The Move
Your weekly NYC Art & Culture Guide from Jaz Arts — May 10–16
Hi friends! What did everyone do this weekend? I’m delighted to say that my first Chinatown art tour went splendidly, despite the rain. Art waits for no one, after all. The weather’s sure to be brighter this week, and lots of art to see. Most exciting is the complete overhaul of the American Museum of Natural History’s space dedicated to the histories & cultures of the Pacific Northwest. These cultures are long overdue for a serious reevaluation. Otherwise, NYC is taking a break from major fairs (they’ll be back next week), so take advantage of the lull to check out some galleries.
Here’s your The Move Map for this week. See you out and about!
FINE ART
- UPTOWN
The Northwest Coast Hall at the American Museum of Natural History, 200 Central Park West (opens May 13; Wednesday-Sunday 10AM-5:30PM)
The AMNH has finally renovated its Northwest Coast Hall. The 10,200 square-foot space first opened in 1899 under the direction of anthropologist Franz Boas (yes that Boas), but it hasn’t been revisited since. This time, curator Peter Whiteley collaborated with a group of consulting curators from the Coast Salish, Gitxsan, Haida, Haíłzaqv, Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nuxalk, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities. The new permanent installation is now both accurate and celebratory of the art, spirituality, and ingenuity of indigenous Pacific Northwest cultures.
- CHINATOWN & TWO BRIDGES
Tom Waring: Ars Brevis at Downs & Ross, 96 Bowery 2nd Floor (until June 11; Tuesday -Saturday 11AM-6pm)
These paintings depict fantastical machines that are part Renaissance, part steampunk, and all Rube Goldberg. The title is borrowed from 13th century philosopher Ramon Llull’s masterwork, which coincides with the rise of artistic humanism. Waring uses grisaille, a medieval underpainting technique that creates a sculptural illusion that adds depth and mystery to the canvas.
Hend Samer: Hide and Seek at Harkawik Gallery, 30 Orchard St (until May 12; Tuesday-Sunday 11AM-6PM)
There are only two days left to catch Hend Samer’s excellent show at Harkawik in Chinatown. These enormous canvases are dominated thick applications of acrylic paint, which swirl in and out of recognizable form. The Egyptian painter depicts interconnected, ambiguous vignettes of transgressions that at first appear messy, until you look a little closer.
Louisiana Mera: Solo Una Vez at ATm Gallery, 54E Henry St (until June 19; Wednesday-Sunday 12PM-6PM)
Mera’s mastery of charcoal is evident in these large, photorealistic drawings. Dora the Explorer makes an appearance in compositions that speak to decidedly Millennial/Gen Z sensibilities.
- QUEENS
Open Studio: 100 Artists at Juvenal Reis Studios, (Friday May 13; 12–5PM)
Head to Juvenal Reis to sample the work of 100 artists who rent studios in the huge warehouse. Open studios are always fun, you never know what you’ll see. The space is located in prime Long Island City, so a visit the Deana Lawson show at MoMA PS1 to make an afternoon of the excursion.
EVENTS
MHYSA Performance Evening at The Kitchen, 512 W 19th St (May 14; 7PM. Tickets: $5–10 sliding scale)
The city’s oldest nonprofit space for innovative and experimental work presents electronic compositions performed by MHYSA, E. Jane’s underground pop diva persona. Artist E. Jane developed MHYSA as a popstar of the cyber resistance, whose work honors black divas through a transformation of the historically black standard “Home”, from The Wiz.
New York African Film Festival 2022 “Visions of Freedom” at Film at Lincoln Center. Screenings at Lincoln Center, Maysles Cinema, BAM Rose Cinemas, and virtually here (May 11–28; various times)
The film festival will premier Gessica Généus’ Haitian drama Freda as part of their program focused on interconnected notions of freedom in Africa and its diaspora. Other films of interest include Tug of War, Tanzanian Director Amil Shivji’s work on the Zanzibarian revolution through the lens of a young couple. So many great movies in this program, so definitely worth the excursion uptown or to BAM in Brooklyn.
GOSSIP CORNER
Remember the Gossip Corner about Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn (1964) going up for auction at Christie’s? It just sold for $195 million, setting a new auction record for American painting. Though this is an unfathomably huge number, it’s still below the $200 million low estimate, and well below the $300–400 million price that the auctioneers were hoping for. Interestingly, it was purchased by mega-dealer Larry Gagosian, who sold the painting to its current owners in the late 1990s. As I predicted, a few collectors are buoying Warhol’s dropping prices. We’ll see if Larry’s purchase can stave off the downward trajectory.
In more pressing news, Instagram’s “sexual solicitation” notification is kneecapping artists who use depictions of their own or others’ bodies in their work. Instagram’s capitulation to conservative legislation like FOSTA-SESTA continues to disproportionally effect female bodied people by assuming that any depiction of the naked body is sexual and exploitative, therefore in violation of META’s terms of use. We have yet to see the full effects of this unnuanced view, but it doesn’t look good. Check out dontdelete.art to learn more about the legislation making it harder to make art.
That’s The Move for this week. Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Jazia Hammoudi
