This Week’s Must-See Art Events, Now and Forever

by Whitney Kimball on April 8, 2013 Events

"Ironia," 1970. Jerzy “Jurry” Zieliński, Image courtesy of Oko.

It’s spring in New York, and to celebrate, we’ve got a week of new art listings! A new gallery opens in Sunset Park, a Polish artist gets posthumously reevaluated, an astrophysicist speaks about space and art, and Norte Maar gathers money for the year ahead. More below.

Monday, April 8th
Benefit and Performance Norte Maar
6:30 cocktails, 7:15 performances. 83 Wyckoff Avenue, #1B, Bushwick

Support the ringleaders of Bushwick tonight, with an evening of tap dance, poetry, and ballet. And cocktails! If you enjoyed Beat Nite recently, your support will help those initiatives keep on giving.

Opening: Jerzy “Jurry” Zieliński, Oko
6-8 PM, 220 East 10th Street, Manhattan

Though he passed away in 1980, Polish artist Jerzy “Jurry” Zieliński is only now gaining recognition for his paintings (pictured above). Possibly, this was because he was a known critic of the Communist regime, with a nickname intended as a bold gesture toward Westernization. “Oko” will be his first show in America.

Thursday, April 11th
Opening: Veterans, Team Gallery
6-8 pm 47 Wooster Street, Soho

We all know what a sadist Santiago Sierra can be, from tattooing prostitutes in exchange for heroin to prostituting, but the intended protest within his work will become clearer, and more deliberate, in his new show. This next exhibition at Team Gallery hires war veterans to stand against the wall like punished children, as victims of the capitalist forces that could compel you to go to war, or participate in a Santiago Sierra performance in the first place.

Friday, April 12th
Opening: Wessel Castle, et al projects
7-10 PM, 56 Bogart Street, 2nd floor, Bushwick

Alli Miller and Trey Burns have collected a series of images from the rotting signscape of American  highways. Their work seems to draw from a high-low internet aesthetic that’s popular right now, but it’s often surprising, and seems to share a sort of unlabored creativity.

Saturday, April 13th
Talk: Learning in Space, apexart
2 PM, 291 Church Street, West Village

Greg Allen’s exhibition on space led to some speculation on this blog about tomb raiding. His current show “Exhibition Space” investigates the impact of the space race on American art, and Allen’s got the intellectual cred to back it up. The subject will be discussed this Saturday by Columbia University astrophysicist Professor Frits Paerels.

Opening: PALM READER, So What Space
7-10 PM, 220 36th Street Room B424, Brooklyn

If you’re starting to suspect that Sunset Park is the new Bushwick, then vindication: Industry City just welcomed a new mini gallery “So What Space”, run by talented friends of mine from RISD. I’m confident recommending this week’s opening, as it’s curated by Philadelphia-based sculptor Sean Gerstley, whose past shows at both Fjord and RISD’s Gelman Gallery have shown a real depth of sensitivity and thought; the title PALM READER refers to the investment in touch by sculptors Sophie Stone, Luke Armitstead, and Fabienne Lasserre.

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