this week in art

THE ART OF DRAWING: A CONVERSATION WITH ERIC FISCHL

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, “Street Life in Dresden,” lithograph on heavy cream Japan paper, 1908

Who: Eric Fischl and Jane Kallir
What: Discussion about the work of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and the evolution of drawing over the last century
Where: Galerie St. Etienne, 24 West 57th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves., 212-245-6734
When: Wednesday, May 18, free, 6:30
Why: “Ecstatic drawing is the foundation of the new art,” German Expressionist painter and Die Brücke cofounder Ernst Ludwig Kirchner said in 1919. On May 18, New York City native and painter and sculptor Eric Fischl will be at Galerie St. Etienne in Midtown to discuss “The Art of Drawing” with gallery owner Jane Kallir, held in conjunction with the exhibition “Ernst Ludwig Kirchner: Featuring Watercolors and Drawings from the Robert Lehman Collection,” which continues through July 1. The exhibition comprises more than fifty pen-and-ink drawings, woodcuts, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs by Kirchner, who committed suicide in 1938 at the age of fifty-eight, shortly after the Nazis detained or destroyed more than six hundred of his works. “Just as he preferred moving models, Kirchner himself moved as he drew, changing position or walking through town with a sketchbook in hand. He drew every day and nearly everywhere he went, filling at least 180 sketchbooks, over 12,000 sheets,” Kallir writes in her extensive exhibition essay. “Drawing is the key to Kirchner’s art, and his sketches are the key to his drawings. But the sketches should not be viewed as studies per se. Rather, the sketches birthed new forms, conceived in the throes of ‘ecstatic’ experience, that ‘crystallized and hardened’ in subsequent pictures.” Fischl, whose work includes such series as “Art Fair,” “Corrida in Ronda,” “The Travel of Romance,” “Ten Breaths,” and “The Bed, the Chair . . .” in addition to the MTA mosaic “The Garden of Circus Delights” in Penn Station, will lend insight into his own creative process as well. Free advance reservations are not required but recommended and can be made here.

WANDERLUST: SLEEPWALKER BY TONY MATELLI

A group of women pose with Tony Matelli’s “Sleepwalker” on the High Line (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The High Line
Eleventh Ave. from 34th St. to Gansevoort St.
“Wanderlust” through March 17, 2017
Open daily, free, 7:00 am – 11:00 pm
www.thehighline.org
sleepwalker high line slide show

It’s all about context. In June 2014, there was a furor at Wellesley when students at the all-woman college protested against the installation of Tony Matelli’s “Sleepwalker” sculpture, a lifelike rendering of a bald white man in nothing but his tighty-whities, eyes closed and arms outstretched. While he is meant to be in the midst of harmless somnambulation, hundreds of women signed an online petition that claimed that the work “has become a source of apprehension, fear, and triggering thoughts regarding sexual assault for some members of our campus community”; others playfully mocked the work, creating virtual images of it dressed in school T-shirts and the like. Matelli responded by telling CBS Boston, “I think that these people are misconstruing this work. I think they’re seeing something in this work that isn’t there. But who am I to say how people should react to this?” Ultimately, the statue had to be removed after being spray-painted and subsequently broken in protest. A few months later, I encountered a different casting of “Sleepwalker” on the rooftop deck of the Marlborough Chelsea, where it was just him and me; at the time, I wrote that I found it to be “intriguing and humorous, not threatening at all, perhaps even symbolic of an America that often seems to be half asleep.” Of course, I’m not a college-age woman, and the sculpture is not by the side of the road in some woods.

Tony Matelli’s “Sleepwalker” gets a hug from a happy stranger on the High Line (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

“Sleepwalker” has now made its way to the High Line, where it awaits visitors by the Fourteenth St. entrance as part of the group show “Wanderlust.” On a recent Saturday afternoon, I watched as people huddled around it, many wondering if it were an actual real person, waiting for him to make a sudden movement. Kids reached out to touch a hand, a young man sniffed its head, and tourists posed in silly positions with the work. There were hugs, funny faces, selfies, and an abundance of smiles after initial hesitation. At Wellesley, “Sleepwalker” was steeped in controversy. At the Marlborough Chelsea, it was somewhat of a lonely, pathetic creature. And now, on the High Line, one of the city’s most attractive destinations, it has become a novelty; there was even an official photo contest on April 23 “inviting visitors to the park to post their most creative photo inspired by Tony Matelli’s sculpture ‘Sleepwalker.’” It’s a far cry from the spray-painted version surrounded by police tape on the Wellesley campus. Art affects people in different ways, and “Sleepwalker” is a stunning example of that. It also says a lot about where we are as a culture in the twenty-first century.

WANDERLUST: TIDE AND CURRENT TAXI BY MARIE LORENZ

Marie Lorenz will be offering free trips along the Hudson River with handcrafted canoes stored under the High Line at Gansevoort St. (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: Marie Lorenz
What: Rowboat trips along the Hudson River as part of “Wanderlust” exhibit on the High Line
Where: Village Community Boathouse, Pier 40, 353 West St. at West Houston St.
When: May 26, June 4 & 23, August 25, free, multiple times
Why: At the 2014 Frieze Art Fair, we found a unique way to get back to Manhattan from Randall’s Island: We took a rowboat ride organized by environmental artist Marie Lorenz across the East River to Harlem. Lorenz began her “Tide and Current Taxi” project back in 2005, giving free rides around the city’s waterways while documenting them on video. Lorenz is now offering rides along the Hudson as part of the latest High Line exhibition, “Wanderlust,” which celebrates the High Line as an ambulatory space. Three of the rowboats can be seen underneath the Gansevoort end of the High Line; on May 26, June 4, June 23, and August 25, Lorenz will lower one of the boats and take lucky passengers on trips of between twenty and forty minutes, depending on the weather, the tide, and other factors. The ride is free, but you must sign up in advance, and quick, because many of the time slots are already booked. We had a great time on our trip with Lorenz two years ago, so don’t hesitate to catch a ride on this amazing journey. “Wanderlust” continues through March 2017 and also includes works by Tony Matelli, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Valentin Carron, Iman Issa, Matt Johnson, Paulo Nazareth, Mike Nelson, Roman Ondak, Susan Philipsz, and Rayyane Tabet.

FRIEZE ART FAIR HIGHLIGHTS

Alex Da Corte’s giant floating baby and part of Heather Phillipson’s “100% Other Fibres” greet Frieze visitors (all photos by twi-ny/mdr unless otherwise noted)

FRIEZE ART FAIR
Randall’s Island Park
May 5-8, $29-$49 per day
friezenewyork.com

On a cold, rainy Friday afternoon, Frieze was about as comfortable and manageable as any major international art fair can get. You could take your time looking at the art, easily procure a table at one of the restaurants, and not have to wait on long lines to use the rest rooms. At the fifth annual Frieze New York, held on Randall’s Island, video, contemporary photography, and outdoor sculpture are out while large-scale painting, mid-to-late-twentieth-century photography, and performance are in. Below are our recommended highlights, in no particular order; also be on the lookout for works by Carolee Schneeman, Liz Magic Laser, Rieko Otake, Bernd and Hilla Becher, John Divola, Nancy Holt, Frank Bowling, and reverse pickpocket David Horvitz.

A troupe of mimes moves throughout the fair in a green vehicle in Anthea Hamilton’s “Kar-A-Sutra (After Mario Bellini)”

Eduardo Navarro’s “Instructions from the Sky” remained indoors because of the weather

Maurizio Cattelan pays tribute to the Daniel Newburg Gallery by restaging his 1994 U.S. debut, “Warning! Enter at Your Own Risk. Do Not Touch, Do Not Feed, No Smoking, No Photographs, No Dogs, Thank you.” complete with chandelier and Gabriel the donkey, who recently appeared at the Met in La Bohème.

Look inside Mika Rottenberg’s “Lips” for a surprise video, right next to her sizzling “AC Trio”

Hauser & Wirth’s staff have a tough time stopping people from touching Roni Horn’s untitled glass pieces

You can see more of N. Dash’s beautiful works of adobe, acrylic, gesso, string, canvas, and jute at Casey Kaplan in Chelsea

Philippe Parreno and Rirkrit Tiravanija collaborated on eight-minute video installation “Stories Are Propaganda”

Spencer Lowell’s “New York, New York, New York” provides unique look at Queens Museum Panorama (photo courtesy Queens Museum)

Alex Katz’s “Nine Women” is significantly smaller than 1982 Times Square mural

Perhaps Krzysztof Wodiczko’s twenty-five-year-old “Homeless Vehicle Project” could still help New York City’s homeless crisis

Michelle Grabner’s untitled enamel on panel painting is a bright standout

François Morellet turns Galerie Herve Bize space into a dizzying experience

Perennial favorite Galerie Eigen + Art features new works by David Schnell, including “Becken” (above) and “Pakt” (photo courtesy Galerie Eigen + Art)

Fred Wilson’s “Emilia’s Mirror — Act 5, Scene 2” is part of Pace installation

Daniel Dewar and Grégory Gicquel’s “Stoneware Mural with Pipes n°4” is part of Frame Stand Prize-winning installation “Truth and Consequences”

ARTIST TALK: NANCY GROSSMAN, MARILYN MINTER, BETTY TOMPKINS, LAURIE SIMMONS

Betty Tompkins. Artistgirl, 2013. Acrylic on canvas, 6 x 12 x 1 1/2 inches. Private Collection. Image courtesy the artist.

Betty Tompkins, “Artistgirl,” acrylic on canvas, 2013 (private collection / image courtesy the artist)

Who: Nancy Grossman, Marilyn Minter, Betty Tompkins, Laurie Simmons, and Glenn Fuhrman
What: Artist talk
Where: The FLAG Art Foundation, 545 West 25th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves., ninth floor, 212-206-0220
When: Tuesday, May 10, free with RSVP, 6:00
Why: In case you haven’t been paying attention, FLAG founder Glenn Fuhrman has been hosting a series of conversations at his Chelsea gallery with some pretty big-time players and up-and-comers, including Jeff Koons, Sean Scully, and Awol Erizku. On May 10, he’ll be convening with a terrifically impressive quartet of artists, Nancy Grossman, Marilyn Minter, Betty Tompkins, and Laurie Simmons, to discuss Tompkins’s exhibition “WOMEN Words, Phrases, and Stories: 1,000 Paintings by Betty Tompkins,” which continues at FLAG through May 14. The exhibition consists of one thousand small-scale, hand-painted acrylic on canvas works that feature words and phrases used to describe women, including “Total Babe,” “Epic Bitch,” “Girly Girl,” “Arm Candy,” “Put a Bag over Her Head,” and “Will She Ever Shut Up?” (In her request for words and phrases from others, Tompkins explained, “They can be affectionate [honey], pejorative [bitch], slang, descriptive, etc.”) You better watch out, because this should be one exciting, illuminating evening.

FRIEZE WEEK 2016

Frieze will feature free tours and conversations on collecting, among other programs

FRIEZE ART FAIR
Randall’s Island Park
May 5-8, $29-$49 per day
friezenewyork.com

There are a ton of art fairs from March through May here in New York City, but the only one we make sure to go to every year is Frieze. Held on Randall’s Island, Frieze has a terrific mix of art, performance, discussion, outdoor sculpture, and food, and it tends not to get too horrifically crowded even at prime times. This year’s fair, taking place May 5-8, features more than five dozen galleries from around the world, divided into four sections: Main, Focus, Frame, and Spotlight. Other works are part of the special programs Frieze Talks, Frieze Sounds (Giorgio Andreotta Calo & MADRIEMA, Liz Magic Laser, GCC), Frieze Education, and Frieze Projects (Alex Da Corte, Anthea Hamilton, David Horvitz, Eduardo Navarro, Heather Phillipson, Maurizio Cattelan). Every day there is a free guided tour with advance RSVP. Beginning on Thursday, the Reading Room will host seven hours of daily talks, live performance, and book signings, including “Prints, Polaroids, and Picassos” at 1:30 on Thurday with Melanie Gerlis, Lisa Schiff, and Nicholas Campbell, Bill Powers in conversation with Nathaniel Mary Quinn at 4:30, and the Brooklyn Museum talk “Ai Weiwei and Bicycles” at 5:30 with Sharon Matt-Atkins and a limited-edition bicycle made by Ai. Also on Thursday, Eileen Myles will deliver the keynote address, “What a Poet Might Be Doing Here,” at 4:00 in the Frieze auditorium. On Friday, the Reading Room schedule includes a book signing by Hans Ulrich Obrist (Conversations in Colombia: ANAÑAM-YOU-REYA) at 11:30, the ArtMag talk “The Stars Were Aligned for a Century of New Beginnings” with Basim Magdy and Omar Kholeif at 2:00, and the Art in America discussion “Comics in America” with Julia Wolkoff in conversation with Dan Nadel and Alexi Worth at 3:30. Also on Friday, Dan Fox and Mark Leckey will team up for the Frieze Talk “Haunted by What” in the auditorium at noon, while Omar Kholeif, Zach Blas, Andrea Crespo, and Jacolby Satterwhite gather at 4:00 for “The Technological Body and Its Discontents.”

Saturday’s Reading Room programming kicks off at 11:30 with “The Captioning Séance,” live aura readings by Wayne Koestenbaum in conjunction with his new book, Notes on Glaze, followed by talks with Evan Moffitt and Carlos Motta at 1:30, W magazine at 2:30 (“Art Heist”), Petra Cortright and Lindsay Howard at 3:30 (“Net Speak”), and Negar Azimi and Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili at 4:30 (“Hollow Body”). At 12 noon in the auditorium, Hal Foster and Ben Lerner will delve into the topic “On Hating On . . . ,” while the 4:00 Frieze Talk, “Version Control,” brings together Joanne McNeil, Thomas Demand, Oliver Laric, and Stephanie Syjuco. In the Reading Room on Sunday, Harry Thorne, Harry Burke, and Laura McLean Ferris will discuss “The Fast and the Slow — Writing and Reading On- and Offline” at 1:30, followed by Jason Farago in conversation with Agnieszka Kurant at 2:30, “On Ecstasy” with Rachel Rose and Ryan McNamara at 3:30, and Eli Diner in conversation with Martine Syms at 4:30. The last day’s Frieze Talks consist of Lawrence Abu Hamdan and Holly Herndon discussing sound and surveillance at noon and Jens Hoffmann, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Michelle Grabner, Emiliano Valdés, and Beatrice von Bismarck answering the question “Curator: Autodidact Polymath or Academic Expert?” at 4:00. Below are events at other fairs taking place during Frieze Week.

nada

NADA
Basketball City
299 South St.
May 5-8, $20 per day, $40 run of show
newartdealers.org

Thursday, May 5
Artist DJs: Michael Mahalchick + Melissa Brown, 2:00 –5:00

Performance and ritual blessing by Angie Jennings, 5:30

“Fan Boys,” a performance by Brian Belott and Billy Grant, and “Cold Steel,” by Tyson Reeder, 6:00

“The New Neurotic,” a performance by the Shandaken Project, featuring Childress, 6:30

Friday, May 6
“Extensions,” a performance by Naama Tsabar, 1:00

“The Art of the (Cough) Deal: Why Artist-Gallerists Do It Better,” with Sarah Braman, Max Warsh, Ridley Howard, Margaret Lee, and Elyse Derosia, moderated by Andrew M. Goldstein, 2:00

Artist DJs: Annie Pearlman 2:00 – 4:00

“Go Pro: The Hyper-Professionalization of the Emerging Artist,” with Daniel S. Palmer, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Diane Simpson, and Jayne Johnson, moderated by M. H. Miller, 3:00

“The Event Economy: The Role of Performance in Gallery Programming,” with Emma Hazen, Claire Mirocha, Vanessa Thill, Mike Pepi, Rin Johnson, and Harry Burke, moderated by Nicole Reber, 4:00

Artist DJs: Ben Vida 4:00 – 6:00

“Art Fair,” new video work by Talk Hole (Steven Phillips-Horst & Eric Schwartau), followed by a discussion, 6:00

Saturday, May 7
The NADA Hoops Know Wave 3-on-3 Tournament, court designed by Michael Genovese (pick-up games available Thursday and Friday)

“Daata Editions meets Moran Bondaroff,” with David Gryn, Jessica Witkin, and Rory Padeken, 1:00

“NSK State: Imagined Territories,” with Charles Lewis and David K. Thompson, 2:00

“Models of Practice: New Territories and Frameworks for Public Art,” with Diya Vij, Maayan Strauss, and Brooke Singer, moderated by Mariel Villeré, 3:00

“Alternative Narratives: An exploration of hybrid creative practices,” with Angel Otero, Larry Ossei-Mensah, and Erik Hougen, 4:00

“TURBOFILM and the Uncertain Future of Moving Images” by Alterazioni Video, with live music performance and the U.S. premiere Rosa Perfetto, 5:00

“The Soft Side of Hardcore starring Old Put the Clown,” with performance by Bailey Scieszka, 6:00

Artist DJs: Michael Bauer 2:00 – 4:00

Artist DJs: Andrew Kuo 4:00 – 6:00

Sunday, May 8
Wearable Art Workshop with the Children’s Museum of the Arts, 1:00

Artist DJs: Denise Kupferschmidt 2:00 – 4:00

“Suits You,” sculptural performance by Poncili Creación (Zuleyka Alejandro, Jimena Lloreda, and Pablo & Efrain del Hierro), 3:30

Michelangiolo Bastiani, “Tentativo Impossibile,” 2016 (courtesy of Liquid Art System | Capri3)

CONTEXT New York
Pier 94, 55th St. & West Side Highway
May 4-8, $25 per day, $55 run of show
www.contextnyfair.com

Friday, May 6
Artist Spotlight: Why Are Artists Willing to Starve in New York for Their Art?, with Bruce Helander, 2:00

Trends of the Art World from an Investment Perspective, with Annelien Bruins, Terence Doran, and Madelaine D’Angelo, 3:00

The Habits of Successful Collectors, with Nica Gutman Rieppi and Jessica Davidson, 4:15

Saturday, May 7
Artist Spotlight: Guardians — The Art of Healing and Hope with Kim Sun Tei, 1:00

Artist Spotlight: The Inside Secrets of Art Patronage — Case Study on Yuroz, with Pandora Pang and Bruce Helander, 2:00

The Evolution of Art and Finance Services in Wealth Management, with Phillip Klein and Donald Poster, 3:00

Book signing: The Art of John Keane by Mark Lawson, 4:00

Balance of Power — Who are Today’s Market Makers?, with Heidi Lee-Komaromi, Peter Priede, Amelie Chabannes, and Lenise Logan, 4:15

Sunday, May 8
Artist Spotlight: Pushing the 2-D Boundaries of an Art Collection, with Jennifer Kostuik, 2:00

New Tools of the Trade, with Lucy Redoglia, Connor Williams, and Jenny Park Adam, 3:00

Digits to Digital — Trends in Merging the Handmade with Digital Technologies, with Regine Basha, Kristin Lucas, and Birgit Rathsmann, 4:15

Mickalene Thomas will be at 1:54 to discuss and sign her new book

1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Pioneer Works, Red Hook
May 6-8, $10-$20
1-54.com/new-york

Friday, May 6
Welcome & Opening Remarks by Touria El Glaoui and Koyo Kouoh, 1:00

Beyond Cultural Polarities: Africa’s Creative “Repats,”
With Andrew Dosunmu, Nina Keïta, and Elinyisia Mosha, moderated by Claude Grunitzky, 1:30

Media Platforms for the Promotion of the Arts, Visual Cultures, and Social Experiences of and about Africa and the Diaspora, with Claude Grunitzky and Abiola Oke, moderated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, 3:00

The Politics and Privilege of Play: Dexter Wimberly in conversation with ruby onyinyechi amanze, 4:30

Friday, May 6
and
Saturday, May 7
1:54 PERFORMS, “This ship would set sail, even anchored as it was,” site-specific interactive performance project by Dave McKenzie

Saturday, May 7
Book presentation and signing with Mickalene Thomas in conversation with Lesley A. Martin, Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs, 12 noon

Emerging Social Entrepreneurs and Cultural Brokers, with Ifeanyi Awachie, Shimite Obialo, Sharon Obuobi, and Amy Sall, moderated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, 2:00

Museums and Contemporary African Art, with Karen Milbourne, Kevin Dumouchelle, and Yesomi Umolu, moderated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi, 3:30

Materiality, Storytelling, and Grand Narratives in Contemporary African Art: Dexter Wimberly (independent curator) in conversation with Billie Zangewa, 5:00

Adrienne Edwards in conversation with Dave McKenzie, 6:30

Sunday, May 8
Second Sundays: live performances by Osei Korankye and the Mandingo Ambassadors

Book presentation and signing with Sue Williamson in conversation with Chika Okeke-Agulu, Sue Williamson: Life and Work, 4:00

Collective Design fair showcases innovative design thinking

COLLECTIVE DESIGN
Skylight Clarkson Sq.
550 Washington St.
May 4-8, $16.82 – $36.24
collectivedesignfair.com

Thursday, May 5
Frank de Biasi, 12 noon

Robert Couturier, 3:00

Stteven Gambrel, 5:00

Friday, May 6
Kelly Behun, 12 noon

Brad Ford, 3:00

James Huniford, 5:00

Saturday, May 7
Sandra Nunnerley, 12 noon

Suchi Reddy, 3:00

Sunday, May 8
Christopher Coleman, 12 noon

Robert Stilin, 3:00

FIRST SATURDAY — DISGUISE: MASKS AND GLOBAL AFRICAN ART

Zina Saro-Wiwa, detail, “The Invisible Man,” pigmented inkjet print, 2015 (Seattle Art Museum, commission, courtesy of the artist © Zina Saro-Wiwa)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, May 7, free, 5:00 – 11:00
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

The Brooklyn Museum celebrates its new exhibition, “Disguise: Masks and Global African Art,” which pairs twenty-five contemporary works of art with historical masquerade pieces to create a dialogue, at its free First Saturday program on May 7. The evening will feature live performances by Ifetayo Youth Ensemble, Jojo Abot, DJ Tunez, Laara Garcia (activating Saya Woolfalk’s “ChimaTEK: Virtual Chimeric Space”), and Djassi DaCosta Johnson (performing Brendan Fernandes’s In Touch); screenings of Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning and short films from Wangechi Mutu’s AFRICA’SOUT!; a multimedia book club reading and discussion with Nnedi Okorafor, N. K. Jemisin, and Ibi Zoboi, along with performing arts collective BKLYN ZULU; pop-up gallery talks; a hands-on workshop in which participants can make their own masks and costumes; a talk by Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands associate curator Kevin Dumouchelle on African masquerade around the world; interactive storytelling exploring African myth with Gage Cook; and, for the grand finale, a Vogue Ball hosted by Jacolby Satterwhite. In addition, you can check out such other exhibitions as “This Place,” “Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999–2016,” “Stephen Powers: Coney Island Is Still Dreamland (to a Seagull),” and “Agitprop!”