Monday, February 22–Thursday, February 25:
1. “Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict” at the Film Society of Lincoln Center
If you’re in New York and have not already seen Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict—one of the most buzzed-about, insider-y art world documentaries in recent history—now is your chance to catch it. This is the second of a two-week run at the Lincoln Center Film Society that runs daily at 1:30 p.m. through February 25.
The film provides an unsparing look at Guggenheim, who was responsible for launching the careers of such icons as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, and her colorful life, which included assembling what today is a billion-dollar collection of masterpieces, for the cost of about $40,000. It also features a cast of art world heavyweights weighing in, including mega-dealer Larry Gagosian and Calvin Tomkins.
Location: 10 Lincoln Center Plaza
Price: General public $14, affiliates, seniors, and students $11
Time: 1:30 p.m. February 22–25
—Eileen Kinsella
Monday, February 22:
2. Panel Discussion, “Reimagining Black History through African American History and the Fierce Urgency of Now” at the Gracie Mansion
Hamilton star Daveed Diggs will be sitting in on a panel for African American art at Gracie Mansion. Held in honor of Black History Month, the event will also include Alicia Graf Mack, former lead dancer for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; and Robin Coste Lewis, winner of the 2015 National Book Award; and illustrator Christopher Myers, among others.
Location: Gracie Mansion, 88th Street and East End Avenue
Price: Free
Time: 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Friday, February 19–Thursday, March 27:
3. Brian Willmont, “Chaos and Wild Again” at Victori + Mo
Brian Willmont’s paintings combine surrealism and pop in a unique mode of graphic abstraction that’s tough to ignore. “Chaos and Wild Again” features new work by the Brooklyn-based artist that explores the symbolism behind pretty, familiar images like rose buds and water droplets.
Location: 56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: 1:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., Thursday through Sunday
—Cait Munro
Sunday, February 21–Sunday, March 27:
4. “Rage for Art (Once Again)” at Pierogi Gallery
Pierogi was one of the final anchors of the Williamsburg gallery scene; no more. The just-opened inaugural show at its new Suffolk Street outpost is a chance to get a taste of the gallery’s wonderfully eclectic roster of artists, in sampler form, and it’s well worth seeing.
Location: 155 Suffolk Street
Price: Free
Time: 12:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., Friday through Sunday
—Ben Davis
Tuesday, February 23:
5. Paul Chan & Claudia La Rocco, “An Evening with Paul Chan & Claudia La Rocco,” as part of “Eiko: A Body in Places” at Danspace Project
Poet, critic, and performer Claudia La Rocco; Hugo Boss Prize–winning artist and publisher Paul Chan; and performance artist Eiko descend on Danspace Project, in the East Village, for an event that includes a one-night only viewing of sculptures by Chan; it’s the New York premiere for these Chan works. La Rocco will deliver a response, over four hours, to prompts from Eiko on subjects like “artist as wanderer” and “how we bear witness to change.”
Location: 131 E 10th Street
Price: RSVP or $10 suggested donation at the door
Time: Doors open at 5:30 p.m.; Chan and La Rocca take the stage at 7:00 p.m.
—Brian Boucher
Wednesday, February 24–Sunday, April 17 :
6. Nicholas Hlobo at Lehmann Maupin
Nicholas Hlobo is known for his sprawling, amorphous installations. At the gallery’s first exhibition for the queer South African artist, Lehmann Maupin is offering a different side of his work, “inspired by the migratory patterns of eels,” as well as their curious mating rituals. Expect to see lots of stitches, and leather.
Location: 201 Chrystie Street, at Stanton Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception February 24, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
—Kathleen Massara
Friday, February 26–Sunday, March 13:
7. Andrea Fraser, Down the River at the Whitney Museum of American Art
For the first iteration of the five exhibitions the Whitney has titled “Open Plan,” the museum relinquishes its entire fifth-floor space—some 18,200 square feet—to a well-known trouble-maker: the polemicist and multimedia artist Andrea Fraser. Fraser’s site-specific project, Down the River, uses audio recorded in a correctional facility to link that institution with another type of booming establishment: US museums. Fraser’s final goal: To explicate their close connections.
Location: 99 Gansevoort St
Price: Adults $22, seniors and students $18, members and visitors under 18 free
Time: Museum hours vary
—Christian Viveros-Fauné
Friday, February 26–Sunday, April 3:
8. Philip Hanson, “It Is Too Difficult a Grace“ at James Cohan
Inspired by the words of Romantic-era poets such as Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Shakespeare, Philip Hanson presents a selection of densely colorful new and recent paintings.
Location: 291 Grand Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception February 26, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; 12:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., Sunday
—Sarah Cascone
Friday, February 26–Saturday, April 9:
9. David Adamo, Solo Exhibition at Peter Freeman, Inc.
The gallery’s third exhibition with a Berlin-based sculptor whose toothpick-like transformations of railroad ties recall Alberto Giacometti’s stubborn search for form. David Adamo’s current show features exhausted objects cast in various materials, including bronze, plaster, and aluminum. Fruit after it has been bitten, balloons after the air has run out, melting ice cream—these objects all present unappealing faces, like celebrities once the camera has moved on.
Location: 140 Grand St
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception February 26, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday
—Christian Viveros-Fauné
Saturday, February 27–Saturday, March 26:
10. Walid Raad, “Letters to the Reader” at Paula Cooper Gallery
Following a successful reception at the 31st São Paulo Biennial in 2014, Raad is taking his sculptural installation, Letters to the Reader, to Paula Cooper Gallery. The 11 wooden panels that make up the piece will be accompanied by an additional set of photographic works. The gallery describes his project as dealing with “the material and immaterial conditions that inflect, alter or color the experience of Islamic, modern and contemporary ‘Arab’ art.”
Location: 534 West 21st Street, New York, NY 10011
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception February 27, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday
—Rain Embuscado