Art Rx
This week, the doctor prescribes lots of artist talks, a few openings, and the Museum Mile festival.
This week, the doctor wants you to slow down and listen. Artists are giving talks around the city – Peter Fend at Glasshouse, three queer comix creators at Bluestockings, Heather Dewey-Hagbor at Genspace, Chloë Bass at Momenta Art, Vincent Como at Minus Space — and she says you should go. What better artistic medicine than to hear about projects straight from their sources?
If you’re looking for exhibitions, you can visit openings at either Interstate Projects or the American Folk Art Museum (or both). And don’t forget the Museum Mile festival on Tuesday night, when ten institutions on the Upper East Side stay open late! There’s nothing like a night of free museum-hopping to liven up your week.
Bill Traylor
When: Opens Tuesday, June 11
Where: American Folk Art Museum (2 Lincoln Square, Upper West Side, Manhattan)
The American Folk Art Museum may be gone from Midtown, but it’s not forgotten. And today it opens an exhibition we’re extremely excited about: a retrospective of sorts for self-taught artist Bill Traylor. Traylor was born a slave and began making art when he was in his eighties. The show includes 63 of his colorful and simple yet powerful drawings and paintings.
Museum Mile
When: Tuesday, June 11, 6–9 pm
Where: Fifth Avenue, E 82nd–105th Streets (Upper East Side, Manhattan)
A chance to visit the Upper East Side museums along the so-called “Museum Mile” late night, and for free! There are ten participating institutions, including the Museum for African Art, Museum of the City of New York, Neue Galerie, the Guggenheim, and El Museo del Barrio, which is about to open its 7th bienal (biennial). Unfortunately, that’s the next day, June 12 … so you’ll just have to go back!
Ecological Self-Reliance for NY
When: Wednesday, June 12, 8 pm
Where: Glasshouse (246 Union Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Artist and activist Peter Fend was invited by MIT to begin research and a dialogue with the institution about global warming, fracking, and renewable energy. But after Fend sent over a series of maps, drawings, and texts, MIT cut him off. So Glasshouse has invited him to present there instead, and on Wednesday he’ll show his materials, discuss the plans for renewable energy that he developed with his partners at the Ocean Earth Development Corporation, and open up the ideas for critique from finance and engineering experts. Cambridge’s loss is Brooklyn’s gain.
Queer Comix
When: Thursday, June 13, 7 pm ($5 suggested)
Where: Bluestockings (172 Allen Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan)
Most of us could probably stand to brush up on our knowledge of contemporary queer comix, which is why we’re excited that Bluestockings is hosting this Thursday event. The featured artists are Jennifer Camper, who edited two volumes of Juicy Mother, a “comix anthology for Discerning Homosexuals, Uppity Ladies, Fierce People of Color, and all their friends” (according to her website); Ivan Velez, Jr., who won a Xeric grant for his series Tales of the Closet, about the lives of eight gay teenagers in Queens; and Joan Hilty, creator of the Bitter Girl, “the comic strip for the cranky urban girl in all of us” (according to her site).
The DNA We Leave Behind
When: Thursday, June 13, 7 pm
Where: Genspace (33 Flatbush Avenue, 7th floor, Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
For her project Stranger Visions, artist Heather Dewey-Hagbor collected genetic material left behind in public places — a strand of hair or a cigarette butt — analyzed the samples, and used the resulting data to create realistic sculptures of the owners. The results are eerie. On Thursday night, the sculptures will display at Genspace, where you can see them starting at 6 pm. At 7, Dewey-Hagbor will discuss the project, its implications, and the related complications with Dr.Todd Kuiken from the Wilson Center for public policy.
6 Curators, 1 Gallery
When: Opens Friday, June 14, 6–10 pm
Where: Interstate Projects (66 Knickerbocker Ave, Bushwick Brooklyn)
Offering a welcome twist on the typical summer gallery offerings, Interstate Projects is launching 6<<<>>>6, for which it has invited six curators to curate six distinct mini-shows within its gallery. The program will happen in two parts, with three curators/shows at a time. The first opening is on Friday and features group shows from Dallas-based Kevin Ruben Jacobs and NurtureArt’s Rachel Steinberg, plus a solo presentation organized by Greenpoint gallery Cleopatra’s.
The Bureau of Self-Recognition
When: Friday, June 14, 7 pm
Where: Momenta Art (56 Bogart Street, Bushwick, Brooklyn)
“The Bureau of Self-Recognition” is the name of a long-term conceptual project by Bushwick mainstay Chloë Bass. From October 2011 through December 2012, Bass performed as the bureau, which was “a business designed to track self-recognition as a process.” She’s now exhibiting materials and an installation related to the project at Momenta Art, and on Friday night will release her monograph of the same name at a book launch that doubles as as artist’s talk (and maybe triples as a fun party?).
Paradise Lost
When: Through Saturday, June 15
Where: Minus Space (111 Front Street, Suite 226, Dumbo, Brooklyn)
Vincent Como’s Paradise Lost features a suite of small-scale black monochrome paintings illuminated by candlelight, which is what would be expected from an artists whose “greater artistic practice is the color black.” His exploration at this gallery that loves minimal painting features an artist talk that takes place on the show’s last day, Saturday, June 15 (4pm) and I’m sure he’ll be open to any of your black-related questions. —HV
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With listings by Hrag Vartanian
