A Silent Disco Art Show, Glamorous Putin, And More Weekend Exhibitions

Watermelon Melange
Opening Saturday, October 6 at 21 Ludlow Street, 7:30 pm to 10 pm. On view through October 7.

Have you ever been to a silent disco? You know, the kind of weird outdoor party where everyone’s wearing bulky headphones and dancing to the various channels of music blaring from them, making them look strange to any onlooker who doesn’t know what’s going on? This art exhibition by Mason Roberts, a painter from Perth, Australia whose 26,000 Instagram followers are equally likely to see both documentation of his artistic process and shirtless selfies, provides a somewhat similar experience. He’s partnered with lo-fi hip-hop artist Stirling Caiulo to create a multisensory artistic experience—don noise-canceling headphones and walk into a dark gallery, then you’ll hear beats n’ tunes while you steadily discover a series of paintings on display, lit by spotlights.

Glamour Shots
Opening Saturday, October 6 at Spoke Art, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through October 27.

The latest offering at Spoke Art, a pop culture-loving gallery with a history of tribute shows to media like Bob’s Burgers and Miyazaki films, has set their sights on the glamour shot to provide the foundation for their latest show of work by Scott Schiedly. And Scheidly doesn’t just paint any old people posing in their finery, he immortalizes the likes of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and, interestingly, Marilyn Manson. He campily depicts his subjects grinning and pouting while wearing feather boas, cardigans, and beaded dresses. Are these feminized depictions just another borderline-homophobic attempt at satire, like cartoons of Trump and Putin kissing, or is it something more progressive? The exhibit description claims the work “challenges the viewer to consider the dichotomies of the feminine vs. masculine, and to question what is considered socially acceptable,” but how you truly feel about it will be, of course, up to you.

The Socrates Annual
Opening Sunday, October 7 at Socrates Sculpture Park, 3 pm to 6 pm. On view through March 10.

On Sunday, take the trip to Queens (yes, the part that’s further to get to than Ridgewood) to see the work of 16 artists who have created 15 new works in the Socrates Sculpture Park’s outdoor studio as part of their Emerging Artist Fellowship. There’s a wide variety of work to be seen, from more traditional sculptural work to “audio-sculptural portraits of Queens hip-hop legends” to more earthy, interactive creations, like a steel-based installation examining the makeup of the East River. Sure, it’s getting a little chillier out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the great outdoors. Just bring a sweater or something.