New York Area Shows to See Right Now

From James Bidgood’s homoerotic photographs to Jeremy Frey’s basketry, there’s still plenty of art to see before the fall art season starts up.

New York Area Shows to See Right Now
James Bidgood, “Pan” (late 1960s) (image courtesy CLAMP, New York, © Estate of James Bidgood)

As the summer winds down and the season of art fairs and openings approaches, you might assume that the entire art world is on vacation right now. Don’t make the mistake of taking your own vacation from art just yet — there’s still plenty to see. For starters, visit CLAMP’s showcase of James Bidgood’s homoerotic photographs from the 1960s, a phantasmagoria of mythological cosplay closing this weekend. An exhibition of Beauford Delaney’s drawings at the Drawing Center is another must-see, as it focuses on the importance of this medium in the artist’s practice, and Sandra Poulson’s work, currently at MoMA PS1, is a fascinating take on the political life of domestic symbols and objects. Meanwhile, a quick trip to Greenwich, Connecticut, will lead you to the Bruce Museum, where Jeremy Frey’s stunning basketry awaits. And while you’re out and about in the city, make sure to check out American Art Catalogues’s small but potent show of paintings by Joe Brainard, up through this weekend. —Natalie Haddad, Reviews Editor


James Bidgood: Dreamlands

CLAMP, 247 West 29th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
Through August 29

James Bidgood, “Bruce Kirkman Leaning on Willow Tree” (1965) (photo Daniel Larkin/Hyperallergic)

"He portrayed young men with phantasmagorical aplomb, often as mythological figures, going against the grain of the beefcake sensibility dominant at the time." —Daniel Larkin

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Jeremy Frey: Woven

Bruce Museum, 1 Museum Drive, Greenwich, Connecticut
Through September 7

Jeremy Frey, “Double-Walled Point Basket” (2018), ash, cedar bark, and dye (photo Julie Schneider/Hyperallergic)

"In each impeccable vessel, ancestral Wabanaki basketmaking traditions crisscross with the Passamaquoddy artist’s distinctive creative vision." —Julie Schneider

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In the Medium of Life: The Drawings of Beauford Delaney

The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, Soho, Manhattan
Through September 14

Beauford Delaney, “Self-Portrait” (1964), watercolor and gouache on paper (courtesy Ruth and Joe Fielden, Knoxville; photo Knoxville Museum of Art, © Estate of Beauford Delaney, by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire, Court Appointed Administrator, Courtesy Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY)

"For Delaney, being queer meant living and creating at the margins, where sexuality, race, and modernism intertwined in both visible and concealed ways." —Alexandra M. Thomas

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Sandra Poulson: Este quarto parece uma República!

MoMA PS1, 22–25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens
Through October 6

Sandra Poulson, “Candidato a Presidente da República de Angola” (2024), Oregon pine, found wooden bedframe, veneered plywood, chipboard, MDF, and steel (photo Lisa Yin Zhang/Hyperallergic)

"Across these mostly household objects, Poulson emphasizes that history is something that haunts you as you sleep, as you dress, as you look at yourself in the mirror." —Lisa Yin Zhang

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