Robby Herbst, “Pyramid of Capitalist System” (2011), performance at LA City Hall during Occupation 10/11 (photo by Lisa Anne Auerbach, via efanyc.org). Herbst is part of the Hive at EFA Project Space.
This week, the doctor wants to make sure you’re getting enough variety in your diet. She’s got a hodgepodge of events for you, from an artistic walk to an artists’ dialogue to an artist’s reading, plus a handful of openings. In the museums, see John Baldessari and R. H. Quaytman discuss Jack Goldstein or Claes Oldenburg read from his writings. In the galleries, visit openings at Klaus von Nichtssagend, EFA Project Space, Microscope Gallery, and Flux Factory. Out in the world, go on an Elastic City walk or have happy hour drinks in Green-Wood Cemetery.
Summer may finally be here, but a little heat never slowed the art world down.
How Is Jack Goldstein?
When: Tuesday, June 25, 6:30–8 pm (free with RSVP)
Where: The Jewish Museum (1109 Fifth Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan)
In conjunction with its current Jack Goldstein retrospective, the Jewish Museum is hosting a series of dialogues about the late artist, all titled with questions: what, where, how, and who is Jack Goldstein? Tuesday’s talk, devoted to “how,” features artists John Baldessari, who taught Goldstein at CalArts in the ’70s, and R. H. Quaytman, whose works bears conceptual similarities to Goldstein’s. It should be stellar.
Spread It
When: Wednesday, June 26; Thursday, June 27; Friday, June 28, 7 pm ($10 suggested donation; must RSVP)
Where: Starts at West 33rd Street and Broadway (Herald Square, Manhattan)
Elastic City walks are weird, wonderful affairs that generally require an open mind and an abandonment of self-consciousness or ironic distance. This walk led by artists Todd Shalom, founder of Elastic City, and Niegel Smith, a board member, is a good place to start for the uninitiated. Called Spread, it’s presented in conjunction with Visual AIDS and “will investigate the language and actions of spreading.” If that sounds dirty or suggestive — well, that’s the point.
Work It
When: Opens Thursday, June 27, 6–8 pm
Where: Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery (54 Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan)
This exhibition at Klaus von Nichtssagend wins the best concept award for summer group shows. Work, organized by artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty, involves 15 artists (including Rafferty) who will spend two days creating a collaborative painting and then reproducing it, assembly-line style, for the show. According to the press release, day one will involve “a collaborative effort to determine the best ‘product’ for the art workers to manufacture,” while day two “will be production day … with each artist working at a station of their own design.” The resulting paintings will be on display for the month of the show, offering a clever commentary on ideas of the individual vs. collective and originality vs. mass production.
Empathy Corporation
When: Opens Thursday, June 27, 6–8:30 pm
Where: Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) Project Space (323 West 39th Street, 2nd floor, Port Authority, Manhattan)
The Hive is a partnership between EFA Project Space and arts funding org A Blade of Grass, and its latest manifestation is Empathy Corporation, an exhibition involving three performative projects that focus on participation and the integration of art and life. Coming together for this show as a team of artistic consultants of a sort, the projects are the “Poets’ Security Force,” “I and We: Collective Movement Workshop For Beginners,” and “MyNerva: The Transmigration of the Cubicle.” You can meet the artists and learn more at the opening on Thursday night, after which check the schedule to find out about workshops, sessions, and events.
Jonas Mekas with his Litigation Binders, June 2013 (click to enlarge) (via microscopegallery.com)
Jonas Mekas Is an Outlaw
When: Opens Thursday, June 27, 6–9 pm
Where: Microscope Gallery (4 Charles Place, Bushwick, Brooklyn)
Artistic giant Jonas Mekas is opening a new exhibition this week, filled with new Xerox collages, acrylic and watercolor paintings on photographic prints, and a short video. The press release explains that Mekas is coming up on the end of the fourth year of an ongoing lawsuit with a former gallery. “I dedicate this Exhibition to all artists / who had to go or are going through long / money draining and annoying “dispute” trials with / their gallerists,” he writes. Oh, yes, and did we mention Mekas is 90? One can only hope the lawsuit keeps him young somehow.
Drinks to Die For
When: Thursday, June 27, 6–8 pm
Where: Green-Wood Cemetery (500 25th Street, Sunset Park, Brooklyn)
If you need a break from openings and just want to enjoy the summer weather, the Brooklyn Historical Society is cosponsoring this happy hour event with Green-Wood Cemetery. It’s hard to beat $5 drinks outdoors in one of the most beautiful and unique places in New York. And here’s a quick refresher on Green-Wood’s artistic attractions.
Claes Oldenburg’s Writing
When: Friday, June 28, 6 pm
Where: Museum of Modern Art (11 West 53rd Street, Midtown, Manhattan)
Not only is Claes Oldenburg’s delicious art on view at MoMA right now; on Friday evening, he’ll also visit the museum to read from his recently published book, Writings on the Side, which features 1960s diary entries, notes, poems, scripts, and statements. Predictably, the event is already sold out, but there will be a standby line starting at 5 pm that night at the museum. MoMA will also live stream the talk, giving you the chance to watch it on your couch with a drink in hand.
Claes Oldenburg, “Two Cheeseburgers, with Everything (Dual Hamburgers)” (1962) (photo by Hrag Vartanian for Hyperallergic)
Make It ’Til You Break It
When: Friday, June 28, 8 pm ($5)
Where: Flux Factory (39-31 29th Street, Long Island City, Queens)
For this new exhibition/event series, Make It ’Til You Break It: Electronic Art, Flux Factory offers a “beginner’s course … for anyone who has ever wanted to hack their projector, TV, or game controller, but didn’t know where to start. The series will consist of 3 classes and a performance evening covering a variety of common and accessible techniques including Open Source Programming, Arduino, Circuit Bending, and working with interfaces.” The performances will take place this Friday night, followed by the first workshop, which is already sold out, on Saturday. Better get a jump on the next two now.