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

Monday, September 16–Monday, December 16

Eric Wesley, detail of Inch-Alota I, 2015. Courtesy of the artist and Bortolami, New York.

1. “Searching the Sky for Rain” at SculptureCenter

If you’ve ever felt a gallery, museum, or art fair’s attempt to celebrate diversity has reduced complex artists to overly neat boxes, SculptureCenter’s new group exhibition is for you. Featuring Carmen Argote, Charles Gaines, Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon, and other artists who, according to the institution, “defy the fracking of particularities into niche-marketed, T-shirt formulations of ‘identities,'” the show foregrounds work that enriches our understanding by embracing the abstractions and unknowns that exist outside familiar categories and oversimplified histories.

Location: SculptureCenter, 44–19 Purves Street
Price: $10 suggested entry for adults; $5 suggested entry for students
Time: Thursday–Monday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Tim Schneider

Tuesday, September 17

Larry Ossei-Mensah. Photo by Miranda Barnes.

2. “Larry Ossei-Mensah in Conversation With Dexter Wimberly” at the New York Academy of Art

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit senior curator Larry Ossei-Mensah will speak with Dexter Wimberly about his work with such acclaimed artists as Firelei Baez, Kehinde Wiley, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

Location: New York Academy of Art, 111 Franklin Street
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Tanner West

Tuesday, September 17–Saturday, November 2

Martin Wong, TV Party (1988). Private Collection. Courtesy of the Estate of Martin Wong and PPOW, New York.

3. “Glenn O’Brien: Center Stage” at Off Paradise

This inaugural show at Off Paradise, a new project space just below Canal Street, is inspired by the life of the late writer, TV producer, and man-about-town Glenn O’Brien. The exhibition is organized by Natacha Polaert, who runs the gallery, and is rooted in her personal relationship with O’Brien, who died in 2017. “Generous, inclusive, but also grander than life,” she writes in a short essay for the exhibition. “Extra-ordinary. Glenn catapulted himself into the pantheon of great heroes, and for this he was right. Glenn was sui generis.” The show includes works by, among others, Alvin Baltrop, Walter Robinson, Martin Wong, and Andy Warhol, whose Interview magazine provided O’Brien with his very first job.

Location: Off Paradise, 120 Walker Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Saturday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Pac Pobric

Tuesday, September 17–Saturday, December 7

Cannupa Hanska Luger, The One Who Checks & the One Who Balances (2018) Photo by Chip Thomas, Ginger Dunnill, courtesy of the artist.

4. “Utopian Imagination” at the Ford Foundation

To close out its inaugural year of exhibitions, the Ford Foundation has tapped Jaishri Abichandani to curate a surprisingly hopeful 14-artist group show imagining a just world characterized by peace and solidarity. Highlights stand to include a Lola Flash self-portrait and a glass-and-crystal Lee Bul sculpture of a fragmented woman’s body.

Location: Ford Foundation Gallery, 320 East 43rd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Monday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, September 18

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, view of rotunda and skylight designed by Frank Lloyd Wright from ground floor. Photo by David Heald, ©Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, courtesy of UNESCO.

5. “Frank Lloyd Wright and New York: Anthony Alofsin with Judith Dupré” at the New York Public Library

Frank Lloyd Wright spent some of his final years designing the Guggenheim in New York (while living at the Plaza Hotel) yet he once called the city an “unlivable prison.” This conversation between Frank Lloyd Wright scholar Anthony Alofsin and writer and structural historian Judith Dupré reassesses the architect’s conflicted relationship with New York, the city that at once tormented, challenged, and inspired him.

Location: New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Celeste Auditorium
Price: Free, registration recommended
Time: 6:30 p.m.

—Rachel Corbett

Dor Guez, Lilies of the Field, Jerusalem, Mosque Al-Aqsa (2019). Archival inkjet print, based on pressed flowers created by the American Colony in Jerusalem (1900–14). Photo courtesy of the artist, Dvir Gallery, Brussels, and Carlier Gebauer Gallery, Berlin.

6. “The Nation’s Groves: Artist Dor Guez in Conversation with Sara Reisman” at the 8th Floor

Jerusalem-born artist Dor Guez will speak with Sara Reisman, director of the 8th Floor, about how his work has been inspired by the Israeli government’s reforestation efforts. His photography uses the landscape and flora of Israel to highlight lesser-known aspects of the region’s history, such as the pressed flowers kept as souvenirs by late 19th- and early 20th-century religion pilgrims.

Location: The 8th Floor, 17 West 17th Street, 8th Floor
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

—Nan Stewert

Wednesday, September 18–Sunday, January 5, 2020

A Japanese Buddhist artwork. Photo courtesy of the Newark Museum.

7. “Beyond Zen: Japanese Buddhism Revealed” at the Newark Museum 

The Newark Museum, known for its holdings in Asian art, is digging deep into its collection of Japanese works dating from 1615 to the present day, unearthing a number of works that haven’t been on view in over 100 years for this exploration of the role of visual art in the practice of Buddhism. The show includes paintings, sculptures, textiles, ritual objects, and ceramics, among other works.

Location: The Newark Museum, 39 Washington Street, Newark, New Jersey
Price: $15
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–5 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, September 19

The Drawing Center, located at 35 Wooster Street in Soho. Photo courtesy of the Drawing Center, New York.

8. Benefit Auction and Party at the Drawing Center

One of Manhattan’s most beloved contemporary art centers, now under the leadership of esteemed curator Laura Hoptman, holds its annual fundraiser. In addition to cocktails and music, guests will have the chance to bid on works donated from the likes of John Currin, Chris Ofili, Laura Owens, and Mary Weatherford in a silent auction.

Location: The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street
Price: $175
Time: 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Molly Roy, City of Women, featuring subway route symbols from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. From Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas by Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro. Courtesy of University of California Press.

9. “City of Women Map 2.0: A Conversation With Joshua Jelly-schapiro and Julie Scelfo” at the New York Transit Museum

As New York City finally begins to rectify the imbalance of public monuments honoring men vs. women, the New York Transit Museum is hosting an evening dedicated to the City of Women map from Rebecca Solnit and Joshua Jelly-Schapiro’s 2016 book Nonstop Metropolis: A New York City Atlas. Reimagining the subway map with each stop named after an influential local woman, the map, drawn by artist Molly Roy, is currently on view in the museum’s show “Navigating New York” (through January). In a talk with journalist Julie Scelfo, Jelly-Schapiro will unveil an updated version of the map.

Location: The New York Transit Museum, 99 Schermerhorn Street at Boerum Place, Brooklyn
Price: $15
Time: 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone 

10. “Artist Safety Hosting: A Discussion on Practice” at the Goethe-Institut New York

Ifrah Mansour, My Aqal, Banned & Blessed (2018). Photo ©Michael Wilson.

In an evening of conversations featuring the likes of former artist-in-residence Rashwan Abdelbaki, Cuban artist and activist Tania Bruguera, and former Queens Museum director Laura Raicovich, the New York City Artist Safe Haven Residency Program celebrates the release of the publication of a new guide for art institutions looking to assist artists facing persecution, censorship, human rights violations, or other hardships.

Location: Goethe-Institut New York, 30 Irving Place
Price: Free
Time: 7 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, September 19–Saturday, October 26

Brian Willmont, Holy Mountain (2019). Image courtesy of the artist and Victori +Mo

11. “Brian Willmont: Mirage, Mirage” at Victori+Mo

In his second solo show at the gallery, Willmont is focusing on how modern desires are filtered through everyday technology, expressed with trompe l’oeil techniques and his skillful blend of abstraction and decorative elements with symbolism. His paintings are created with a continual process of addition and subtraction as he mixes handmade with digital imagery.

Location: Victori+Mo, 242 West 22nd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Hours by appointment only.

—Eileen Kinsella

Thursday, September 19–Friday, November 22

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, St. John’s University. Photo courtesy of the Yeh Art Gallery.

12. “Diplomacy” at Yeh Art Gallery

Owen Duffy, the new director of St. John’s University’s art gallery, presents his first show since taking up the post. Artists Christopher K. Ho, Lena Henke, Shahpour Pouyan, Reuven Israel, Alex Hayden, Carla Edwards, Anton Ginzburg, Ryan Flores, Hai-Hsin Huang, Claudia Martínez Garay, and Claudia Peña Salinas have created new works inspired by the campus’s historic Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, which was completed in 1973. Constructed during the Cold War with aid from the Taipei government as the US government was considering formally recognizing the People’s Republic of China in Beijing, the hall evokes themes of soft power, national identity, and diplomacy.

Location: Yeh Art Gallery, St. John’s University, 8000 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, Queens
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 4 p.m.–7 p.m.; Tuesday–Friday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and by appointment

—Sarah Cascone

Friday, September 20–Wednesday, September 25

Image from “RIMOWA Archive Collection: 1898–2019″. Photo courtesy RIMOWA.

15. “RIMOWA Archive Collection: 1898–2019” at Sotheby’s

RIMOWA partners with Sotheby’s this week for a retrospective exhibition detailing the luxury luggage brand’s 121-year story. From heritage steamer trunks to aluminium cases inspired by aircraft design, these pieces—some over a century old—collectively provide a glimpse into the history of air travel from the brand’s inception to the current day. Also in the exhibition are RIMOWA’s artist collaborations, including pieces by Daniel Arsham, Alex Israel, and others.

Location: Sotheby’s New York, 1334 York Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Monday–Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sunday, 1 p.m.–5 p.m.

—Noor Brara

Friday, September 20–Sunday, September 22

A view of the NY Art Book Fair. Photo: Charlie Rubin.

13. NY Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1

Printed Matter’s annual event is back this year with more than 350 exhibitors from galleries, booksellers, zine publishers, and other small press outfits from all over the world. The fair is always jam-packed with young, cool people and makes for great shopping for those who want to dip their toes into the art collecting pool without breaking the bank.

Location: MoMA PS1, 22–25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City
Price: Public hours are free
Time: Friday, September 20, 1 p.m.–7 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Robert McCann, Red Becoming Green Becoming Red. Courtesy of Amos Eno Gallery.

14. Bushwick Open Studios

Hundreds of artists will throw open the doors of their studios this weekend for the 13th annual Bushwick Open Studios, offering visitors a chance to discover and even buy affordable works by the neighborhood’s emerging artists. To get the most out of your time, consider hitting up buildings that house many studios, such as the 42 artists at Active Space Studios (566 Johnson Avenue), the 20 members of Wayfarers (1109 DeKalb Avenue), or the  90 artists and galleries in 1717 Troutman, a converted textile factory. Local organizations including art and technology incubator Eyebeam (199 Cook Street) and Amos Eno Gallery (56 Bogart Street), Space776 (229 Central Avenue), and Tornadothings Gallery (35 Meadow Street) will also take part in the festivities. This year, the organizers are producing a 60-artist group show, “Seeking Spaces,” at the BOS Hub (936 Madison Street).

Location: Various locations in Bushwick, Brooklyn
Price: Most events are free; the official opening and closing parties are $10 in advance, $15 at the door
Time: Vary by location

—Sarah Cascone

Friday, September 20–Sunday, November 3

Work by Alex Da Corte. Courtesy of Karma.

16. “Alex Da Corte: Marigolds” at Karma

It’s been a year and a half since Alex Da Corte transformed the East Village stalwart Karma into a spooky red-hued dreamscape, full of glowing neon pies in windows, a video featuring the singer St. Vincent cosplaying as a ’50s housewife, and a gigantic cat sculpture hanging ominously in the center of the room. Since that triumphant gallery show, Da Corte has expanded his palette on a global level, making more and more ambitious projects that continue to riff on his neo-Lynchian notions of Americana, including outings at the 57th Carnegie International and the Venice Biennale earlier this year. Now, he returns to the East Village for another show at Karma called “Marigolds,” which will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog from Karma Books.

Location: Karma, 188 East 2nd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Nate Freeman

Friday, September 20, 2019–Sunday, May 17, 2020

A visitor interacts with Zachary Lieberman’s Expression Mirror in Cooper Hewitt’s “Face Values” installation at the 2018 London Design Biennale. Photo David Levene.

17. “Face Values: Exploring Artificial Intelligence” at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Step into the Cooper Hewitt’s Process Lab and come face to face (literally) with the future of technology and Artificial Intelligence. Designers including R. Luke DuBois and Zacharay Lieberman reckon with the potential benefits, and terrifying possibilities of its imminent rise.

Location: Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, 2 East 91st Street
Price: general admission is $16
Time: Sunday–Friday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Saturday, September 21–Saturday, December 14

18. “Ministry for All by Carla Juaçaba and Marcelo Cidade” at Storefront for Art and Architecture

Esplanada dos Ministerios, Brasilia. Photo courtesy of the Storefront for Art and Architecture.

Architect Carla Juaçaba and artist Marcelo Cidade, two Brazilians, have teamed up to create a site-specific installation, removing the concrete panels on the Storefront for Art and Architecture facade to reveal the plywood and insulation foam under the surface. The show is named after Oscar Niemeyer’s complex of civil buildings in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, a planned city constructed from 1956 to 1960. Just as the function of those buildings has changed over the years during different political administrations, the intervention at the Storefront space demonstrates the mutability and vulnerability of architecture.

Location: Storefront for Art and Architecture, 97 Kenmare Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 3 p.m.–6 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Through Sunday, October 27

Botond Keresztesi, House of Arts”, (2019). Courtesy of ASHES/ASHES.

19. “NOSZTROMO” at ASHES/ASHES

For this show, this LES gallery promises an all-European roster of artists. Among the standouts is Romanian artist Botond Keresztesi’s surreal mixed-media paintings, which come across like a 21st-century, cyberpunk Magritte.

Location: ASHES/ASHES, 56 Eldridge Street
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Cristina Cruz

Through Saturday, November 2

Margarita Cabrera, Space in Between: Nopal (Sol Espinoza), 2016, Courtesy of Ruiz-Healy Art

20. “Margarita Cabrera: Engendering New Landscapes” at Ruiz-Healy Art

Ruiz-Healy Art presents a solo show by Margarita Cabrera tackling the current hot-button issue of tension along the US/Mexican border. Along with her fabric cacti sculptures, viewers can look forward to a new series of collages, “Pepita Para El Loro Para Que Hable o Calle.” Made of United States border patrol uniform fabric, the work alludes to the extinction risk faced by the Mexican parrot due to the US pet trade.

Location: Ruiz-Healy Art, 74 East 79th Street, 2D
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Neha Jambhekar