A view of The High Line, Chelsea, New York (via nycgovparks.org)
This week, we’re offering a full menu of NYC events just to prove that if you don’t know what to do in this city then you’re just not looking. There’s stargazing in a park, saying goodbye to a beloved LES gallery, then there’s Swoon’s museum show, or a graphic design show in Ridgewood, and let’s not forget an important look back at the Real Estate Show.
Stargazing on the High Line
When: Tuesday, April 8 (check @highlinenyc for time and confirmation)
Where: High Line (Between West 13th and West 14th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan)
Should the weather permit, join expert stargazers on the High Line for a telescopic guide to the stars. @highlinenyc promises to tweet an update after 3pm to confirm whether the event will go ahead. If it doesn’t, don’t fret! The High Line will be holding stargazing evenings every suitable Tuesday evening through October 28.
Vincent Cianni at CCNY
When: Tuesday, April 8, 7pm
Where: CCNY (336 West 37th Street, Midtown, Manhattan)
Photographer Vincent Cianni discusses his new book, Gays in the Military, a series of photographs focusing on gay and lesbian veterans and service members in the U.S. military. Along with author Alison Nordström, Cianni will discuss the history of discrimination against homosexuals in the military and how it has effected the lives of his subjects.
Bonnie & Clyde
When: Wednesday, April 9, 1:30pm ($12)
Where: Museum of Modern Art (11 West 53rd Street, Midtown, Manhattan)
The film that boosted beret sales worldwide, Bonne & Clyde (1967) was a watershed for depicting violence onscreen. It’s considered one of the earliest films to employ squibs — small explosive charges mounted on top of stage blood bags — to create realistic bullet impacts. Funny, endearing, and intense, the film was among the first 100 movies preserved by the U.S. National Film Registry. Oh, and it was also Gene Wilder’s first film.
Final Exhibition at Dodge Gallery
When: Thursday, April 10, 6–8pm
Where: Dodge Gallery (15 Rivington street, Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Active in the Lower East Side since 2010, and a stone’s throw from the New Museum, Kristen Dodge’s Dodge Gallery will close this month. It’s final exhibition will include work by the gallery’s full stable of artists including Lorna Williams, Rebecca Chamberlain, and Environmental Services. Show up and say goodbye.
Collective Recollections: SoHO in the Early 1970s
When: Thursday, April 10, 7pm (RSVP Required)
Where: Hauser & Wirth (511 West 18 St, Chelsea, Manhattan)
Moderated by Julia Robinson, Assistant Professor in History of Art at NYU, Hauser & Wirth are hosting a panel discussion on SoHO in the 1970s. Panelists include Marianne Barcellona, Sid Sachs, and Gesine Tosin. There will also be a screening of videos loaned by the Robert Watts Estate.
A work by Swoon on Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, 2009 (via Flickr)
Swoon: Submerged Motherlands
When: Opens Friday, April 11
Where: The Brooklyn Museum (200 Eastern Parkway, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
One of the most popular street artists and activists in the art world, Swoon’s work is not confined to the imagery she creates, but extended to the social awareness she raises with each piece. A long overdue show, it will be great to see the Brooklyn-based artist in a solo show at a major museum.
ASVP and Skewville at Doyle
When: Opens Friday, April 11, 6–8pm
Where: Doyle Auction House (175 East 87th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan)
Doyle has been making a big effort to introduce street art to the New York auction scene, and now Angelo Madrigale, the man spearheading the street art push, is trying something new by curating a show by artists Skewville and ASVP. Don’t worry, it’s still any auction house, which means everything will be for sale. Though be warned that the show comes down two days later on Sunday.
Undefined by Design
When: Saturday, April 12, 6–9pm
Where: Lorimoto gallery (16–23 Hancock Street, Ridgewood, Queens)
With an impressive line up of works, Undefined by Design promises to explore the ‘fruitful’ and ‘uneasy’ relationship between fine art and design. As designer Michael Bierut has stated:
Fine artists have been taking inspiration — when not outright stealing — from the world of graphic design for a century. The list is long: Kurt Schwitters and Georges Braque, Stuart Davis and Charles Demuth, Jasper Johns and Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger and Jenny Holzer.
Downtown Literary Festival
When: Sunday, April 13 (all day)
Where: Various locations (Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Two bookstores, McNally Jackson and Housing Works book store, have joined forces to host The Downtown Literary Festival, a weekend of events celebrating the literary culture of Downtown New York. The events are too numerous to summarize, but the festival’s Tumblr blog has a handy schedule.
Rebecca Howland, poster for “The Real Estate Show”, 1980 (via abcnorio.org)
The Real Estate Show
When: Through April 27
Where: James Fuentes Gallery (55 Delancey Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan)
The Real Estate Show (1979), much like Damien Hirst’s Freeze (1988) exhibition or Harald Szeemann’s When Attitudes Become Form (1969), has been documented by more people who ever attended it. But the mythologizing of the Real Estate Show (which was open for only a day before the NYPD shut it down) is understandable given that it was organized by the artist’s collective Colab and led to the founding of ABC No Rio, one of the most influential alternative art spaces in 1980s New York. The James Fuentes Gallery brings together artworks and ephemera from the original show which involved artists such as Jenny Holzer, Robin Winters, and Tom Otterness.
