Trenton Doyle Hancock, “And then it All Came Back to Me” (2011), mixed media on paper, 9 x 8 inches, collection KAWS, New York (courtesy the artist and James Cohen Gallery, New York)
It’s a week filled with myths, performances, and discussions, but we know you’re up for it. First learn the art of Shibori in Long Island City, then attend a talk about the state of painting, but make sure you set your sights on performance art in Brooklyn by the end of the week. And we’re not even close to done.
Shibori Surface Design Workshop
When: Tuesday, March 24, 6–8pm (free)
Where: Flux Factory (39-31 29th Street, Long Island City, Queens)
A centuries-old practice, Shibori is the Japanese art of resist dying. In this free workshop, Flux Factory visitors will learn three different Shibori techniques. Materials are included, though if visitors want to dye their own garments, they’ll need to ensure that any fabric they use is 100% natural. Not a bad way to kickstart the week.
Much Ado About Painting
Honoré Daumier, “Le Public du Salon: Un jour où l’on ne paye pas…” (1852) (via Wikipedia)
When: Wednesday, March 25, 7:30–8:30pm
Where: Hunter College MFA Building (205 Hudson Street, TriBeCa, Manhattan)
MoMA’s The Forever Now showcases the “atemporal” works of 17 contemporary painters. The show has sparked huge debate regarding the characteristics of contemporary painting.
On Wednesday, CUNY Hunter and The Brooklyn Rail present a panel led by painter Carrie Moyer that’s inspired by the show and the ensuing discussion. Alex Bacon, Greg Lindquist, Phyllis Tuchmann, and Amei Wallach join Moyer to assess the state of painting. —Vic Vaiana
Trenton Doyle Hancock
When: Thursday, March 26, 7–9pm (Free with museum admission)
Where: The Studio Museum in Harlem (144 West 125th Street, Harlem, Manhattan)
Moderated by the Studio Museum’s Associate Curator Lauren Haynes, this discussion with Trenton Doyle Hancock and Stanley Whitney will focus on Hancock’s drawings, collages, and works on paper on view, which are currently on view in Trenton Doyle Hancock: Skin and Bones, 20 Years of Drawing. One of my favorite quotes by Hancock was in a New York Times article a few years ago, where he explained the scope of his work at the time: “I’m returning to the self and the limitations of my own body and my own autobiography,” he said. “This is about my family.” There’s something in those lines that I think everyone can relate to.
The Great American Performance Art Festival
When: Friday, March 27, 9:30pm (Suggested $5–20)
Where: Grace Exhibition Space (840 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn)
What does it mean to be American? This series of performances will explore that topic at one of the city’s performance art laboratories. Borders, sexuality, ethnicity, race, class, prohibitions, taboos, and everything else will be under scrutiny as performers including Kledia Spiro, Maria Fernanda Hubeaut, jodei Lyn-Kee-Chow, Rudi Salpietra, Ivy Castellanos, and Fritz Donnelly give us their interpretations.
This evening program is part of a longer series that runs until May and will bring in a wide range of artistic voices. Maybe you’ll discover what being “American” really means.
Material Labor: A Durational Participatory Performance by AGROFEMME
When: Saturday, March 28th, 4–9pm
Where: Panoply Performance Laboratories (104 Meserole Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn)
AGROFEMME’s interactive performance will engage the audience in repetitive tasks to investigate the nature of labor. The artist hopes to investigate the ways in which labor is connected to the passage of time. AGROFEMME aims to alter the audience’s perception of the passage of time through the performance of these repetitive acts, uniting everyone as a temporary experimental workforce. —VV
May Sumak! A Quichwa Film Showcase
When: Saturday, March 28
Where: The Queens Museum (New York City Building, Flushing Meadows/Corona Park, Queens)
The Queens Museum will host the final day of NYU’s series of screenings titled May Sumak! A Quichwa Film Showcase. Two short films produced by Quechua communities, “Qallay: Fiesta de las flores” (Bolivia, 2013) and “Mosocc Punchau” (Peru, 2012), will be presented twice, bookending a conversation with filmmaker Frida Muenala from Ecuador and performances by Ecuador Sumag Llacta, Wawa Sumags and New York–based Andean music band Inkarayku. —VV
A work by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern (via Facebook)
Tales & Myths
When: Opens Sunday, March 29
Where: Ukrainian Museum (222 East 6th Street, East Village, Manhattan)
The Ukrainian Museum is showing the paintings of Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, a professor of Jewish history at Northwestern University. While he received lessons as a child, Petrovsky-Shtern stopped painting at age 24 to pursue Jewish studies. In 2007, he returned to painting after a series of professional crises. Drawing on his research, Petrovsky-Shtern blends Eastern-European avant-garde and folk practices to represent the themes of Jewish texts. —Vic Vaiana
Dr. No
When: Saturday, March 28, 3pm, and Sunday, March 29, 1pm ($9.50)
Where: Alamo Drafthouse Yonkers (2548 Central Park Avenue, Yonkers, New York)
Now considered a classic, the first Bond film received a mixed critical reception upon release. Condemned as immoral by the Vatican, the film is best known for Ursula Andress’s bikini-clad entrance as Honey Ryder. Random art fact: Keep an eye out for the scene where Bond eyes a portrait of the Duke of Wellington by Francisco de Goya — a reference to the painting’s theft the year before the film was released (it was subsequently recovered in 1965).
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With contributions by Vic Vaiana
