Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Tuesday, October 9
Portraits of Matvey Levenstein, Dana Schutz, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Jarrett Earnest by Phong Bui.
1. “Tell Me Something Good: Matvey Levenstein, Dana Schutz, and Rikrit Tiravanija in Conversation with Jarrett Earnest” at the New York Studio School
Phong Bui of the Brooklyn Rail introduces this talk moderated by Jarrett Earnest at the New York Studio School.
Location: New York Studio School, 8 West 8th Street
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Mel Chin Wake. Commissioned by Times Square Arts in partnership with No Longer Empty and the Queens Museum. Supported by the Times Square Alliance. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Lipman for Times Square Arts.
2. “Art: Beyond the City Beautiful” at the 2018 Summit for New York City: Shaping the City
The Municipal Art Society of New York’s annual conference includes a panel discussion about how public art can advance civic engagement, equity, and inclusion. Speakers include Jessica Rowe of the Greater Des Moines Public Art Foundation, which just installed a monument to the country’s first African American bar association, by Kerry James Marshall; and Mel Chin, who this summer created an ambitious augmented reality public art installation in Times Square.
Location: Saint Bartholomew’s Church, 325 Park Avenue, New York City
Price: $125 general admission (includes the conference’s full slate of programming)
Time: Conference 6 a.m.–7 p.m.; public art panel 10 a.m.–10:45 a.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Tuesday, October 9–Saturday, January 12, 2019
Tania Bruguera, one of the artists featured in “Lydia Cabrera and Édouard Glissant: Trembling Thinking.” Photo: ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images.
3. “Lydia Cabrera and Édouard Glissant: Trembling Thinking” at the Americas Society
Co-curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Gabriela Rangel, and Asad Raza, this group exhibition brings together an international array of 20th- and 21st–century artists aligned with the ideas of Caribbean cultural analysts Lydia Cabrera and Édouard Glissant. See the pair’s thoughts on identity emerge through works stretching back to Wilfredo Lam and forward to the likes of Tania Bruguera, Julie Mehretu, and Diamond Stingily.
Location: Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.; Wednesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Wednesday, October 10
Courtesy of Prestel.
4. “Curatorial Talk and Book Launch: Victorian Radicals“ at Rizzoli Bookstore
To celebrate the national tour of the exhibition “Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement,” the American Federation of Arts is hosting a scholarly talk and book release. The Pre-Raphaelites are more prevalent than ever, having been embroiled in the international #MeToo conversation about gender roles and representation in the arts, and this show couldn’t come at a more timely moment.
Location: Rizzoli Bookstore, 1133 Broadway
Price: Free
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein
Tom Burr, Installation view of “Addict-Love” at SculptureCenter (2008). Photo courtesy of SculptureCenter.
5. SculptureCenter Annual Benefit Gala at Long Island City Waterfront Event Space
SculptureCenter is hosting its annual gala, inviting guests to make the trip to Queens aboard a private yacht leaving from Midtown. After a champagne toast aboard the vessel, they’ll disembark in Long Island City, where artist Tom Burr has been commissioned to transform the venue into an immersive installation featuring seven projections.
Location: Long Island City Waterfront Event Space, Sound River Studios, 4-40 44th Drive, Long Island City, Queens
Price: $1,250
Time: Cocktails 7 p.m.; dinner 8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, October 10–Saturday, December 22
Detail of Walton Ford’s Leipzig 20 Oktober 1913 (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Paul Kasmin Gallery.
6. “Walton Ford: Barbary” at Kasmin Gallery
Kasmin Gallery inaugurates its new flagship Chelsea gallery with a new body of paintings by Walton Ford. The series of large-scale watercolors is the result of more than 18 years of research by the artist into the Barbary lion, a longtime source of cultural fascination. The Barbary lion was painted by Delacroix and was also the type featured for Hollywood studio MGM’s famous signature roaring introduction to its films. (The gallery also opens its new outdoor sculpture garden, viewable from the High Line, with three large-scale works by Joel Shapiro.)
Location: Kasmin Gallery, 509 West 27th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.
—Eileen Kinsella
Thursday, October 11–Sunday, October 14
Nicole Goodwin, Ain’t I a Woman (?/!) (2017) Photo by Victor Bautista.
7. “Art in Odd Places 2018: Body” on 14th Street
Art in Odd Places returns to 14th Street, installing a variety of public artworks along the corridor, including Dominique Duroseau’s participatory project Rap on Race With Rice, in which the public is invited to help her sort black and white rice while discussing racial issues. This year’s festival focuses on work by women, female-identifying and non-binary artists, and is curated by Katya Grokhovsky. An accompanying exhibition is on view through October 27 at Westbeth Gallery, 55 Bethune Street.
Location: 14th Street from Avenue A to the Hudson River
Price: Free
Time: 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Friday, October 12–Sunday, October 14
Newton Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Photo by Mitch Waxman, courtesy of Open House New York.
8. Open House New York Weekend
Open House New York opens the doors to some of New York City’s architectural gems with free tours of everything from Edward Hopper’s studio of New York University to the United Nations to the Newton Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, along the Superfund site of the Gowanus Canal.
Location: Various locations
Price: Free
Time: Various times
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, October 20
Installation view of “Philip Guston: The Last Lithographs” at Timothy Taylor. Photo courtesy of Timothy Taylor.
9. “Philip Guston: The Last Lithographs” at Timothy Taylor
In 1980, the year that Philip Guston died, he made 25 lithographs published by Gemini G.E.L. It was a medium he had seldom explored, but being able to produce new images more quickly and easily, rather than working on large-scale canvases, must have appealed to the artist, who had had a heart attack the year before. All 25 of the black-and-white prints in the series are included in the show.
Location: Timothy Taylor, 515 West 19th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m; Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Saturday, October 27
Installation view of “UN(COVERED): Miró | Hammons” at Nahmad Contemporary. Photo courtesy of Nahmad Contemporary, New York.
10. “UN(COVERED): Miró | Hammons” at Nahmad Contemporary
Nahmad Contemporary pairs the work of the great Surrealist Joan Miró (1893–1983)—including his “Sobreteixims,” which haven’t been shown in the US since 1973—with that of postmodern American artist David Hammons (1943–). Though the two men’s careers barely overlapped, both expressed a disdain for their chosen careers, Miró declaring an “assassination of painting,” and Hammons insisting that “I can’t stand art actually. I’ve never, ever liked art, ever.”
Location: Nahmad Contemporary, 980 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor
Price: Free
Time: Monday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, October 28
Installation view “Drop Out” at Super Dutchess. Courtesy of Super Dutchess.
11. “Drop Out” at Super Dutchess
At the Lower East Side’s Super Dutchess Gallery, a group of artists has submitted work that reflects on the idea of dropping out of society—living off the grid, and embracing the romanticism of Thoreau, or, in this case, the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. The artist Nick van Woert began buying up tools that were auctioned by the FBI, found at Kaczynski’s remote cabin in Montana. The artist has made metal casts of the tools, handmade by the Unabomber, leaving us to wonder if maybe we’re better off staying put.
Location: Super Dutchess, 53 Orchard Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Caroline Goldstein