this week in art

MUNCH / WARHOL AND THE MULTIPLE IMAGE

Andy Warhol, “The Scream (After Munch),” screenprint on Lenox Museum Board, 1984 (© 2013 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. / Artists Rights Society, New York)

Scandinavia House
58 Park Ave. at 38th St.
Tuesday-Saturday through July 27, $5, 12 noon – 6:00 pm
212-847-9740
www.scandinaviahouse.org

“Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?” Andy Warhol rhetorically asked. “I have no fear of photography as long as it cannot be used in heaven and in hell,” Edvard Munch explained. Shortly after a 1982 Munch exhibition, New York’s Galleri Bellman commissioned Warhol (1928-87) to create pieces based on the work of Munch (1863-1944). The pairing of the two men — one a fame-obsessed pop-culture junkie with a very particular public persona, the other a deeply personal artist who explored dark psychological themes and suffered from severe anxiety — actually makes a lot of sense, as each experimented with printing techniques for both artistic and commercial purposes. As part of Munch 150, a worldwide celebration of the Norwegian painter’s 150th birthday, Scandinavia House is hosting “Munch | Warhol and the Multiple Image,” which brings together works by the two printmakers. For the Galleri Berman commission, Warhol chose Munch’s “Madonna,” “Self-Portrait,” “The Brooch. Eva Mudocci,” and “The Scream,” tracing photographic blow-ups of the original image, breaking them down into their bare elements and then re-creating them, incorporating different colors, ghostly doubling, and other effects that give new life to Munch’s famous images. The exhibition, splendidly curated by Dr. Patricia G. Berman and Pari Stave, consists of thirty-two prints, including multiple versions of Munch’s controversial “Madonna,” in which he sexualizes his dark-haired subject, adding spermatozoa and an infant in many of the works, and a pair of self-portraits, one a trial proof never before displayed in America, in which his head and upper body seem to be floating in a dark nothingness. In a series of eight diptychs titled “Madonna and Self-Portrait with Skeleton’s Arm (After Munch),” Warhol places the images side-by-side, changing color and resolution, desexualizing and resexualizing the woman as her initial artistic creator stares blankly at the viewer. Warhol’s psychedelic versions of musician Mudocci include the tracing that has a hint of Michael Jackson in the face. In the back room is a nearly dizzying series of “The Scream (After Munch),” as Warhol and his master printmaker, Rupert Jason Smith, play with line, form, and color, altering the prominence of the background and foreground, each screenprint providing different emotional takes on Munch’s iconic, oft-reproduced image.

“Munch | Warhol” exhibit brings together two iconic printmakers (photo by Eileen Travell. Scandinavia House/The American-Scandinavian Foundation, 2013)

Ultimately, it’s that repetition, with minor or major changes, that most directly link the two artists, both of whom reworked their originals over and over again to create commercially viable multiples. As it turned out, Warhol’s Munch-based lithographs were never published as an edition, the multiples never released as a multiple of its own. “Munch | Warhol and the Multiple Image” continues at Scandinavia House through July 27; on July 23 at 6:30, Dr. Jay A. Clarke will give the lecture “Munch’s Repetition” (free but advance RSVP suggested), and there will be a docent-led tour on July 27 at 1:00.

“I’M HERE” SPECIAL EVENTS

Chath pierSath, “Where Snow Falls,” acrylic and collage on paper, 2013

Tally Beck Contemporary Gallery
42 Rivington St. between Eldridge & Forsyth Sts.
Wednesday, July 24 & 31, and August 7, free, 6:00
Exhibition continues through August 30
646-678-3433
www.tallybeckcontemporary.com

In conjunction with the exhibit “I’m Here,” a series of mixed-media collages by Cambodian-born poet, artist, and humanitarian Chath pierSath, who escaped first to Thailand and then the United States as a child after losing much of his family to the Khmer Rouge, Tally Beck Contemporary is hosting a trio of special free talks on three successive Wednesdays. On July 24, Tally Beck will deliver the illustrated lecture “The Art and Architecture of Angkor Wat,” examining the history and legacy of the massive temple built in the early twelfth century by King Suryavarman II, as well as recent developments. The talk takes place at 7:30, preceded by a reception beginning at 6:00. That will be followed on July 31 by “A History of Contemporary Cambodian Art” and on August 7 by an artist’s talk with pierSath, whose show at the Lower East Side gallery remains on view through August 30. Advance RSVP to the talks are recommended and can be made here.

RAIN ROOM

Visitors can magically walk through “Rain Room” at MoMA without getting wet (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Museum of Modern Art
West 54th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
Through July 28
Museum admission: $25 ($12 can be applied to the purchase of a film ticket within thirty days)
212-708-9400
www.moma.org
www.momaps1.org/expo1
rain room slideshow

If only it were so easy to control the weather. In the lot adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA is presenting rAndom International’s “Rain Room,” an immersive, interactive installation in which visitors walk through falling water without getting wet. A series of sensors detect body motion, creating a barrier as people move slowly through the space, the spigots above them shutting off as they pass beneath them. A penetrating white light shoots through the rain, resulting in marvelous shadows and other very cool visual imagery. (Note that MoMA advises not to wear “dark, shiny, reflective fabrics, fabrics made of raincoat material, or skinny high heels”; also, if you move fast, the sensors won’t pick you up as well and you will get a little wet.) Only ten people are allowed inside at a time, and they are encouraged to stay for no more than ten to fifteen minutes, as the lines have been ridiculously long, stretching four hours and more. Members can start going in at 9:30, with nonmembers filing in at 10:30. In a wonderfully wacky little twist, on especially hot, sunny days MoMA hands out umbrellas to people on line, not to protect them from the rain in the exhibit, but to guard them against the beating sun as they stand outside absorbing the heat.

To accommodate the large crowds, MoMA has also instituted a faster-moving viewing line, allowing people to go inside and see “Rain Room” from the sides but not actually walk under the water and get the full experience. Although it is gimmicky, “Rain Room” is a lot of fun, too, offering visitors a unique way to kind of part the Red Sea themselves. It takes on even more meaning as climate change has been leading to dangerously unpredictable weather patterns that humanity has no control over, with many scientists claiming that it might be too late to save the earth as we know it. The U.S. premiere of “Rain Room,” which continues through July 28 as part of MoMA’s expansive “EXPO 1: New York” at PS1, will be followed this fall by “Autonomy,” a related show in RH Contemporary Art’s new gallery in Chelsea, owned by Restoration Hardware. “EXPO 1: New York,” the theme of which is “Dark Optimism,” runs through September 2 in Queens, featuring environmentally conscious works by such artists as Olafur Eliasson, Meg Webster, Adrián Villar Rojas, Marie Lorenz, and Ansel Adams as well as special “Speculations” talks through July 28 with Lynn Hershman Leeson, Otto Piene, and others.

NAYLAND BLAKE: THE RESIDUE OF A THOUSAND HUGS

Nayland Blake’s “Knee Deep in the Flooded Victory” will include a special performance on July 12, “The Residue of a Thousand Hugs” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

ICP TRIENNIAL PERFORMANCE: NAYLAND BLAKE
International Center of Photography
1133 Sixth Ave. at 43rd St.
Friday, July 12, pay what you wish, 7:00
www.icp.org
www.naylandblake.net

For ICP’s excellent triennial exhibition, “A Different Kind of Order,” which explores the impact of digital imagery on socioeconomic and political photography, native New Yorker Nayland Blake has contributed the site-specific “Knee Deep in the Flooded Victory,” which is installed in the corner by the café and the bathrooms. The artist, writer, instigator, and educator went through ICP’s archives to examine the long relationship between gay culture and Times Square, bringing together photographs and documents with works by his ICP MFA students. The pieces hang on the wall and are lined up in a citrine in the hallway, but make sure to turn the corner, where a boombox plays a discussion and T-shirts proclaim “gender neutral bathroom” amid a colorful, cloudlike atmosphere. On July 12, Blake will perform “The Residue of a Thousand Hugs,” as he takes on the persona of drag queen Victorya Spectre, described as “an elaborately costumed figure meant to evoke the queer royalty of New York’s past,” and leads a procession “through the sites of Times Square’s vanished gay adult theaters and cruising spots.” Anyone can join in on the special triennial commission and experience what should be a wacky tour with serious underpinnings. In conjunction with the installation and performance, Blake has created a related tumblr site that continues his themes with more photographs, videos, letters, articles, and other paraphernalia.

UGO RONDINONE: HUMAN NATURE

Ugo Rondinone’s “Human Nature” continues to rise at Rockefeller Center through July 7 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Rockefeller Center Plaza
Fifth & Sixth Aves. between 49th & 50th Sts.
Through July 7, free
www.publicartfund.org
human nature slideshow

For several years, Swiss-born installation artist Ugo Rondinone’s “Hell, Yes” rainbow could be seen on the facade of the New Museum downtown. For the last few months, the New York City-based Rondinone has filled Rockefeller Center Plaza with something quite different: giant rock sculptures standing tall, as if tourists posing for pictures at the historic site. Of course, tourists are actually having their pictures taken standing in front of the imposing yet seemingly friendly objects, which rise between sixteen and twenty feet high and weigh up to fifteen tons each. The nine figures are made of blocks of bluestone rock from northern Pennsylvania, and they do indeed appear to contain human characteristics, although more from the, er, stone age. Over time, they even appear to have weathered somewhat, rusting as if growing old. “The stone figure is the most archetypal representation of the human form, an elemental symbol of the human spirit, connected to the earth yet mythic in the imagination,” Rondinone said about the work, a project of the Public Art Fund. “The image of the figure belongs to nobody, is timeless, and universal.” Visitors can touch the sculptures, walk between their massive legs, and marvel at their unique shadows that fill the popular space. Smaller versions of these rock-people were recently on view at the Gladstone Gallery in Chelsea, in an exhibition titled “soul,” but this grouping takes it all to another level.

DO IT (OUTSIDE)

Michelangelo Pistoletto’s “Sculpture for Strolling” serves as a kind of centerpiece of “do it (outside)” exhibition at Socrates Sculpture Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Socrates Sculpture Park
32-01 Vernon Blvd.
Through July 7, free
718-956-1819
www.socratessculpturepark.org

Art is usually not about following the rules, but the “do it” series of international exhibitions is indeed based on specific instructions laid out by an ever-growing number of established artists. Twenty years ago, artists Christian Boltanski and Bertrand Lavier and curator Hans Ulrich Obrist came up with an idea for an evolving, perennially in-progress exhibition in which these instructions would be interpreted by emerging artists and community groups in local displays. Even the rules have rules, including “There will be no artist-created ‘original’ and “Each interpreted instruction must be fully documented.” The latest such show continues through this weekend at Socrates Sculpture Park, where the very first fully outdoor iteration of “do it” in a public venue opened in May. Set in a white-tented walkway designed by Christoff : Finio Architecture, “do it (outside)” features instructions from more than sixty artists, some of which are meant specifically for the viewer to enact, and others that are interpreted in the park, but all of which are meant to exist only for the length of the show. Lars Fisk has constructed a trio of Ai Weiwei’s “CCTV Sprays,” which can spray-paint over surveillance cameras. Becky Sellinger realizes Paul McCarthy’s backyard trench of silver buckets and body parts used as paintbrushes. An unidentified artist has created Michelangelo Pistoletto’s “Sculpture for Strolling,” consisting of wet newspapers formed into a giant sphere; if someone wants to keep the object, they must wire $3,000 into a foreign bank account. Anyone can rent Anibal López’s “For Rent” sign for $20 a day, as long as they replace it with a nondigital picture of it.

Grayson Revoir followed Darren Bader instructions to “glue a [rectangular] table to the sky [table top up, somewhere not too close to the sky’s zenith]” (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Katie Mangiardi danced with a large piece of chalk as per Joan Jonas’s “Instruction.” Grayson Revoir built Darren Bader’s description of gluing a table to the sky, cleverly using a mirrored surface. Jory Rabinovitz created David Lynch’s “Do It: How to Make a Ricky Board,” which comes with a poem from the filmmaker. Shaun Leonardo’s interpretation of Bruce Nauman’s “Body Pressure” asks that you press yourself against a cement wall until your mind removes the wall; “This may become a very erotic exercise,” Nauman points out. Ernesto Neto’s “Watching birds fly, the game of the three points” encourages visitors to follow the flight of birds flying above, noting, “flying insects are pretty good too, a bit more nervous though.” There are also instructions from Tracey Emin, John Baldessari, Sol LeWitt, Joan Jonas, Anna Halprin, Yoko Ono, Rivane Neuenschwander, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, William Forsythe, Tacita Dean, Christian Marclay, Robert Morris, Martha Rosler, Tomas Saraceno, Nancy Spero, and others, some more philosophical and less physical than others. The show comes down on Sunday, July 7, when it will have to follow rule number 5: “At the end of each do it exhibition the presenting institution is obliged to destroy the artworks and the instructions from which they were created, thus removing the possibility that do it artworks can become standing exhibition pieces or fetishes.” (Also on view in the park right now are Heather Rowe’s “Beyond the Hedges [Slivered Gazebo],” Chitra Ganesh’s “Broadway Billboard: Her Nuclear Waters,” and Toshihiro Oki architect pc’s “FOLLY: tree wood.”)

FIRST SATURDAY: REMIXING THE AMERICAN STORY

Valerie Hegarty, “Still Life with Peaches, Pear, Grapes and Crows”; “Still Life with Watermelon, Peaches and Crows”; and “Table Cloth with Fruit and Crows,” canvas, stretcher, paper, acrylic paint, foam, papier-mâché, wire, glue, gold foil, epoxy, fabric, thread, dimensions variable, in “Dining Room, Cane Acres Plantation, Summerville, South Carolina” (photo by Brooklyn Museum)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Parkway at Washington St.
Saturday, July 6, free, 5:00 – 11:00 (some events require free tickets distributed in advance at the Visitor Center)
212-864-5400
www.brooklynmuseum.org

For its free First Saturday program during the July 4 weekend, the Brooklyn Museum looks back at American history through dance, music, art, literature, and film. “Remixing the American Story” includes live performances by the Hungry March Band, Michael Hill’s Blues Mob, Frankie Rose, the Brown Bag All Stars, and the Redhawk Native American Arts Council, pop-up gallery talks, a dance workshop, a Forum Project discussion on current events, a poetry slam with the Nuyorican Poets Café, a photo booth, sketching of live models based on portraits in the “American Identities: A New Look” exhibition, and screenings of Michael and Timothy Rauch’s StoryCorps’ animated shorts, celebrating the tenth anniversary of the organization that is collecting an oral history of the country. In addition, artist Valerie Hegarty will give a talk about “Alternative Histories,” her fascinating interventions into three of the museum’s period rooms, which have been seemingly destroyed by a murder of crows. The galleries will remain open late so visitors can also check out “John Singer Sargent Watercolors,” “The Bruce High Quality Foundation: Ode to Joy,” “LaToya Ruby Frazier: A Haunted Capital,” “Käthe Kollwitz: Prints from the ‘War’ and ‘Death’ Portfolios,” “‘Workt by Hand’: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts,” “Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui,” “Raw/Cooked: Caitlin Cherry,” and other exhibitions.