Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.
Monday, May 6–Saturday, June 1
Björk. Photo by Santiago Felipe/Getty Images.
1. “Björk’s Cornucopia” at the Shed
Björk’s MoMA retrospective was rightfully panned, but we expect she’ll be a better fit at the Shed, which is promising the Icelandic singer’s “most elaborate staged concert to date,” featuring a blend of digital technology and live music. It’s being produced by filmmaker, screenwriter, and director Lucrecia Martel.
Location: The Shed, 545 West 30th Street
Price: $75–295
Time: Monday, May 6, 7 p.m.; Thursday, May 9, 8 p.m.; Sunday, May 12, 7 p.m.; Thursday, May 16, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, May 22, 7 p.m.; Sunday, May 25, 8 p.m.; Tuesday, May 28, 7 p.m.; Saturday, June 1, 8 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Tuesday, May 7
Cy Twombly: Fifty Days at Iliam by Carlos Basualdo. Image courtesy of Yale University Press.
2. “Cy Twombly’s Fifty Days at Iliam: Carlos Basualdo with David R. Baum” at the New York Public Library
Philadelphia Museum of Art senior curator Carlos Basualdo recently published a new book, Cy Twombly: Fifty Days at Iliam (Yale University Press), about the museum’s painting series of the same name. He’ll talk with David R. Baum, the secretary and outside general counsel of the Cy Twombly Foundation, about the significance of this body of work, which is inspired by Alexander Pope’s 18th-century translation of Homer’s Iliad.
Location: The New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Celeste Auditorium at South Court, 42nd Street and 5th Avenue
Price: Free with registration
Time: 6:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Tuesday, May 7
Carmelita Tropicana. Photo courtesy of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.
3. “Alien Skins: ‘Hybrid Alternos’ Performance and Curator’s Welcome” at the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art
As part of the programming for Leslie Lohman’s “Alien Skins” (through May 26)—itself the sister exhibition of the Queens Museum’s “Mundos Alternos: Art and Science Fiction in the Americas” (through August 18)—the SoHo museum presents “Hybrid Alternos,” a sci-fi tale of a human-hyena hybrid. The work is created by performance artist Carmelita Tropicana and filmmaker Ela Troyano.
Location: Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, 26 Wooster Street
Price: Free with registration
Time: 6:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Wednesday, May 8
Lucian Freud, Naked Man, Back View (1991–92). © The Lucian Freud Archive/Bridgeman Images
4. Panel discussion on “Lucian Freud: Monumental” at Acquavella Galleries
What could be better than the opportunity to see some of Lucian Freud’s best works, including loans from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Met, up close and personal? We can think of one thing: Hearing some of the world’s leading experts and confidantes of the artist discuss his process, what it was like to pose for him, and what makes his monumental nudes so extraordinary—all against the backdrop of the work itself. Join David Dawson, the artist’s studio assistant and friend (who organized the Acquavella show); curator Michael Auping, who interviewed the late artist extensively; and former Met director and current Acquavella director Philippe de Montebello for what promises to be a fascinating panel discussion.
Location: Acquavella Galleries, 18 East 79th Street
Price: Free
Time: 6 p.m.
—Julia Halperin
Thursday, May 9–Friday, July 7
A sculpture by Sally Saul. Courtesy of Pioneer Works.
5. “Sally Saul: Blue Hills, Yellow Tree” at Pioneer Works
Three-decade’s worth of charming ceramics from artist Sally Saul make up “Blue Hills, Yellow Tree,” the underrated artist’s first-ever retrospective. Saul’s signature shin-high plant and people sculptures will be accompanied by a selection of never-before-seen works on paper, showing a new side to her practice.
Location: Pioneer Works, 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception: 7 p.m.–9 p.m.; Wednesday–Sunday (no hours listed)
—Taylor Dafoe
Thursday, May 9–Saturday, June 22
Phoenix Lindsey-Hall, Sitting on the Edge of my Blanket Watching Every Touch (Joan Nestle at Riis Beach,Unknown Photographer) (2019). Courtesy Victori + Mo Gallery.
6. “Phoenix Lindsey-Hall: Shame is the First Betrayer” at Victori + Mo
Having closed its Bushwick location in 2018, Victori + Mo opens its long-awaited Chelsea space with a solo exhibition of work by Phoenix Lindsey-Hall. The show marks the artist’s second exhibition with the gallery; in 2017 Lindsey-Hall memorably filled the Bushwick space with 49 porcelain disco balls in tribute the Pulse nightclub shooting victims. In the new show, the artist continues to mine queer identity and experience, but, in these mixed media works, there is a new emphasis on the personal object as a historical and cultural signifier. The artist has spent the past several years exploring the Lesbian Herstory Archives, the world’s largest collection of materials by and about lesbians and their communities. For this exhibition, Lindsey-Hall has selected photographs, personal notes, and other objects from the archive, and incorporated elements in novel techniques, silk screening photographs and texts on ceramic, metal, wood and fabric.
Location: Victori + Mo, 242 West 22nd Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening Reception: 6 p.m.– 8 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.– 6 p.m and by appointment
—Katie White
Through Saturday, May 11
Gilles Aillaud, Tortues sous les ampoules (1975). Courtesy of Ortuzar Projects.
7. “Gilles Aillaud” at Ortuzar Projects
The first New York showing of Gilles Aillaud (1928–2005) since 1982 showcases his portraits of animals in zoo enclosures, painted in the 1960s and ’70s. Shown confined in cages and glass cases, these imprisoned animals were a reflection of the artist’s radical political beliefs, with the animals representing victims, perhaps, of the capitalist system.
Location: Ortuzar Projects, 9 White Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tanner West
Through Saturday, June 8
Installation view of “Calder Crags + Vanuatu Totems from the Collection of Wayne Heathcote” at Venus Over Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Venus Over Manhattan.
8. “Calder Crags + Vanuatu Totems from the Collection of Wayne Heathcote” at Venus Over Manhattan
Like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder collected and was greatly influenced by Oceanic art. Here, Venus Over Manhattan pairs Calder’s large “Crag” mobiles from 1974 with historical Vanuatu figures from the Ambrym, Banks, and Malekula islands in the Vanuatu archipelago, drawn from the collection of art dealer Wayne Heathcote.
Location: Venus Over Manhattan, 980 Madison Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Sunday, June 9
Installation view of Josh Kline, “Climate Change: Part One,” 47 Canal, New York, 2019. Photography by Joerg Lohse. Image courtesy of the artist and 47 Canal, New York.
9. “Josh Kline: Climate Change: Part One” at 47 Canal
Josh Kline’s latest solo show continues his interest in visions of a dystopian future that our collective action—or inaction—is rapidly hurtling us toward. As the exhibition’s title makes plain, this time his concern is climate change, specifically in the form of catastrophically elevated sea levels that could sink many of the world’s cultural and political power centers—making them a new Atlantis for the (un)lucky survivors.
Location: 291 Grand Street, 2nd Floor
Price: Free
Time: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Tim Schneider
Through Saturday, June 22
Joan Mitchell, Edrita Fried (1981). © Estate of Joan Mitchell. Collection of the Joan Mitchell Foundation, New York. Courtesy David Zwirner.
10. “Joan Mitchell: I Carry My Landscapes Around With Me” at David Zwirner
“Joan Mitchell: I Carry My Landscapes Around With Me” is the first exhibition of the artist’s work at David Zwirner since the gallery began representing the late artist’s foundation in 2018. Large-scale, horizontal works make up the majority of the show, many of them alluding to the landscape, “an important and enduring subject for Mitchell that she linked directly to memory,” according to the gallery. The exhibition consists of works from both private and public collections.
Location: David Zwirner, 537 West 20th Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
—Neha Jambhekar
Through Tuesday, September 3
11. “Chronos Cosmos: Deep Time, Open Space” at Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park has been transformed into a “gateway to the universe” with installations and sculptures by Radcliffe Bailey, Beatriz Cortez, Alicja Kwade, and Eduardo Navarro, among others. Miya Ando’s Ginga (Silver River) is one of the new commissions for the free, open-air exhibition. Situated along the sculpture park’s shoreline and measuring 180 feet, the translucent textile depicting the Milky Way is sure to be one of the city’s most Instagrammable landmarks this summer.
Location: Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Boulevard, Long Island City, Queens
Price: Free
Time: Open daily, 9 a.m. to sunset
—Cristina Cruz