Tuesday, June 21
1. Night at the Museums, 16 museums and historic sites in Lower Manhattan
Organized by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council as part of the 2016 River to River Festival, Night at the Museums offers free admission to a diverse group of cultural institutions located within walking distance of each other. Participating institutions include National Museum of the American Indian, which is offering special tours of “Unbound: Narrative Art of the Plains” (through December 4); the National September 11 Memorial Museum; the South Street Seaport Museum; and the New York City Municipal Archives, located in the gorgeous Beaux Arts-style Surrogates Courthouse on Chambers Street.
Location: Lower Manhattan
Price: Free
Time: 4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Tuesday, June 21–Friday, July 1
2. MK Guth, Instructions for Drinking with a Friend at Cristin Tierney Gallery
Positioned around the ritual and sites of sharing food and drink, MK Guth’s drinking performance in “MK Guth: Shout, Recount, Get Drunk” enlists gallery goers to invite a friend or “someone you have spent time with on more than two occasions” to read Baudelaire’s poem “Get Drunk” out loud to each other and, subsequently, booze it up. Instructions for Drinking with a Friend takes place four times a day. To sign up for a time slot, contact Candace Moller at Candace@cristintierney.com.
Location: Cristin Tierney Gallery, 540 West 28th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, Tuesday, June 21st, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; every day, 12:00 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
—Christian Viveros–Fauné
Wednesday, June 22
3. Prix Canson 2016 Exhibition at the Drawing Center
The Drawing Center will be hosting a group exhibition of works by the artists nominated for this year’s edition of the Prix Canson, an annual award conferred to “the best artists today worldwide who are working with drawing,” as it boasts on its website. This year’s shortlist features an impressive lineup of contemporary names, including Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze, and David Shrigley.
Location: 35 Wooster Street
Price: Free
Time: 12:00p.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Rain Embuscado
Thursday, June 23
4. Saturday Program, “Wearable Art Soirée” at the Cooper Union
Now is the time to dust off that wearable art apparel: The Cooper Union’s pre-college Saturday Program is hosting an evening soirée under the stars. The event, which will take place on the Foundation building’s rooftop suite, doubles up as a fundraiser. For nearly fifty years, the Saturday Program has been providing a free arts education to New York City public high school students attending underserved schools. For added appeal, guava cake will be served.
Location: Peter Cooper Suite ~ 3rd Avenue & 7th Street
Price: Free
Time: 6:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m.
—Rain Embuscado
Thursday, June 24–Friday, August 12, 2016
5. “I Talk with the Spirits” at Marianne Boesky Gallery
This group show featuring the work of Thornton Dial, Jay Heikes, and Lee Mullican “explores the enduring hold of spirituality on artists and their art throughout the 20th century and beyond, expressed across disparate generations, cultures, and artistic traditions,” according to the exhibition statement. The title comes from experimental jazz musician Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1964 album of the same name.
Location: Marianne Boesky, 507 & 509 West 24th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, Thursday, June 23, 6:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Friday, June 24–Sunday, July 17
6. “Isabel Lewis: Occasions and Other Occurrences” at Dia Art Foundation
For the next four weekends, Isabel Lewis will take over both Dia’s Chelsea and Beacon locations with a performance piece that is advertised as part “DJ set, lecture, party, and philosophical salon.”
Lewis teams up in Chelsea with Norwegian chemist and smell researcher Sissel Tolaas to explore the olfactory sense while watching contemporary dance. Upstate, Lewis will engage with nature, interacting with visitors through dance, conversation, and other means at Beacon’s Long Dock Park.
Location: Dia:Chelsea, 541 West 22nd Street, and Dia:Beacon at Long Dock Park
Price: Free
Time: Friday beginning at 6:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
—Sarah Cascone
Through Friday, June 24
7. Group Exhibition, “InFinite Futures + The Past Will Be Present” at ABC No Rio
The Lower East Side’s ABC No Rio, an activist and participatory art space, is hosting a group exhibition of works by artists Alexander Drywall, Becky Howland, and Takashi Horisaki, among others, in their iconic building on Rivington Street. Who said punk was dead?
Location: 156 Rivington Street
Price: Free
Time: Sundays, 1:00 p.m.–5:00pm; Tuesdays through Thursdays, 4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.
—Rain Embuscado
Through Saturday, June 25
8. Giorgio Morandi at the Center for Italian Modern Art
One of the most celebrated Italian artists of the 20th century, the show at CIMA focuses on rarely-seen works from the 1930s, the decade in which Morandi reached artistic maturity and developed the pictorial language for which he is known. The exhibition features 40 paintings, etchings, and drawings loaned from European private collections, and marks the first time that many of the works have been on show in the US. Selected works by contemporary artists Joel Meyerowitz, Tacita Dean, Matthias Schaller, and Wolfgang Laib complement Morandi’s work, and offer viewers an alternative approach to the Italian master’s art.
Location: Center for Italian Modern Art 421 Broome Street
Price: $10 with reservation, free for CIMA members and students with valid ID.
Time: Extended hours from June 22—June 25: 12:00 p.m.– 8:00 p.m.
—Henri Neuendorf