(Photos courtesy of Baxter St at CCNY)
Instagrammers and arthounds rejoice! A Brooklyn coffee shop that focuses on single origin espresso and a nonprofit organization devoted to popularizing local photographers are teaming up to create a space filled with beans and beauty.
(image via Rubber Factory)
In the Name of the Hypersurface of the Present
Opening Wednesday, October 17 at Rubber Factory, 6 pm to 8 pm. On view through November 11.
Presented in conjunction with Lower East Side Art Week, which spotlights women artists in the neighborhood, this solo show by Pakistani artist Umber Majeed may have a sci-fi-sounding name, but the work on view more closely resembles Word Art, trippy memes, or old Geocities web pages than any high-tech, augmented reality creation. That’s not to diminish its appeal; the distorted text, flattened graphics, and occasional use of Comic Sans creates a world of online intrigue that feels half in the past, half far in some weird corner of the future. Through this, Majeed seeks to explore a “feminist re-historicization of Pakistan as the first ‘Muslim nuclear state,’” bringing it out of the patriarchy and into a more radical framing. More →
We’re coming down off our Oktoberfest hangovers, but there are two festivals in the Lower East Side this month to soothe your pounding head. They’re both green, delicious, and on Sunday, October 14.
(Photo: Lower Eastside Girls Club’s Instagram)
The Lower Eastside Girls Club aims to educate future leaders, politicians and thinkers about their rights, social justice, and skills like podcasting and catering. So, when prison abolitionist and artist Jackie Sumell— a longtime friend of the Girls Club—unveiled her latest project, it seemed like a perfect fit for the organization’s rooftop garden.
THURSDAY
(photo: Theo Cote)
Kink Haüs
Now through October 14 at La Mama, 8 pm (some performances at 10 pm): $30+
It’s common for performances to happen at late-night dance parties, but how often does a performance piece contain its own party? It does at Gunnar Montana’s Kink Haüs, a sexually-exploratory show in La Mama’s literally underground theater that doubles as a “brutal underground nightclub where no f*c ks are given.” Perhaps if you haven’t been to notorious Berlin nightclub Berghain, where there’s dancing upstairs and debauchery downstairs, this will be some kind of version of that. Or not. Only one way to find out. More →
(screenshot via watermelonmelange.com)
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. More →
New Museum kicked off its big fall season last night with a huge, career-spanning exhibition of one of the UK’s most influential living artists, Sarah Lucas. The show, titled Au Natural after one of her most famous assemblages, encompasses all of the museum’s three main floors and features more than 150 sculptural pieces, photographs, installations, and videos. Provocative, clever, and engaging throughout, it’s the first retrospective of Lucas’s work seen anywhere in America, and it runs into the new year. Expect enthusiastic crowds and lots of stockings, cigarettes, and penises.
(Photos courtesy of Sister City)
Earlier this year the folks behind the Ace Hotel chain announced that they were converting a former Salvation Army shelter on the Bowery into a minimalist “micro hotel” inspired by ““the functional perfection of Finnish saunas, Japanese bento boxes, rock-cut cliff dwellings of prehistory and John Cage’s 4’33.” Now we’re told Sister City, as the new hotel chain will be branded, will open in January with a restaurant, Floret, helmed by the owner of Carroll Gardens’ acclaimed Battersby.
(image via Storefront for Art and Architecture)
Subculture: Microbial Metrics and the Multi-Species City
Opening Tuesday, September 18 at Storefront For Art and Architecture, 7 pm to 9 pm. On view through January 12.
It’s no secret that the city is filled with all sorts of microorganisms—yes, even the kind you’d rather not think about. They’re there! Rather than focus on just the unsettling spores, a uniquely scientific new installation at the Storefront for Art and Architecture seeks to reimagine the city and the many neighborhoods and cultures it contains using the framework of the “human microbiome.” This posits that each city in the world, and each subculture or pocket within them, has their own “gut biome,” just like human beings do. The installation (by Kevin Slavin, Elizabeth Hénaff, and the collective The Living) normalizes the idea that there are microorganisms everywhere in a city, collecting them through wood in the exhibition space’s facade as well “bio-receptive wooden tiles” scattered throughout the city. This wood is then displayed and analyzed, simultaneously art and scientific specimen. More →
WEDNESDAY
(image via Caveat / Facebook)
Profiled: A Comedy Show About Racial Profiling
Wednesday, September 12 at Caveat, 9 pm: $8 advance, $10 doors
Though Nanette seemed to imply otherwise, making jokes about experiences one has had with hate and bigotry can actually be a productive outlet for one to deal with these experiences and for (hopefully) allowing audiences to see these issues from a new perspective. Profiled, a comedy show hosted by Lauren Clark and Marcela Onyango where performers of color (Ziwe Fumudoh, Milly Tamarez, Rebecca O’Neal, Andrea Coleman, and Ariel Evans) discuss instances of racial profiling they’ve experienced, seeks to do just that. Plus, 40% of ticket proceeds will go to the ACLU. More →