This Week’s Must-see Art Events: Eat Turkey, See Art

The Kitchen’s Tim Griffin and curator Barbara London, founder of MoMA’s video collection, are highly qualified to tell us about the evolution of video art and current strategies to get people interested. So, this is a talk to attend. That conversation happens alongside the Asia Society show Nam June Paik: Becoming Robot, and will be moderated by the show’s curator Michelle Yun. Learn something from these people.

We who are wrapped up in mainstream 24/7 art news would also stand to learn a lot from the world of dance writing.Now and Then is a reading series in which writers share old work with new, and discuss how the performance-art world has changed. This week, discussion is led by dance artist/writer Ursula Eagly and curator/producer/poet/choreographer/performance artist Jaamil Olawale Kosoko. Wine will be served.

Casanova and Dracula meet through loosely scripted improv by nonprofessional actors. This kind of sounds like a setup for Ed Wood, but if it’s at AFA, we can assume it’ll be *tasteful*? Albert Serra’s Story of My Death makes its New York debut this week.

We received the longest press release ever for a Christmas tree; 18th-century nativity scene “adorns the candlelit spruce.” The crèche figures come from a long tradition of elaborate nativity displays, and many of the figures wear original costumes. It will be beautiful. Lines will be long.

There may only be one day of the year to justify spending $35 on a walking tour of a grocery store and that’s the day before Thanksgiving. There may be no greater sorrow than running out of food on Thanksgiving — so let’s just call this a little preventive medicine. But be careful out there. The last time I was in Eataly I spent $40 on an 8.5 oz bottle of olive oil.

Happy Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, whatever you may call it.

Celebrate the holidays with the projectionists at BAM who will be screening a double-feature of Chinatown and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. Lauren Bacall fans can also pay remembrance through Jessica Rabbit.

If you’re on your way back to the city from Connecticut, Vermont, or New Hampshire, then you can probably stop by Storm King on your way back to the city before it closes for the season on the 30th.

Though this may be first Studio Ghibli film without illustrator mastermind Hayo Miyazaki at the helm, the equally talented Isao Takahata serves as director for this film ten years in the making. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya already has a 100-percent rating from Rotten Tomatoes. This is the ONLY film to receive such a whopping fantastic score this entire year. Revisiting a Japanese folktale about a baby born inside a bamboo stalk who turns into a spiteful princess.

Spectacle always pulls through on the holiday weekends. Last year it was Slashgiving. This year, it’s robot war. In keeping with the spirit of the thing, the movie description is just a bunch of reviews from B-movie comment threads.

Prepare for heart-wrenching in Chris Verene’s documentation of his family members from Galesburg, Illinois. His cousins and friends raise their children and scrape by amongst drug culture and widespread job loss in the aftermath of the 2008 banking crisis.

Portrait in the 21st Century

Maybe “painting is dead” is finally dead. Postmasters presents a show on portraiture with a series of unpretentious quotes about portraiture by famous artists like Munch, Picasso, and Whistler. They lead up to this show, which simply tries to reflect the times.

Artists include: Molly Crabapple, Kristin Lucas, Katarzyna Kozyra, Sally Smart, Shamus Clisset, Austin Lee, Anton Perich, and Ryder Ripps

AA Bronson continues exploring shamanism with Michael Buhler-Rose, in a massive group storefront show based on magical Hispanic botanicas. The subject allows us to talk about spiritual consumerism and art as the subject of worship. That’s pretty reflective of the gemlike C-print mandalas appearing often in photo shows./p>
The roster of over 40 artists includes Matt Leifheit, who appears naked with us in our panda calendar, and Rachel Stern, who shot us. A little birdie told us to expect to see a “Lucky” coin, engraved with two figures butt-fucking and a deck of playing cards that feature the work of David Wojnarowicz. Every work is priced to sell. Even bloggers will be able to afford much of this art!