From Caravaggio to Tribeca
An Old Master as a young man, Richard Wright’s influence on John Wilson, Tribeca galleries vs. street vendors, other things to know about NYC this week.
Hello from the depths of the freeze. Maybe it's the cabin fever speaking, but I think it's when it's the most brutal out that we turn inward, and the ghosts of the past come to visit.
On the eve of that relentless snowstorm, for instance, my call with Morgan Library curator John Marciari transported me to the 17th century, to the moment Caravaggio became the mononymic character that remains so influential today. It's a reminder of how the past makes the present, and the present makes the future.
Both links of the chain are at play in our city right now. Writer A. G. Sims walks us through how John Wilson's depictions of American racial violence (which can be seen at The Met through this weekend) are underpinned by the influence of Richard Wright's writings. “He put into words what I wanted to express visually," Wilson wrote about Wright, "the struggle of African Americans to maintain their human dignity in an oppressive world.”
Speaking of which, a number of Tribeca galleries met to discuss contacting city agencies about the street vendors in front of their businesses, even as they posted statements in solidarity with anti-ICE sentiments. As you mull over these two very different pieces about what protest looks like, read Damien Davis's opinion on effective solidarity to complete the trio.
The Moment Caravaggio Became Caravaggio
All great artists came from somewhere — in Caravaggio's case, the small Italian town that lent him his name. Read my interview with curator John Marciari to find out how an unknown from the provinces launched an artistic revolution in Rome.
Modern Women / Modern Vision: Photographs from the Bank of America Collection at the Hudson River Museum
Experience iconic images by some of the most influential photographers of the 20th and early 21st centuries from Bank of America’s extensive collection alongside works by trailblazing artists such as Diane Arbus, Berenice Abbott, Gertrude Käsebier, Barbara Kruger, Dorothea Lange, Cindy Sherman, and Carrie Mae Weems.
What Does Protest Look Like?
How Richard Wright Shaped John Wilson’s Protest Art
There's a gorgeous John Wilson show up at The Met through this weekend, but A.G. Sims teases out one undersung character that greatly influenced him: writer Richard Wright. The latter's protest fiction charged the former's art with political purpose, revealing the psychic toll of racial violence, class struggle, and labor exploitation.
Tribeca Galleries Discuss Reporting Street Vendors, Drawing Criticism
Staff writer Isa Farfan writes that some of the very same galleries that closed last Friday, January 30 in so-called solidarity with Anti-ICE protests held a meeting to discuss calling city agencies on street vendors — nearly all of whom are immigrants, and disproportionately undocumented. In case you had to double-check, yes, you're reading Hyperallergic, and not the Onion.
Upstate Escapes
10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This February
Taliesin Thomas has some recommendations on shows to visit on a daytrip, including a seminal Vito Acconci performance (can you guess which one ...?), Sita Gómez's joyful visions of womanhood, the identity explorations of Nona Faustine and Ocean Vuong, and much more.
From Our Critics
Julia Curl
Eugène Atget: The Making of a Reputation at the International Center of Photography
"Atget’s prestige is presented to the viewer as ready-made .... [making] it harder to imagine the Atget whose life was defined by failure, the orphan who worked as a cabin boy before struggling to make a career as an actor, the unsuccessful painter who turned to photography in his mid-30s to earn a living — how contingent and not at all foreseeable his posthumous fame was."
John Yau
Michelle Segre at Derek Eller Gallery
"By bringing impermanent materials into her work, Segre embraces the physical world as a constantly changing site of destruction and potentiality."
Lisa Yin Zhang
James Castle: Dimensions at Rodder Gallery
"He combined pieces of scrap paper, sometimes hoarded for decades, with soot bound by saliva to create formally gorgeous works that revel in the way ink ripples across the page, or cardboard can bend like a body."
What Else Is Happening?
- Jeff Koons attended a dinner party at Jeffrey Epstein's Upper East Side residence in 2013.
- Lisa Funderburke was tapped to lead the Newark Museum of Art.
- The Brooklyn Museum's new top contemporary art curator is Robert Wiesenberger, and Alison Weaver was named the director of NYU's Grey Art Museum.
- Molly Crabapple will be hosting a public salon in celebration of her forthcoming book, Ere Where We Live Is Our Country, featuring a short performance by Max Fractal. (Tues Feb 3) [actionnetwork.org]
- Our contributor Eileen G'Sell will be discussing her new book about beauty, identity, and transformation at Housing Works! (Fri Feb 6) [eventbrite.com]
- Alex Kwartler and Jacqueline Humpries will be in conversation at Magenta Plains. (Sat Feb 7) [instagram.com]
- The Met's hosting a Lunar New Year Festival with performances, activities, and artist-led workshops. All ages welcome. (Sat Feb 7) [metmuseum.org]
- Abrons Art Center is also hosting a Lunar New Year Arts afternoon in collaboration with lucky risograph and the W.O.W Project. (Sat Feb 7) [abronsartcenter.org]
- The fifth annual Governors Island Ice Sculpture Show, in which 10 artists are paired with professional ice carvers, is also this weekend. (Sat Feb 7) [govisland.com]
- For a slightly different weekend activity, go for a winter bird walk along the Bronx River. There might be cardinals, hawks, and things I've personally never heard of, such as "mergansers" and "diving bufflehead." Alternatively, go see seals at Orchard Beach — seals not guaranteed, but free hot chocolate is. (Sat Feb 7) [bronxriver.org] [instagram.com]
- ... Or look for love at the Valentine's Market Extravaganza at Ginger's Bar, with queer vendors, art, "hotties," and fundraising for Anti-ICE organizations. (Sat Feb 7) [instagram.com]
- The Louis Armstrong House Museum is offering free guided tours in celebration of Black History month. (Sat Feb 7) [instagram.com]
- Musicians Gryphon Rue and Brandon López will be performing in improvisational conversation with the works in Pupunya Tula at Foreign & Domestic Gallery. (Sun Feb 8) [foreigndomestic.io]
- Queer Craft Club is teaming up with Queens Collaborative for a craft skill exchange — for newbies and old hats alike. (Tues Feb 10) [luma.com]
