Hey Greenpointers! How’s everyone’s New Year’s Resolutions going? Excited for the Super Bowl?
If you’re anything like me, you don’t really have any resolutions (just trying to live my best life) and you absolutely despise the Patriots (Tom Brady is a cheater and a T-supporter), so all the more reason to check out some art this weekend!
On Friday, the Greenpoint Gallery is hosting its first open call group exhibition of 2018. Also Friday (and through the weekend), check out the politically-overt exhibition at SHIM/ArtHelix. And come Monday evening, we have two very interesting literature events: Geoff Cobb reading from his book Sugar King and the all-women publishing collective Mag Mob discussing the future of independent publishing.
You see, there’s a reason why you live in the center of the universe, even if it costs you 60% of your income to rent an apartment here!
For “Home”, Westergren combines recent works and two-site specific installations. Recalling a house in the country, the works use elements of elite traditional decor like Murano glass, wallpaper and hunting trophies to explore interior distress amid outer luxury. “Gut Renovation” combines trompe l’oeil and papier-mâché animal heads that glare back at the viewer to create a menacing domestic space. “Carolyn Glasoe Bailey June 25, 1969- November 16, 2015,” titled in memory of a friend, is a taut juxtaposition of images of Scandinavian domestic life with motifs of emptiness and loss. The final piece, “Gardening,” gathers natural forms and vintage glass pieces into a sculpture that invites viewing from multiple angles. Its structure of twisted brass pipe recalls rusted and rotting infrastructure even as its lights rise to transcendence.
Before We Were Bannedis a group art show in response to the Muslim Ban 1.0, opening on Friday, January 26 at 6pm at ArtHelix in Bushwick, NY. The show focuses on artists residing and working in the US, but with familial lineage/ heritage/ roots to the 7 countries on the Muslim Ban 1.0 list – Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Before We Were Banned seeks to examine the complex nature of identities assumed as immigrants in US [from those countries] long before/after the ban was announced in an effort to reveal honest representations of those affected and also to heal the community. Questions posed to artists included, ‘What does home mean in a place that actively opposes your existence? And What does home mean when visiting (or are not legally able to) your home country?’ These themes are explored through mediums like multimedia installations, video art, photography, printmaking, collage and painting. Select merchandise, books and publications from the diaspora will also be showcased during the show. The event is hosted by SHIM at ArtHelix and is curated and organized by Brooklyn-based Iranian-original duo, Kiana Pirouz and Mahya Soltani.
Microscope is pleased to welcome San Francisco based-artist and Ant Farm co-founder Chip Lord to the gallery along with Liz Flyntz who curated the night. The screening features three recent video works by Lord – including a New York Premiere – preceded by a presentation of four historical performances and installations by Ant Farm made in the years 1970-75.
Exhibition and book launch celebrating artistic ad takeovers featuring photographs of the 52-week public art project shot by photographer Luna Park, and an accompanying book, will ensure that the ephemeral project endures. The event will also feature a special installation by artist/activist Jordan Seiler.
Please join John Newman for a conversation with fellow sculptors Sarah Peters and Michelle Segre about his current exhibition at Safe Gallery. Sarah Peters will exhibit a new body of work at Van Doren Waxter in April, while Michelle Segre just closed a solo exhibition at Derek Eller Gallery. John Newman’s exhibition, Between the Literal and the Nonsensical, Sculptures and Drawings, 1982-2017, curated by Dan Nadel, is on view at the gallery through February 11, 2018.
January 28, 2-6pm Anti Bodies
at PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave.
Tickets: $15
Anti Bodies is an afternoon of performance, readings and installations organized with Topical Cream, a platform for female-identifying and gender non-conforming persons working at the intersection of contemporary art and technology. Focusing on artists whose practices explore methods of self-preservation, the featured work demonstrates how gestures of resistance can be choreographed through performance and communal action. The program includes a performance by Analisa Teachworth, in collaboration with Jonas Wendelin; video screenings presented by Jacksonville-based artist Redeem Pettaway; an exploration of surveillance, control, and seduction by Julia Scher; and live concerts from Zsela and Deli Girls.
The program is complemented by additional programming presented throughout the museum, including an ongoing performance by Michelle Young Lee examining the labor of care, a video installation by Sara Hornbacher, and a recital situated within an environment created by Sarah Zapata with poetry and readings from Maya Martinez, Rin Johnson, Sophia Le Fraga, and Natasha Stagg.
Programming throughout the building free with museum admission.
Join The Mag Mob, a powerhouse collective of like-minded indie magazine publishers in the NYC area, for an intimate panel discussion about the business, impact, and future of independent publishing.
