This Week’s Must See Events: So Many Open Studios

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on April 26, 2016 Events

Greenpoint Map

Okay, this map above might be hard to read at this size (big one here), but it gives you an idea of the scale of Greenpoint Open Studios, which runs this weekend and will feature hundreds of artists. That kicks off tonight (Tuesday) with a meet-and-greet happy hour at Le Fanfare. Before that starts, head to Hauser & Wirth for a retrospective of midcentury painter Philip Guston. Wednesday, laugh (or maybe be scared) with Nao Bustamante at MoMA. Thursday, there’s a solo show of Anthony Cudahy’s funeral-inspired paintings at Mumbo’s Outfit in Geary Contemporary and a group show that positions artworks as set pieces at 99¢ Plus in Brooklyn.

The weekend begins with yet more open studios at SVA’s MFA program, followed by the IRL reception and performances for AC Institute’s current online exhibition. More online/offline fun is to be had late night in MoMA’s lobby, where social media artist/rapper Yung Jake presents a multimedia art and music experience that sounds like it will be quite the party. If you’re not too hungover, head to Greenpoint Open Studios on Saturday, followed by a bizarre-sounding Yale MFA show at the Abrons Art Center and a Xiu Xiu performance of music from Twin Peaks at the Kitchen. In a week of “must-see” events, that stands out as a can’t miss. Sunday, Michael Mahalchick’s solo show at CANADA promises to be weird and wonderful, and Greenpoint Open Studios wraps up with yet another party. Wear layers—the weather, like so much art, is going to be unpredictable while you’re trudging around North Brooklyn.

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Tue

Hauser & Wirth

511 W 18th St
New York, NY
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Philip Guston: Painter, 1957 – 1967

I’ve never turned down viewing a Philip Guston show because I can’t imagine chosing to miss out on his juicy red and white figurative paintings. They’re incredible. So we’re excited about this look at 36 paintings and 53 drawings made by Guston between 1957 – 1967. Curated by Paul Schimmel, Partner and Vice President of Hauser & Wirth, the exhibition not only fills the giant Hauser & Wirth space—no small task—it comes with a fully illustrated catalogue. I guess museum quality shows are what you’d expect from the former head curator at MoCA, but if it’s a novelty I can’t imagine it wearing off.

Le Fanfare

1103 Manhattan Ave
Brooklyn, NY
7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.Website

Greenpoint Open Studios Pre-Launch Artist Mixer

It’s hard to believe, looking at the sea of luxury condo construction sites, but plenty of artists still live and work in Greenpoint. Evidence of this: over 300 of them are participating in Greenpoint Open Studios. Tonight, head out to Le Fanfare for some drinks and mingling to make artist friends before you decide whether or not you like their work this weekend. It’s an all-night happy hour with free snacks for artists!

Wed

MoMA

11 West 53rd Street
New York, NY
7:00 p.m.Website

Silver & Gold: A Performance by Nao Bustamante

We were first introduced to Nao Bustamante through the Bravo reality TV series “Work of Art”, and as one of the few actual artists on that show, we’ve continued tracking her work. (She was eliminated for producing a work that was too shocking in the shock challenge.) In this performance titled “Silver & Gold” she channels the Dominican film starlet Maria Montez to explore Hollywood orientalism (then and now) and portrayals of sexuality and eroticism. The press release describes the work as “critically trenchant and exuberantly camp”, which from our experience sounds about right. We’d add aggressive and usually coming with a fair dose of humor.  

Thu

Mumbo’s Outfit/Geary Contemporary

185 Varick Street
New York, NY
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Anthony Cudahy: EatF_3

Anthony Cudahy’s portraiture is the kind of practice that reminds us why oil painting will always be seductive. They’re a little murky, a little cinematic, and have a dramatic diversity of paint application that can read as solid or washy—evoking a sense of hazy nostalgia for something you don’t even remember.

EatF_3 is the third iteration of Cudahy’s ambitious project “Everyone at the Funeral”. It’s based on found photos of a crowded 1950s service, and aims to document a close-up image of every person who attended—reversing their roles from spectator to subject. What inspired this macabre interest in the roles of mourners? From the artist:

“When my great uncle died, an extended member of the family on his side showed up for the funeral, representing her entire immediate family. During the viewing, she went up to the casket and took a loud, bright flash picture of him to bring home to her relatives who couldn’t travel. My family members were scandalized; unspoken etiquette was broken. A sculpture with one intended viewing. I think of the washed-out image being taken, developed, shared, and then extending that funerary moment.”

 

99¢ Plus

238 Wilson Ave
Brooklyn, NY
7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.Website

The House of Special Purpose

 

This exhibition from curator Julia Leonard looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. All of the artists here have a playful, crafty aesthetic and their work is going to be staged like a theatrical set. 3D works will stand in for props or actors, and 2D works will form a sort of backdrop. What plot this might suggest remains to be seen, but past precedents are promising—Willy Reed’s installations of anthropomorphic ceramics and collage-like paintings do read like a storyboard, and Chris Lux’s large, illustration-like works recall early modernism and the narrative tableaus of non-western painting.   

Artists: Chris Lux, Julia Leonard, Mario Ayala, Nick Atkins, and Willy Reed

 

Fri

SVA

133 W. 21st Street, 8th & 9th floors
New York, NY
5:00 p.m.Website

SVA MFA Open Studios

What are kids these days up to? Head to SVA’s open studios to see the next batch of MFA grads before they hit the mean streets of post-art-school life.

AC Institute

16 E 48th St
New York, NY
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.Website

My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days

Faith Holland is having a big online exhibition moment, from her work in the AFC-curated Geographically Indeterminate Fantasies at Providence College to her very NSFW GIFs in AC Institute’s My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days. That exhibition, from curator Osman Can Yerebakan spans an online component and IRL performances, loosely based on a sci-fi film of the same name wherein a dying computer programmer falls in love with a psychic nightclub performer.

The online exhibition features artists Daniel Temkin, Elizabeth Riley, Faith Holland, Christopher K. Ho, Katie Cercone, Emily Greenberg, Sean Capone, Allison Wade, Jordan Bortner and Jaehyun Kim & Jimin Song.

The event features a DOTCOM reading by Daniel Temkin and a mixed media sound performance by Michael Clemow.

MoMA Lobby

11 W 53rd St
New York, NY
9:00 p.m. – 11:59 p.mWebsite

PopRally Presents: Yung Jake

LA rapper/digital artist Yung Jake is in town to participate in MoMA’s Slithering Screens: 10 Years of New Frontier at Sundance Institute series, but you can catch his multimedia performance/installation free at this afterparty. Yung Jake has been creating artworks and music with the tools and context of social media for years, with pieces that might spill back and forth from an online platform to IRL event. This project will involve video projections, music, and more in the MoMA lobby. It’s free and open-bar, but an RSVP is required in advance.

Sat

All Over Greenpoint

Brooklyn, NY
12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.Website

Greenpoint Open Studios

Get ready to see a lot of art. We can’t attest to the quality yet, but it’s sure a big quantity… and that’s sort of the fun of events like these. There are over 300 artists participating, and if you’re a curator/critic/collector, you’re bound to find something you love.

Here’s a PDF map and list of participating studios, but if you need help navigating, check out one of these info stations:

Alter (140 Franklin St)
Brooklyn Art Library (28 Frost St)
Java Studios (252 Java St)
PencilWorks (61 Greenpoint Ave, 6th Fl)
Van Leeuwen (620 Manhattan Ave)
A/D/O (29 Norman Ave) – Open Sat 4/30 & Sun 5/1

Abrons Arts Center

466 Grand Street
New York, NY
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Partners: Yale School of Art Painting & Sculpture MFA 2016

We’re a little confused by this show, but based on it’s name we’re just going to assume it’s the Yale MFA show. The press release makes no mention of the students participating, though, and instead focuses on what might or might not be art: karaoke on Sundays, $1 beers on Thursdays, a Simpsons pinball machine laser lights, a stripper pole, pool tables, drag shows, revolving seasonal decor. Also, apparently there is artwork by the mysterious Moist ’99, an Anne Frank mural, and Tom of Finland posters.
Curated by Anoka Faruqee & Michael Queenland

The Kitchen

512 W 19th St
New York, NY
7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.Website

Xiu Xiu Plays the Music of Twin Peaks

 

If you’re a fan of David Lynch, or music, you’re in good company. This event was so popular The Kitchen added a second performance. Our words cannot describe how awesome this is going to be. From the artists:

“The music of Twin Peaks is everything that we aspire to as musicians and is everything that we want to listen to as music fans. It is romantic, it is terrifying, it is beautiful, it is unnervingly sexual. The idea of holding the “purity” of the 1950s up to the cold light of a violent moon and exposing the skull beneath the frozen, worried smile has been a stunning influence on us. There is no way that we can recreate Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch’s music as it was originally played. It is too perfect and we could never do its replication justice. Our attempt will be to play the parts of the songs as written—meaning, following the harmony melody but to arrange in the way that it has shaped us as players.”

Sun

Cassette

113 Franklin St
Brooklyn, NY
Open Studios 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m., Party 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Greenpoint Open Studios & Wrap Party

Greenpoint Open Studios continues throughout Sunday afternoon, followed by a party at Cassette.

CANADA

333 Broome St
New York, NY
6:00 p.m.Website

Michael Mahalchick: Narcissus IV; The Final Stare

Michael Mahalchick is so weird and so interesting, there’s basically no way any of us can miss this series of performances in good conscience. Dubbed Narcissus, for this series of performances the artist will use his own self-reflexive start and produce four image-infused water works. They are intended to be meditations on the magical and the evolving nature of identity. We’re going.

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