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.)

Tuesday, September 15

Lenka Clayton, 63 Objects Taken Out of My Son’s Mouth (detail). Photo courtesy of the artist.

1. “Curated Conversations: The Art of Motherhood” at the Blanton Museum of Art, the University of Texas at Austin

For the latest entry in the Blanton Museum’s “Curated Conversation” series, Lenka Clayton and Joey Fauerso will talk about the challenges of balancing art and motherhood with Blanton curator Veronica Roberts and MacKenzie Stevens, director of UT’s Visual Arts Center.

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

—Sarah Cascone

Tuesday, September 15–Wednesday, October 21

“Amir Nikravan: Passing” installation view at Nathalie Karg Gallery. Photo courtesy of at Nathalie Karg Gallery.

2. “Amir Nikravan: Passing” at Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York

Amir Nikravan’s polished-looking sculptures seem at first glance to be made of steel or bronze, but there’s no metal involved—hence the show’s title, “Passing.” In a commentary on the economic restraints that limit what artists are able to create, he’s described his acrylic painted wood veneer forms as “low-tech approximations of objects that would cost tens of thousands of dollars to fabricate,” pretending to be part of the great tradition of monumental metal sculpture. “Art is a scam,” writes Maura Brewer in an essay that accompanies the exhibitions. “Amir’s sculptures both reveal and enact that scam, luring us in, and then, at the threshold, letting the mask slip.”

Location: Nathalie Karg Gallery, 291 Grand Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, September 16

3. “The Power of Monuments and Memorials” an online conversation hosted by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

After months of unrest and debate, there may be no more timely topic for experts to delve into at the moment. With cities all around the world reassessing, rethinking—and in some cases removing—their public monuments and statues, experts including Mellon Foundation president Elizabeth Alexander, Yale University professor David Blight, New York Times reporter Brent Staples, and former US Poet Laureate Natasha Tretheway tackle the issue head on.

Location: RSVP Here
Price: Free
Time: 5 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Eileen Kinsella

Ursula von Rydingsvard, Luba (2009–10) at Storm King Art Center. Photo by Jerry L. Thompson, ©Ursula von Rydingsvard, courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York.

4. “Art and Mindfulness: The Healing Power of Art and Art Spaces” at Intersect Chicago

SOFA Chicago will go virtual come November Intersect Chicago. Ahead of the online fair, check out the SOFA Salons series, which this week presents a Zoom discussion on art and mindfulness with January Parkos Arnall, interim senior curator at the MCA Chicago; Monica Garza, director of education at the ICA Boston; Elizabeth Gerber, museum educator at LACMA; and Nora Lawrence, senior curator at Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, New York. The event will conclude with an artist-led meditation by Brandon Breaux.

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

—Nan Stewert

Chitra Ganesh. Photo courtesy of Chitra Ganesh.

5. “Chitra Ganesh & Amber Musser in Conversation” at the International Print Center New York and the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, New York

Join artist Chitra Ganesh, who juried IPCNY’s current group show “Give Me Space,” and scholar Amber Musser, an American studies professor at George Washington University in Washington, DC, for a digital conversation about queer femininity, racial equity, and Ganesh’s work.

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

—Sarah Cascone

Residents in the studio space at Skowhegan, image courtesy of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture.

6. Skowhegan 2020 Awards Dinner

Fall means gala season—which this year leaves arts organizations scrambling to put together a compelling online event. The Skowhegan summer artist residency program has turned its annual fundraiser into a virtual celebration of artist and 2007 alumni El Anatsui, the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies, and the late arts administrator Barbara Hunt McLanahan. The after party on Instagram will feature a live DJ set by Mistervacation.

Price: Suggested donations for tickets start at $75
Time: 7:30 p.m., or stream it for 48 hours afterward

—Sarah Cascone 

Thursday, September 17

George Clinton, Mothership stage. Courtesy of the artist.

7. “Live Virtual Art Talk: George Clinton in Conversation with Franklin Sirmans” at the Pérez Art Museum Miami

Singer, songwriter, and record producer George Clinton is known for pioneering the funk music genre, but he’s also a multidisciplinary talent. As the head of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, he designed the Mothership stage that defined the group’s concert performances. Since lockdown began six months ago, he’s been expanding his visual arts practice with a new series of Surrealist-tinged psychedelic paintings. Clinton will discuss this little known aspect of his creative output with Pérez Art Museum Miami director Franklin Sirmans in a livestream on the museum’s Facebook and YouTube,

Price: Free
Time: 7 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Trevor Paglen, CLOUD #902 Scale Invariant Feature Transform; Watershed (2020), detail. Photo ©Trevor Paglen, courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York.

8. “In Conversation Online: Trevor Paglen and Dan Leers” at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh

Get a virtual tour of the Carnegie Museum’s new exhibition “Trevor Paglen: Opposing Geometries” with the artist and curator Dan Leers. Continuing Paglen’s investigations of AI, the show includes photographs of people and places that have been labeled by machine learning, as well as a sculpture that also functions as a wifi hotspot.

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

—Sarah Cascone

Art by Lauren Rinaldi. Courtesy of Paradigm Gallery + Studio.

9. “Lauren Rinaldi in Conversation with Representative Mary Isaacson” at Paradigm Gallery + Studio, Philadelphia

Lauren Rinaldi’s current show at Paradigm Gallery, “Representative,” responds to the way in which women are all too often judged by their appearance, rather than their accomplishments. Joining the artist to discuss this issue, particularly with regard to how it affects women in politics, is representative Mary Isaacson, elected to serve the 175th District of Philadelphia in November 2018.

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

—Sarah Cascone

David C. Driskell painting in his studio. Photo courtesy of the David C. Driskell Papers at the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park.

10. “John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art 2020: A Tribute to David C. Driskell Artist Conversation” at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

The National Gallery of Art pays tribute to the great artist, curator, and African art historian David C. Driskell, who died in April, as the subject of the fourth annual John Wilmerding Symposium on American Art. There will be virtual events all week, including a conversation with Lyle Ashton Harris, Carrie Mae Weems, Valerie Cassel Oliver, and other artists and scholars, introduced by museum director Kaywin Feldman and Smithsonian head Lonnie G. Bunch III.

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

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, September 17–Thursday, October 15

Elliot Purse, JAKE AND HIS SNAKE, 2019 Courtesy of Sweet Lorraine Gallery and the Artist

11. “TOXICUS MASCULINUM” at Sweet Lorraine Gallery, Brooklyn

In response to the heightened manifestations of toxic masculinity in today’s increasingly chaotic world, Sweet Lorraine Gallery presents “TOXICUS MASCULINUM”, a two-person show with Elliot Purse and Zebadiah Keneally about gendered ideologies in US society. Purse’s works in this show, a mix of charcoal, gouache, and pastel, are like snapshots of “conventional” masculinity—big, muscular men flexing and showing off—that permeates American culture. On the other hand, Keneally uses large-scale panels to infuse everyday observations with a pop-cultural slant and address the subtleties of coming of age.

Location: Sweet Lorraine Gallery, 183 Lorraine Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11231
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; email [email protected] to make an appointment

—Neha Jambhekar

Thursday, September 17–Saturday, October 31

John A Rivas, “Yo Sola Lo Hice”, 2020. Courtesy of Ross + Kramer Gallery.

12. “How ‘Bout Them Apples” at Ross + Kramer Gallery, New York

Ross + Kramer Gallery christens its new Chelsea space with an incredible group show of works by Nina Chanel Abney, Trey Abdella, Ana Benaroya, Jonathan Chapline, Julie Curtiss, Timothy Curtis, Todd James, Ludovic Nkoth, Eddie Martinez, Tony Matelli, John Rivas, Koichi Sato, Anna Park, Erik Parker, and David “Mr. Star City” White. Previously on East 63rd Street with a great track record of stunning exhibitions, this gallery is a must-add to your Chelsea gallery-hopping list this fall. The gallery will donate 10 percent of the exhibition’s proceeds to Project Sunshine, an international nonprofit supporting children facing medical challenges.

Location: Ross + Kramer Gallery, 515 West 27th Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday and Monday by appointment

—Cristina Cruz

Thursday, September 17–November 

Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, from the series “We Are Present.” Photo by Laylah Amatullah Barrayn.

13. Photoville NYC in Brooklyn Bridge Park and sites across New York City

Normally, Photoville NYC is content to take up residence Brooklyn Bridge Park, presenting an impressive array of photography exhibitions inside shipping containers for two weekends in September. But where the global health crisis has seen most art events scale back for 2020, Photoville is expanding for its ninth year, with sites across all five boroughs—including Times Square, Harlem’s Jackie Robinson Park, Staten Island’s South Beach Promenade, Van Cortland Park in the Bronx, and Astoria Park in Queens. Much of the work was shot this year, such as Elias Williams’s portraits of members of the class of 2020, and Marvi Lacar and Ben Lowy’s series “ABC(orona),” inspired by the chaos—and creativity—of life in lockdown with young children. Following two weeks of programming, the works will remain on view throughout the city through November.

Location: See full list of venues here
Price: Free
Time: On view daily at all times

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, September 17–Thursday, November 5

Adebunmi Gabadebo, A Dilemma of Inheritance 8, “True Blue” (2020). Photo courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery.

14. “Adebunmi Gabadebo: A Dilemma of Inheritance” at Claire Oliver Gallery, New York

Harlem’s Claire Oliver Gallery reopens with the first New York solo show for Adebumni Gabadebo, featuring her series “True Blue,” named after two former South Carolina slave plantations. One, where Gabadebo’s ancestors were once held in bondage, has fallen into neglect, while the other is now a golf course. Made on cotton and rice paper with indigo—materials historically produced by slave labor—the over 45 mixed media works in the series serve as a reminder of the forgotten legacy of slavery in both places.

Location: Claire Oliver Gallery, 2288 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, New York
Price: Free
Time: By appointment

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, September 17–Thursday, December 17

Harry Gruyaert’s Gordon Matta-Clark at Galerie Yvon Lambert working on Descending Steps for Batan (1977). © Harry Gruyaert, Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery and Gallery Fifty One.

15. “Ascensions” at Off Paradise, New York

To mark the first anniversary of Off Paradise, gallery’s founder Natacha Polaert has organized a group show with a dozen of her favorite artists to “reflect a deep sense of hope and optimism.” Included in the show are Harry Gruyaert’s evocative photograph of Gordon Matta-Clark digging into the center of the earth below the streets of Paris; Tobias Wong’s Casper (2002), a lit candle made from crystal that can never melt; and Jeppe Hein’s One Wish for You (medium orange essence) (2020), a floating balloon that adds a burst of color to the gallery. Also on view is Gordon Matta-Clark’s rarely seen first film, Chinatown Voyeur (1971), shot from a window overlooking Chatham Square in New York. Altogether, the show aims to generate the mood of a sleepless, perhaps wistful night, but one that ends on an auspicious note.

Location: Off Paradise, 120 Walker Street, New York
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.; reservations can be made online

—Pac Pobric

Beginning Friday, September 18

Still from Jan Svankmajer’s Faust (1994). Courtesy of Kimstim.

16. “Jan Svankmajer: Faust” at Film Forum, New York

Starting Friday, Film Forum will offer home rentals of the inimitable Czech animator Jan Svankmajer’s feature-length mind-melter Faust. Blending together multiple renditions of the legend, from canonical versions by Goethe and Marlowe to alternatives from Christian Dietrich Grabbe and the European folk tradition, the film brings perhaps the essential deal-with-the-devil narrative into early 1990s Prague. In signature fashion, Svankmajer wields a wide range of visual techniques—stop-motion animation, puppetry, live action, and more—to amplify his unforgettable imagery. If you want to know why Milos Forman once judged that “Buñuel + Disney = Svankmajer,” there’s no better primer than Faust.

Price: $10
Time: Available on demand

—Tim Schneider

Friday, September 18–Saturday, October 24

Nina Katchadourian, Monument to the Unelected (2016). Courtesy of Nina Katchadourian.

17. Fall Exhibitions at Pace Gallery, New York

Pace’s multi-level Chelsea flagship has a full slate of fall shows opening this week: “Jean Dubuffet: Le cirque,” “Robert Mangold,” “Nina Katchadourian: Monument to the Unelected,” “Yoshitomo Nara: After all I’m cosmic dust,” and “Julian Schnabel: The Sad Lament of Johnny Depp, Let the Wind Speak, and Other Paintings.” (Katchadourian’s show, her first with the gallery, includes her ongoing project Monument to the Unelected memorializing failed US presidential campaigns, and will remain on view past this year’s election, through December 12.)

Location: Pace Gallery, 540 and 510 West 25th Street, New York
Price: Free with reservation
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 .M.–5 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, September 20

Rubin Museum Virtual Block Party. Courtesy of the Rubin Museum of Art.

18. “Virtual Block Party” at the Rubin Museum of Art, New York

The Rubin Museum reopened this past weekend, but it’s still moving its annual block party online. The day’s festivities include guided mindfulness practices, art-making projects, performances, and virtual studio visits with Himalayan artists Tsherin Sherpa, Sneha Srethsa, Tenzin Phuntzog, Yakpo Collective, and Uttam Grandhi. The day’s events will remain online for streaming through September 27.

Price: Free
Time: 12 p.m.

—Tanner West

Through Monday, October 5

David Salle, Untitled (2020). ©David Salle/VAGA at Artist Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy of the artist and Skarstedt, New York.

19. “David Salle: Works on Paper” at Skarstedt Gallery East Hampton

Each of the works in David Salle’s new “Tree of Life” series, created this year, is bisected by a colorful tree, separating the male and female figures on each side of the composition and elevating the sense of conflict within the couple. Below each scene grow the tree’s roots, a subterranean panel referencing different art historical movements such as Cubism.

Location: Skarstedt Gallery East Hampton, 66 Newtown Lane, East Hampton
Price: Free
Time: Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.; Monday–Wednesday by appointment

—Sarah Cascone