Female Candidates, Global Wealth Inequality, and More Exhibitions Open This Week

In Her Hands
Opening Thursday, June 14 at Robert Mann Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through August 17.

It seems more women than ever are running for office, from the two Staceys who recently faced off for Georgia governor to local Congressional challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Latina from the Bronx whose recent campaign ad gathered buzz for being legitimately compelling. Robert Mann Gallery’s newest group exhibition, curated by Orly Cogan and Julie Peppito, showcases a series of portraits of women who are running in the 2018 elections. Adding an additional layer of femininity to the whole affair is the fact that these portraits are made predominantly using craft methods and materials, utilizing a medium historically tied with women and domesticity (and often downplayed in importance due to both of these associations). You’ll see anyone from big-name candidates to unfamiliar face immortalized through quilting, embroidery, and more.

Scenes From A Chasm
Opening Friday, June 15 at Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through July 29.

Two weeks ago a music and light art showcase called Chasm unfolded in Brooklyn. This exhibit shares a partial name with that event, but this is about a different kind of gap: global wealth inequality. Scenes From A Chasm, presented at a small but mighty gallery space inside the Essex Street Market, asks four artists from various disciplines to illustrate how financial differences across cultures, individuals, and beyond can create the feeling that you’re living in an entirely different world. As money doesn’t exist in a vacuum, the works on view also delve into topics like colonialism, customer service, neoliberalism, and the extent to which humans perform when they’re trying to do their jobs.

Cry Me A River
Opening Saturday, June 16 at MEN Gallery, 6 pm to 8 pm.

I have never heard of MEN Gallery, and combining this with the title of its latest exhibition, a solo show by Jen Hitchings, makes me think of either the Justin Timberlake song or one of those novelty coffee mugs that says “male tears” or something like that. I should say this exhibition isn’t about either of those things. Rather, it’s about anxiety and abandonment—feelings that are all-too familiar for some—told through depictions of the aftermath of natural disasters, such as a flood-ravaged suburb. A description of the exhibition notes Hitchings’s hometown regularly experiences flooding, though I can only assume having to weather such an event never gets easier. The act of remembering, experiencing, and making art about this highly personal topic also has multifaceted ties to another type of flooding: the “psychotherapeutic technique” of making someone face their negative memories in order to eventually, hopefully be able to move on.