(flyer via Slide To Expose / Facebook)

Slide To Expose
Opening Thursday February 23 at Babycastles, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through March 9.

This “collaborative augmented reality installation” is created by Molly Soda, Nicole Ruggiero, and an augmented reality app called Refrakt. If you’re confused about what augmented reality is, recall Pokemon Go. Two creators known for their “net art” collaborating with a literal app sounds like a match made in heaven. And it seems to be: Slide To Expose plays on themes of digital intimacy and privacy, but does so by asking viewers to scan objects in the gallery to reveal hidden pieces of a life online, like emails or text messages.

On the one hand, art all about online expression and how technology affects our lives can seem like old hat. On the other hand, if you’re getting another chance to take a peek into how an individual person expresses themselves online specifically, you’re going to be getting a unique and different experience every time. Plus, you’re doing so through scanning stuff. When any object could contain a secret, why not give it a whirl?

(image via IDIO Gallery)

Total Relevance
Opening Thursday February 23 at IDIO Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through March 12.

It seemed like only recently that East Williamsburg’s IDIO Gallery was needing to raise funds just to stay open. Now, they’ve been an unstoppable force as of late, churning out art show after intriguing art show. Last week, they closed a show of work by Azikiwe Mohammed, an artist frequently exploring the manifestation of Blackness in America. Now, the gallery is gearing up for a show of multimedia installation work by Afro-Cuban artist Kool A.D. (formerly of Das Racist) created in collaboration with “spiritual leader and futurist” Cult Days.

Curated by Lauren Wolchik, Total Relevance features a bevy of works, from sculptures to sounds, all striving to describe what is simultaneously simple and impossible: “the universal.” The opening will be followed by a performance at 8 pm; a $10 suggested donation is requested to benefit the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

(image via Brilliant Champions)

Megacosm
Opening Friday February 24 at Brilliant Champions Gallery, 6 pm to 9 pm. On view through April 1.

Beau Stanton’s solo show at Central Avenue gallery Brilliant Champions is centered around components and themes of a three-dimensional stop-motion animation that explores short narratives through the artist’s specific and compelling visual language. Though Stanton’s main artistic origins are in oil painting, he recently has created work in such varied mediums as large-scale mosaic, animation, and stained glass shown in a 12th-century crypt. Because, I guess, why show stained glass anywhere else?

In addition to the film, there will be an array of installations throughout the gallery showcasing both aspects of the film and Stanton’s other work, such as free-standing statues, printmaking, and oil painting. It seems like a lot, but why have a microcosm when you can have a Megacosm?

(flyer via NYHC Tattoos)

Only One Fucking New York City
Opening Friday February 24 at New York Hardcore Tattoos, 7 pm till late.

This unique art show in a notorious tattoo parlor goes by the acronym “OOF,” which could very well be one of the sounds you once made while getting a tattoo. Or while checking out some very cool tattoo art and paintings based on “legendary” NYC bands, which is what this art show is all about. While some art shows serve wine, when you go to an art show in a tattoo shop co-produced by one of the remaining Greenwich Village record stores (Generation Records, to be clear) you should assume you’re getting something a bit different. In OOF’s case, this means free PBR… and also free meatballs. Literally, they are from The Meatball Shop and everything. Prepare thee to fill your eyes with art, your mouth with balls (sorry), and your ears with tune spun by DJ Uncle Remy all night long.