This week, good events come in pairs. Art handling gets its moment of glamour with a charity calendar launch on Tuesday at Field Projects and a workshop at the Cue Foundation on Saturday. Wednesday night, hop from holiday parties at Postmasters and Ortega y Gasset. Or attend Sondra Perry’s screening and artist talk at EAI. Perry also has a closing reception at Recess the next night. And if simulacra of tragedies is your thing, check out the creepy photos of Corinne May Botz at Benrubi Gallery or Vincent Tiley’s “Sad Pretty Boys” at Christopher Stout Gallery, on Thursday and Friday respectively.
Mon
A Desire for Dramaticism: Semiotics of the 1980s Goth Subculture, An Illustrated Lecture with Andi Harriman
We all know the basics of goth culture: black capes, corsets, and dark lipstick to wear; bats, iron fences and underpasses on album covers, and dark and dramatically designed interior spaces. But what we don’t all know is why this movement began in the early 80’s and why its aesthetic has had such enduring power? These questions will be answered by music anthropologist Andi Harriman tonight.
Tue
Art Handler Calendar Launch
Here at AFC, we know a thing or two about sexy art world calendars. But there are few people in the art world sexier than the art handlers—those who do the heavy lifting, sweating, and long-distance treks. They are our contemporary sailors on the high seas of the market. Who can forget DIS Magazine’s Fair Trade subversion of their booth for Frieze Projects 2012, where the white cube became a backdrop for male models tasked with lifting art shipping crates for a sexy photoshoot?
At any rate, this particular celebration of NYC’s unsung art heros is also for a good cause: proceeds will be donated to the Bowery Mission and relief efforts for Nepalese earthquake victims.
Wed
Postmasters Holiday Party and Eyebeam Benefit Auction
Nobody throws a party like Postmasters Gallery, and this year it comes with an auction of work from Eyebeam alumni. Eyebeam is a great organization that provides residency and studio support to artists and researchers, so we’re big fans. And who doesn’t love a holiday party?
Artists: Aram Bartholl, James Bridle, Jacob Ciocci, eteam, Claudia Hart, Nick Hornby, Daniel Libeskind, LoVid, Kristin Lucas, Michael Mandiberg, Mary Mattingly, Jennifer & Kevin McCoy, MSHR, Lilian Kreutzberger, Brenna Murphy, Rashaad Newsome, Trevor Paglen, Sascha Pohflepp, Ellen Sandor, Katie Torn, Addie Wagenknecht, Chris Woebken, Caroline Woolard
Lech Szporer: Burial for Rebellion; Studies in Post-Criminality
Lech Szporer recently made headlines after being arrested for “arresting” himself to protest our nation’s epidemic of mass-imprisonment. Specifically, he fabricated a metal cell and locked himself inside, wearing an orange jumpsuit, in front of the Manhattan Detention Complex. Other aspects of his practice are closer to straightforward activism. We’re not sure how this will translate to a gallery exhibition, but we’re curious. This is probably the most timely show opening this week, in the shadow of police officer William Porter’s high-profile trial for his part in the death of Freddie Gray, who had been illegally arrested by Porter’s fellow officers.
Ortega y Gasset’s first benefit party
Finally a benefit party we can afford. Entrance is free. Here’s how the benefit works: There are 100 works of art and 100 raffle tickets sold at $100 each. A raffle ticket guarantees you a work of art.
It also helps support Ortega y Gasset, an artist run gallery model we think is important. Most of the gallery’s members live outside of New York, so they’re always connecting new talented artists to the New York community. We recommend attending the party and buying a raffle ticket.
Sondra Perry, screening and artist talk
Sondra Perry’s been a favorite around here, ever since Paddy Johnson curated her work in the Columbia MFA exhibition last spring. Perry uses consumer grade video and computer-based media software to poignantly confront issues of race and gender in America. Her work is so thoughtful and smart, we can’t wait to hear what she has to say about it. (Johnson’s review of Perry’s Lineage for a Multiple-Monitor Workstation here.)
For what it’s worth, it looks like her star is rising: her work is currently on view at the Greater New York show, she’s got the talk she’s doing tonight at Electronic Arts Intermix and tomorrow she’ll open a show at Recess. Tonight, she’ll talk about her new work including the ambitious work-in-progress, “My Twilight Zone Thing”, currently on view at Recess. Clearly, there will be a lot to discuss.
Thu
Corinne May Botz: Bedside Manner
I first fell in love with Botz’s photographs when I heard her speak about a series documenting doll-house-scale reproductions of crime scenes. They’re eery on their own—presenting something childlike but gruesome—but knowing the backstory makes them even stranger. They’re an odd conflation of fact and fantasy, macabre detail and guesswork, documentary photography and staged tableau.
Her new series Bedside Manner looks to similarly play with simulacra of tragedy and the uncanny. Here, she’s photographed medical actors and students from behind a one-way mirror. The viewer is given a voyeuristic peep at various faked disasters, deaths, and ailments being recreated for study. I haven’t seen much of the new work, but it promises to be just as creepy as her crime scene photos, perhaps even moreso.
Sondra Perry: My Twilight Zone Thing
This show opened November 10, but the closing event is probably more significant, since Perry spent the bulk to the exhibition period producing the work now on view. Basically, she transformed the gallery into a film set for the duration of the exhibition, and invited 20 participants of color to refilm the narrated introductions of all 156 episodes of “The Twilight Zone”. Perry then collected the footage and projected it for this five channel installation. Why did she do this? Perry believes that the original show “dismantles whiteness through the lens of science fiction by scrambling assumptions around the characters’ bodies”. She sees this as potentially liberating because it gives audiences new ways to view the construction of identity. Thus, the work.
Anyway, the show sounds great. Don’t miss her talk Wednesday or the closing Thursday.
Fri
Army of Lovers
The work in this show is described as “joyously sexual” and “triumphant”, but the piece we’re most excited about is “Sad Pretty Boys” by Vincent Tiley. The 3 hour “sculptural performance” is exactly what it sounds like—a group of attractive young men will spend the evening crying in the gallery. They will be documented continuously with printed-on-the-spot postcards, so visitors can take home a souvenir—or a perfect greeting card to send to those of us who don’t share in everyone’s holiday cheer.
Documentation (above) by Fred Attenborough.
Artists: Linda Griggs, Josh Kil, Andrew Cornell Robinson, Anne Sherwood Pundyk, Kelsey Shwetz, Vincent Tiley, J. Morrison, Brian Andrew Whiteley, Eric Gottshall
Michael Paul Britto: LynchTalk Screening and talk
Oh, man. This looks dark. Michael Paul Britto presents an 18th century white slave owner’s formulas for breaking down and controlling black slaves in the form of a TED talk. These sure are “Ideas Worth Sharing”. The piece is supposed to challenge the viewer to reflect on racism today as will the Q&A with Britto and collaborating actor, Duane Cooper. The talk will be moderated by curator/writer Christine Licata.
Enzo: VIP (Vacant Intellectual Property)
A bizarre party/art installation that divides the guests into “VIPs” and non-VIPs. We’re expecting lots of Lord Of The Flies-esque social experiments, including one where the fate of the VIP area’s disco ball is controlled by the non-VIP attendees. If you spent your Basel week battling check-in lines and gallery girls with iPads, this might be a cathartic experience.
Artists: Ryder Ripps, Maayan Strauss, Justin Hodges, Eric Oglander, Sophia le Fraga, with DJing by Japanster and VIP swag by BLESS.
Sat
Art Handling 101
While Art Handler Calendar launch takes place Tuesday September 15th some of us do-it-yourselfers may need more practical advice. How can I best wrap my work for shipment? What types of materials will I need? Should I use USPS? (The answer to that is always no, btw.) Get the tips you need to make sure your art arrives safe and sound.
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