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

BIDDER 70

Tim DeChristopher fights the power in inspiring new documentary, BIDDER 70

BIDDER 70 (Beth Gage & George Gage, 2013)
Quad Cinema
34 West 13th St.
Opens Friday, May 17
212-255-2243
www.quadcinema.com
www.bidder70film.com

Can one person really make a difference? In Bidder 70, directors Beth and George Gage tell the inspiring story of Tim DeChristopher, who has followed in the footsteps of such peaceful, nonviolent protestors as Rosa Parks, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi, although the humble West Virginia native wouldn’t dare put himself in such lofty company. In December 2008, DeChristopher attended a Utah Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction without a real plan, knowing only that he had to do something to keep the pristine wilderness land out of the hands of corporate drillers; he ended up winning bids on more than twenty-two thousand acres for $1.7 million without any intention of actually paying, so he was arrested and charged with two felonies that could put him in prison for a long time. But he just couldn’t sit back and let the sale take place, and he’s willing to face the consequences. “It’s really hard for me to not think about climate change with anything that we’re doing,” the West Virginia native says in the film while relaxing in a vast, rocky landscape. “It’s this big weight that our generation is bearing on our shoulders, and it’s like something chasing us, that’s getting closer all the time. We’ve always been told that things are just beyond our control and that corporations have all the power, and we don’t often get to be reminded that we’re citizens of what was once the greatest democracy on the planet and that we’re human beings with the power to inspire others through our actions.” The Gages (American Outrage, Fire on the Mountain) follow the modest DeChristopher as he becomes a leader in the civil disobedience movement, cofounding Peaceful Uprising and preparing for a trial that continually gets postponed, perhaps for political reasons. Among the talking heads discussing and/or helping DeChristopher in his defense — he could end up being sentenced to twenty years in prison even though the government later declared the auction he attended to be illegal — are environmental activists Robert Redford and Bill McKibben, writer and conservationist Terry Tempest Williams, Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Terry Root, attorneys Ron Yengich and Patrick Shea, and NASA GISS director Dr. James Hansen. Can one person really make a difference? Bidder 70 provides the answer. The documentary opens May 17 at the Quad, with DeChristopher and Beth and George Gage participating in Q&As after the 7:10 screenings on Friday and Saturday and the Gages back for another Q&A on Monday night.

CHINESE REALITIES/DOCUMENTARY VISIONS: OLD DOG

An old man (Lochey) would rather sell himself than his canine companion in Pema Tseden’s OLD DOG

OLD DOG (LAO GOU/KHYI RGAN) (Pema Tseden, 2011)
MoMA Film, Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53rd St. between Fifth & Sixth Aves.
May 15-20
Series runs through June 1
Tickets: $12, in person only, may be applied to museum admission within thirty days, same-day screenings free with museum admission, available at Film and Media Desk
212-708-9400
www.moma.org

Pema Tseden’s Old Dog is a beautifully told, slowly paced meditation on Buddhism’s four Noble Truths — “Life means suffering”; The origin of suffering is attachment”; “The cessation of suffering is attainable”; and “There is a path to the cessation of suffering” — that ends with a shocking, manipulative finale that nearly destroys everything that came before it. In order to get a little money and to save the family’s sheep-herding dog from being stolen, Gonpo (Drolma Kyab) sells their Tibetan nomad mastiff to Lao Wang (Yanbum Gyal), a dealer who resells the prized breed to stores in China, where they’re used for protection. When Gonpa’s father (Lochey) finds out what his son has done, he goes back to Lao Wang and demands the return of the dog he’s taken care of for thirteen years. “I’d sell myself before the dog,” he tells his son. And so begins a gentle tale of parents and children, set in a modern-day Tibet that is ruled by China’s heavy hand. Gonpa’s father doesn’t understand why his son, a lazy man who rides around on a motorized bike and never seems to do much of anything, doesn’t yet have any children of his own, so he pays for Gonpa and his wife Rikso, (Tamdrin Tso), to go to the doctor to see what’s wrong. Meanwhile, the old man keeps a close watch on his dog, wary that Lao Wang will to try to steal it again. Writer-director Pema Tseden (The Silent Holy Stones, The Search) explores such themes as materialism, family, and attachment in a lovely little film that sadly is nearly ruined by its extreme final scene. Old Dog is screening at MoMA May 15-20 as part of “Chinese Realities/Documentary Visions,” with Tseden taking part in a discussion with Asia Society film curator La Frances Hui after the 8:00 show on May 16 and with Hui and Chris Berry following the 7:00 show on May 18. The series continues through June 1 with such other films as Zhang Yuan’s Mama, Zhang Yimou’s The Story of Qiu Ju, Jia Zhangke’s 24 City, and Ai Weiwei’s Disturbing the Peace.

MEET JIMMY CONNORS

Barnes & Noble
160 East 54th St. at Third Ave., Citigroup Center
Tuesday, May 14, free, 12:30
212-750-8033
www.barnesandnoble.com
www.harpercollins.com

“Some things stay private. Or as Two-Mom always told me, ‘Keep a little mystery about yourself,’” tennis superstar Jimmy Connors writes in his new book, The Outsider: A Memoir (Harper, May 14, 2013, $28.99). The Illinois-born James Scott Connors, winner of eight Grand Slam titles, including five U.S. Open championships, dishes about his life and career, which took off in the 1970s and continued into the early ’80s when playing classic matches against such rivals as Arthur Ashe, Björn Borg, Ilie Năstase, John McEnroe, Rod Laver, and Ivan Lendl. He was engaged to Chris Evert before marrying Playboy centerfold and 1977 Playmate of the Year Patti McGuire; the couple live together in Santa Barbara and have two children. Never one to clam up, Connors also shares details of his battles with OCD, dyslexia, and gambling in the memoir. He’ll be at the Citigroup Center B&N on May 14 at 12:30, signing copies of The Outsider — and probably speaking a little of his mind as well.

DEGAS, MISS LA LA, AND THE CIRQUE FERNANDO

Edgar Degas, “Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando,” oil on canvas, 1879, (© National Gallery, London / Art Resource, NY)

Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Through May 12, $10-$15
212-685-0008
www.themorgan.org

The arrival of Edgar Degas’s lovely 1879 painting “Miss La La at the Cirque Fernando” on these shores is reason enough to cheer. But curator Linda Wolk-Simon has taken the canvas, on loan from the National Gallery in London, and made it the focus of the wonderful exhibit “Degas, Miss La La, and the Cirque Fernando,” continuing at the Morgan Library through May 12. Shown at the Fourth Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1879, the painting depicts popular circus performer Miss La La suspended in midair, her teeth clenched on a rope. The Prussian-born Miss La La, who was also known as the Black Venus and La Femme Cannon, among other nicknames, is like an angel rising to the heavens, her angled limbs and white boots and costume echoing the big top’s unique architectural structure, something that Degas actually struggled to re-create. The lines and colors of the rope, the windows, the arches, the dress, and her body come together in spectacular fashion, albeit with a gentleness that was probably not apparent at the live performance itself, which Degas attended several times. No other circus or audience members are shown; it is as if the viewer is experiencing a private show performed only for them. Degas chose to paint this act instead of another of Miss La La’s highly touted tricks, in which she uses her teeth to hold up a cannon weighing more than 150 pounds while it fires away, perhaps because this one is more elegant and spiritual. Hanging in the middle of the far wall on the second floor of the Morgan, the painting is surrounded by preparatory sketches, books, posters, letters, and related works by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henry-Gabriel Ibels, and Tiepolo that place Degas’s masterpiece in historical context while also revealing his fascinating creative process. It all comes together in a kind of artistic three-ring circus, highlighted by a dynamic centerpiece that deservedly rises to the top.

FRIEZE NEW YORK 2013

Paul McCarthy’s giant “Balloon Dog” welcomes visitors to the 2013 Frieze New York art fair (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Randall’s Island Park
May 10-13, $42 ($75 with catalog), 11:00 am – 6:00/7:00 pm
646-346-2845
friezenewyork.com
frieze new york 2013 slideshow

The Frieze Art Fair returns to Randall’s Island for its second year, after having made quite a splash in its New York debut last May. Filled with pomp and circumstance, the fair is set in and around a long, winding tent designed by the SO-IL firm, housing displays by more than 180 international galleries, featuring works by an all-star lineup of artists that includes Ai Weiwei, Andreas Gursky, Brice Marden, Carl Andre, Carsten Höller, Catherine Opie, Chris Ofili, Dan Graham, Dan Perjovschi, Danh Vo, Do Ho Suh, Dorothea Tanning, Douglas Gordon, Ernesto Neto — and that’s just the first part of the alphabet (going by first name, per the Frieze website). Outside, the sculpture park boasts pieces by Tom Burr, Saint Clair Cemin, Tom Friedman, Paul McCarthy, Nick Van Woert, Franz West, and others, several created specifically for Frieze. There will be special projects by Liz Glynn, Maria Loboda, Mateo Tannatt, Marianne Vitale, and Andra Ursuta; Glynn has created a secret bar that serves cocktails and magic, while Ursuta’s “Would It Were Closing Time, and All Well” reimagines the fair as a village, complete with cemetery. Haroon Mirza, Trisha Baga, and Charles Atlas and New Humans will provide audio-based installations. Among the discussions are “Suzanne Lacy in Conversation with Nato Thompson” dealing with public art and activism, “Readings: Art in Literature” with Katie Kitamura, Rachel Kushner, and Ben Marcus, who wrote a specially commissioned story for Frieze, and talks with Lydia Davis, John Maus, Joan Jonas, and Douglas Crimp. Admission is a whopping $42, which is difficult to justify, especially for the casual art fan, who might be better served by checking out some of the other art fairs this weekend — NADA, Parallax, Pulse, cutlog, and Collective .1 are all up and running, with tickets ranging from free to $25. In addition, to get to Randall’s Island, visitors have to book a ferry ($12.50 round trip) or bus ($5.50) in advance or take a car service, taxi, or drive themselves (parking is $20 – $40), so attendance is quite a commitment. Is it all worth it? That’s the $42 question.

Martha Friedman lets her art speak for itself in “Amygdalas” installation in Frieze Sculpture Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Update: The second edition of Frieze turns out to be a rather pleasurable experience, with strong work, a well-laid-out space, and lots of food and drink (from Roberta’s, Mission Chinese, Saint Ambroeus, the Fat Radish, Frankies Spuntino, and others). Here are our highlights: Seung-taek Lee’s rock and frame pieces at Gallery Hyundai, Ryan McGinley’s nude photographs at Team, Adrian Lohmüller’s “The Ivory Girl” at Sommer & Kohl, Anish Kapoor’s pair of mind-bending optic charmers at Lisson, Daniel Arsham’s glass and resin life-size figures at Galerie Perrotin, Doug Aitken’s sonic table at 303, Daniel Firman’s “Linda” hiding near KAWS’s “NTY” painting, Tom Burr’s “Blue Smoke and Blue Mirrors,” Martha Friedman’s tonguelike “Amygdalas” in the Sculpture Park, Paul McCarthy’s giant red “Balloon Dog” at the entrance, Tom Friedman’s lip-smacking pizza, Twinkie, Ding Dong, and Sno Ball at Luhring Augustine, and Mateo Tannatt’s “The Smile Goes Round,” consisting of seven different-colored resting benches that feature live performances and written text that examines the differences between the sexes.

GRAND CENTENNIAL PARADE OF TRAINS

The 20th Century Limited will pull into Grand Central Terminal as part of Grand Centennial Parade of Trains

Grand Central Terminal
Vanderbilt Hall, Tracks 34-37, and other locations
May 11-12, free, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
www.grandcentralterminal.com

The world’s greatest train terminal, Grand Central, continues its centennial celebration with another in what has been a series of very cool events. On May 11-12, Grand Central Terminal — it was called Grand Central Station from 1900 to 1913, when it was rechristened with its current appellation — is hosting the Grand Centennial Parade of Trains, including Railroadiana, a model-train collectible show in one half of Vanderbilt Hall; Legos, Chuggington, and other family-friendly exhibits and activities in Kid Junction in the other half of Vanderbilt Hall; and a Historic Railcar Collection on tracks 34-37, featuring such classics as the 20th Century Limited, the Babbling Brook (1949), the Berlin (1956), the Birken (1954), the Cimarron River (1948), the Dover Harbor (1923), the Hickory Creek (1947), the Kitchi Gammi Club (1923), the Montana (1947), the New York Central 43 (1947), the New York Central 448 (1947), the Ohio River (1926), the Overland Trail (1949), the Pacific Sands (1950), the Salisbury Beach (1954), the Tioga Pass (1959), and the Wisconsin (1948), many offering tours, as well as a dozen Metro-North cars. (You can find the complete schedule here, including special store discounts.) In addition, the Times Square Shuttle will be running vintage 1940s and 1950s trains on track 4, which commuters can take between Grand Central and Times Square. There will also be live music, MTA Arts for Transit tours, a “World’s Tallest Track” attempt for the Guinness Book of World Records, Metro-North’s robotic Metro Man giving safety talks, author readings by Maureen Sullivan of her GCT-set book Ankle Soup, MTA K-9 police unit presentations, games and prizes, and more. In addition, stop by the New York Transit Museum Gallery Annex to check out “On Time/Grand Central at 100,” an exhibition of works about the past, present, and future of the terminal by such artists as Penelope Umbrico, Jim Campbell, Vik Muniz, Paloma Muñoz, and others. (Please note that backpacks are not allowed in event spaces, and there will be no bag check.)

NADA/PARALLAX/PULSE/CUTLOG/COLLECTIVE .1

NADA NYC
Pier 36 at Basketball City
299 South St. on the East River
May 10-12, free
www.newartdealers.org

Back in March, Armory Arts Week featured the Armory Show, Volta NY, Scope, the Independent, Moving Image New York, ADAA the Art Show, New City, Fountain, and Spring/Break art fairs. Now that we’ve all gotten the chance to catch our breath, the second part of the season is up and running this weekend with another slew of art shows around the city. While the main event might be the second edition of Frieze, held on Randall’s Island and charging a whopping $42 admission fee, there are numerous lower-cost options. At NADA, it does indeed cost nada to see more than seventy exhibitors at Basketball City, including Eleven Rivington, Klaus von Nichtssagend, Marlborough Chelsea, Churner and Churner, Feature Inc., and SculptureCenter. Among the special events and projects are Merkx & Gwynne’s “King Arthur Green Room,” a LittleCollector tour, a Lower East Side gallery tour, and an Eat up NY in the LES food tour at this show sponsored by New Art Dealers Alliance, which “believes that the adversarial approach to exhibiting and selling art has run its course . . . that change can be achieved through fostering constructive thought and dialogue between various points in the art industry from large galleries to small spaces, nonprofit and commercial alike.”

PARALLAX “ART” FAIR
Prince George Ballroom
15 East 27th St.
May 11-12, free with advance registration, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
www.parallaxaf.com

Parallax is a self-described “non-art fair that makes a uniquely refreshing conceptual statement about subjectivity and the commoditization of taste, offering an intellectual framework where visitors can dare to be themselves for a change.” Created by Dr. Chris Barlow, Parallax features works from more than two hundred international emerging and established artists celebrating “the luxury of objects” and examining new forms of acquisition.

Jani Ruscica’s “Screen Test (for a Living Sculpture)” is among the special projects at Pulse (courtesy of Otto Zoo)

PULSE
The Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th St.
May 9-12, $20 (run of show $25)
www.pulse-art.com/new-york

The always enjoyable Pulse is back at the Metropolitan Pavilion, with nearly fifty international galleries part of its main exhibition and another thirteen in its Impulse cutting-edge section. This year’s Pulse Projects features Tristin Lowe’s “Comet Nature,” Lisa Lozano and Tora Lopez’s “We Couldn’t Remember What We Came to Forget,” Franco Mondini-Ruiz’s “Spring Flings & Pretty Things,” Russell Maltz’s “Painted/Stacked,” Jason Rogenes’s “CH1M3R4,” and Tim Youd’s “Typing Tropic.” The multimedia Pulse Play lounge will be showing Jani Ruscica’s Screen Test (for a Living Sculpture), Robbie Cornelissen’s The Labyrinth Runner, and Lars Arrhenius’s The Street, there will be a Pulse New York Chelsea Gallery Walk and after-party on Thursday night, and a free shuttle bus will take people between Pulse and the Frieze ferry stop.

The cutlog fair makes New York debut with indoor and outdoor events

CUTLOG NY
Clemente Soto Vélez Center
107 Suffolk St. between Rivington & Delancey Sts.
May 9-13, $15 (run of show $25)
www.cutlogny.org

Making its New York debut, cutlog is a whirlwind event focusing on collaboration and innovation in multiple disciplines. Held at the Clemente on the Lower East Side, cutlog NY includes such exhibitors as Tel Aviv’s Art Connections, Paris’s Galerie Dix9 and Olivier Watman, Antwerp’s Marion de Cannière, London’s House of the Nobleman, Milano’s Edward Cutler, Lyon’s Céline Moine, Istanbul’s Gama, and Vancouver’s the Apartment, but it’s the special projects that highlight this highly anticipated fair. There will be projected images outdoors on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights; such live performances and installations as Movement Research re-creating Anna Halprin’s “Mirror Piece,” the Fantastic Nobodies’ “Free Car Wash,” Tyler Matthew Oyer’s cabaret “Gone for Gold,” Marni Kotak’s exercise-obsessed “Calorie Countdown,” a site-specific dance by Netta Yerushalmy, and Phoebe Rathmell’s “Visceral Transcendence,” among others; and talks with Harvey Stein and John Lurie.

Gaetano Pesce will be at Collective .1 Design with new installation and conversation

COLLECTIVE .1 DESIGN FAIR
Pier 57 at 15th St. and the West Side Highway
May 8-11, $25 (run of show $30)
www.collectivedesignfair.com

Another newbie is the Collective .1 Design Fair, founded by Steven Learner to present a curated examination of new and historical design. Approximately two dozen galleries will gather at Pier 57, including Demisch Danant, Jousse Entreprise, Lost City Arts, Maison Gerard, Mondo Cane, and Sebastian + Barquet, with installations by Gaetano Pesce, Sebastian Errazuriz, and Dana Barnes, tours, book signings with Christopher Bascom Rawlins and Jeffrey Head, and such Collective Conversations as “Inside the Design Market,” “Obsessed — Collecting in the 21st Century,” and “In Dialogue” with Gaetano Pesce and curator Daniella Ohad Smith.