this week in lectures, signings, panel discussions, workshops, and Q&As

HAPPY ENDING MUSIC & READING SERIES WITH CHARLES BOCK, ANI DiFRANCO, AMBER TAMBLYN & MORE

Who: Charles Bock, Ani DiFranco, Amber Tamblyn, Belinda McKeon, Kate Neckel, Lady Parts Justice, Amanda Stern
What: Happy Ending Music & Reading Series
Where: Symphony Space, Peter Jay Sharp Theatre, 2537 Broadway at 95th St., 212-864-5400
When: Wednesday, May 18, $15-$30, 7:30
Why: Symphony Space’s Happy Ending Music & Reading Series presents artists performing risky feats while musicians collaborate on a sing-along of cover tunes. Past participants have included Lena Dunham, John Cameron Mitchell, Zadie Smith, Vampire Weekend, Jennifer Egan, and Moby. On May 18, host and curator Amanda Stern, who founded the series in 2003, brings together author Charles Bock (Alice & Oliver, Beautiful Children), musician, activist, and Righteous Babe Ani DiFranco (Up Up Up Up Up Up, Allergic to Water), author Belinda McKeon (Tender, Solace), artist and designer Kate Neckel (Start Now! The Creativity Journal), author, actress, and director Amber Tamblyn (Dark Sparkler, Joan of Arcadia), and special guests Lady Parts Justice for another unpredictable evening of art, music, literature, and mayhem.

CREATIVE ENCOUNTERS: THE KIDNAPPING OF MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ

Michel Houellebecq plays himself in satirical black comedy

Michel Houellebecq plays a version of himself in Guillaume Nicloux’s satirical black comedy

CinéSalon: THE KIDNAPPING OF MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ (L’ENLÈVEMENT DE MICHEL HOUELLEBECQ) (Guillaume Nicloux, 2014)
French Institute Alliance Française, Florence Gould Hall
55 East 59th St. between Madison & Park Aves.
Tuesday, May 10, $14, 4:00 & 7:30
Series continues Tuesdays through May 31
212-355-6100
www.fiaf.org

In 2010, French writer, actor, poet, and filmmaker Michel Houellebecq won the prestigious Prix Goncourt for his novel The Map and the Territory. The controversial Houellebecq — who has been accused of plagiarism, misogyny, and inciting racial hatred — then went missing in 2011, failing to show up for a book tour in Belgium and the Netherlands. As it turns out, the novelist merely forgot about the readings and claims he was unreachable at the time, by either phone or e-mail. But writer-director Guillaume Nicloux tells a far more entertaining story in the absurdist black comedy The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq, which imagines that he really was taken hostage and held for a never-specified ransom. Even better, Nicloux got Houellebecq to play himself in the film, spoofing his image as an intellectual recluse. The fictionalized Houellebecq is taken captive by Mathieu (Mathieu Nicourt), Max (Maxime Lefrançois), and Luc (Luc Schwarz), who eventually bring him to a country house owned by elderly couple Ginette (Ginette Suchotzky) and Dede (Andre Suchotzky), where Houellebecq is almost always handcuffed and chained to his bed at night. His kidnappers engage him in literary discussions, talk about bodybuilding, bring him books to read, drink wine and smoke cigarettes with him, and even procure female accompaniment (Marie Bourjala) when he asks for it. The real Houellebecq (Platform; H. P. Lovecraft: Against the World, Against Life) plays his fictionalized self with a deadpan comic turn worthy of Buster Keaton, never letting on whether anything that is happening is even the slightest bit true to who Houellebecq actually is. Nicloux (The Nun, Valley of Love) keeps the audience guessing all the way about the characters and their motives, but don’t expect any simple answers or trite resolutions. The Kidnapping of Michel Houellebecq is screening May 10 at 4:00 and 7:30 in FIAF’s “Creative Encounters” CinéSalon series, with the later show introduced by Albertine Books deputy director Tom Roberge, who has admitted to his “slavish devotion to Michel Houellebecq.” The festival continues every Tuesday in May with Michel Gondry’s Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?, Claire Denis’s Jacques Rivette, the Night Watchman, and Chantal Akerman’s One Day Pina Asked…

NEW YORK GUITAR FESTIVAL

“Ring the Golden Bells: Celebrating 101 Years of Sister Rosetta Tharpe” kicks off New York Guitar Festival on May 8

Who: Luther Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Dom Flemons, Ruthie Foster, Como Mamas, John Medeski, AJ Ghent, Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Dave Douglas with Camila Meza, Min Xiao-Fen, Alberta Khoury, Vernon Reid & Laraaji, Kid Millions, many more
What: New York Guitar Festival, including the Alternative Guitar Summit
Where: Brookfield Winter Garden, National Sawdust, DROM, the Greene Space, the Met Cloisters, the New School
When: May 8 – 15, free – $25
Why: An annual celebration since 1999 of the six-string and many of its manifestations and possibilities, the New York Guitar Festival begins May 8 at 8:30 at the Brookfield Place Winter Garden with “Ring the Golden Bells,” a tribute to Sister Rosetta Tharpe, with Luther Dickinson, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Valerie June, Dom Flemons, Ruthie Foster, Rachael Davis, Trixie Whitley, Como Mamas, John Medeski, Daru Jones, Dominic John Davis, and AJ Ghent. On May 9 at 7:00, “Beauty and Noise” at National Sawdust brings together David Torn, Dither Guitar Duo, Elliot Sharp, Anthony Pirog, Ben Monder, Mike Baggetta, Dither Guitar Duo, and Patrick Higgins. On May 11 at 7:30 at DROM, “While We’re Still Here: Honoring Joni Mitchell + Carla Bley” features Nels Cline and Julian Lage, Dave Douglas with Camila Meza, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Sheryl Bailey, Leni Stern, Joel Harrison, Monder, and Baggetta. Rez Abbasi, Derek Gripper, Kaki King, and Glenn Jones will perform on May 12 at 7:00 at the Greene Space. The Met Cloisters will host an immersive guitar marathon on May 14 with more than a dozen performers at different locations, including Min Xiao-Fen in Early Gothic Hall, Alberta Khoury in Langon Chapel, Colin Davin in Fuentidueña Chapel, Dylan Carlson in Pontaut Chapter House, and Vernon Reid & Laraaji in Trie Cloister Café. And on May 15, the NYGF Academy at the New School comprises seven panel discussions and conversations, from “Contemporary Improvisation and the Electric Guitar” and “A Conversation with Kid Millions, Don Bikoff + Jeff Conklin” to “Nigel North: The French Lute of the 17th-Century” and “Saul Koll in Conversation with Ed Keller.”

RABIN IN HIS OWN WORDS

Documentary follows personal and professional life of Yitzhak Rabin, told in his own words

RABIN IN HIS OWN WORDS (Erez Laufer, 2015)
Lincoln Plaza Cinema
1886 Broadway at 63rd St.
Opens Friday, May 6
212-757-2280
www.menemshafilms.com
www.lincolnplazacinema.com

“I did my job, especially in terms of striving for peace and ensuring Israel’s security in the best way possible,” Yitzhak Rabin says at the beginning of Erez Laufer’s poignant documentary, Rabin in His Own Words. “I think the State of Israel may have lost the prime minister with a better chance than any other of advancing peace and preventing war.” Rabin was referring to the first time he was prime minister, when he was forced to resign in 1977 because of a financial scandal. But he could have been speaking from the grave following his assassination in 1995 during his second term, shortly after winning the Nobel Peace Prize with Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres. In fact, Rabin in His Own Words is like a message from beyond, as a dark cloud hovers over the film, which consists of archival footage, press conferences, home movies, broadcast interviews, family photographs, and letters that trace the personal and professional side of Rabin, from how he was raised as a child to his desire to be a farmer, from his rise in the military to his serving twice as prime minister, from his dedication to his beloved wife, Leah, to becoming a grandfather.

Laufer (Mike Brant, Laisse-moi t’aimer), who directed and edited the film, does a superb job of navigating through Rabin’s life, told completely by Rabin himself (except for voice-overs reading his letters). It’s particularly devastating to watch how close Rabin was to achieving some kind of peace in the Middle East, only to be murdered because of that very ideal, by an Israeli; it’s hard not to think about what’s going on in the world today, especially the rise of Donald Trump, in relation to what happened to Rabin, as Laufer shows demonstrators at a Benjamin Netanyahu rally calling for Rabin’s death, and eventually getting what they want. Rabin in His Own Words is also an excellent companion piece to Amos Gitai’s Rabin, the Last Day, which came out earlier this year and is a factual re-creation of the day of the assassination. Named Best Documentary at the Haifa International Film Festival, Rabin in His Own Words also makes one wonder about whether there ever will be other leaders like Rabin who will have a real chance at a lasting peace. “Although this film chronicles the past, it is made for the future of our children,” Laufer notes in his director statement. The film opens May 6 at Lincoln Plaza, and Laufer, who refers to the work as “an autobiography of sorts,” will be on hand for Q&As following the 5:20 screenings on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.

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!”