Though it may seem that Armory Week and Frieze Week get all the action, the reality is that there is never a dull moment in the New York art world. From the East Side to the West Side, there’s always something happening at the city’s museums, galleries, and various event spaces. And, as was the case this week, with the Museum of Fine Arts Boston hosting a free all-night party, the wider American art scene also provides plenty of action. Here’s a rundown of this week’s highlights.
The Storm King Art Center Annual Gala Dinner & Live Auction at the Rainbow Room
At its seventh annual gala, held October 18, Storm King honored artist Maya Lin, who created the sculpture park’s stunning Storm King Wavefield, a landscape of undulating hills, and Storm King trustees Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Nicholas A. Polsky, for their contributions to the visual arts and nature conservation.
Cocktails took place amid the stunning view from the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center, overlooking the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, before guests repaired to the dining room for dinner. David Redden, former vice chairman at Sotheby’s, oversaw a live auction of works by Alice Aycock, George Rickey, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Richard Serra, Mark di Suvero, and Zhang Huan, as well as Dennis Oppenheim, subject of Storm King’s current exhibition “Terrestrial Studio,” on view through November 13.
Guests included Mark di Suvero, Sarah Sze, and Tom Otterness, as well as Thomas P. Campbell, director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Storm King’s president, John P. Stern; director David R. Collens; and curator Nora Lawrence.
David R Collens, Maya Lin, Cynthia Hazen Polsky, Nicholas A. Polsky, and John P. Stern at the Storm King Art Center Seventh Annual: Gala Dinner and Live Auction. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
Heidi Holst, Mark di Suvero, and Michael Manjarris at the Storm King Art Center Seventh Annual: Gala Dinner and Live Auction. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
John P Stern, Nora Lawrence, and David R Collens at the Storm King Art Center Seventh Annual: Gala Dinner and Live Auction. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
Katie Denny Horowitz and Tom Otterness at the Storm King Art Center Seventh Annual: Gala Dinner and Live Auction. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
mfaNOW Overnight: College Edition at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
The line was out the door until 3:00 a.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on October 15 and 16, as the crowds waited to take part in the museum’s overnight celebration of contemporary art. It was the second of two free all-night parties, which have attracted over 12,000 guests.
Inside, the lines continued as museum-goers waited for hours for a chance to watch Christian Marclay‘s iconic The Clock, on view through January 29, 2017. Luckily, there were plenty of other activities to choose from, including the new exhibition “UH-OH: Frances Stark 1991–2015,” performances by a roving college a cappella group, a “Type Bar” where visitors could dictate letters to typists and have them sent anywhere in the world, and a tunes from DJ Leah V, who had the crowds dancing until dawn.
The festivities even spilled out to the parking lot, where Brian Life was doing live graffiti work. For those with upcoming plans to visit Boston, note that the hit overnight series will be back November 4–5 and December 9–10.
A college a capella group sings at the mfaNOW overnight. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Guests make art at the mfaNOW overnight. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
Guests dance at the mfaNOW overnight. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
The crowds at the mfaNOW overnight. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
B&O PLAY by Bang & Olufsen Opens #TheFutureSeries at A/D/O
Bang & Olufsen opened the second iteration of its new multi-sensory arts initiative the Future Series on October 21, bringing three large-scale art installations by Alex Schweder to A/D/O, a new Greenpoint work space for designers.
Schweder, who calls himself a “performance architecture” artist, has created a mobile hotel room called the The Hotel Rehearsal, an inflated moving sculpture called The Sound and the Future, and the multi-channel video work Friable Aperture, projected onto mist falling from the ceiling.
The highlights also included electronic music by Schlohmo and a culinary installation by chef Laila Gohar. B&O Play marketing director Travis A. McMichael and Instagram star Kimberly Drew, the social media manager for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were among those in attendance. The exhibition is open to the public October 21–23.
Alex Schweder at B&O Play. Courtesy of BFA.
A guest at B&O Play. Courtesy of BFA.
Meredith Argenzio at B&O Play. Courtesy of BFA.
Americans for the Arts’ 2016 National Arts Awards Dinner and Ceremony
The arts in all disciplines were celebrated at Cipriani 42nd Street on October 17, with the presentation of the 2016 National Arts Awards. The winners included famed singer and painter Tony Bennett, honored for lifetime achievement; musician Esperanza Spalding, presented with the award for young artists; and artist and filmmaker Doug Aitken, recognized for his contributions to the arts.
“I didn’t prepare a speech, because I’m an improviser,” said Spalding, while Aiken asked those in attendance to whisper a secret in the ear of the person next to you. In addition to the award presentations, there was a performance blending Bennett and Spalding’s music from alumni of the National YoungArts Foundation’s program for emerging artists.
Guests in attendance included minority leader of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, artists Christo, Walter Robinson, Ryan McGinness, and Jeff Koons, Broadway actor and new Americans for the Arts board member Brian Stokes Mitchell, Arison Arts Foundation president and event co-chair Sarah Arison, and Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak.
Jeff Koons and Tony Bennett at Americans for the Arts’ 56th Annual National Arts Awards. Courtesy of BFA.
Esperanza Spalding at Americans for the Arts’ 56th Annual National Arts Awards. Courtesy of BFA.
Bob Lynch, Sarah Arison, and Doug Aitken at Americans for the Arts’ 56th Annual National Arts Awards. Courtesy of BFA.
Nancy Pelosi and Roselyne Swig at Americans for the Arts’ 56th Annual National Arts Awards. Courtesy of BFA.
Brian Stokes Mitchells and Allyson Tucker at Americans for the Arts’ 56th Annual National Arts Awards. Courtesy of BFA.
Opening of “Paths to the Absolute” at Di Donna
Emmanuel Di Donna inaugurated his new gallery space on Madison Avenue on October 13 with a museum-quality selection of works by European and American abstract painters, including Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko.
Attendees included actor Mark Ruffalo, music industry executive Lyor Cohen, Eileen Guggenheim, and newlyweds Alberto and Colby Mugrabi.
Emmanuel Di Donna, Sunrise Ruffalo, and Mark Ruffalo at the opening of Di Donna Galleries. Courtesy of BFA.
Emmanuel Di Donna and Christina Di Donna at the opening of Di Donna Galleries. Courtesy of BFA.
Emilia Fanjul Pfeifler, Alberto Mugrabi and Colby Mugrabi at the opening of Di Donna Galleries. Courtesy of BFA.
Lee Saunders and Melissa Curley at the opening of Di Donna Galleries. Courtesy of BFA.
Henry Street Settlement’s First Annual CINEMAtheque Fundraiser at Metrograph
The Lower East Side’s Henry Street Settlement, which offers social service, arts, and health care programs to 60,000 New Yorkers each year, held a benefit event on October 18.
The night kicked off with red carpet cocktail party, where guests including actor Leo Fitzpatrick, dealer Philippe Hoerle-Guggenheim, and fashion designer Alexander Olch stocked up on a wide variety of movie theater snacks from the Metrograph Commissary ahead of a special film presentation of Daniel Arsham‘s “Future Relic” film series.
Starring Broad City’s Mahershala Ali, James Franco, and Juliette Lewis, the apocalyptic-themed films were a way for Arsham to “insert some of the objects I was making into a narrative,” he told Tribeca Film Festival founder Jane Rosenthal in a Q+A following the screening.
“I made them out of order because I made the cheapest one first,” the sculptor added, noting that it was a consistent theme of his career. “When I finished school I made paintings, because that was the least expensive thing to make.”
High school students from the HSS’s leadership program with the Abrons Art Center were also in attendance, taking Polaroids of guests after getting a photography lesson from Arsham during a recent tour of his Long Island City studio.
Malini Murjani, Anna da Silveira Pinheiro, and Terry Zucker at the Henry Street Settlement’s First Annual CINEMAtheque Fundraiser. Courtesy of BFA.
Daniel Arsham and Stephanie Arsham at the Henry Street Settlement’s First Annual CINEMAtheque Fundraiser. Courtesy of BFA.
David Garza, Naomi Burjorjee van Pelt, Cassie Persaud, Daniel Arsham, Je’Jae Daniels, Sophie Bomeisler, Francesca Bomeisler, John Embaba, Derek Hernandez, Bryan Moreno, and Colleen McKoy at the Henry Street Settlement’s First Annual CINEMAtheque Fundraiser. Courtesy of BFA.
Ellen Quirk, Elizabeth Kurpis, and Ashlee Harrison at the Henry Street Settlement’s First Annual CINEMAtheque Fundraiser. Courtesy of BFA.
The Lunchbox Fund’s Annual Fall Benefit Dinner with Prada Parfums at Leuca
As Andrew Carmellini prepares to open Leuca at Williamsburg’s William Vale Hotel, the new restaurant had a dry run, hosting a benefit event for the Lunchbox Fund, a nonprofit that feeds poor and orphaned children in Southern Africa.
In addition to Carmellini’s delicious food (the canapés alone included sea bass crudo, smoky eggplant crostini, crispy artichokes, and stuffed chicken meatballs, and that was all before the four-course seated tasting menu), guests had the opportunity to bid on work by artists including Wangechi Mutu and Chuck Close.
Attendees included Lunchbox Fund founder and executive director Topaz Page-Green, director Spike Jonze, model Helena Christensen, Prentice Cultural Communications founder Bettina Prentice, music legends Debbie Harry and Michael Stipe, author Salman Rushdie, Casey Fremont of the Art Production Fund, and artists Njideka Akunyili, Jordan Wolfson, Zoe Buckman, Taryn Simon, and Dustin Yellin.
Salman Rushdie and Paul Haggis at the Lunchbox Fund’s 2016 Fall Benefit. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
Andrew Carmellini at the Lunchbox Fund’s 2016 Fall Benefit. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
Miranda Barnes, Robbie Crawford, Tara Donovan, Isolde Brielmaier, and Wardell Milan at the Lunchbox Fund’s 2016 Fall Benefit. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
Aimee Mullins, Rupert Friend, Helena Christensen, and Camilla Staerk at the Lunchbox Fund’s 2016 Fall Benefit. Courtesy of Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.
“Trailblazers: Women in the Arts” at the Brooklyn Museum
Activist and Marie Claire contributing editor Janet Mock, Sarah Arison, retired Museum of Arts and Design curator Lowery Stokes Sims, and artists Miyoung Lee and Ellen Gallagher were honored by the Brooklyn Museum on October 20 at its annual Women in the Arts awards.
Each of the women “use their power for good” and “represent the best of the arts ecosystem,” Anne Pasternak told the over 150 guests present for the seated luncheon, including MoMA PS1 director Klaus Biesenbach, Yvonne Force Villareal of the Art Production Fund, and PULSE Art Fair director Helen Toomer.
Kicking off the museum’s “Year of Yes,” which celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art , the event also provided a preview of the new exhibition, “Beverly Buchanan—Ruins and Rituals.”
Elizabeth A. Sackler herself was there to introduce the day’s honorees, and to reiterate the need for “Equal pay, equal wallspace!”
Miyoung Lee, Lorna Simpson, and Elizabeth Jaeger at “Trailblazers: Women in the Arts” at the Brooklyn Museum. Courtesy of Elena Olivo for Brooklyn Museum.
Janet Mock, Miyoung lee, Lowery Sims, Ellen Gallagher, and Sarah Arison at “Trailblazers: Women in the Arts” at the Brooklyn Museum. Courtesy of Elena Olivo for Brooklyn Museum.
Noreen Ahmad, Klaus Biesenbach, and Sarah Arison at “Trailblazers: Women in the Arts” at the Brooklyn Museum. Courtesy of Elena Olivo for Brooklyn Museum.
Free Arts NYC’s Kidsfest 2016 at City Point, Downtown Brooklyn
Kids ages one through 10 were the target audience, but plenty of adults were along for the fun at Kidsfest, a celebration of Brooklyn hip hop and street art. Along with numerous young art enthusiasts, Casey Fremont, CNN Anchor Kate Bolduan, Eva Chen, and artist Hein Koh, were among the attendees.
The “Brooklyn Born”-themed activities included custom base balls hats from graffiti artist Eric Haze, silk screened t-shirts by Curtis Kulig, and break-dancing from Rashid Johnson.
Jenna Kahn and Michelle Hellman Cohen at Free Arts NYC’s Kidsfest 2016. Courtesy of BFA.
Kids at Free Arts NYC’s Kidsfest 2016. Courtesy of BFA.
A performer dances at Free Arts NYC’s Kidsfest 2016. Courtesy of BFA.
Young Women in the Arts Hosts Rachel Corbett Book Reading at artnet
Rachel Corbett, managing editor Modern Painters, read selections of her new book, You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin, about the intersecting lives and careers of German poet Rainer Maria Rilke and French sculpture Auguste Rodin, at artnet’s Woolworth building office on October 19.
Hosted by YWA (which, full disclosure, I co-founded with Katya Khazei of Arthena), the evening concluded with a Q&A in which Corbett talked about the considerable accomplishments of the women in the two men’s orbit, which included painter Paula Modersohn-Becker and the sculptors Camille Claudel and Clara Westhoff.
Ambre Kelly, Katya Khazei, Sarah Cascone, Rachel Corbett, and Molly Krause at the Young Women in Arts book reading with Rachel Corbett. Courtesy of Young Women in the Arts.
Jiawen Li, Rachel Corbett, and Stephanie Nass at the Young Women in Arts book reading with Rachel Corbett. Courtesy of Young Women in the Arts.