ArtRx NYC

Part of ‘Take Me, I’m Yours’ at the Jewish Museum: Lawrence Weiner, “NAU EM I ART BILONG YUMI (The art of today belongs to us)” (1988–2016) (photo by David Heald, courtesy the artist) (click to enlarge)

This week is all about books, as Printed Matter’s beloved art book fair touches down in Long Island City, while a new satellite fair pops up in nearby Greenpoint. Plus, don’t miss the celebration of a pioneering performance series and the first retrospective for maintenance artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles.

 Yours Truly, Georgia Brown

Raque Ford, “Yours Truly, Georgia Brown” (2016), laser-cut plexiglass (via iscp-nyc.org) (click to enlarge)

When: Opens Tuesday, September 13, 6–8pm
Where: International Studio & Curatorial Program (1040 Metropolitan Avenue, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn)

For her solo show at ISCP, artist Raque Ford will revisit the character of Georgia Brown, the temptress and gold digger in the midcentury musical and film Cabin in the Sky. Produced in 1940 and ’43, respectively, both versions of Cabin in the Sky were rare in their employment of all-black casts, yet their depiction of African-American life is, according to Ford, “simplistic and short-sighted.” The artist will address this by restoring some complexity and life to Georgia Brown.

 The FDIC’s Failed Banks

When: Opens Thursday, September 15, 6–8pm
Where: Art-in-Buildings Financial District Project Space (40 Rector Street, Financial District, Manhattan)

Eight years ago this week, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy with $613 billion debt — the largest filing of its kind in US history. On Thursday, artist Michael Mandiberg will commemorate (for lack of a better word) that moment by opening FDIC Insured, an exhibition featuring the logos of 527 banks that have failed in Lehman’s wake. The logos are inscribed on the covers of found investment guidebooks, which will be displayed around an empty office space in the financial district — a fitting location for pondering the precarity of our fiscal past and future.

Michael Mandiberg, “FDIC Insured (First Priority, Bradenton FL, August 1, 2008)” (2009–10), laser-cut found book (via dennygallery.com) (click to enlarge)

 9 Evenings, 50 Years Later

When: Friday, September 16–Saturday, September 24, 8pm ($20/$135 all-access pass)
Where: Fridman Gallery (287 Spring Street, Hudson Square, Manhattan)

 You Can Take It with You

When: Opens Friday, September 16
Where: Jewish Museum (1109 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan)

The title of the Jewish Museum’s exhibition Take Me (I’m Yours) is a literal demand of the visitors, who are encouraged to take the art with them. Featuring works by over 40 artists, among them Alison Knowles, Tino Sehgal, Andrea Fraser, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, the show sets out to defy traditional museumgoing experiences — the objects, rather than being stored in a collection and sealed from view, will hopefully disperse into the many homes of visitors. Over the course of five months, the galleries will gradually change as visitors freely handle the art. —EWA

 Looking Back on the East Village Eye

The cover of the fall 2016 special edition of the ‘East Village Eye’ (courtesy Leonard Abrams) (click to enlarge)

When: Opens Friday, September 16, 6–8pm
Where: Howl! Happening (6 East 1st Street, East Village, Manhattan)

The pages of the East Village Eye (1979–87) present a fascinating window onto New York City. Feisty, witty, and radical, the magazine rigorously covered and celebrated the Downtown arts scene, with contributors including David Wojnarowicz, Richard Hell, and Lucy Lippard. It’s All True: The East Village Eye Show will include covers, centerfolds, photographic prints, ephemera, and artwork from the publication’s archive. The exhibition’s opening will be followed by a show featuring performances by James Chance & The Contortions, The Lenny Kaye Connection, The Sic F*cks with Tish & Snooky of Manic Panic, Rubulad’s DJ Shakey, and Hotel Amazon’s DJ Wazu (advance tickets for the party are $12, or $15 at the door). Guests can also grab copies of a new special issue of the Eye, which doubles as a catalogue for the show. —TM

 Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair

When: Friday, September 16–Sunday, September 18
Where: MoMA PS1 (22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens)

It’s hard to believe it’s September already, but it is, which means: Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair! Taking over most of MoMA PS1’s available space, the event is overwhelming, sure, but that’s part of its chaotic charm. Don’t try to see it all; let yourself drift and be drawn to the tables and walls where something catches your eye. It might be an underground sexpaper, a guide to being alone, or an early artist’s book by Jean Dubuffet. There’s something at this fair for everyone, just don’t be surprised to leave with your wallet feeling a little lighter.

 The Other Art Book Fair

When: Friday, September 16–Sunday, September 18
Where: Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse (67 West Street, Greenpoint, Brooklyn)

The true marker of an art fair’s success is that it has spawned a satellite, and the NY Art Book Fair has finally achieved that honor with the arrival of the Independent Art Book Fair, debuting this weekend in a warehouse on the Greenpoint waterfront. In addition to performances, talks, signings, and so on, the inaugural Independent Art Book Fair boasts an impressive 65 exhibitors, ranging from individual artists presenting their own projects (including Daniel Temkin, Joyce Lee, and Meshakai Wolf), indie art book and magazine publishers (including Small Editions, Le Dépanneur, and Ain’t Bad), as well as galleries, museums, and university presses. —BS

Mierle Laderman Ukeles, “Touch Sanitation Performance,” (July 24, 1979–June 26, 1980), citywide performance with 8,500 sanitation workers across all 59 New York City sanitation districts (photo by Robin Holland, courtesy the artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York)

 Mierle Laderman Ukeles’s Maintenance Art

When: Opens Sunday, September 18, 3–6pm
Where: Queens Museum (New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens)

Check out the sides of New York City’s garbage trucks next time you see one rumble by: many are sporting an exhibition advertisement for the Queens Museum. This Sunday is the opening of Mierle Laderman Ukeles: Maintenance Art, which celebrates Ukeles’s decades of public-oriented artwork, including her long stint as artist-in-residence for NYC’s Department of Sanitation. The day of opening events includes a mirror-covered garbage truck accompanied by a sanitation worker procession, discussions about art and city agencies, and a performance at the Panorama of the City of New York. All current and past New York sanitation workers get in free. —AM

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With contributions by Elisa Wouk Almino, Allison Meier, Tiernan Morgan, Benjamin Sutton, and Claire Voon