this week in art

ZILVINAS KEMPINAS: BALLROOM

Yvon Lambert
550 West 21st St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through October 16
Admission: free
212-242-3611
www.yvon-lambert.com
ballroom slideshow

Lithuanian multimedia artist Zilvinas Kempinas, who represented his country at last year’s Venice Biennale, has turned Yvon Lambert’s main space into a disco wonderland with “Ballroom.” Red, white, and blue lights reflect off the floor and onto mylar panels that cover the walls as rotating fans blow air down onto more than a dozen circles of unwound magnetic tape. The tape is held in place merely by the air itself; don’t worry if you step on it, because it will hold its shape like magic. All the elements combine for an ultracool experience; all that’s missing is thumping disco music. In the front room of the gallery, Roman Opalka’s “Passages” continues the French artist’s series of white paintings of numbers in order, a stark contrast to Kempinas’s lively “Ballroom.”

PIPILOTTI RIST: HEROES OF BIRTH

Visitors get lost in a dreamlike immersive environment in Pipilotti Rist show at Luhring Augustine (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Luhring Augustine
531 West 24th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through October 16
Admission: free
212-206-9100
www.luhringaugustine.com
www.pipilottirist.net
heroes of birth slideshow

In fall 2008, Swiss artist Pipolotti Rist transformed MoMA’s Marron Atrium into a meditative multimedia immersive environment with “Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters),” a twenty-five-foot-high, two-hundred-foot-long site-specific video installation about the interrelationship between nature, humanity, and the animal kingdom that could be seen while resting in a specially designed central island. Rist has now transformed Chelsea’s Luhring Augustine gallery with “Layers Mama Layers,” an immersive environment in which film of grazing sheep and futuristic green laser swirls are projected onto both sides of rows of translucent sheets of fabric hanging from the ceiling. Visitors become part of the installation as they walk through the rows, the film beaming onto their bodies. Whereas the projections are sharp on the outside sheets, they become more and more diluted and abstract the closer to the center you get, with the people walking past turning into eerie, otherworldly shadows. Meanwhile, a hypnotic lullaby plays, furthering the dreamlike atmosphere. (Don’t start counting those sheep.)

Pipilotti Rist’s “Massachusetts Chandelier” lights up the back room at Luhring Augustine with glowing underwear (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

In the back gallery, Rist has installed “Massachusetts Chandelier,” a video sculpture composed of underwear she collected from friends and family, arranged as a large light, hanging from the ceiling, onto which she projects brightly colored images that makes it look alive. Be sure to check out the wallpaper as well, although you might have a bit of trouble explaining to children what one of the repeated images is. In the front room, “All or Nothing” is a small, three-panel video of the wallpaper, along with an altar of flowers and a watercooler where you can grab a drink. Rist’s work is always engaging, and “Heroes of Birth” is no exception, a fun show guaranteed to please.

CONFLUX FESTIVAL

Urban historian and guerrilla photographer Steve Duncan will give keynote address at seventh annual Conflux Festival (“Sewer, NYC” photo © Steve Duncan)

NYU Barney Building
34 Stuyvesant St.
October 8-10, $5-$9
www.confluxfestival.org

More than seventy-five digital artists will converge on the East Village and the Lower East Side for the seventh annual Conflux festival, which focuses on “contemporary psychogeography, the investigation of everyday urban life through emerging artistic, technological, and social practice.” The festivities begin Friday night with the keynote address from urban historian and guerrilla photographer Steve Duncan, followed by a live multimedia performance of “Ulysses Syndrome” by the Soundwalk collective. Saturday’s activities include a sermon and walking tour with Reverend Billy and Savitri D and the panel discussions “FlowSlow,” “Super G Residency,” and “Public-Space Art and Foursquare,” ending with a live performance by Fall on Your Sword. There will be more panel discussions on Sunday, including one hotly anticipated gathering of Duncan, Moses Gates, Julia Solis, and twi-ny fave Miru Kim, in addition to a live “Forwards/Backwards” performance by Mike Rugnetta and Patrick Davison. Another cool aspect of Conflux is a group of site-specific installations, workshops, and performances, including “Tone Garden” by Stephanie McCarty and Andrew Siu, “Barcode Cinema” by Kristin Lucas and Lee Montgomery, “I cannot compete with this” by Rebecca Nagle (in Times Square), “Six Degrees of Attachment” by Nathaniel Lieb and Sarah Nelson Wright, “Love Box” by Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown, “Urban Hobo” by Betsy Davis, “Public Utility Trail Network” by Katarina Jerinic, “Knish Alley Revival” by Laura Silver, and “Telepresence” by Derek Lerner, among dozens of others.

NEW YORK COMIC CON & ANIME FESTIVAL

Comic Con will team up with the New York Anime Festival this weekend at the Javits Center (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
11th Ave. between 34th & 39th Sts.
October 8-10
Weekend Pass: $50 (Friday Pass $30, Saturday Pass $40, Sunday Pass $30)
www.newyorkcomiccon.com
www.newyorkcomiccon.com/en/NYAF

This year New York Comic Con teams up with the New York Anime Festival for a three-day party of the best in comic books, graphic novels, superheroes and villains, animated shorts and features, artists, writers, filmmakers, video games, collectibles, live music, and so much more. A lot of the fun comes from just watching your fellow attendees, many of whom show up in elaborate costumes. Among the many guest on hand to sign autographs (some free, some ticketed, some paid) and/or participate in panel discussions, concerts, and sneak-peek screenings are Adrien Brody, Michelle Forbes, Bruce Campbell, Joyce DeWitt, Cary Elwes, Lou Ferrigno, Maggie Q, Morgan Spurlock, Boom Boom Satellites, J. Michael Straczynski, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Seth Green, VAMPS, Stan Lee, Todd McFarlane, Frank Miller, Puffy AmiYumi, M. Knight Shymalan, Tricia Helfer, Eric Bana, Priscilla Barnes, William Katt, Tara McPherson, Noah Wyle, Echostream, and James Marsters. (Sorry, folks, but Gil Gerard canceled.) Below are just a handful of recommended events by day.

You never know what or who you’ll enounter at the annual New York Comic Con and Anime Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Friday, October 8: Oyama X Nitta Shamisen Concert, Room 1E09, 2:00

Friday, October 8: Remembering Harvey Pekar, with Jeff Newelt, Dean Haspiel, Peter Kuper, Rick Parker, Joseph Remnant, and Danny Fingeroth, Room 1A22, 4:30

Friday, October 8: Robot Chicken, screening and panel with Seth Green and Matt Senreich, IGN Theater, 6:45

Friday, October 8: MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, Room 1E02, 7:45

Friday, October 8: Dash Shaw and Chip Kidd in Conversation, Room 1A14, 8:15

Saturday, October 9: MTV Geek with Stan Lee and Bill Plympton, Room 1A08, 11:00 am

Saturday, October 9: Mort Walker and Beetle Bailey, with Mort Walker and Tom Spurgeon, Room 1A15, 1:00

Saturday, October 9: Spotlight on Dean Haspiel, with Dean Haspiel, Walter Simonson, Nick Bertozzi, Joan Hilty, and Jonathan Ames, moderated by Christopher Irving, Room 1A23, 2:45

Saturday, October 9: Minori Chihara Concert, IGN Theater, 7:30

Saturday, October 9: Roddenberry Is Back! with Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr. and Trevor Roth, Room 1A23, 9:00

Sunday, October 10: Castles, Forests, and Bath Houses: The Worlds of Hayao Miyazaki, Room 1E13, 11:00 am

Sunday, October 10: Welcome to the Space Show, Room 1E03, 1:00

Sunday, October 10: The Walking Dead on AMC, with Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies, Laurie Holden, Steven Yeun, Frank Darabont, Robert Kirkman, and Gale Anne Hurd, IGN Theater, 2:15

Sunday, October 10: Voice and Art — Veronica Taylor and Misako Rocks!, Room 1E12, 3:00

Sunday, October 10: Bruce Campbell Spotlight, with Bruce Campbell, Room 1A08, 4:00

JOHN LENNON 70th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

New York City will be celebrating what would have been John Lennon’s seventieth birthday with a plethora of events this week (photo © Bob Gruen)

Multiple venues
October 6-9 (and beyond)
www.johnlennon.com

It’s hard to believe that in December it’ll be thirty years since John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of the Dakota on Central Park West. On October 9, the cool Beatle, who had fallen in love with his adopted home of New York, would have turned seventy years old. The city will be celebrating that never-reached milestone with a series of events all over town this week. Starting today and running through December 31, the Paley Center will be presenting “This Boy . . . John Lennon in Liverpool,” comprising rare photographs from John’s early years. On Thursday night at 7:00, the Paley Center will screen the American Masters film LennonNYC (Michael Epstein, 2010) as part of DocFest 2010, followed by a panel discussion with Epstein, Susan Lacy, Dick Cavett, and Dennis Elsas. In addition, the Paley Center has scheduled showings of IMAGINE: JOHN LENNON, WHAT’S HAPPENING! THE BEATLES IN THE U.S.A., THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON, and GIMME SOME TRUTH: THE MAKING OF JOHN LENNON’S IMAGINE ALBUM through the end of the year. On October 9, City Winery will be celebrating with “A John Lennon 70th Birthday Party,” featuring a VIP dinner and “Imagine Wine Flight” and performances by Kimya Dawson, Anais Mitchell, Freedy Johnston, Jesse Malin, the Chapin Sisters, Lisa Bouchelle, the Kennedys, and Tony Scherr; proceeds benefit the Food Bank of New York City. Also on October 9, LennonNYC will be screened for free at Central Park SummerStage at 7:00 (but you better get there a lot earlier). And finally, at the Morrison Hotel Gallery on Bowery, Julian Lennon’s photographs are being displayed for the first time, through October 10. Happy birthday, John!

ARTISTS ON ARTISTS

Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon will speak on the career of multimedia artist and rock writer Dan Graham as part of the Dia Foundation’s Artists on Artists series (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Dia: Chelsea
535 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Monthly Mondays at 6:30
Admission: $6
212-989-5566
www.diaart.org

Upon the opening of the excellent Dan Graham retrospective “Beyond” at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles in early 2009 (and later seen here at the Whitney), Graham sat down for a conversation with Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. Gordon continues that rather interesting relationship on November 8 when she talks about admitted Sonic Youth fan Graham’s life and career as part of the Dia Foundation’s Artists on Artists series. Since 2001, Dia has been sponsoring fascinating lectures in which one artist discusses the work of another artist, offering unique ruminations on creativity, influence, and the art world in general. The fall season got under way September 13 with Daniel Lefcourt speaking on Imi Knoebel. Next up is Peter Halley on Franz Erhard Walther on October 18, followed by Gordon on Graham on November 8 and Joachim Koester on Sol LeWitt on December 13. The series then continues into 2011, with Abraham Cruzvillegas on Robert Smithson on February 14, Laylah Ali on Joseph Beuys on March 21, and Josephine Meckseper on Hanne Darboven on April 4. (Although some are already sold out, there will be a first-come, first-served waiting list the night of the event.)

JUDY CHICAGO

Judy Chicago and art historian Frances Borzello will discuss their new book on Frida Kahlo at the Brooklyn Museum on October 3 (photo by Donald Woodman)

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, third Floor
Sunday, October 3, free with suggested contribution of $10, 2:00
718-638-5000
www.brooklynmuseum.org

Judy Chicago, creator of the world famous “Dinner Party” installation currently at the Brooklyn Museum and one of the pioneers of feminist art, will make a special visit to the Eastern Parkway institution on Sunday afternoon, October 3, at 2:00, celebrating the release of her latest book, FRIDA KAHLO: FACE TO FACE (Prestel, September 2010, $65). Chicago will be joined by her collaborator, art historian Frances Borzello, in discussing Kahlo’s place as a painter of women’s portraits; in the book, Chicago and Borzello examine 120 such works by the renowned Mexican artist, looking at them from both a personal and professional angle. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Before or after the book launch, be sure to save plenty of time to see “The Dinner Party,” which has found a long-term home in the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art on the fourth floor. The world’s most remarkable dinner party is held at a triangular table that consists of three 48-foot sides with 13 place settings apiece, paying tribute to 39 women who helped shape and change the world. The plate design — a combination of a butterfly pattern and a vulva — and the embroidered silk covering are different for each historical figure, based on their life and accomplishments, which are listed in the accompanying booklet and on Heritage Panels in an adjoining room. Another 999 women are honored with their names inscribed in gold on the Heritage Floor beneath the table; Chicago arranged it so that women who were successful in the same field are placed together. For example, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other suffragists are written under Susan B. Anthony’s setting, and Harriet Tubman and other civil rights leaders are under Sojourner Truth’s setting. Chicago celebrates these women by using so-called feminine iconography, including embroidery, table setting, and tapestry weaving, all of which are generally associated with women, and placing the vulva front and center as an expression of not only life but power.