ArtRx NYC
This week, feminism's impact on art, Cézanne at the Met, the personal experience of surveillance, John Baldessari's new show, a bridge's 50th birthday, and more.
This week, feminism’s impact on art, Cézanne at the Met, the personal experience of surveillance, John Baldessari’s new show, a bridge’s 50th birthday, and more.
Dancing Foxes
When: Tuesday, November 18, 7pm
Where: Spoonbill & Sugartown (218 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn)
Dancing Foxes celebrates its second birthday with an event at the Spoonbill & Sugartown book store. Guests include artists Moyra Davey, Ulrike Müller, and Zoe Leonard, all of whom have been the subject of publications by the independent publisher.
Translating Feminism
When: Tuesday, November 18, 6:30pm (Free with RSVP)
Where: The Museum of Modern Art Library (4 West 54th Street, Midtown, Manhattan)
Presented as part of Post Presents — MoMA’s series of talks dedicated to “cross-geographical consideration[s] of modern and contemporary art” — “Translating Feminism” focuses on feminism’s impact on artistic practice. Moderated by MoMA’s chief curator of media and performance, Stuart Comer, speakers include art historian Cecilia Fajardo-Hill, artist Agata Jakubowska, and critic Gayatri Sinha.
The Personal Experience of Surveillance
When: Wednesday, November 19, 6–8pm (Free, RSVP Requested)
Where: New Inc (235 Bowery, Lower East Side, Manhattan)
“The Personal Experience of Surveillance” is the third panel in a series exploring the impact of surveillance on people’s everyday lives. The event is also the first to be held at New Inc, the New Museum’s “artist incubator” which opened in September. Speakers include Tibetan activist Melody Nixon, filmmaker David Felix Sutcliffe, photojournalist Lyric R. Cabral, and artist Leonardo Selvaggio.
Madame Cézanne
When: Opens Wednesday, November 19
Where: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (1000 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan)
The Metropolitan Museum’s latest exhibition, Madame Cézanne, seeks to reassess the impact of Paul Cézanne’s wife upon his life’s work:
The works on view were painted over a period of more than twenty years, but despite this long liaison, Hortense Fiquet’s prevailing presence is often disregarded and frequently diminished in the narrative of Cézanne’s life and work.
Just as well really since Madame Cezanne (Hortense Fiquet) was also the artist’s most painted model. The twenty four works on display include two incredible paintings from the Met’s permanent collection, “Madame Cézanne in the Conservatory” (1891) and “Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress” (1888–90).
The Bridge at 50: New York’s Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
When: Thursday, November 20, 6:30pm ($16)
Where: The Museum of the City of New York (1220 Fifth Avenue, East Harlem, Manhattan)
Upon it’s opening in 1964, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge — which covers a distance of 9,865 feet between the boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn — was the largest suspension bridge in the world. This Thursday, author Gay Talese (who published an account of the bridge’s construction) joins New York Times columnist Clyde Haberman for a discussion of the bridge’s history.
John Baldessari: Movie Scripts/Art
When: Ends Saturday, November 22
Where: Marian Goodman Gallery (24 West 57th Street, Midtown, Manhattan)
Movie Scripts/Art, an exhibition of new work by John Baldessari ends this Saturday. Part of a broader practice of splicing art historical images with text, Baldessari’s new series combines details of master paintings with excerpts from movie scripts. According to the show’s press release, some of the artist’s excerpts are fabricated, whilst others are genuine (Let’s hope it’s the former in this particularly hammy example). Looks like good fun.
Morbid Anatomy Museum: Open House & Party
When: Sunday, November 23, 11am-10pm
Where: Morbid Anatomy Museum (424 3rd Avenue, Gowanus, Brooklyn)
This Sunday, entry to the Morbid Anatomy Museum will be completely free. Perfect for both regulars and newcomers, the museum is offering a full day of morbid activities. Events include tours, illustrated talks, and even a taxidermy demonstration. A gin after party, with music by DJ Friese Undine, kicks off at 7.15pm A full itinerary of the day’s events can be found here.
National Gallery
When: Tuesday, November 18 – Sunday, November 23, 12:30pm, 4:15pm, and 7:50pm daily ($13)
Where: Film Forum (209 West Houston Street, West Village, Manhattan)
Frederick Wiseman’s 39th documentary feature is an intimate portrait of London’s National Gallery. Though the film largely focuses on museum’s collection, it also follows the activities of the staff responsible for the National Gallery’s day to day running:
Wiseman listens raptly as a panoply of docents decode the great canvases of Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Turner; he visits with the museum’s restorers as they use magnifying glasses, tiny eye-droppers, scalpels, and Q-tips to repair an infinitesimal chip; he attends administrative meetings in which senior executives do (polite) battle with younger ones who want the museum to become less stodgy and more welcoming to a larger cross-section of the public.
