African Spirits Opening Thursday, July 11 at Yossi Milo Gallery, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. On view through August 23.
Your standard art history education tends to stay pretty Eurocentric, so some people might not know that portrait photography has had quite a heyday in Africa, dating back to the early 1900s, when both European visitors and African locals experimented more and more with the form. The 1950s through the 1980s were considered the “golden age” of portraiture in West Africa, and images from this time will be showcased in a new group exhibition at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery, which range from staged studio imagery to more candid nightlife captures. These photos will be displayed alongside works from more contemporary photographers of all stripes.
July 4th weekend tends to come with less events happening than usual, but don’t worry, there’s still plenty of quality fun to be had between the days of July 5 and 8. The night after the 4th, you can finish digesting all those processed meats at Cry Baby, a recurring comedy show and party in a DIY Bushwick venue hosted by performers Dekunle Somade and Abe Gatling. It also has iterations in DC and Philadelphia, in case you want to become a comedy show’s groupie. The latest Brooklyn edition features Sydnee Washington, Shane Torres, Devon Walker, Sam Evans, Chanel Ali, and Pockets Graham.
SATURDAY
(image courtesy of Ethan Beach and Josh Nasser)
Oh, Such A Huge Show, Oh! Saturday, July 6 at The Bell House, 7 pm: $18 advance, $23 day of show
As you might have gleaned from the title, Josh Nasser and Ethan Beach’s Oh, Such A Huge Show, Oh! is in fact a big show with a long, hefty lineup, and the proceeds will be going to The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. Long lineups can become dreary over time, but this one is too jam-packed with fun and talent to feel that way. A taste of the performers that await: The Lucas Bros, Ziwe Fumudoh, Conner O’Malley, Ana Fabrega, Anna Drezen, Emmy Blotnick, Josh Sharp, and even more.
SUNDAY
(image via The Nobodies / Facebook)
Get Your Panties In A Brunch Sunday, July 7 at Dromedary Bar, 1 pm: FREE
Brunch can feel like an event in and of itself, but if eating eggs while calculating how many mimosas you can down before your bottomless time runs out isn’t enough for you, there’s a way to make brunch feel even more like a show. Enter drag brunch, where (you guessed it) drag performers strut their stuff right before your hungry eyes. There are several drag brunches out there to choose from, but a solid one in North Brooklyn can be found at tiki bar Dromedary, where the drag-collective-with-a-penchant-for-wrestling The Nobodies take over every Sunday. Expect a rotating cast that includes Emi Grate, Lady Beatrice Andrews, Ariel Italic, and Blvck Laé D.
Miss Meatface Opening Tuesday, July 2 at The Untitled Space, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through July 13.
No, “Miss Meatface” does not refer to the latest right-wing woman to adopt the “carnivore diet,” that frightening all-beef culinary regime embraced by the likes of Jordan Peterson; it refers to the artist Kat Toronto, who creates bizarre and entrancing “performance-based photography” under the name Miss Meatface, which resemble stills from some surreal, experimental, BDSM-laced film you want to immediately consume in full. In addition to an exhibition of recent creations by Miss Meatface, Tuesday’s reception will also feature a zine signing and an artist talk between Meatface and The Untitled Space’s director, Indira Cesarine.
Near the Jefferson L in Bushwick, you can find plenty of big and/or glitzy bars and venues. There’s the ubiquitous House of Yes, burlesque troupe Company XIV’s new-ish theater, party spot Lot 45, and scores of other watering holes of every shape and size. But until now, there hasn’t been anything quite like The Turk’s Inn. Opening this Thursday, the two-level supper club, which also encompasses a separate music venue and kebab shop, is a replica of a shuttered Wisconsin institution of the same name.
If you were near the Marcy J back in 2015, or more recently at music venue Baby’s All Right, you might have eaten food made by the folks at Kichin. You could have taken a rice ball or Korean fried chicken to go, or snacked on homemade curry at a party thrown by the musician Yaeji. Kichin has served at many places, but now they have a storefront of their own again on Myrtle Avenue, steps from the Central M.
We the People Opening Wednesday, June 19 at Howl! Happening, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through July 21.
Some people go to prestigious and expensive schools to learn how to make art, throwing piles of cash at nice supplies in the process. Guy Woodard, on the other hand, honed his craft using a cheap ballpoint pen while incarcerated. The former counterfeiter and forger is opening a solo show of intricate ink drawings at Howl Happening in the East Village starting tonight. In addition to his drawings, which explore both political events and the ins and outs of everyday black life, the exhibition also features a selection of Woodard-created forgeries, including one of Trayvon Martin’s Howard University diploma.
Who is Stacy? I personally don’t know, but comedians Marissa Goldman, Caroline Doyle, and Charlie Bardey might, considering the trio hosts a show boasting that name every month at cozy, colorfully-lit Bushwick bar Rebecca’s. Apparently, this Stacy has recently embarked upon an archaeological dig, but it was not so successful, and she’s feeling a bit downtrodden. (Who wouldn’t, if they were promised dinosaurs and didn’t discover any?) The three hosts have gathered an evening of laughs to serve as the antidote, which will be delivered by Rachel Pegram, Pat Regan, Tim Platt, Jolie Darrow, and Rufat Agayev, with an additional dose of drag from Chola Spears.
Theater artists Normandy Sherwood and Craig Flanigin, who together run the company The Drunkard’s Wife, are always up to something colorful. They specialize in the zany, the musical, the site-specific, the historically-inspired. Their latest creation, Madame Lynch, is sure to be no different. It centers around the self-proclaimed “Empress of Paraguay” Eliza Lynch, a woman who is not in fact from Paraguay but from Ireland. To help tell this tale of imperialism, they’ve enlisted the Paraguayan “folkloric dance group” Ballet Panambí Vera as choreographic collaborators.
Ahmad Hammoud, Passport for the Stateless, 2016, Color-printed paper booklet, 4.9 × 3.5 in
Occupational Hazards Opening Wednesday, May 29 at apexart, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through July 27.
The central concept of apexart’s latest exhibition is pieces of art that have been “lost, damaged, or destroyed when shipped through the Middle East,” a theme that seems so specific it might seem like it could only result in a meager showcase. As the show contains over a dozen artists from all over the world, particularly those with ties to places like Iran, Kuwait, and Palestine, it is apparent that art in international transit can meet this fate more frequently than one might surmise. This can encompass more mundane wear and tear from the everyday bumpiness of travel and the customs process, or it can have more complicated, insidious origins, such as the time artist Ahmad Hammound’s passport-esque creation got torn up and marked with red pen for daring to remotely resemble a travel document. More →
In Living Color! Weekly on Wednesdays at UpNorth, 9 pm: FREE
There are so many drag shows in the city, they can be hard to keep track of. When a show happens every week, it can create a comfortable consistency; you always know it’s going to be there. The newest weekly sensation to hit Bushwick is In Living Color, a free evening of drag and burlesque hosted by effervescent drag performer Junior Mint, who may be new on the scene but has so much talent and vibrant presence that you’d never know it. Every Wednesday, she hosts a crop of multitalented local performers for your entertainment, while you sip drinks and dine on vegetarian food from the bar. This week features Rara Darling, Thee Suburbia, and Tink, with gogo dancing and kittening by Foxy Belle Afriq. More →
