamorato and Robert Marbury. There will also be sideshow performances, a film screening, and a raffle to win taxidermy classes.

Location: The Bell House, 149 7th Street, Brooklyn
Price: $10 advance, $12 at the door
Time: Doors at 7 p.m.; show at 8 p.m.

—Cristina Cruz

Tuesday, October 29–Saturday, December 21

Alina Szapocznikow in 1968. Photo courtesy of Hauser & Wirth.

2. “To Exalt the Ephemeral: Alina Szapocznikow, 1962–1972” at Hauser & Wirth 

Last year, Hauser & Wirth began representing the estate of Alina Szapocznikow, who survived the concentration camps of the Holocaust. This is the first show at the gallery of the artist’s sensual, body-based sculptures, which she made from unconventional materials such as tinted polyester resin, polyeurethane foam, panyhose, and grass clippings.

Location: Hauser & Wirth, 32 East 69th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, October 30–Tuesday, November 5

Edgar Bundy, A Witch (1896). Courtesy of Ambrose Naumann Fine Art.

3. “October Art Week” on the Upper East Side

Launched in tandem with TEFAF New York in 2016, October Art Week is a collaborative effort presented by 15 blue-chip Upper East Side galleries. Highlights to see this year include the 16th-century Italian Spitzer Renaissance diamond, ruby, and enamel ring at Les Enluminures (23 East 73rd Street), and, just in time for Halloween, Edgar Bundy’s A Witch (1896) at Ambrose Naumann Fine Art (74 East 79th Street).

Location: 15 Upper East Side galleries
Price: Free
Time: Opening art walk, 5 p.m.–9 p.m.; see link above for details

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, October 30–Saturday, November 30

A sculpture by Yolande Milan Batteau. Photo courtesy of Gallery TwentyTwenty Two.

4. “The Stone Show” at Gallery TwentyTwenty Two

New York artist Yolande Milan Batteau keeps a studio at a former Brooklyn shoe factory that also houses her architecture firm, Callidus Guild. The inaugural show of Gallery TwentyTwenty Two in the same location presents Batteau’s embellished stone sculptures, painted in bright colors and adorned with gold leaf and nacre, alongside careful arrangements of found stones by Avery Alexandra Gregory and works by the painters Richard Hart and Noémi Langlois-Meurinn.

Location: Callidus Guild, 20 and 22 Lexington Avenue, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: VIP opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. with RSVP; by appointment Thursday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Tanner West

Wednesday, October 30–Sunday, December 1

Installation view of “On Time” at the Storefront Project with work by Megan Euker and Kasia Kay. Photo courtesy of the Storefront Project.

5. “On Guard” at the Storefront Project

This group exhibition features female artists ranging in age from 17 to 70 who make work about women in sports. Curated by artist Kasia Kay, the show includes lacy boxing glove sculptures by Zoe Buckman; Cheryl Pope’s film Up Against, in which she uses her head to pop 700 dangling water balloons; and a short film by Katya Bankowsky featuring Maya Angelou reciting her poem “Amazement Awaits,” written for the Olympic Games.

Location: The Storefront Project, 70 Orchard Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Tuesday–Sunday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, October 30–Saturday, December 14

Sam McKinnis, Johnny’s Puppy (2015). Courtesy of Almine Rech.

6. “LINEUP” at Almine Rech

Stripes were traditionally designed for architecture and textiles, but there has been little attempt to study how they have been embraced by art movements in the 20th and 21st centuries. To rectify that, Alex Bacon has curated this group show of works by historic artists (Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Agnes Martin) and contemporary ones (Chloe Wise, Vaugn Spann, Sam McKinniss) who have incorporated stripes into their work.

Location: Almine Rech, 39 East 78th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Tanner West

Wednesday, October 30–Wednesday, December 18

Ebecho Muslimova, Fatebe Lightning in the Mezzanine (2019). Courtesy of Magenta Plains.

7. “Ebecho Muslimova: TRAPS!” at Magenta Plains

For anyone who has not been blessed to stand in front of an Ebecho Muslimova work, make it a priority to see this show. In Muslimova’s surreal, multi-color, multi-textural works, a character named Fatebe often performs amazing—and humorous—feats with her body. For the artist’s second show at the gallery Magenta Plains, she is showing five new large-scale paintings across two floors, as well as works on paper.

Location: Magenta Plains, 94 Allen Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Cristina Cruz

Thursday, October 31–Monday, November 4

Fornasetti biscotti-pattern porcelain plates with trompe l’oeil cookies (circa the 1950s–60s). Photo courtesy of Earle Vandekar of Knightsbridge, New York.

8. “AADLA Fine Art & Antiques Show” at Wallace Hall

The Art and Antique Dealers League of America’s annual fair features 25 dealers, mostly from the New York area. But the treasures on offer hail from all over the globe, from an inlaid iron cabinet made in 19th-century Japan, to a beaded bag crafted by the Plains Indians, to an 18-carat gold Victorian bracelet from England dating to 1875.

Location: Wallace Hall, Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 980 Park Avenue at East 84th Street
Price: $20
Time: Thursday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday and Monday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Nan Stewert

Friday, November 1

Michael Stipe. Photo by Joe Schildhorn/BFA.

9. “Michael Stipe with Douglas Coupland and Jonathan Berger” at the New York Public Library

REM frontman Michael Stipe has a new photography book out, Stipe on Our Interference Times, which he wrote with Canadian artist and author Douglas Coupland. The two will talk with cross-disciplinary artist Jonathan Berger and discuss Stipe’s creative process and his stint as a studio art major at the University of Georgia.

Location: The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Celeste Bartos Forum, 42nd Street and 5th Avenue
Price: $40
Time: 7 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Friday, November 1–Sunday, January 26, 2020

Anne Marguérite Joséphine Henriette Rouillé de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville, Self-Portrait (circa 1800–10). Image courtesy of the New-York Historical Society.

10. “Artist in Exile: The Visual Diary of Baroness Hyde de Neuville” at the New-York Historical Society

This show presents more than 100 watercolors and drawings by Anne Marguérite Joséphine Henriette Rouillé de Marigny, Baroness Hyde de Neuville. She was self-taught and far ahead of her time, making works that celebrated the history, culture, and diverse populations of the young United States. This is the first expansive presentation of her art, showcasing many recently discovered works, including rare drawings.

Location:  New York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West
Price: Adults $22; seniors/educators/active military $17; students $13; kids ages five to 13, $6; kids four and under, free. Admission is pay-as-you-wish from 6 p.m.–8 p.m. on Fridays
Time: Tuesday–Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Eileen Kinsella

Friday, November 1–Sunday, March 22, 2020

Rachel Feinstein, St. Michael (2012). © Rachel Feinstein. Photo by Matteo Piazza, courtesy of Gagosian.

11. “Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone” at the Jewish Museum

For her first US museum survey, Rachel Feinstein presents three decades of sculpture, installation, painting, drawing, and video work. Named for the three imagined stages of a woman’s life, the exhibition is rife with figures inspired by the dualities of the masculine and the feminine. The artist has created a major, 40-foot-long relief sculpture for the occasion, and covered the walls of half with space with wallpaper based on her monumental Panorama of Rome, originally painted on a mirror.

Location: The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth 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.

—Sarah Cascone

Friday, November 1–Sunday, June 21, 2020

Marie Watt, Seneca Nation, First Teachers Balance the Universe Part I: Things That Fly (Predator) and First Teachers Balance the Universe Part II: Things That Fly (Prey) (both 2015). Photo courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery.

12. “Place, Nations, Generations, Beings: 200 Years of Indigenous North American Art” at the Yale University Art Gallery

This student-curated exhibition is the first of Indigenous art to bring together objects from the Yale University Art Gallery, the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. The roughly 75 objects on view include examples of basketry, beadwork, drawings, photography, and pottery from the early 19th century to the present day. Included in the show are examples by prominent artists such as Maria Martinez (P’ohwhóge Owingeh [San Ildefonso Pueblo]), Will Wilson (Diné [Navajo]), and Yale MFA alumna Marie Watt (Seneca).

Location: Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday,10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Saturday, November 2

Shona McAndrew, Alina (2019). Courtesy of Chart.

13. “Muse by Shona McAndrew” at Chart

Shona McAndrew had one of the best presentations at this year’s SPRING/BREAK Art Show with her papier-mâché bedroom installation, featuring life-size nude sculptures of herself in bed with her boyfriend. Art consultant Maria Brito has curated the artist’s first New York solo show of new sculptures and paintings based on nude photographs of herself recreating poses from famous works of art.

Location: Chart, 74 Franklin Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Saturday, November 2–Sunday, December 15

A work by James Allister Sprang. Photo courtesy of the Knockdown Center.

14. “James Allister Sprang: Fragment Scapes” at the Knockdown Center
Fresh off a five-week residency at the Kitchen, where he developed a sculptural sound installation from a series of conversations with poets, James Allister Sprang takes over the Knockdown Center with new cyanotypes and floor-based photo-sculptures.

Location: Knockdown Center, 52-19, Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 2 p.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m.–7p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, November 3

Rebecca Goyette, Fortuna’s Wheel (2019). Courtesy of Shelter.

15. “Fortuna’s Rites” at Shelter Gallery

Deborah Castellano, author of Glamour Magic, The Witchcraft Revolution to Get What You Want, is hosting a day of rituals and goddess worship at Shelter Gallery for “Fortuna’s Wheel” (through November 10), Rebecca Goyette’s current solo show. The exhibition is inspired in part by a class with Castellano that moved Goyette to make an offering to the goddess Fortuna—an experience that helped her recover from a violent encounter with an ex-boyfriend.

Location: Shelter Gallery, 179 East Broadway
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Sunday, November 17

Mona Saeed Kamal, 1001 Migrations (2018), detail. Photo by Jason Wyche.

16. “Beyond Geographies: Contemporary Art and Muslim Experience” at Gallery at BRIC House

In conjunction with the Brooklyn Historical Society’s ongoing “Muslims in Brooklyn” public art and history program, BRIC has brought together eight New York artists whose work takes on different aspects of the contemporary Muslim experience. Curated by Elizabeth Ferrer, the show features, among others, Morehshin Allahyari, Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, Baseera Khan, and Mona Saeed Kamal, who created 1,001 handmade paper boats for her piece 1,001 Migrations.

Location: Gallery at BRIC House, 647 Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Saturday, November 30

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. Photo courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley.

17. “The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze” at Van Cortlandt Manor

The art of pumpkin carving is on full display at Van Cortland Manor, where a team of artisans have created a display of 7,000 illuminated jack o’lanterns. This year features a new “Museum of Pumpkin Art” with carved versions of art history’s favorite paintings, as well as a pumpkin carousel, pumpkin windmill, and pumpkin planetarium.

Location: Van Cortlandt Manor, 525 South Riverside Avenue, Croton-On-Hudson
Price: General admission $23
Time: 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Hope Gangloff, From MacDowell With Lurve (2019). Courtesy of Susan Inglett Gallery.

18. “Hope Gangloff” at Susan Inglett Gallery

Hope Gangloff’s latest show features colorful paintings, but instead of her usual portraits, the new body of work features landscapes inspired by Montana, California, and New Hampshire. The exhibition also includes domestic scenes.

Location: Susan Inglett Gallery, 522 West 24th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Sunday, December 1

Dapper Bruce Lafitte, Jive Ass Statues, 2019. Courtesy of the artist and Fierman, NYC.

19. “Dapper Bruce Lafitte: 45 Don’t Have Love for Me” at Fierman

Ever wonder what a Where’s Waldo? illustration might look like if its creator had spent his life confronting racist terrorism in America? Well, the drawings of self-taught, New Orleans-based artist Dapper Bruce Lafitte offer some insight. After years of creating crowded images centered on parades, boxing matches, and other mostly joyful scenes, Lafitte’s 40 new works face up to the bitter realities of the US under President Donald Trump (the “45” referenced in the show’s title), with Klansmen, police shootings, and lynchings now taking center stage.

Location: Fierman, 127 Henry Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, noon–6 p.m.

—Tim Schneider