Promotional image for Lucy Raven’s illustrated lecture “On Location,” taking place at The Kitchen on February 19 (via thekitchen.org)
Talks this week include meditations on cultural property and the export of American imagery, as well as the ruminations of a pioneering hip-hop photographer. Openings include a massive show of Italian Futurism and a small gallery show by two multimedia artists exploring silence and the unseen. It’s also your last chance to see Julie Ault’s collection at Artists Space. Have a great week, New York.
Mine or Yours? Jill Magid and Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento
When: Tuesday, February 18, 6–8pm
Where: The New School, Alvin Johnson / J.M. Kaplan Building (66 West 12th Street, West Village, Manhattan)
Vera List fellow Jill Magid and artist and lawyer Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento will discuss art, law, and cultural property, with a focus on Luis Barragán as a case study. Barragán, one of Mexico’s most influential architects, had his personal archive stored in Mexico, whereas his name and work were acquired by Swiss furniture company Vitra. Moderated by curator Carin Kuoni, the talk will explore the conflicts that arise between privatization and public access.
Image Export
When: Wednesday, February 19, 7pm ($10)
Where: The Kitchen (512 West 19th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan)
Artist Lucy Raven’s upcoming lecture on the export of imagery sounds compelling. From The Kitchen’s website:
An illustrated lecture tracing Hollywood’s export of raw material—namely, images—to countries in Southeast Asia to be processed, reformed, and recombined. Beginning with the recent conversion of the 2009 apocalypse film 2012 from 2D to 3D, Raven investigates the developing technologies and infrastructures through which landscapes, locations, and stereoscopic spaces are constructed today.
Hybrid Forms, Sound and Sculpture
When: Thursday, February 20, 6–8pm
Where: Field Projects (526 West 26 Street, Chelsea, Manhattan)
Postponed due to last week’s snow/slushpocalypse, the latest exhibition by Field Projects pairs South African artist Richard Hart with artist/rock musician Tom Kotik. Expect lots of totemic, ritualistic imagery and multidisciplinary work, especially the blending of objects and sound.
Wangechi Mutu’s Fantastic Journey
Wangechi Mutu, “Riding Death in My Sleep” (2002), ink, collage on paper, 60 x 44 in (Collection of Peter Norton, New York, © Wangechi Mutu) (via brooklynmuseum.org)
When: Thursday, February 20, 6:30–9:30pm
Where: Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
Haven’t seen the Wangechi Mutu show yet? Then you should check it out at the Brooklyn Museum’s first Off the Wall, a late Thursday evening series in which exhibitions are expanded upon in performances and talks. The event will include a tour by curator Saisha Grayson, performances by Daví and Saya Woolfalk, a talk titled “Fantastic Visions,” and music by DJ Mursi Layne.
Telling It Firsthand: Jamel Shabazz
When: Thursday, February 20, 7–9pm ($5)
Where: Brooklyn Historical Society (128 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn)
This Thursday, in conversation with Wes Jackson, renowned hip-hop photographer Jamel Shabezz discusses his practice and the process of “capturing Hip-Hop greats on camera before they were cool.” If one pictures the hip-hop / graffiti aesthetic of the 1980s, it’s probably Shabezz’s iconic images that come to mind. Ticket price covers a beer, too.
Italian Futurism
When: Opens Friday, February 21
Where: Guggenheim Museum (1071 5th Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan)
The Guggenheim Museum claims that their upcoming exhibition is “the first comprehensive overview of Italian Futurism to be presented in the United States.” Containing over 300 works, the show covers the movement from its inception — Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s “Futurist manifesto” in 1909 — to its state at the end of World War II, with both the Great Wars having claimed the lives of many of the Futurism’s proponents.
Mad as Hell: The Making of “Network”
When: Sunday, February 23, 2pm ($15, includes museum admission)
Where: Museum of the Moving Image (36-01 35th Avenue, Astoria, Queens)
Having been laid off, news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) announces on air that he will commit suicide on national television. Ratings soar, Beale becomes a sensation, and television programmer Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) scrabbles to devise even bigger hits, regardless of taste or ethics, including a docudrama entitled Mao Tse-Tung Hour, which follows the exploits of a terrorist group. To describe Network (1976) as prescient would be a vast understatement. The Museum of the Moving Image’s screening will be followed by a discussion between Dave Itzkoff, a culture reporter at the New York Times (and author of Mad as Hell, which examines the film’s production), and Keith Olbermann, the host of Olbermann on ESPN2.
Last Chance: Macho Man, Tell It to My Heart
When: Closes Sunday, February 23
Where: Artist’s Space (38 Greene Street, Soho, & 55 Walker Street, Tribeca, Manhattan)
Macho Man, Tell It To My Heart is a show of works selected from the collection of Julie Ault, artist, curator, and co-founder of Group Material (1979–96). Featuring works by such artists as Leon Golub, Jenny Holzer, Nayland Blake, Carrie Mae Weems, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, all of them given or exchanged, the exhibition is an insightful and thoughtful examination of the nature of personal collections, connections, and collaborations. Catch it before it closes.
