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Raul de Nieves

This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Use Your Sick Days Wisely

by Michael Anthony Farley on March 27, 2017
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There’s plenty of good stuff to do this week, starting with a Felix Gonzalez-Torres book launch reception at the Whitney Monday night. Carla Gannis has a book launch of her own Tuesday night at the Pratt library, including augmented-reality elements. The rest of the week is dominated by painting and digital art—exemplified by Michael William’s solo show of digitally-produced paintings at Gladstone and Jason Lahr’s digitally-informed paintings at the Painting Center, both of which open Thursday night. For digital purists, check out Low Res: Spatial Politics in the Cloud at NARS Foundation’s Sunset Park digs Friday night. For painting purists, catch Rebecca Leveille’s brushy portraits at Site:Brooklyn. Fans of both media will be relieved to note they’re but a few subway stops away. End the week with FIN’s ICE PIX album release party on Sunday in Bushwick, which features performances from rising stars such as FlucT and Raul de Nieves. Your Monday hangover will be so worth it.

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This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Winter is Coming

by Michael Anthony Farley on March 13, 2017
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The week is of course dominated by two news items: The Whitney Biennial and The Wintery Downfall.

After the blizzard, Wednesday is a great opportunity to get yourself in the snowy mood, art-wise. Enjoy doses of culture from freezing, windswept regions, including Marsden Hartley’s Maine at The Met Breuer (if you’re missing the Whitney’s old digs) and Berlin-based Danish/Norwegian duo Elmgreen & Dragset in conversation with Dan Cameron at The Flag Art Foundation. Later, catch the Icelandic thriller Hevn at Scandinavia House’s New Nordic Cinema screening series.

Other highlights include Fort Gansevoort’s female-perspective sports show March Madness Thursday night and TRANSFER’s four year birthday party, which will feature affordable editions from some of our favorite digital artists.

Oh yeah, and make time to check out the Biennial. I’m told it’s good, but “traumatic”. An appropriately bleak show to match our physical and political climate?

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This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Have Your Cake & Smash It Too

by Michael Anthony Farley on February 6, 2017
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Welcome to the new normal. We at AFC have noticed a decline in artistic output from Brooklyn’s DIY scene as of late, while commercial galleries and institutions in Manhattan (and a few in Queens) have been gearing-up for battle mode with politically-charged programming. We’re hoping this is because everyone in Brooklyn is too busy thinking about resistance, and not because they’ve fled the country.

Tuesday night, The New School is hosting a talk about female bodies online, and Wednesday, the New Museum is opening a massive Raymond Pettibon show. After checking it out, head down the block to ICP, where curators will be discussing the loaded Perpetual Revolution: The Image and Social Change. More talks will come Thursday, such as the Brooklyn Museum’s call to defend immigrants and the Flux Factory/ABC No Rio potluck/opening/discussion about artists’ mutual aid in times like these. Friday night, take a break from political angst to get lost in the dreamy paintings of Jordan Kasey at Nicelle Beauchene, or the likely dreamier office set E.S.P. TV has staged at Pioneer Works. The weekend brings more great art and opportunities for creative resistance: be sure to check out the Queens Museum’s event to build climate change resistance coalitions between artists and activists.

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NADA on Top

by Paddy Johnson on December 3, 2016
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A cab driver told me there are fewer people in Miami beach this year due to Zika fears. An artist told me there were fewer artists in Miami due to Donald Trump’s election. Everyone tells me they have fair fatigue. But dealers, willing to refute any and all evidence to the contrary, say their fairs have been busy.

Whether or not anyone is suffering as a result, one thing is certain: attendance is way off from last year. There are fewer people in the streets and at the fairs across the board. Certainly this was the case at NADA yesterday, which was uncharacteristically quiet. Not that this seemed to bother the dealers. Most were relaxed and seemed content, having made their sales the day before. This stood in stark contrast to Pulse, where even the slightest expression of interest, inspired long sales pitches and desperate looks. I felt bad for them.

A slower pace and fewer jovial parties from most of the fairs came as a welcome relief, even if they were a result of election malaise. There are a few more grey hairs amongst all of us—including this reporter—and the giant, all day, courtyard parties at NADA have been replaced by a swag table and cafe that now serves fancy donuts.

The spirit, though, remains the same. More than any other fair, NADA’s dealers are defined by an investment in art that’s so intense it seems to demand generosity. For example, when visiting the Invisible Exports booth, Benjamin Tischer made a point introducing me to Jerry the Marble Faun at Situations. “That’s a rabbit hole you have to go down!” he beamed as he told me about the ceramics made by the gardener for Mrs. Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith Bouvier Beale. The two were decedents of Jacqueline Kennedy and famous for shunning the world after high society wouldn’t accept their eccentricities.

Tischer enthusiasm wasn’t an isolated incident. MacGregor Harp at 247365 recommended I see Raul de Nieves at The Company, because his beaded figurative sculptures look infused with joy and dance. And Phil Grauer, a NADA board member and partner at CANADA, offered some context. The fair wants to be more inclusive. Last year’s venue experiment with Fountainbleau didn’t work out that well for that reason. The hotel wouldn’t make more space available to the fair at a reasonable cost, so they were forced to reduce the size. It created an atmosphere they didn’t like, so they returned to The Deauville this year with the objective of offering more space to more dealers.

The efforts paid off. The fair looks and feels better. Perhaps most importantly, though, the quality art to crap ratio is better than anywhere else, making NADA the model, and fair to beat.

Highlights after the jump.

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This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Immortalizing Bushwick

by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on September 26, 2016
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What a week ahead of us. It begins Monday with the first presidential debate, so naturally, we’ve got a conversation with artist and political hound Martha Rosler on Tuesday. Ostensibly, the conversation will cover Rosler’s career, but knowing her, a good portion will be dedicated to discussing the current political climate.

There’s plenty going on between now and Friday, but let’s face it: pretty much everything that falls over the weekend will take a sideline to Bushwick Open Studios. So, kick off your Friday with the beloved indie-pop band Lower Dens at Pioneer works and prepare to spend the rest of your time gallivanting around Bushwick. Expect to see crass real estate dealings and misguided beer sponsored art events, mitigated by inspiring artist-led exhibitions, performances and open studios.

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This Week’s Must See Art Events: Cuban Death Metal Sci-Fi, Art Book Fairs, and More

by Michael Anthony Farley on September 13, 2016
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One of the great things about the art world is its permeability with other fields. Except that can seriously compound one’s #FOMO when one’s art calendar gets squeezed by spillover from Fashion Week in Manhattan, three publication fairs across the East River, political organizing, and art-film screenings. Phew.

Wednesday, catch some more conventional art openings uptown and in Chelsea with solo projects from Henry Hudson and Oscar Murillo, respectively. (Actually, Murillo’s vaguely haunted-house sounding installation promises to be anything but conventional). Thursday, check out Jessica Stockholder’s latest work at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, gender-bending in the Garment District, and black-metal-meets-science-fiction-literature from Cuban artist Yoss (how’s that for interdisciplinary?)

That night, Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair is having a preview party. It will be running all weekend, along with the new Independent Art Book Fair in Greenpoint. Friday brings us group shows about failure at TSA New York and Radiator Gallery and Saturday there’s a mysterious fashion/art event at Romeo with an all-star cast to raise funds for Planned Parenthood. Finally, Paddy Johnson is hosting an anti-gentrification panel discussion in Sunnyside, Queens that’s an absolute must-attend. And if you want to remember why we want to keep the city weird, end the day in the immersive-subversive film installation of Jon Moritsugu at Ramiken Crucible in the LES.

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This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Summer in the City

by Michael Anthony Farley on June 21, 2016
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When I started compiling a list of art events for this week, I thought “this is going to be slim pickings.” There’s a stereotype that New York in the Summer sucks because everyone’s gone to the beach except tourists who stupidly vacation in Manhattan instead of also going to the beach. But that’s totally not true!

There’s plenty of cool stuff to do in New York this week, including a storefront installation from Jeff De Golier that opened today at FOUR A.M. Wendy White (pictured above) has a solo show of California-dreamin’ surf-inspired paintings (for those of you who are thinking longingly of the seashore) at Eric Firestone Loft. Wednesday, Xaviera Simmons unveils a new series of body-centric work at The Kitchen and Booth Gallery is (by happy coincidence) hosting a panel discussion on the future of figuration right afterwards. We’re looking at two group shows with big-name, smart artists at Team Gallery and Pace. Friday, The National Sculpture Conference kicks-off its three-day fest of all things sculpture, from figure sculpting classes to a supplies vendor fair on Saturday and 3D printing on Sunday. Friday night, take in a show all about children from Trevor Shimizu (there’s a Jessica Alba tribute!) and a group show at Lehmann Maupin featuring French-Algerian wunderkind Kader Attia alongside Tim Rollins & K.O.S. and Mickalene Thomas.

Saturday the Queens Museum promises to be “overrun by hoards of punks” for a celebration of all things Ramones, including a flea market. Then bounce down to Brooklyn for a group show at American Medium. But the real party happens Sunday, when a mysterious fest thrown by some very arty queers takes over a secret loft in Gowanus. If you’re not exhausted after that, be sure to check out Nancy Shaver’s solo show at Derek Eller—she makes diorama-like assemblages that make boxy grids fun again. And really, fun is the name of the game this week.

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Highlights From PS1’s Greater New York, Part 1

by Michael Anthony Farley on October 16, 2015
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Much has already been said about Greater New York, PS1’s massive survey of over 150 regional artists that spans deceased pioneers who cut their teeth in the 1970s to young, contemporary fashion designers. With that in mind, we’re going to offer a couple of slideshows, each with personal highlights, recommendations, and commentary from a different AFC writer. There’s really too much great work (and bad work) to cover it all in one post.

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This Week’s Must-see Art Events: We Hope You Aren’t Allergic to Latex

by Michael Anthony Farley and Rea McNamara on August 17, 2015
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Breaking news: it’s still August in New York. That means many galleries on hiatus, a great exodus of the wealthy to summer homes, and a boring sticky time for the rest of us. Or does it? Apparently all the queers, weirdos, and feminists are back from P-Town and Fire Island and ready to bring you a week of events that may be sticky but promise to be anything but boring. From sex workers’ narratives and pop-up Marxist sex shops to gender-bending masks and DIY sex toys, New York City is getting kinky this week. Fittingly, this is also your last chance to see Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play at Artists Space. While the norms are away, the queers shall play. Seriously, we hope you aren’t allergic to latex.

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