Beat the Heat With These 19 Summer Group Shows on View Now in New York

From Chelsea to Brooklyn, here are 19 gallery shows in the city that you don't want to miss this summer.

Katherine Bradford's Face to Face (2018). ©Katherine Bradford, Courtesy of the Artist and CANADA, New York.

As the thermometer creeps up into the triple-digits, we’ve chosen a slew of the group shows now on display throughout New York City, where you can enter an air-conditioned haven and get a dose of culture at the same time. There are many, many shows around Chelsea, SoHo, Brooklyn, and beyond, but here is a taste of the best group shows on view right now.

1. “Snarl of Twine” at Magenta Plains
Through Friday, July 27

Installation view of “Snarl of Twine” at Magenta Plains Gallery.

Magenta Plains’s “Snarl of Twine” is the perfect antidote to the oppressive summer heat. The show of Los Angeles and New York-based contemporary artists includes the spiky protrusions of Donald Moffett’s organism-like wall sculptures, Roger White’s delightfully banal painting of raw chicken on a cutting board, and a freestanding dual-paneled collage of textiles and paint by Dona Nelson.

Magenta Plains, 94 Allen Street
Tuesday–Friday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

2. “4 Artists” at Fredericks & Freiser Gallery
Through Friday, July 27

Anja Salonen’s The Sex Life of Stones (2018). Image © Anja Salonen, courtesy of Fredericks & Freiser, NY.

A group show brings together artists Felipe Baeza, Jenna Gribbon, Anja Salonen, and Vaughn Spann—artists who each have unique perspectives on painting and push the medium to its limits.

Fredericks & Freiser Gallery, 536 West 24th Street
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

3. “Pine Barrens” at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Through Friday, July 27

Slavs and Tartars’s Rahle for Richard (2014). Photo: Joerg Lohse. Courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles.

The group show on now at Tanya Bonakdar’s gallery takes its name from the “liminal land” of New Jersey, a space in between the endless green pastures and industrial urbanity of the landscape. Similarly, the work in this group show doesn’t fit neatly into the categories typically used to describe art: Painting collides, sculpture, and everyday objects collide throughout the exhibition.

Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, 521 West 21st Street
Tuesday–Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

4. “SEED” at Paul Kasmin Gallery
Through Friday, August 10

Sophie Narrett’s Stuck (2016). Courtesy of the artist and Paul Kasmin Gallery.

In this group show curated by Yvonne Force, 29 artists—one for each year it takes for Saturn to orbit the Earth—present work exploring sexuality and fertility, mysticism and nature, and the divine power of art. A thread of wit runs through the show, which takes the expression “oh my goddess” as a starting point to reflect on the many modern and traditional people, objects, and ideas that are deified.

Paul Kasmin Gallery, 293 10th Avenue
Monday–Friday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

5. “Summer” curated by Ugo Rondinone at Peter Freeman, Inc.
Through Friday, July 27

Image by Geoffrey Hendricks, courtesy of the Geoffrey Hendricks archive and Peter Freeman, Inc.

A group show curated by Ugo Rondinone brings together the work of seven artists including the late Fluxus artist Geoffrey Hendricks, David Adamo, Pat Steir, and Shara Hughes. Rondinone chose each of the artists for their distinct approaches of depicting the tension between the natural and spiritual worlds; “Summer,” he says, “celebrates the disparate elements of the earth, while exploring the human connection to nature.”

Peter Freeman, Inc., 140 Grand Street
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.


6. “Grids” at James Cohan Gallery
Through Friday, July 27

Michelle Grabner’s Untitled (2016). Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery.

Rosalind Krauss’s seminal essay “Grids” is the theoretical peg for this group show, which brings together artists who employ various materials and methods, challenging the innate rigidity of grids. Artists in the show include Spencer Finch, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Sol LeWitt, and Trenton Doyle Hancock.

James Cohan Gallery, 533 West 26th Street
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

7. “Summertime” at Tibor de Nagy Gallery
Through Saturday, July 28

Jane Freilicher’s Horizontal Landscape (1977). Courtesy of the artist and Tibor de Nagy Gallery.

Tibor de Nagy’s “Summertime” features a vast array of artists and places works of diverse subject matter and material in stimulating conversation. Jane Freilicher’s picturesque Horizontal Landscape is placed at the show’s entrance, while the understated glamour of Ryan McGinley’s photographs and the colorful geometric abstraction of Trevor Winkfield carry the viewer around the gallery.

Tibor de Nagy, 15 Rivington Street
Tuesday–Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

8. “Picnic” at Lesley Heller Gallery
Thursday, July 12–Friday, August 17

Helen O’Leary’s Home is a Foreign Country #18 (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Lesley Heller Gallery.

Group shows are a perfect way for new visitors to learn about the breadth of the gallery program, as in this exhibition at Lesley Heller. Work by all 23 artists on the roster will be featured in this mélange of color and material.

Lesley Heller Gallery, 54 Orchard Street
Wednesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

 

9. “Putting Out” at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise
Through Saturday, August 11

Annie Sprinkle’s Forty Reasons Why Whores Are My Heroes (1998). Courtesy of the artist and Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York/Rome.

At Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, summer is sexy and wearing nearly nothing. The show includes artists Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Juliana Huxtable, Deana Lawson, Annie Sprinkle, Amalia Ulman, and many more.

Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, Downtown, 291 Grand Street
Wednesday–Sunday 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

 

10. “The Way We Live Now” at Aperture Foundation Gallery
Through Thursday, August 16

Jamal Nxedlana’s Portrait of Langa Mavuso (2017). © Bubblegum Club, courtesy of Aperture.

The 18 finalists culled from more than 1,000 submissions for the annual Aperture Summer Open are on view now through the end of July. The works present a diverse array of perspectives, both in the subjects of the photographs, and the artists behind the lenses; this year’s show was curated by Siobhán Bohnacker of the New Yorker; Brendan Embser of Aperture magazine; Marvin Orellana of New York magazine; and independent critic and Instagram-phenom Antwaun Sargent.

Aperture Foundation, 547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
Monday–Thursday & Saturday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

 

11. “# (hashtag)” at Sla307 Art Space
Through Saturday, July 28

Angela Okajima-Kempinas’s AM (RR) (2004). Courtesy of the artist.

The New York-based Sla307 art space is partnering with Meno Parkas Gallery (Lithuania and Germany) to bring together artists whose work, while formally varied, offer conceptual and visual similarities (in contemporary parlance, you might find them sharing hashtags).

Sla307 Art Space, 307 West 30th Street
Thursday–Saturday 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

 

12. “Alive With Pleasure!” at Asya Geisberg Gallery
Through Friday, August 3

Philip Hinge’s Martyrium (2016). Courtesy of the artist and Asya Geisberg Gallery.

Inspired by an old Newport ad with groups of laughing twenty-somethings having one hell of a good time, Asya Geisberg’s summer group show presents artists whose work “welcomes pleasure completely and unabashedly.” If the artists are having as much fun making these pieces as we are looking at them, they’re doing all right.

Asya Geisberg Gallery, 537b West 23rd Street
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

13. “Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose” at Jack Hanley Gallery
Through Friday, August 3

Hein Koh’s Adam and Eve (2018). Courtesy of the artist and Jack Hanley Gallery.

The curators of this group show—Nikki Maloof and Louis Fratino—write in their press release that “[p]ainting a flower is both revelatory and embarrassing,” and the artwork in this show encompasses the entire range of floral interpretations.

Jack Hanley Gallery, 327 Broome Street
Wednesday–Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

14. “Of the Self and of the Other” at Galerie Lelong & Co.
Through Friday, August 3

Etel Adnan’s Untitled (2015). Courtesy of the artist and Galerie LeLong & Co.

The work of Etel Adnan, Ione Saldanha, and Carolee Schneemann will be presented together for the first time in this show, whose title is taken from one of Adnan’s poems. The show will combine historical and recent paintings, works on paper, and sculptures, that contemplate the tenuous but persistent relationship of body and landscape.

Galerie Lelong & Co., 528 West 26th Street
Monday–Friday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

15. “Difference Engine” at Lisson Gallery
Through Friday, August 10

Jacob Ciocci’s Charging in a Bag (detail) (2017). Photo: Jan Inge Haga. Courtesy Prosjektrom Normanns & Arcangel Surfware.

“Difference Engine” explores the tension between the two approaches to technology as a theme that art has traditionally taken, especially since the dawn of the internet: the nihilistic and the utopian. Curated by Cory Arcangel and Tina Kukielski, this brings together work by Jamian Juliano-Villani, Jayson Musson, and Carol Bove, among many others.

Lisson Gallery, 504 West 24th Street
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

16. “Painting: Now and Forever, Part III” at Matthew Marks Gallery
& Greene Naftali GalleryThrough Friday, August 17

Sam Gilliam’s Homage to the Square (2016–2017). Courtesy of the artist.

Matthew Marks and Greene Naftali Galleries are presenting the third installment of their co-curated painting exhibitions, where more than 40 artists from both gallery rosters prove that painting is alive, now, and will be, forever.

Matthew Marks, 522 & 526 West 22nd Street; Greene Naftali, 508 West 26th Street
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

17. “Alchemy” at BRIC House
Through Sunday, August 12

Phoebe Grip’s Effluvia (cicadas). Courtesy of the artist and BRIC.

Seven artists reflect on the mysterious and ancient idea of alchemy: the transformation of matter. In BRIC’s traditional fashion, the summer show will be accompanied by public programming including performance, dance, conversation, and the healing arts.

Gallery at BRIC House, 647 Fulton Street (entrance on Rockwell Place), Brooklyn
Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Sunday 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

 

18. “Intimacy” at Yossi Milo Gallery
Through Friday, August 24

Sholem Krishtalka’s The Forest (2018). ©Sholem Krishtalka, courtesy of the artist.

As its title suggests, “Intimacy” explores the concept as it’s been depicted in painting, photography, sculpture, installation, and works on paper over the last 40 years, since the onset of the AIDS crisis. Curated by Stephen Truax, this poignant exhibition includes work from over 35 artists, from newer names like Doron Langberg and Elliott Jerome Brown, Jr., to older artists who were victims of the epidemic themselves, like David Wojnarowicz and Patrick Angus.

Yossi Milo Gallery, 245 10th Avenue
Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

 

19. “Sedimentations: Assemblage as Social Repair” at the 8th Floor
Through Saturday, December 8

Michael Kelly Williams, M’Boom (2016). Courtesy of the artist.

A group show of artists who “employ strategies of reuse” in their work, this show includes work by El Anatsui, Maren Hassinger, Elana Herzog, Samuel Levi Jones, Mary Mattingly, Lina Puerta, Michael Rakowitz, Jean Shin, Shinique Smith, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Roberto Visani, and Michael Kelly Williams. The exhibition’s title is a reference to Robert Smithson’s 1968 Artforum essay, “A Sedimentation of the Mind: Earth Projects,” in which he compares the erosion of the earth to that of the mind.

The 8th Floor, 17 West 17th Street
Tuesday–Saturday 11 a.m.–6 p.m.


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