New York The COVID-19 pandemic has not only limited the scale of exhibition opening receptions, but has also radically changed their nature and purpose. | Elaine Velie When COVID-19 became a reality, galleries shuttered and their blow-out openings came to a screeching halt. And while restaurants, bars, and concert venues opened back up, crowded, wine-fueled gallery openings remained a thing of the past. Now, some galleries are reexamining how they structure their events, reflecting on the former “party atmosphere” and bucking the traditional opening format. SPONSORED Presented by Arts Brookfield and curated by MASSIVart, British artist Liz West’s colorful large-scale work, Hymn to the Big Wheel, encourages you to explore the art by considering the illusion and physicality of color and natural light in space. Move around the changing colorways and take a selfie with the sculpture at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan from 9/9–9/25! OPENING THIS WEEK Rosemary Mayer, “City Roof Tent on Wheels” (1980), watercolor and colored pencil on paper (courtesy the Estate of Rosemary Mayer and Gordon Robichaux, NY) Curated by writer Quinn Latimer, this exhibition at an East Williamsburg art complex considers the vocal Siren, surveying manifestations that range from mythological to ecological to technological. Indecencia
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art, opening September 16Rooted in decolonial theology, the show’s focus on performance invites an exploration of queerness, religion, and Latinx identity in all its confines and possibilities. This solo exhibition by Alexandre Arrechea, curated by Elsa Mora, features work by one of the founding members of Los Carpinteros, a Cuban collective that grappled with issues of history, memory, and political power. SPONSORED "Witty, sharp, and right on the mark" — Vogue See The African Desperate, a coming-of-age comedy from artist Martine Syms that tracks an MFA grad's wild last day on campus. Opening Friday, September 16 at BAM & Quad Cinema. Get tickets: https://mubi.com/africandesperate INSIDE ARMORY WEEK At the Rolls-Royce of art fairs, I found chatty visitors, some good art, and works so bad they deserved their own section. | Hakim Bishara As I wandered this fair, I asked myself: Who is being served by the purportedly revisionist undertaking of singing the unsung? | Valentina Di Liscia Paper is all about ease, comfort, and approachability, and it’s gratifying when artworks embody these values. | Jasmine Liu The fair is a welcome reminder that a lot of people make art, and regular people should be able to buy it. | Elaine Velie SPONSORED Curated by Irish author Colm Tóibín, this NYC exhibition explores Joyce as he created his groundbreaking novel through rare publications, portraits, correspondence, and more. Learn more. MONUMENTAL WORKS The artist says her sculpture of a mother figure, located at the southeast entrance of the park, represents “a guide to search and honor our past histories.” | Elaine Velie Wilson's installation challenges not just outwardly violent historical figures but subtle colonial aesthetics still embedded in the city’s more liberal public monuments. | Billy Anania ARTIST SPOTLIGHTS Guadalupe Maravilla’s first New York museum show resolutely harnesses the otherness of illness, while never surrendering to the notion of suffering as a totalizing narrative. | Ela Bittencourt There’s an artist currently showing in Midtown Manhattan who is teaching a machine to paint. | Hrag Vartanian Jake Scharbach’s paintings dump on some iconic portraits as a way to highlight the crisis we’re living through. | Hrag Vartanian Become a member today to help keep our reporting and criticism free and accessible to all. Become a Member CLOSING SOON David Kulp, “Presentation Fraktur of a Double Eagle” (c. 1815) (Gift of Ralph Esmerian, Sotheby’s, courtesy American Folk Art Museum/Art Resource, NY and the Drawing Center) The Clamor of Ornament: Exchange, Power, and Joy from the 15th Century to the Present
The Drawing Center through September 18 Zoë Buckman and Vanessa German: We Flew Over the Wild Winds of Wild Fires
MOTHER Beacon through September 18 Threading the Needle
The Church through September 18 ON VIEW IN MUSEUMS Eros Rising: Visions of the Erotic in Latin American Art
Institute for Studies on Latin American Art through September 30 Unlisted: Underappreciated Women
Derfner Judaica Museum through October 1 PLEASE SEND TO REAL LIFE: Ray Johnson Photographs
The Morgan Library & Museum through October 2 The Stettheimer Dollhouse: Up Close
Museum of the City of New York through October 2 Art and Race Matters: The Career of Robert Colescott
New Museum through October 9 Archeology of a Studio
A.I.R. Gallery through October 9 F*CK ART: THE BODY & ITS ABSENCE
Museum of Sex through October 11 Doreen Lynette Garner: REVOLTED
New Museum through October 16 Black Melancholia
CCS Bard Galleries through October 16 Eva Hesse: Expanded Expansion
Guggenheim Museum through October 16 | 