Summer is drawing to a close, so mark its passing with Andrea McGinty’s Life’s a Beach!!! at Beverly’s tomorrow night. And although the Rockaways won’t be in season for much longer, the rest of Queens is heating up. Witness the comedienne Adrienne Truscott taking off her pants to take on rape culture in Long Island City on Wednesday night. Thursday, thingNY’s apocalyptic opera opens at the Knockdown Center in Maspeth, along with the exhibition Surface Matters, though we recommend saving the performance for Sunday, when there’s less stuff happening. The borough’s New York Hall of Science is also hosting the World Maker Faire (which actually has programming all week). It seems like there’s virtually no reason to ever leave Queens. It does suggest, though, that art loving New Yorkers may soon need to invest in a car to get to all these places. For anyone in the market, we hear the 2010 Jeff Koons BMW art car doesn’t suck.
Tue
Andrea McGinty: Life's a Beach!!!
We really love Andrea McGinty’s sculptures, which offer somewhat bittersweet platitudes like one of those “hang in there!” posters. Here, she’s commemorating the end of summer with a online/offline art exhibition with hotel-art.us and the LES bar/gallery Beverly’s. We’re not entirely sure what to expect, but based on past projects (last weekend she staged an aspiring new-age-guru’s apartment as a venue for artwork) and the flyer (which depicts a cheery beach umbrella “brightening up” a cramped bathroom) it will probably be something ambitious, but also aware of ambition’s shortcomings. That’s a rare level of self-awareness to attain, even if one never reaches a higher level of “self-actualization”.
Jennie C Jones on Agnes Martin
We’re looking forward to this lecture on Agnes Martin by Jennie C. Jones, an artists whose minimalist wall-mounted speakers and sound work have a clear connection to minimalist drawings and paintings Martin. In particular, we’re wondering if Jones will find any acoustic connections between herself and Martin. Martin doesn’t never made sound work, which is why finding a connection holds some interest: we bet it can be done Cagian style.
Wed
Adrienne Truscott's Asking For It: A One-Lady Rape About Comedy Starring Her Pussy And Little Else!
Starting with the assumption that everything is funnier (or at least artier) with your pants off, Adrienne Truscott performs her stand up comedy routine dressed only from the waist up. We’ve never seen the routine, but since she may have something with the pants off theory, this show gets a listing. The artist promises to use commentary from George Carlin, Louis C. K. and Robert De Niro on subjects such as ducks, mini-skirts, rape whistles, Daniel Tosh, and Rick Ross.
Thu
Puppies Puppies, Gollum
Apparently this show runs through October 31st, but there’s no mention in the press release what will actually be on view. Instead, we’re treated to a long think piece on what the One Ring in the Lord of the Rings means to Gollum, and are informed that a man will perform as Gollum during the opening of this exhibition. Honestly, it sounds terrible, but the show leads with a picture of a crouching Gollum figure wearing what appears to be a creepy plastic dick. So, points for that.
Surface Matters
A show of artists who use common construction materials to make their art. It’s pretty familiar territory, but this particular group of artists have consistently found new approaches to the medium. In fact, I can’t figure out why Katie Bell and Carolyn Salas aren’t art market darlings the likes of Heather Rowe. Both make elegant sculptures, installations and wall works that like Rowe suggest interiors and sometimes architectural structures. This show is a must-see.
Artists include: Katie Bell, Carolyn Salas, Leah Dixon, Daria Irincheeva, Brett Day Windham
Curated by Holly Shen, Samantha Katz
Fri
Macon Reed: Eulogy for the Dyke Bar
Why is pretty much every lesbian bar in the world closing? Online dating? Gentrification? A mass exodus of lesbians from areas dense enough to support nightlife? Whatever the cause, the trend is undeniable: social spaces for gay women are rapidly becoming extinct. Brooklyn Wayfarers Summer Artist in Residence Macon Reed is responding by creating her own pop-up, functional “Dyke Bar” in the gallery. Almost all of the trappings—from the nostalgic wood panelling to the cardboard pool table—are endearingly hand-made. Aesthetically, it’s almost always nice to see evidence of an artist’s hand in their craft, but here it’s also a rallying cry: the ambition to single-handedly preserve a dying subculture is painfully insufficient; it takes a village to keep an institution alive. So, to quote Le Tigre, “Get off the internet! I’ll meet you in the street!” Or here, in the bar.
2015 Internet Cat Video Festival
Is the most influential form of new cinema the cat video? As dog lovers we beg to differ, but that difference of opinion won’t stop us from attending the 2015 Internet Cat Video Festival. The program emerged from the Walker Museum’s Cat Video Festival which began in 2012, and has since toured the country. See the latest in cat cinema and share the highlights with your friends.
Sat
World Maker Faire
Do you make robots in your spare time? Does setting up indoor irrigation systems for your plants sound like a good time? Have you purchased multiple 3D printers? If you’ve answered yes to all of these questions, you’re probably already going to the Maker Faire, a giant trade show and exhibition space for the world’s most ambitious DIY electronic projects. If you’ve answered yes to only one of these questions, you need to be at this fair and should pick up your tickets immediately. If you’ve answered no to all of these questions, but like making stuff, you need to be at this fair too. Tickets cost $35 each in advance, so it’s best to get your tickets now.
Casings and Treatments
This Saturday, head to Brooklyn; learn about beards.
Masculinity tends to be pretty boring (which is why drag brunch is a thing and not “gay-dudes-pretending-to-be-straight-dudes-brunch”, amirite?) but this group seems to have figured out how to make it interesting. Vincent Tiley creates restrictive garments that draw inspiration from painting, punk embellishment, and bondage to literally objectify the male wearer into a passive, if not posturing, subject. Studio Rossi Brody (pictured above) is presenting “Man Forensics” that autopsies masculinity in the spirit of crime scene forensic dramas. Curated by René Kladzyk, this evening is all about performers approaching the masculinized body in surprisingly original ways.
Artists: Ivy Castellanos, Vincent Tiley, Andy Kuncl, Studio Rossi Brody
Sun
This Takes Place Close By
This is the last day to see thingNY’s post-apocalyptic opera “This Takes Place Close By”. The story revolves around survivors of a terrible storm, and based on the title, we can assume it’s in reference to New York City’s increasingly uncertain climatic future. It looks to be one of the most timely (and at $20, affordable) operas out there.Tickets are available here.
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