this week in art

SCI-FI SUMMER

Cult film fans will find great escapes from New York at Coney Island summer sci-fi series

CONEY ISLAND FILM SOCIETY
Coney Island Museum
1208 Surf Ave. between Stillwell Ave. & West 12th St.
Saturday nights, May 15 – September 18, $5 (includes free popcorn), 8:15
www.coneyisland.com

Coney Island’s annual summer film series is always a hoot, a mélange of classic films, underground favorites, and little-seen, low-rent treasures. This year the focus is on science fiction, beginning May 15 with the “mightiest monster in all creation,” the one and only MOTHRA, and continuing in May with John Carpenter’s THE THING and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. June is all over the place, from the offbeat DONNIE DARKO to Stanley Kubrick’s marvelously perverse and unapologetic A CLOCKWORK ORANGE to the original ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN, with no Daryl Hannah in sight. The rest of the summer will feature, among other craziness, King Kong battling it out with Godzilla, Charlton Heston fighting a bunch of damn dirty apes, Sean Connery discovering dangerous secrets in the twenty-third century, Rod Steiger covering his body with tattoos, Robert De Niro being overwhelmed by red tape, Emilio Estevez repossessing cars, and Jeff Bridges getting sucked into a computer game. Each screening is preceded by old trailers and commercials and bizarre shorts – and yes, there is plenty of free popcorn for all. But what, no Troma?

NEW YORK PHOTO FESTIVAL

Marc Garanger’s photos of Algerian women are part of the “Bodies in Question” exhibit at the New York Photo Festival

THE FUTURE OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY
Multiple locations in Dumbo
May 12-16, $15 per day, $30 festival pass
www.nyphotofestival.com

The New York Photo Festival takes place this week in locations all over Dumbo, including the powerHouse Arena, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Tobacco Warehouse, Brooklyn Bridge Plaza, the Archway Under the Manhattan Bridge, featuring exhibitions, portfolio reviews, a scavenger hunt, lectures, conversations, panel discussions, and after-parties. This year’s main shows are “Object Lesson” curated by Vince Aletti at 81 Front St. (front), “Use Me, Abuse Me” curated by Erik Kessels at Smack Mellon Gallery, “Bodies in Question” curated by Fred Ritchin at St. Ann’s Warehouse (north), and “Hidden Books, Hidden Stories” curated by Lou Reed at St. Ann’s (south) and 81 Front St. (back). Among the satellite shows are the Latin American Pavilion at the Dumbo Arts Center, “Where Storytelling Lives” at 111 Front St., “DutchDoc! Space” at Kunsthalle Galapagos, and “Human Rights & Photography,” “Room 103 & Warzone,” and “Outsider Land” at Tobacco Warehouse. Most of the special programming is scheduled at St. Ann’s, with such highlights as a DIY photobook workshop (May 13-14 at 1:00), a lecture on obsessive collecting by Paul Kooiker (May 13, 3:00), a series of film screenings (May 13 at 8:30), an illustrated talk, Q&A, and book signing with Zed Nelson (May 14 at 11:00 am), Eirik Johnson and Jason Houston in conversation (May 15, 4:30), and a presentation by Bill Jacobson (May 16, 2:00).

KATE GILMORE: WALK THE WALK

Women in yellow are boxed in atop a large cubicle in Kate Gilmore installation in Bryant Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Bryant Park Fountain Terrace
Sixth Ave. at 41st St.
Daily through May 14, free, 8:30 am – 6:00 pm
online slideshow
www.publicartfund.org

For her piece at the 2010 Whitney Biennial, “Standing Here,” SVA graduate Kate Gilmore dons a pink polka-dot dress and high heels and attempts to escape from a tall, narrow column. Having broken out, it seems she has headed south to Bryant Park, where she has set up “Walk the Walk,” a live-performance installation running through Friday, May 14. Every day from 8:30 to 6:30, mimicking the average workday, a group of women dressed in matching bright yellow dresses and beige pumps march atop an eight-by-ten similarly yellow structure in random choreographed movements; they could be in the office carrying out mindless duties, making their way to work through Grand Central Terminal, or rushing through the park to pick up lunch and then get back to their desk. (The setup even recalls a boxing ring, as if the women are fighting to survive in the business world.) The Technicolor yellow clashes with the grays, greens, and blacks of Bryant Park and the surrounding buildings, standing out in a way that contrasts how their uniforms make them all look the same. As the women weave in and around each other, they occasionally stomp on the surface, creating a percussive soundtrack that is especially effective if visitors listen to it from inside the hollowed-out cubicle structure. Gilmore, who was born in Washington, D.C., and lives and works in New York City, will be at Bryant Park on Tuesday at 12:30 to give a free lunchtime talk on the installation, a project of the Public Art Fund.

WHITNEY BIENNIAL: 2010

Curators Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari and such artists as the Bruce High Quality Foundation pull in to the Whitney to protect and preserve the biennial (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Whitney Museum of American Art
945 Madison Ave. at 75th St.
Tuesday – Sunday through May 30, $18
Pay-what-you-wish Friday 6:00 – 9:00
www.whitney.org

Less is indeed more at the 2010 Whitney Biennial, the best of this young century. Previous biennials filled every available nook and cranny they could, giving viewers less than adequate time or space to appreciate the massive survey of the state of contemporary American art. For the current biennial, simply titled “2010,” curators Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari have allowed the art, and visitors, plenty of room to breathe. The work of two particular artists perhaps best represents what this biennial is all about. Robert Grosvenor has one room to himself, with an enticing red bridge-like structure on the floor and an inviting aluminum fence suspended in the center. The pieces are anything but threatening; however, don’t try to crawl under or climb either one. It’s a welcoming installation that lives comfortably in its space. As wide open as Grosvenor’s contribution is, Kate Gilmore’s “Standing Here” is about as claustrophobic as it gets, until it bursts out in the glory of freedom. In a tight room, a video shows Gilmore, in a cheerful polka-dot dress and high heels, trying to escape from a narrow white column; it takes a minute before it becomes clear that the column is the very one in the room. When Gilmore — whose “Walk the Walk” runs May 10-14 in Bryant Park — at last busts through, it is as if the biennial has broken free of the chains that have bound it in recent years. “Regeneration through art,” the curators proclaim in the accompanying catalog. “Art can simply be a state of mind — a form of ecstatic resistance — that helps people to handle the complexities of society and even deal with the hardships of life.” Indeed, they have brought new life to the biennial.

Tam Tran, “Battle Cry,” digital print, 2008

As always, the biennial is hosting many live events during its run, most free with museum admission. Aki Sasamato will perform in her “Strange Attractors” sculpture installation at 4:00 on May dates ending in the numbers 6 and 9; for Whitney Live, musician and composer Dennis DeSantis will use site-specific processing in Martin Kersels’s “5 Songs” installation May 7 at 6:30, with Colin Gee scheduled for May 14, So Percussion on May 21, and Nina Berman on May 28; Kerry Tribe will re-create Hollis Frampton’s CRITICAL MASS on May 7 at 7:30 as part of the My Turn series; Theaster Gates will present his monastic residency in the Sculpture Court May 7-9, followed by Derek Chan May 12-13; and Jason Kraus, Kersels, and Johnny Fisher team up for “Jason Martin Wants to Be a DJ” in “5 Songs” on May 28 at 8:30.

NEW YORK GALLERY WEEK

Thomas Struth, “Lab Reactors Ineos Phenol, Gladbeck,” 2009 (courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery)

Multiple locations in Chelsea, SoHo, and Midtown
May 7-10
Admission: free
www.newyorkgalleryweek.com

More than fifty New York City galleries and fifty artists will be participating in New York Gallery Week, four days of openings, receptions, talks, tours, book signings, live performances, and extended hours – including many galleries open on Sunday and Monday from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm, when they are usually dark. Among the special programs are a book signing with Dana Schutz at Zach Feuer on May 7 at 5:00, an opening party for Roni Horn at Hauser & Wirth (May 7, 6:00), Richard Galpin discussing his new installation on the High Line (May 7, 7:30), a book signing with Thomas Struth at Marian Goodman (May 8, 2:00), Donelle Woolford interpreting Dan Graham’s “Performer / Audience / Mirror” at Wallspace (May 8, 4:30), Ann Carlson and Mary Ellen Strom in conversation at Alexander Gray (May 8, 5:00), Thomas Eggerer and David Joselit in conversation at Friedrich Petzel (May 9, 12:30), a live performance and gallery tour by William Pope.L at Mitchell-Innes & Nash (May 10, 3:00), and an opening reception for Martin Creed at Gavin Brown’s enterprise (May 10, 4:00).

AAF NYC 2010

John Baeder, “John’s Diner, Center Moriches” (courtesy All things Bob and Denise)

AFFORDABLE ART FAIR
7 W New York
7 West 34th St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
May 6-9, $20
www.aafnyc.com

Looking to become an art collector without having to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars? More than seventy-five  galleries from all over the world will be selling their wares for $100 to $10,000 at the Affordable Art Fair, taking place this weekend at 7 W New York, across the street from the Empire State Building. The fair will feature sculpture and photography demonstrations and workshops, including “Armature and Modeling” with Bob Spring on May 7 at 6:00, “Small Plaster Casts” with Jeffrey Spring on May 8 at 1:00, “Molding from Life” with David Baskin on May 8 at 4:00, and daily Foto Focus tours focusing on photography. On Friday, there will be a “Landscape Collage” workshop, and on Saturday and Sunday, Nathalie Trovato will show kids how to make books in “The Book Factory.” In addition, the I (Heart) Brooklyn party ($30) on May 6 celebrates the inclusion of half a dozen Brooklyn galleries in the fair.

KIM IN SOOK: INSIDE OUT

Kim In Sook, “Saturday Night,” C-print, Diasec, 2007

Gana Art New York
568 West 25th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Through May 8
Admission: free
212-229-5858
www.ganaart.com

We were terrifically excited when we heard that Korean photographer Kim In Sook was having her first solo show in New York this spring, at Gana Art in Chelsea. Kim’s large-scale “Saturday Night” was a hit at several art fairs over the last few years, a giant shot of a colorful hotel in which various activities are taking place in each room, usually involving some form of sex and violence. It’s like Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” taken to the extreme, mixed in with a little Gregory Crewdson, Thomas Struth, and Thomas Ruff as the viewer becomes the voyeur. Last fall, we were invited to a private showing of more of her outstanding, provocative work at Gana, celebrating the publication of some of her architectural photos in the New York Times Magazine, where we got the opportunity to meet the charming Kim, speaking with her outside as she nervously smoked cigarettes to get away from the adoring crowd. So it was with great disappointment that we finally made our way to Chelsea to see her series on the all-glass German museum the Langen Foundation and her “Kokain” and “Heroin” duo only to be told that those pictures, which were in the upstairs gallery, had already been taken down in preparation for Gana’s next exhibition, even though this one was not scheduled to end until May 8. Still, seeing “Saturday Night” again is a delight, as are her other frontal shots of buildings in New York and Germany filled with people in the midst of carefully choreographed activities and “Die Auktion,” a stunning shot of a nude woman standing on a pedestal on a red carpet, surrounded by men in suits bidding on her. If you’ve never seen her work, it’s absolutely worth a visit, but we can’t help feeling that it’s now only half an exhibit.