Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Wednesday, January 11–Saturday, March 4
Ahmet Güneştekin Guardian of Mesopotamia (2014). Photo: courtesy of Marlborough Gallery.
1. “Ahmet Güneştekin: New Works” at Marlborough Gallery
Marlborough presents new works by the Turkish artist Ahmet Güneştekin. Working across a variety of mediums, including textiles, ceramics, metal, and oil on canvas, the artist explores symbolism, graphics, and color. He draws his influences from a myriad of sources such as the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia and Anatolia, combined with elements of Turkish folklore and Greek mythology. The show is Güneştekin’s first solo exhibition with the gallery since 2013.
Location: Marlborough Gallery, 40 West 57th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening Wednesday, January 11, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Monday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
—Henri Neuendorf
Wednesday, January 11–Sunday, April 30
Beatriz Santiago Muñoz, La Cueva Negra. Courtesy of El Museo del Barrio.
2. “Beatriz Santiago Muñoz: A Universe of Fragile Mirrors” at El Museo del Barrio
The multidisciplinary artist had a big debut at the New Museum last year, and her highly anticipated solo at El Museo will feature eight films and two “audio field recordings” reflecting, as the press release notes, “Santiago Muñoz’s own interpretation of the realities in Haiti and Puerto Rico.”
In addition to her videos, the artist has also curated a selection of works from El Museo’s collection, which will be on view later this month. The show acts as a teaser to her contribution to the Whitney Biennial this March, where she is one of two Puerto Rican artists, among 63 participants, included in the exhibition.
Location: El Museo del Barrio, 1230 Fifth Avenue at 104th Street
Price: $9
Time: Wednesday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Kathleen Massara
Thursday, January 12
3. Rachel Corbett Speaks on Her Book You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin at the New York Public Library
Rachel Corbett’s book on the contentious relationship between a renowned writer and one of art history’s greatest sculptors was dubbed “empathetic and imaginative” by the New Yorker and “a work of great effect” by NPR. She’ll give an illustrated lecture about their tumultuous relationship as it played out against the period’s art movements and aesthetic debates.
Location: Mid-Manhattan Library, 455 Fifth Avenue
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.
—Brian Boucher
Thursday, January 12–Saturday, February 11
Portia Munson, The Garden (1996). Courtesy of P.P.O.W.
4. “Portia Munson: The Garden” at P.P.O.W.
Portia Munson has transformed a woman’s bedroom by covering every surface with a colorful array of stuffed animals, flowered dresses, and other consumer objects for her installation The Garden at P.P.O.W. According to the gallery statement Munson “is interested in the way the manmade invades nature” and “bursts with life and beauty, suggestive of fertility, sexuality, and rebirth, and at the same time is suffocating, dark, and funereal.”
Location: P.P.O.W., 535 West 22nd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening Thursday, January 12, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Monday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Sid Grossman, Coney Island (couple embracing), 1947. Courtesy of Howard Greenberg Gallery.
5. “Sid Grossman” at Howard Greenberg Gallery
Sid Grossman died at just 42 in 1955, but the cofounder of New York photography cooperative the Photo League had a lasting impact on the field, influencing many of the street photographers who followed after him.
“Grossman’s vision of creative photography changed the lives of many around him and resulted in a body of work of major historical importance,” wrote photo historian Keith F. Davis in a new monograph timed to be released with the show.
The exhibition, the artist’s first solo show in 30 years, features 35 works, including street photography of Chelsea, Little Italy, and Coney Island, and images taken by Grossman for the US Army in Central America during World War II.
Location: Howard Greenberg Gallery,1 East 57th Street, Suite 1406
Price: Free
Time: Opening Thursday, January 12, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Thursday, January 12–Saturday, March 4
Paul Thek, Eye of the Beholder. Courtesy of Alexander and Bonin.
6. Jorge Macchi, Rita McBride, Paul Thek, and Jonathas de Andrade at Alexander and Bonin
To kick off 2017, Alexander and Bonin is presenting four separate solo shows at once. With sculptures at the entrance by Rita McBride, a selection of paintings by Paul Thek and Jorge Macchi, and a two-channel video piece by Jonathas de Andrade, the gallery has something for everyone.
Location: Alexander and Bonin, 47 Walker Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening Thursday, January 12, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Friday, January 13–Saturday, March 4, 2017
Kader Attia, Reason’s Oxymorons (2015). Courtesy of Lehmann Maupin.
7. “Kader Attia: Reason’s Oxymorons” at Lehmann Maupin
The New York debut of Kader Attia’s multimedia contribution to the Biennale de Lyon in 2015, “Reason’s Oxymorons” presents a “video library” of 18 interviews presented in office cubicles. The interviews feature ethnographers, psychiatrists, and theorists discussing topics such as “Genocide” and “Reason and Politics.” The resulting observations reflect on the West’s antiseptic touch in dealing with its current troika of humanitarian dilemmas: immigration, assimilation, and the refugee crisis.
Location: Lehmann Maupin, 201 Chrystie Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening Friday, January 13, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Christian Viveros-Faune
Andrew Lichtenstein, Squatters attempt to defend their building from an expected atttack by the police on East 13th Street by blocking the street with overturned cars and trash. (1995). Courtesy of the Bronx Documentary Center.
8. “Whose Streets? Our Streets!: New York City, 1980–2000” at the Bronx Documentary Center
Former Village Voice photo editor Meg Handler, historian Tamar Carroll, and Bronx Documentary Center founder Mike Kamber co-curated this exhibition of images of protests, rallies, and historic moments of civil disobedience in New York shot over two decades by independent photojournalists.
Location: Bronx Documentary Center, 614 Courtlandt Avenue, at 151st Street, Bronx
Price: Free
Time: Opening Saturday, January 14, 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Wednesday, March 8
Still from Yuri Ancarani’s IL CAPO. Courtesy Highline Art.
9. Yuri Ancarani’s IL CAPO on the High Line
Italian filmaker Yuri Ancarani’s 2010 documentary, which debuted last week and continues through March 8, follows the foreman of a marble quarry in the Carrara region of the Apuan Alps in Italy as he skillfully directs operators of massive machinery as they extract marble, with the majestic Italian Alps of Apuane serving as the backdrop. The 15-minute film juxtaposes the ear-splitting noise and danger of the quarry activity with the delicate hand gestures of il capo.
Location: High Line Channel 14, 14th Street Passage on the High Line at West 14th Street
Price: Free
Time: 5:00 p.m. daily until the park closes
—Eileen Kinsella