“When an octopus gets too stressed out, it eats itself,” begins poet Ashley August in Don’t Be Nice, the feature documentary debut from filmmaker Max Powers. At this moment in the film, August is performing a poem about the (gendered, racialized) expectation that she be less intense, in direct address to the camera. “When you see me with my literal foot in my actual mouth, you can call that dramatic.” More →
THURSDAY
Boys I’ve Kissed and Hated: Slumber Party
Thursday, September 19 at Max Fish, 7 pm: $10
Sure, 7 pm is a little early for a slumber party, but this isn’t any ordinary slumber party. It commemorates comedian and writer Arti Gollapudi’s new book of poetry, Boys I’ve Kissed and Hated. Don your coziest outfit (it’s getting to be that time of year, after all) and enjoy some snacks and drinks as well as tarot readings and a photo booth, so you can capture the current moment and find out what’s in store for your future. And of course, this is a show, so there will also be performance by Gollapudi and Sadie Dupuis (of the bands Speedy Ortiz and sad13). Just try not to actually fall asleep there once the fun has wrapped up.
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As much as many New Yorkers love the annual San Gennaro feast for its endless amounts of sausage and peppers, meatballs and just about anything that can be deep fried, it’s a huge dolore al collo for some local businesses. Last year, a whopping 945,000 pounds of trash were collected over the 11-day feast, according to Mort Berkowitz, who runs the festival. And the pizza-stained plates and discarded piña colada cups are just the start of the headaches. More →
If you’re starting to grow weary of constant cold brew, and your typical drip or oat milk latte just doesn’t hit like it used to, perhaps a caffeinated change is in order. And that change could be cascara, a drink made from brewing a part of a coffee bean seen as both a superfood and literal garbage. Today, Colombian coffee shop Devoción officially opens their first cafe focused on cascara, located in Manhattan’s Nomad neighborhood.
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Glenn O’Brien: Center Stage
Opening Tuesday, September 17 at Off Paradise, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through November 2.
Off Paradise, a loft located on Soho’s Walker Street, is both a new and old space. As a gallery, it’s brand new, and the exhibition opening Tuesday it its first. As a more general space, it’s been around quite a while—the show’s curator, Natacha Polaert, has been there for the past ten years. Off Paradise’s gallery debut celebrates the life and legacy of Glenn O’Brien, a producer, writer, and creative director who worked with Andy Warhol at Interview magazine, among other projects. The show features work by Warhol, as well as contributions by luminaries like Eileen Myles, Rene Ricard, and Richard Prince.
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The door to Cherry Tavern on 6th Street doesn’t close. If someone forgets to pull it tight behind them, a long reach fashioned from a decommissioned pool cue that sits behind the bar is put to use, allowing the door to be shut from the keep’s station. This happenstance solutioning seems to encapsulate everything about the Cherry. It sits just slightly ajar from everything else around it, and there doesn’t appear to be any plans to close the gap. More →
THURSDAY
The Mx. Nobody Pageant Grand Finale
Thursday, September 12 at Brooklyn Bazaar, 7 pm: FREE
You may have heard of The Mx. Nobody Pageant before (it’s certainly appeared in past editions of this listing), or maybe you’ve even witnessed a round or two. For the uninformed, it’s a drag competition helmed by The Nobodies collective. Sure, there are a lot of drag competitions out there—and not just the kind on TV—but Mx. Nobody takes extra care to be inclusive to all genders and styles of drag, which means it’s going to get weird in the best way. Tonight is the finale of the competition, where finalists Shella Malaprop, Sue Baroux, Brenda, Angelique, and Richard DiCocko face off against each other as well as “wild cards” Glitter Baby, Uncle Freak, Iodine Quartz, and Alyse DaBeast. Plus, it’s free.
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Clothing store Everlane understands how to expand. What started as a website offering a single type of sustainably-made t-shirt and a disinterest in brick-and-mortar retail has become a big, buzzy operation consisting of a robust online shop and three storefronts in New York and Los Angeles. But come Thursday, those three stores will become four with the opening of Everlane’s latest physical shop on Williamsburg’s North 6th Street.
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The heart of the matter…
Opening Tuesday, September 10 at Hauser & Wirth, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through October 26.
As a painter, Amy Sherald focuses on portraiture that captures the human spirit, specifically the African-American spirit. She achieves this by taking inspiration from the classic American Realism style, popularized by the likes of George Bellows and Edward Hopper (both, unsurprisingly, white men), and imbues it with a distinctly contemporary energy and eye-catching pops of color. They’re tall, too, with a typical painting spanning over four feet tall and three feet wide. A collection of Sherald’s paintings will be on view at Hauser & Wirth’s 22nd Street gallery space, at an exhibit that takes its name from within the pages of a bell hooks book.
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The Wing, the popular, Instagrammable, and sometimes controversial coworking, childcare, and event space for women, is officially coming to Williamsburg this fall.
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