Critics Consider Ai and More
When: Tuesday, December 13, 7–9pm
Where: Dweck Cultural Center, Brooklyn Public Library (10 Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
What do the critics think of Ai Weiwei’s omnibus exhibition spanning four Manhattan galleries? Or of MoMA PS1’s differently scaled but equally intense shows of the work of Mark Leckey and Sascha Braunig? Or of Daniel Horowitz’s mixed-media paintings of surrealist, nostalgic visions at Tillou Fine Art? Come find out during the latest in artcritical and the Brooklyn Public Library’s live review panel series, this month featuring Hyperallergic’s own Seph Rodney and Ryan Wong, along with Martha Schwendener of the New York Times. —BS
Martha Rosler Reflects
When: Tuesday, December 13, 7–8:15pm ($15)
Where: The Whitney Museum of American Art (99 Gansevoort Street, Meatpacking District, Manhattan)
Tonight, Martha Rosler will join Whitney Museum Director Adam Weinberg for this year’s Walter Annenberg Lecture. The artist will discuss her multidisciplinary practice as well as “the genealogy of conceptual and feminist art in the United States.” A pioneer of feminist art, Rosler is best known for her photocollages, photo-and-text pieces, and video works such as “Semiotics of the Kitchen” (1975), in which she exploits and exposes mass-media values and concerns. —TM
New York City of the Dead
When: Tuesday, December 13, 8:30–10pm ($10)
Where: Brooklyn Brainery (190 Underhill Avenue, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
Where do New Yorkers go when they die? That final destination has changed over the centuries, from European-influenced churchyards during British rule to African-American potter’s fields forgotten beneath our skyscrapers to elaborate 19th-century Victorian cemeteries. At this informal talk, I’ll delve into my years of exploring NYC cemeteries to discuss how these burial grounds have shaped the city we know today. —AM
Art After Trump
When: Thursday, December 15, 6–midnight (Free)
Where: Housing Works Bookstore Cafe (126 Crosby Street, Soho, Manhattan)
One of the few ways I’ve found comfort since Trump’s election has been in creativity — whether the words of a wise writer or the prints of an impassioned artist. So, I’ve helped put together this event on Thursday night at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe, called Art After Trump. For it, I and my co-organizers invited roughly 150 creators — including a handful of Hyperallergic writers and artists we’ve written about — to respond in some way, in two minutes, to the election. I think it will be cathartic and, hopefully, hopeful. —JS
#trashDAY at MoCADA (image via mocada.org)
Real Radio Talk
When: Friday, December 16, 7–9pm
Where: Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (80 Hanson Place, Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
Artists Kenya (Robinson) and Doreen Garner — aka k(Rob) and Doe Derek — bring #trashDAY, their wide-ranging radio show, to MoCADA for a special live broadcast. Your hosts for the evening will pontificate on the current exhibitions at the museum as well as such burning questions as: why do cows wear bells? (Robinson) and Garner are a fiercely funny pair, and their show mashes up high and low, music, talk radio, and conceptual art.
Forward Union Fair
When: Saturday, December 17, 11am–8pm
Where: Forward Union (714 Broadway, Noho, Manhattan)
Organized by a group of mostly artists and curators, the Forward Union Fair is an attempt to connect politically concerned citizens with organizations where they can channel that concern — nonprofits, NGOs, community groups, and others like the Asian Women Giving Circle, Black Lunch Table, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, International Refugee Assistance Project, and Shout Your Abortion. In addition to the informational fair, there will be a TBD lineup of talks and performances throughout the day, followed by a music-filled afterparty. If you’ve been trying to figure out how to face Trump’s America, this is a good place to start. —JS
Kite Scores
When: Saturday, December 17, 3pm
Where: Socrates Sculpture Park (32-01 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City, Queens)
It may be cold out, but it’s still kite-flying season for artist Dylan Gauthier, who since September has been staging monthly kite-flying performances as part of Accidental Flight, his ongoing project realized through Socrates Sculpture Park’s Emerging Artist Fellowship. Drawing inspiration from Alexander Graham Bell’s experiments with tetrahedral kites and proto-flying machines, Gauthier has designed an anchored sculpture for the park but is also creating new kite patterns for possible flight. His performances celebrate the launch of these “scores”; attendees are invited to take one, attempt assemblage, and hopefully fly it. If you can’t make it this Saturday, check out the full schedule here. —CV
Readings in Translation
When: Saturday, December 17, 7pm
Where: Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop (141 Front Street, Dumbo, Brooklyn)
To celebrate its five years, the arts and literary journal harlequin creature published two issues, one of which is especially dedicated to poetry and prose in translation. Berl’s Brooklyn Poetry Shop is hosting five of the translators (I am one of them) to read their contributions to the issue, “sitting between chairs.” I’ll be reading my translations of the Brazilian poet Ana Martins Marques, and other contributors, including the journal’s founding editor, Meghan Forbes, and one of this issue’s editors, Anne Posten, will be reading works from Serbia, Hungary, Bolivia, Germany, and Spain. Each issue of harlequin creature was hand-typed (I was one of those hands) and is unique in its bounding and style. Please come by and say hello! —EWA
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With contributions by Elisa Wouk Almino, Allison Meier, Tiernan Morgan, Benjamin Sutton, and Claire Voon
