(flyer via BRN GRL SPK / Facebook)

This Is My Home (Too)
Opening Monday, October 9 at Casa Mezcal, 7 pm to 11 pm. $10 suggested donation. On view through October 28.

Today, according to my iCal, is Columbus Day. But for years upon years, many have called into question how much a man who accidentally found some land and was unrelentingly cruel to its Indigenous inhabitants deserves an entire day named after him. This is why many cities, including Austin, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles, have elected to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day.

This is something the folks at BRN GRL SPK know all too well, and they’ve decided to open their latest exhibition today, on Indigenous People’s Day. It’s easy to see why: This Is My Home (Too) presents work solely by artists of color, who have created pieces exploring the topic of “home” and what it has meant historically for people of color, Indigenous people, and immigrants. The opening also features a poetry performance by Ramya Ramana, music by DJ Tara, and drink specials. There’s a $10 suggested donation, and all proceeds will benefit Families For Freedom, a self-described local “organizing center against deportation.”

(flyer via Vital Joint / Facebook)

Make Room: An Edible Installation
Opening Wednesday, October 11 at Vital Joint, 8 pm to 11 pm. $10. One night only.

If you were put in a room with many items that all looked edible, would you try and eat all of them? This appears to be your challenge at Kristin Worrall and Mia Schachter’s installation, coming to East Williamsburg space Vital Joint on Wednesday. Worrall is a pastry artist, and Schachter is a ceramic artist, and they have joined forces for this edible evening. If you think about it, clay can look a lot like dough. Dough can look a lot like clay. Both can be squishy, both can be firm. It’s unclear if visitors to this multi-flavored installation will be told which of the items are made of food and which are made of clay and other materials that probably would not react well with one’s digestive system; it appears you will have to visit the installation to find out. Just in case, I would recommend coming with both an appetite and an open mind.

(image courtesy of Julia Sinelnikova)

Triquetra For Healing
Opening Thursday, October 12 at Brower Park, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through September 2018.

Technically, this outdoor sculpture by Julia Sinelnikova had its soft opening earlier in the week, and as its an outdoor piece, it can be viewed any time the modest green space that is Brower Park in Crown Heights is open. However, there will only be one evening that the piece is “inaugurated” by Sinelnikova and artist Pauli Cakes, which surely will be a more pleasant inauguration than the unfortunate one that happened this past January. The harvest-oriented sunset performance will feature movement, spoken word, live music, and projections that will make Sinelnikova’s already-engaging sculpture even moreso. The sculpture itself is crafted from acrylic and steel, and is modeled after a combination of the Crown Heights geographical borders and mandalas, which are evenly-spaced geometrical shapes with spiritual connotations. The piece also creates a nice stained glass effect when the sun shines on it, giving you just one more reason to spend some time outside in a park before it gets cold.

Leila Jeffreys, Superb Fruit Dove, 2017

Ornithurae Volume 1
Opening Friday, October 13 at Olsen Gruin NY, 5 pm to 8 pm. On view through November 12.

Surely I am not the only one to think this: Birds are crazy. They are crazy creations of nature or evolution or whatever deity you think put them there. Their faces are wacky, they come in so many colors and shapes, and some of them can literally replicate sounds they hear. And I’m not just talking about the chirps of other birds, but literally electronic children’s toys or construction equipment. Seeing as there is a wide, wonderful, intensely weird world of birds just asking to be looked at, it is no surprise to me that the feathered creatures are the subject of many nice memes. They are also the gleaming stars of artist Leila Jeffreys’s solo photography exhibition at the Lower East Side location of Olsen Gruin.

Born in Papua New Guinea, Jeffreys grew up in Perth, Australia but traveled frequently as a child. When you travel frequently, you have a pretty good chance of seeing some wacky wildlife. And that she did, but she was drawn to birds in particular. Specifically, very large portraits of birds, as she found this method was able to showcase the creatures in a way other documentation did not. So, if you are interested in getting a big ol’ eyeful of many birds posing beautifully for the camera, flap your wings all the way to Orchard Street.