Art Rx
This week, the doctor recommends a discussion about local government to help with all your political ailments, plus the first ever Chelsea Sound, an art and music festival; a Public Art Fund artist talk; a round table about art writing; avant-garde animation, and more.
The debates are over, the election is just two weeks away — the doctor knows you have politics on the brain. For that reason, she’s prescribed something a little unusual this week: a discussion about local government at Flux Factory, to help prepare you. But she doesn’t want you to spend the next two weeks completely caught up and worried, so she’s also got a big apolitical fix. This week there’s the first ever Chelsea Sound, an art and music festival; a Public Art Fund artist talk; a round table about art writing; avant-garde animation, and more. Art Rx to calm your nerves; take one with a full glass of water.
Between Art and Architecture
When: Wednesday, October 24, 6:30 pm ($10, free for students)
Where: The New School’s Tishman Auditorium (66 West 12th Street, Greenwich Village, Manhattan)
This season, the Public Art Fund is devoting its artist talks to the idea of “Between Art and Architecture,” and the series kicks off on Wednesday with Monika Sosnowska. The artist plays with the spaces she’s given and creates enchantingly impossible artworks, including unusable staircases, wall-mounted benches, and a scale model of a Communist housing block in the Polish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
Know Your Local Government
When: Wednesday, October 24, 7–9 pm
Where: Flux Factory (39-31 29th Street, Long Island City, Queens)
There won’t be much art at this event, but the election is two weeks away and the doctor wants to make sure you’re prepared! As part of its yearlong project The Future of Your Neighborhood: Who Decides? Flux Factory is hosting a discussion about local government with Lincoln Restler, outgoing Democratic District Leader from the 50th Assembly District. At this point, most people probably know who they want for president, but what about for city council?
Why Write About Art?
When: Thursday, October 25, 7 pm
Where: Housing Works Bookstore & Cafe (126 Crosby Street, Nolita, Manhattan)
The doctor knows why she writes about art, but it can’t hurt to hear some others pontificate on the question. This round-table discussion features New York Times art critic Ken Johnson, the Village Voice‘s Martha Schwendener, Artinfo’s Ben Davis, and Art Fag City’s Paddy Johnson, among others.
The Changing Lower East Side
When: Thursday, October 25, 8 pm
Where: Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space (C-Squat, 155 Avenue C, East Village)
Artist, graphic novelist, and animator Eric Drooker is a native New Yorker, and he’s watched the Lower East Side and the East Village change dramatically. On Thursday night, he’ll give a talk at the soon-to-open Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, discussing the evolving landscape of the city as well as his work on Allen Ginsberg’s Howl, in both graphic novel and film forms. Drooker will allegedly accompany himself on various musical instruments, and there are rumors of free pizza.
Avant-Garde Animation
When: Friday, October 26, 7 pm ($10)
Where: Museum of Arts and Design (2 Columbus Circle, Manhattan)
The Museum of Arts and Design seems to have some of the best and most interesting screening series around these days, and their latest, Adults in the Dark: Avant-Garde Animation, continues that trend. Focusing on artists who “began making use of animation to challenge societal boundaries, accepted aesthetic tastes, and narrative practices,” the series features Martha Colburn this week, who makes collage-style stop-motion animations that trippy, dark, and often political.
Drive (or Walk?)-In
When: Friday, October 26, 7–10 pm
Where: Family Business (520 West 21st Street, Chelsea, Manhattan)
Chelsea gallery Family Business teamed up with Bard’s Center for Curatorial Studies for its current exhibition, Raspberry Cargo. The show includes artwork, a reading, a conversation, a raspberry garden, and Friday night’s event, a drive-in theater. Even though we’d argue it’s more like a walk-in theater — since who the hell’s gonna drive to Chelsea on a Friday night? — they’re showing work from Bard MFA graduates, which sounds like a good time.
Chelsea Sound
When: Saturday, October 27, 2–9 pm
Where: Eyebeam, Printed Matter, Electronic Arts Intermix, and Family Business (all in Chelsea, Manhattan)
These days visual art gets paired a lot with fashion, film, and even literature sometimes, but art and music is a combination that seems to get less attention. To change that, four Chelsea nonprofits have teamed up to start Chelsea Sound, an annual festival devoted to “artists who make work with sound and musicians who draw inspiration from art.” Like Woodstock only more experimental and urban, with fewer drugs? (OK, so not like Woodstock at all.)
Last Chance: Hoggard Wagner Collection
When: Closing party Sunday, October 28, 5–7 pm
Where: English Kills Gallery (114 Forrest Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn)
If you haven’t visited yet, Sunday is your last chance to head to English Kills gallery and see a wide and eclectic range of art from the collection of Barry Hoggard and James Wagner, which includes some 900 pieces, 300 of which usually decorate their home. Among the artists with work on view are Kiki Smith, Keith Haring, Nancy Spero, Robert Wilson, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Marco Breuer, Wolfgang Tillmans, Louise Fishman, and many, many more. Plus there’s a closing party!
