this week in art

REELABILITIES: NY DISABILITIES FILM FESTIVAL

Rory Culkin will be among the special guests at the ReelAbilities film festival, discussing his starring role in GABRIEL

Multiple venues
March 12-18, free – $50 (most film screenings $12-$13)
newyork.reelabilities.org

The seventh annual ReelAbilities film festival will feature more than two dozen programs, focusing on “promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories, and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities.” This year’s festival, running March 12-18, will take place at more than three dozen locations in all five boroughs in addition to Westchester and Long Island. The Finishers, Nils Tavernier’s drama about a teenager with cerebral palsy who is convinced by his father that the two should compete together in an Ironman triathlon in France, is the opening-night selection, with a gala screening at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, while the closing-night film is Carlo Zoratti’s The Special Need, about a twenty-nine-year-old autistic man who is determined to lose his virginity, being shown March 18 at the JCC in Manhattan and followed by a reception. Among the other films are Adam Kahan’s The Case of the Three Sided Dream, a documentary about blind and paralyzed jazzman Rahsaan Roland Kirk; Troy Kotsur’s mockumentary No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie; Richard Kane’s Jon Imber’s Left Hand, which tells the story of the artist who had to switch the hand he paints with because of ALS; and Lou Howe’s Gabriel, which stars Rory Culkin as a teenager dealing with mental illness. (Many of the screenings will be followed by discussions and Q&As with the filmmakers, actors, protagonists, and health professionals.) There will also be such special events as “(In)Visible,” a conversation between blind Michigan Supreme Court justice Richard Bernstein and Jason’s Connections cofounder Jason Harris; a multimedia exhibit at the JCC in Manhattan by the Jack and Shirley Silver Center for Special Needs; the ReelAbilities Comedy Night at the JCC with Anita Hollander, Mary Archbold, Pat Shay, Shannon DeVido, and David Harrell; and a Shabbat Dinner celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with film screenings and a panel discussion with historian Warren Shaw, Justice Bernstein, photographer Rick Guidotti, and others, moderated by Lawrence Carter-Long.

PHOENIX: XU BING AT THE CATHEDRAL

Xu Bing’s “Phoenix” will soar out of St. John the Divine on March 15 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Ave. at 112th St.
Daily through March 15, suggested donation $10
212-316-7540
www.stjohndivine.org

After more than a year spent hovering over the nave at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, Huang and Feng are getting ready to take off on the next part of a journey that has seen them go from Beijing to Shanghai to Massachusetts. In January 2014, Chinese artist Xu Bing, who lives and works in Beijing and New York, installed two giant phoenixes, the ninety-foot-long male Feng and the hundred-foot-long female Huang, the two totaling more than twelve tons, at the cathedral. Originally commissioned for the World Financial Center in Beijing, “Phoenix” was ultimately rejected when Xu, a member of the ’85 New Wave Movement who went through “reeducation” as a child and whose father spent time in jail as a political prisoner, decided to use detritus from construction sites to build the two birds as a statement emphasizing the widening gap between the wealthy and the poor, capital and labor in China, where peasant communities are torn down to make way for high-end commercial ventures. It would be easy to see “Phoenix” as a metaphor for the mythological creatures rising from the ashes, especially at St. John the Divine, evoking not only the resurrection of Jesus but the cathedral’s seven-year restoration following a devastating 2001 six-alarm fire, but in Chinese legend the phoenix, known as the fenghuang, represents the combination of yin and yang, the sun and the moon, made up of elements from different animals and celestial bodies, filled with the promise of good fortune, loyalty, dignity, and compassion.

Xu, whose other recent New York projects include “The Living Word” at the Morgan, “Where Does the Dust Itself Collect?” in the Spinning Wheel Building, and “The Character of Characters” animated video at the Met, did not build Feng and Huang with random debris, instead carefully constructing each body part with specific objects; for example, the heads are made from the nose of industrial jackhammers, depicting strength and power, while feathers are built from shovelheads. Working with a team of primarily migrant workers, Xu also incorporates bamboo, girders, tools, hard hats, rebar, wheels, and other waste materials found at Beijing construction sites. “With this, there’s a kind of internal logic that produces beauty. You also produce a sense of humor,” Xu said through a translator in an artist talk he gave at MASS MoCA, where “Phoenix” made its U.S. debut in 2013. He then compared his process to Chinese folk art. “The method of Chinese folk art is to use the most inexpensive, the cheapest materials to express [people’s] hopes for the future and for their lives.” He also added LED lights to Feng and Huang, turning them into mysterious constellations in the dark. Facing away from the altar, the phoenixes are imbued with an engaging spirituality, especially when the cathedral’s church organ is being played, the music echoing throughout the vast space. The birds look very much at home inside this self-described “house of prayer for all people and a unifying center of intellectual light and leadership,” companions to Greg Wyatt’s outdoor Peace Fountain, but on March 15 they will be migrating once again, off on the next stop of their amazing journey.

MADAME CÉZANNE

Paul Cézanne, “Madame Cézanne in a Red Dress,” oil on canvas, 1888-90 (The Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ittleson Jr. Purchase Fund, 1962)

Metropolitan Museum of Art, Galleries 955 & 961–962
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Daily through March 15, recommended admission $12-$25
212-535-7710
www.metmuseum.org

Not much is known about the relationship between French artist Paul Cézanne and his wife, former artist’s model Marie-Hortense Fiquet, other than that they met in 1869, had a son in 1872, were married in 1886, and, when Paul died in 1906, had long lived apart, and he left her nothing in his will. However, he did leave behind twenty-nine known portraits of her, twenty-five of which are on display at the Met in the intriguing exhibition “Madame Cézanne,” continuing through March 15. The show features paintings, drawings, and watercolors, ranging from a page of 1871-74 graphite studies to the ca. 1895-1900 oil sketch “Portrait of a Woman (Madame Cézanne).” The centerpiece of the exhibit is the quartet of portraits of Madame Cézanne in a red dress, each one very different, highlighted by the 1888-90 canvas with the most detailed surroundings. The four paintings have not been seen together for many years, and the group, now side by side, is both breathtaking and provoking in the insights it offers and questions it generates about Cezanne’s choices on the canvas. The paintings do not add insight into the couple’s love, or lack thereof, for each other, however, as Cézanne nearly always depicts his wife as dour and matronly, rarely smiling. In the unfinished 1891 oil painting “Madame Cézanne” in the Conservatory,” Hortense Fiquet sits on a chair, her hands on her lap, tree branches and fruit in the background; she gazes directly at the viewer, her eyes open, her mouth closed, appearing neither sad nor happy, just resigned to her fate. “If these quietly powerful paintings of Hortense Fiquet came to be acknowledged as a testing ground for Cézanne’s innovation and experimentation with paint on canvas, their subject and her vital partnership as model, mistress, wife, and mother have been willfully overlooked,” curator Dita Amory writes in the preface to the exhibition catalog. “Their story is a deeply compelling one, perhaps even more so for the very absence of its particulars.” What isn’t absent in this show are some very beautiful works, which add yet more mystery to this curious artistic relationship. (As a bonus, the Met is showing “Paul Cézanne: Drawings and Watercolors” in Gallery 960 in the Robert Lehman Wing, also through March 15.)

CARRIE MAE WEEMS: FIELD OF VIEW AND OTHER MINOR CONSIDERATIONS

Carrie Mae Weems, “The Considered,” 2012 (photo courtesy the Performa Institute

Who: Carrie Mae Weems
What: “Field of View and Other Minor Considerations”
Where: NYU Steinhardt, Einstein Auditorium, Barney Building, 34 Stuyvesant St., 212-366-5700
When: Thursday, March 26, free with advance RSVP, 6:30
Why: As part of the Performa Institute Portrait of the Artist series, Portland, Oregon–born photographer and video artist Carrie Mae Weems will deliver a lecture on her life and career, “Field of View and Other Minor Considerations,” with a focus on her artistic process and production. Weems, who had a terrific retrospective at the Guggenheim last year, “Three Decades of Photography and Video,” is a fascinating person, so this should be a very special evening. “My work has led me to investigate family relationships, gender roles, the histories of racism, sexism, class, and various political systems,” she writes in her online biography. “Despite the variety of my explorations, throughout it all it has been my contention that my responsibility as an artist is to work, to sing for my supper, to make art, beautiful and powerful, that adds and reveals; to beautify the mess of a messy world, to heal the sick and feed the helpless; to shout bravely from the roof-tops and storm barricaded doors and voice the specifics of our historic moment.”

NEW YORK ART FAIR WEEK 2015: FREE FAIRS

Héctor Zamora’s O ABUSO DA HISTÓRIA will be shown at Moving Image art fair (courtesy Luciana Brito Galeria)

This year’s March edition of New York Art Fair Week — the city will be overrun with fairs again in May — features no fewer than a dozen shows, including Volta, Scope, Art on Paper, the Independent, Pulse, Spring/Break, and the granddaddy of them all, the Armory Show. If you want to see each one of them, it’s gonna cost a pretty penny, upwards of two hundred bucks total. But there are five fairs that offer free admission and a respite from the craziness that goes on at the ticketed shows.

Who: Nearly three dozen video artists, including Charlie Ahearn, Peggy Ahwesh, Oliver Bevan, Raphael Couto, Tuomas A. Laitinen, Pink Twins, and Héctor Zamora
What: Moving Image
Where: Waterfront Tunnel, 269 Eleventh Ave. between 27th & 28th Sts.
When: March 5-8, free
Why: Moving Image is a video art fan’s dream, lining the passageway in the Waterfront Tunnel in Chelsea with a multitude of innovative short works. On Saturday at noon, Sean Elwood will moderate the panel discussion and networking session “How Do Artists Secure Funding for Film and Video Artwork?” with Chris Doyle, Guy Richards Smit, Patrik Söderlund, and Eve Sussman, followed at 2:00 by “Moving Image: Instant Upload” with Alex McQuilkin, Alice Gray Stites, Amy Taubin, Rachael Rakes, and Zoë Salditch, moderated by Andrea Monti and Elle Burchill.

Sabrina Barrios will be among the artists exhibiting at the (un)Scene

Who: More than eighty visual, tech, and performance artists, including Carlos Betancourt, Sabrina Barrios, Will Kurtz, Chris Ofili, Matt Lombard, Eunjin Kim, Carolee Schneeman, Frederico Uribe, Monika Weiss, Matthew Silver, and Kelly McLaughlin
What: The (un)Scene Art Show
Where: 549 West 52nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
When: March 4-8, free
Why: Renamed from last year’s (Un)Fair designation, the (un)Scene Art Show seeks to “celebrate passion rather than fashion.” This year’s edition features numerous “Happenings,” including such live performances as Moon Ribas’s Waiting for Earthquakes, Jade Fusco’s Talking Tapestry, TunanuT’s Group Love, Nicole Woolcott’s Paper Pieces, Kate Brehm’s The Proofs, and Danielle Russo Dance Company’s Since thou was precious in my sight. There will also be an art and dance party hosted by Brock Enright, such panel discussions as “The Radical Eye: Why Artists Must Curate” with Anne Harris, “The (un)TALK” with Raoul Middleman, and “The Art Pollution Crisis (Three-Step Detox Program)” with Alex Melamid, and other events.

Who: Artists who are not represented by a New York City gallery
What: Clio Art Fair: The Anti-Fair for Independent Artists
Where: 508 West 26th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
When: March 5-8, free
Why: The Clio Art Fair lets their artists run wild without worrying about art market constraints and rules; there was a charming freshness to last year’s inaugural edition that the others lack, caring about the art and the artists ahead of the sale and actually enjoying itself, which rubs off on visitors.

Takahiro Hirabayashi will be among the artists showing at New City (courtesy Gallery Kogure)

Who: Nearly three dozen artists from eight Japanese galleries
What: New City Art Fair
Where: hpgrp Gallery New York, 529 West 20th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
When: March 5-8, free
Why: Now in its fourth year, New City concentrates on Japanese contemporary art. Programs include studio visits with Spoon & Tamago and a presentation by Pola Museum Annex.

Who: Polly Apfelbaum, BTHY, Fransje Killaars, Pushpamala N., Dona Nelson, Diana Shpungin, and Sarah Tritz
What: Salon Zürcher
Where: Salon Zürcher New York, 33 Bleecker St. between Lafayette & Bowery
When: March 5-12, free
Why: In its third edition, Salon Zürcher will highlight work by seven women artists shown by seven international galleries, including India, the United States, France, and the Netherlands.

FIRST SATURDAY: WOMEN CHANGEMAKERS

Curator tour of “Judith Scott: Bound Unbound” is part of free First Saturday program at Brooklyn Museum (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Curator tour of “Judith Scott — Bound and Unbound” is part of free First Saturdays program at Brooklyn Museum (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

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

The Brooklyn Museum celebrates women in the March edition of its free First Saturdays program. “Women Changemakers” will feature live performances by Alissia & the Funketeers, Princess Nokia, and the DJ duo JSMN and MeLo-X; a curator talk by Catherine Morris about the exhibition “Judith Scott — Bound and Unbound”; a Colored Girls Hustle mix tape workshop; a sketch class in which participants will draw from a live woman model; a book club talk with Dao X Tran, author of 101 Changemakers: Rebels and Radicals Who Changed U.S. History; screenings of Julianna Brannum’s LaDonna Harris: Indian 101 and Rahwa Asmerom’s Didn’t I Ask for Tea?; a healing space with tarot readings, herbalism, acupressure, and more led by Harriet’s Apothecary; and a discussion with Tavi Gevinson about her online Rookie magazine and the print companion Rookie Yearbook Three. In addition, you can check out such exhibitions as “Revolution! Works from the Black Arts Movement,” “Kehinde Wiley: A New Republic,” “The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago,” and “Chitra Ganesh: Eyes of Time.”

PETER REGLI: RH NO. 320 (SNOW MONSTERS), 2015

Peter Regli hacks into Flatiron reality with twelve marble snowmen (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Who: Peter Regli
What: “RH No. 320 (Snow Monsters)”
Where: Flatiron Plaza, intersection of Fifth Ave., Broadway, and 23rd St.
When: Daily through March 13
Why: It’s been a monster of a winter, so Peter Regli’s “Snow Monsters” look right at home on Flatiron Plaza, a dozen marble snowmen hanging out in the shadow of the Flatiron Building next to Madison Square Park. This 320th installment of Regli’s Reality Hacking series, realized and pending public-space interventions that began back in 1995 in Zurich, follows such other New York City projects as 1999’s “Wall Clocks,” 2000’s “Walk/Talk” and “Post No Bills,” 2002’s “Tempo,” and 2009’s “Flag.” A collaboration between the Dominique Lévy Gallery, the New York City Department of Transportation Art Program, and the Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership, “Snow Monsters” invites curiosity not only because the snowmen look real from a distance (and remain in the exact same position no matter the weather) but because they are on a median that often is home to corporate-sponsored initiatives, but these sculptures are not selling anything, instead just helping New Yorkers pay closer attention to their surroundings and, as Regli says, helping to “put question marks into the everyday world. . . . I chose the snowman because of its Buddha-like nature. They appear briefly in the world, bring joy and evoke memories of childhood, then disappear again, melting away without complaint.”