Astrological Aesthetics: September 2017 Horoscopes

Antoine Watteau, “Ceres (Summer)” (c. 1717/18), National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (image via Wikimedia Commons)

Virgo (August 23–September 23)

You’ll be enjoying plenty of astrological advantages in the coming weeks, Virgo, but you have to make good on that potential! Don’t sit around basking in the glow of favorable celestial influence; make it work for you. If you don’t, all you’ll have to show for it will be armfuls of brilliant but unfulfilled ideas, not unlike the pie-in-the-sky architectural schemes and unrealized urban plans showcased in Never Built New York at the Queens Museum.

Libra (September 24–October 23)

Following the rules is all well and good the other 11 months of the year, Libra, but in September you should throw off the yoke of received wisdom and cut your own path. A good model in such incisive trailblazing is Gordon Matta-Clark, whose forthcoming show at the Bronx Museum promises to shed light on his work in the northernmost borough in the 1970s.

Scorpio (October 24–November 22)

Have you ever walked around a suspended looped wire sculpture by Ruth Asawa, Scorpio? The experience can be quite transcendental, as the different layers shift in and out of focus and the light filters through. The works take on powerful airs of poise and calm, which are precisely the qualities you’ll need to display this month when the going gets tough — clearly, a visit to David Zwirner’s Asawa show is in order.

Sagittarius (November 23–December 21)

It’s about damn time Carolee Schneemann had a major retrospective, so we’re glad MoMA PS1 is giving her one. Since the 1950s, she has been a shape-shifting, pathbreaking force, doing seemingly anything and everything she’s put her mind to, from painting and sculptural assemblages to performances and installations, and her more recent multimedia environments. Know that this month, Sagittarius, you will be similarly capable of achieving success on many different fronts.

Capricorn (December 22–January 20)

Space is the place, Capricorn, and you can get there — or any other place you want to reach this month, be it symbolic or geographic — so long as you have the right tools to make the journey. In that respect, you are very much like the figures in Fellow Travelers, apexart’s forthcoming show about artists using the imagery of space travel to explore the thematic frontiers of migration.

Aquarius (January 21–February 19)

Now is the time to truly throw yourself into your work, Aquarius. You will have the full support of the current astrological alignment and your colleagues, so you needn’t hold back. Take a page from Judith Bernstein, who isn’t holding back either in her new Drawing Center exhibition of murals and drawings taking aim at President Trump.

Pisces (February 20–March 20)

Oh, Pisces, you have such an active imagination! Typically it serves you well, but early this month it will play with your heart, making you see deception and malevolent intent where there is none. Luckily, provided you don’t behave irrationally, everything will get straightened out by the middle of the month — which is when the Studio Museum in Harlem opens Fictions, a group show featuring artists who are harnessing the power of storytelling in their work.

Aries (March 21–April 20)

The frenetic launch of the fall art season is upon us, Aries, but you should really take a break first. It needn’t be a long or extravagant journey, but take yourself somewhere new. Perhaps you can draw inspiration for a Kings County getaway from Brooklyn Photographs, the new exhibition at BRIC House. Just make sure you’re back in the saddle by the middle of the month, when a distant relative will be coming to you for help.

Taurus (April 21–May 21)

The stars tell us this month will be an especially apt time for single Taureans to find long-term life partners, and for those in relationships to take them to the next level. As you navigate these dramatic developments, Taurus, remember that gender is a fluid, malleable category — a field of power and play that is yours to explore. If you want some ideas for how to do that, go see Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon at the New Museum.

Gemini (May 22–June 21)

For every finished bronze sculpture by Auguste Rodin there’s a vast body of lesser-known work, including drawings, models in plaster and terracotta, small-scale bronze test casts, molds, process photos, and more. You’ll need to channel his polymath production process this month, Gemini, as you’ll have no time to stop and pose like “The Thinker.” But if you manage to work through September and hit all your targets, you can relax for the rest of 2017 and calmly take in the Metropolitan Museum’s Rodin blockbuster.

Cancer (June 22–July 22)

You may toil in obscurity for a while, Cancer, but know that your instincts are correct, your vision is prescient, and the rest of the world will eventually catch up to you and applaud your genius. While you wait, pay a visit to the Museum of Modern Art’s rich Louise Bourgeois exhibition to get a sense of how a category-defying artist dealt with widespread indifference and ultimately persevered.

Leo (July 23–August 22)

This will be an especially patchy month for you on the professional front, Leo, but if you can be resourceful and inventive in your problem-solving, you will persevere and emerge even stronger. Seek inspiration in the American Folk Art Museum’s forthcoming show of so-called “convalescent quilts,” which were pieced together by soldiers from bits of uniforms and other military textiles.