Must-See May Shows in NYC
Venice is great, but we’ve got amazing art at home. Plus, a celebration of NY’s first Arabic-speaking community, Duchamp, Édouard Glissant, and more.
Pssst. Over here. Sure, everyone in the art world (including half our office) seems to be in or headed to Venice, but we're still the center of the art world, okay!? To that point, there's a ton of fantastic art to be seen around the city right now, including the most robust mainland showing in decades of Metcalf Chateau, a group of Japanese-Hawaiian artists. Check out our May guide for the full list.
This week in New York, it's a tale of two cities. There's the story of the glitz, glam, and excess, as seen on the red carpet of the Met Gala last night, themed "Costume Art" around the exhibition opening this weekend. And there's the other side, of those rising up against runaway wealth inequality, as seen in rollicking protests and boycott messages. Guess which tale we choose to tell?
15 Art Shows to See in NYC This May
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye captures quietude, Seydou Keïta documents a revolution, Renée Green compiles an autoethnography, and much more.
The International Center of Photography Presents Photobook Fest
This year’s fest will feature over 80 publishers with a full weekend of workshops, panels, and book signings. May 8–10 in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
Reinscribing History
Historic Monument Honors New York’s First Arabic-Speaking Community
The public artwork celebrates the literary legacy of the city’s storied “Little Syria.” | Isa Farfan
From Our Critics
Hakim Bishara
Marcel Duchamp at the Museum of Modern Art
"I noticed myself longing for those simpler times when “eliminating the artist’s hand” from art-making — what some have called “deskilling” or “de-arting” — was supposed to provide a pathway back to the true self."
John Yau
For a Museum of Errantry with Édouard Glissant at the Center for Art, Research and Alliances
"Their art is politically engaged and opaque, rather than didactic and self-righteous. There is no collection like this in America, and we are the poorer for it."
Julie Schneider
Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne at Cooper Hewitt
"Payne’s stills capture rhythm and repetition, action and drama, the scenes he plucks from these whirring industrial settings encapsulating each process."
What Else Is Happening?
- Conductor, an art fair for the "global majority," debuted in Brooklyn this past weekend.
- Tania Bruguera performed her recurring work "Tatlin's Whisper #6," about free speech in times of rising authoritarianism, in Times Square this past week. Read Senior Editor Valentina Di Liscia's interview.
- The first United States survey of Mexican artist Teresa Margolles is coming to MoMA PS1 this fall!
- Identify as a pillow princess? This one's for you — 5-50 Gallery in Long Island City is hosting an artist talk around their titular exhibition, featuring cocktails. (Wed May 6) [5-50 Gallery]
- ICP Photobook Fest is at the International Center of Photography this weekend! (Fri May 8–Sun May 10) [icp.org]
- Learn about the foundations of web archiving at a two-part workshop led by archivist Lorena Ramirez-Lopez at CUNY Hunter College. (Fri May 8 & Fri May 15) [nycarchivists.org]
- Metrograph will be screening films selected by artists such as Carrie Mae Weems, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Nan Goldin this weekend! (Fri May 8–Sun May 17) [metrograph.com]
- Green Acres Community Garden is hosting a free cyanotype workshop. (Sat May 9) [Green Acres Community Garden]
- Greenpoint Library is giving away plants this weekend! Annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, and more. One per person. (Sat May 9) [bklynlibrary.org]
- The Black Zine Fair is this weekend at Powerhouse Arts, featuring more than 100 exhibitors and 10 workshops. (Sat May 9) [blackzinefair.org]
- NYC Trans Archive is hosting a cataloging day (dinner & snacks provided), and accepting drop-off donations. (Mon May 11) [NYC Trans Archives]
- Come to Socrates Sculpture Park tonight — or any Tuesday through Aug 25! — for sunset meditation. [socratessculpturepark.org]
