Joan Semmel & Rama Duwaji
MoMA PS1 opens its once-every-half-decade “Greater New York” survey. Plus, we interview the great Joan Semmel and NYC First Lady Rama Duwaji.
Last week — when it was still nice out, remember those days? — our entire editorial staff hopped on the G train to head to MoMA PS1's Greater New York survey. There, we found three floors of that former public school packed with paintings, photographs, sculptures, and much more by early-career artists based here. I loved the show for many reasons, but in particular because it captured the lived texture of our beloved city — delivery drivers with those makeshift mittens on their e-bikes, those steam radiator poles that thread through so many of our bathrooms, and rats, rats, rats!
Stay tuned for the list of works that stuck with us, whether because we loved them, because we didn't quite, or because we're still mulling over them — coming soon. But in the meantime, read some of our general thoughts below.
Speaking of artists in New York, we've got an artist in Gracie Mansion! Don't miss Editor-in-Chief Hakim Bishara's interview with NYC First Lady Rama Duwaji. It's about a lot more than the tweets she made at age 15 — looking at you, New York Times and New York Post. And all the way on the other end of the city, we profile someone who's been holding court a lot longer than a mayoral term — nonagenarian Spring Street superstar Joan Semmel, whose provocative, strange, and stunning portraits are on view at the Jewish Museum and Alexander Gray gallery now.
MoMA PS1’s “Greater New York” Is Gritty, Stunning, and Gutting
The once-every-five-years survey rejects the out-of-towner's New York in favor of the view from inside. Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian, Staff Reporter Rhea Nayyar, and yours truly round up our impressions from last week's press preview.
Notable New Yorkers
Joan Semmel Is Doing Her Best Work at 93
“You say, ‘Fuck you. I’m good and you’re wrong,’” she told Hyperallergic. “This is who I am, this is what I do, and this is what I care about.” | Aaron Short
In the Studio With Rama Duwaji
Surrounded by her drawings and ceramics, we discussed her evolving art practice and new life as NYC first lady. | Hakim Bishara
Memorials
Jean Shin’s Living Memorial to the Trees of Green-Wood Cemetery
Inspired by Korean funerary practices, the artist’s new works examine how ritual and reflection mark the cycles of time. | Jerry Elengical
From Our Critics
John Yau
Jule Korneffel: In Search of Lost Light at Spencer Brownstone Gallery
"Korneffel both memorializes and celebrates the fading of the light, the rising of each new day."
Jonah Goldman Kay
Leonardo Madriz: Do Not Be Afraid at Parent Company
"Madriz’s [sculptures] reflect the precarity of the present moment: a tangle of wires and plastic delicately suspended, waiting to unravel."
What Else Is Happening?
- "Boycott the Bezos Met Gala" posters, linking Amazon's alleged worker exploitation and links to ICE, have been sprouting up all over the city.
- To add to the list of gutted arts programs around the city, CUNY's beloved Social Practice program is shutting down.
- Index Space in Chinatown is hosting a talk on AI Slop by Duncan Wilson. (Wed Apr 22) [index-space.org]
- There'll be a screening of films by and in conversation with Barbara Hammer at BAM! (Thurs Apr 23) [bam.org]
- City in Resistance, led by Chinatown Art Brigade, Hyper contributor Alicia Grullón, and others, continues for a week of gathering, exchange, and Indigenous organizing. (Through Fri Apr 24) [Chinatown Art Brigade]
- Help artist Willie Cole build a participatory artwork at Flatiron Plaza! Bring a plastic water bottle. (Fri Apr 24) [Time Out New York]
- Millennium Film Workshop in Bushwick is hosting open screenings and works in progress this weekend. (Fri Apr 24) [Millennium Film Workshop]
- Car-Free Earth Day is back! Open streets in all boroughs, plus activities, games, performances, and more. (Sat Apr 25) [nyc.gov]
- Soho Arts Network is hosting Downtown Culture Walk, a self-guided walking tour of non-profit art spaces with free or reduced admission. (Sat Apr 25) [theukrainianmuseum.org]
- The NYC branch of the Industrial Workers of the World is hosting a spring picnic and seed bomb-making party in Sunset Park. (Sun Apr 26) [Industrial Workers of the World]
- Brooklyn Creative Reuse in Industry City is now open! Bring unusued art supplies, fabric, or crafting materials. (Ongoing) [brooklyncreativereuse.org]
