Last week’s unexpected snowfall all but announced the official arrival of winter, and with it the start of the holiday season. If you’re looking for wacky gift ideas, be sure to check out Martha Rosler’s Meta-Monumental Garage Sale, which starts this Saturday at MoMA and is sure to be full of interesting surprises. Perhaps in an attempt to preempt the saccharine holiday cheer that will soon sweep the city, a few shows like “Sinister Pop” at the Whitney and “Problem Play” at Leo Koenig have taken to darker themes for their final shows of the year. Our thoughts at Artspace are with those still literally in the dark, who continue to suffer the aftereffects of Hurricane Sandy.
— WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH —
Opening reception for “Jennifer Catron & Paul Outlaw: Super Supra Diluvian” at Allegra LaViola Gallery, 179 East Broadway, 6-8:30 p.m. (through December 23rd)
Known for playing eccentric characters in immersive and fabricated environments, artists Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw poke fun at the art world and its exaltation of celebrity status in their newest exhibition. In addition to sculptures and collages created for the show, the pair, who will be taking on the roles of “Artists,” will be staging a painful-sounding self-gilding performance.
Opening reception for “13.0.0.0.0” at RH Gallery, 137 Duane Street, 6-8 p.m. (through January 17, 2013)
Though everyone by now has heard of the Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world in late December, few are taking the ominous occasion as a cause for celebration like RH Gallery, which is hosting a group show of artists whose work touches on themes of destruction, renewal, and calendrical cycles. The gallery will also be hosting an "End of the Party" party on December 18th from 7-10 p.m.
Opening reception for “Paul DeMuro: Revelations” at Zürcher Studio, 33 Bleeker Street, 6-8 p.m. (through December 22nd)
Inspired by the proliferation of screen-based technology in contemporary culture, Paul DeMuro has created a series of paintings that examines and reflects upon our complicated personal investment in these mirrored devices.
Opening reception for “Where Is Jack Goldstein?” at Venus Over Manhattan, 980 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, 9 p.m. – 12 a.m. (through January 15th, 2013)
This exhibition will feature an assortment of early and rarely seen paintings by the artist Jack Goldstein, who was one of the prominent members of the “Pictures” generation. Today he's best known for his repetitive short films, one of which, “Two Fencers,” will be screened at the show’s opening.
— THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15TH —
Opening reception for “Matt Keegan and Eileen Quinlan: Y? O! G… A.” at the Kitchen, 512 West 19th Street, 6-8 p.m. (through December 22nd)
Old friends Matt Keegan and Eileen Quinlan will examine how personal and professional priorities change as one gets older and which aspects of our daily lives require the most attention to preserve proper mental well-being in today’s constantly shifting social and political environments.
Opening reception for “Björn Schülke: Luftraum” at Bitforms Gallery, 529 West 20th Street, 2nd Floor, 6-8:30 p.m. (through December 22nd)
Three interactive pieces form the center of this show of new work by German sculptor Björn Schülke. The constructions, which resemble remote-controlled vehicles, read and respond to viewer’s motions, acting not unlike a surveillance device or a trepidatious critter.
Opening reception for “Suzanne Caporael: Seeing Things” at Ameringer | McEnery | Yohe, 525 West 22nd Street, 6-8 p.m. (through December 22nd)
Drawn to the subject of visual cognition by an anomalous memory from an accident, Suzanne Caporeal’s research has led her to create a series of new, less formalistic paintings that explore the inherent subjectivity of vision.
Opening reception for “Agnes Denes: Sculptures of the Mind: 1968 to Now” at Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, 6th Floor, 6-8 p.m. (through January 19, 2013)
More neon brightens Chelsea with this show of large, pyramidal light sculptures by Agnes Denes, which are accompanyed by rarely seen vintage photographs commemorating the 30th anniversary of Wheatfield–A Confrontation, the Land Art piece for which Denes is best known.
Opening reception for “Tal R: The Shlomo” at Cheim & Read, 547 West 25th Street, 6-8 p.m. (through January 5th, 2013)
Fauvist in tone, Tal R’s paintings present brilliantly colored dreamscapes full of spatial and narrative depth, often inhabited by a mysterious avatar named, yes, Shlomo.
Opening of “Sinister Pop” at the Whitney Museum, 945 Madison Avenue, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
As part of a multiyear attempt to reassess and readdress oft-overlooked periods of American art in the museum’s collection, “Sinister Pop” looks at the darker sides of Pop Art and the ways in which Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, and Claes Oldenberg subverted the unblemished American dream, as well as attempts by other artists less typically associated with the movement like William Eggleston and Vija Celmins.
Artist’s lecture with Luc Sante, “The Genius of the System” at SVA Theater, 333 West 23rd Street, 7 p.m.
Sponsored by the Art Criticism and Writing department, writer Luc Sante will discuss the role of chance in photography and how its presence necessitates the fresh reinterpretation of images over time.
***FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16TH***
Opening reception for “The Magic Flute” at Golden Gallery, 120 Elizabeth Street, 6-8 p.m. (through December 22nd)
Named for one of Kimber Smith’s paintings on view in the exhibition, this group show spotlights artists who draw upon traditional forms from art history and transform them into something more playful and lyrical.
Opening reception for “Allison Somers: Ellipsis” at Microscope Gallery, 4 Charles Place, Brooklyn, 6-9 p.m. (through December 17th)
In photographs of artifacts, as well as in three new video pieces she recorded in Europe, Allison Somers looks at historical locations from the perspective of the foreign traveler in an attempt to unearth new information separate from that which is already known.
“Cage Rethinks the Economics of Experimentation: An evening with Eva Diaz” at Dumbo Arts Center, 111 Front Street, Brooklyn, 7 p.m.
In an evening that could prove inspirational for independent arts organizations and other small players in the cultural-capital economy, scholar Eva Diaz will discuss how John Cage collaborated with artists like Jasper Johns and Merce Cunningham to create new models for how to fund the performing arts.
Opening reception for “The Best of Everything: Prints from the Artspace Collection” at Electric Works, 1360 Mission Street, San Francisco, 6-8 p.m. (through December 22nd)
In this collaborative exhibition, San Francisco-based Electric Works teamed with none other than this very website to show works by artists like Peter Doig, Marcel Dzama, Pamela Hanson, and Kara Maria, some of whom are being presented at the gallery for the first time.
— SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17TH —
Opening reception for Ed Ruscha at Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street, 4-6 p.m. (through December 22nd)
Known for his iconic images of words and phrases, Ed Ruscha’s examination of the book as object is the focus of this exhibition, which follows “Reading Ed Ruscha” at the Kunstaus Bregenz in Austria. The show includes a number of paintings, photographs, and book works from the last 25 years of the artist’s career.
Opening reception for “Martha Rosler: Meta-Monumental Garage Sale” at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, 12-5 p.m. (through November 30th)
As if MoMA’s museum store wasn’t big enough, Martha Rosler will be recreating her famous 1973 Garage Sale work in the museum’s atrium starting this Saturday through the end of the month. Visitors can browse the selection of everyday and quirky objects and purchase their favorites just like a normal garage sale. Haggling is encouraged.
— SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18TH —
Jim Jarmusch and Jozef Van Wissem Album Release at MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, 5-6 p.m.
Filmmaker-turned-musician Jim Jarmusch will be throwing a party this Sunday at MoMA PS1 to celebrate the release of "The Mystery of Heaven," his second collaborative album with lutist Jozef Van Wissem, as part of the institution’s Sunday Sessions program. The event will be preceded by a conversation between artist Matt Connors and MoMA curator Peter Eleey, coinciding with the “Impression” exhibition also on view at the museum.
— TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH —
Opening receptions for “Problem Play” at Leo Koenig, Inc., 541 West 23rd Street, 6-8 p.m. (through January, 2013)
Taking its name from the category of theater that interspersed bits of black humor among dark psychological drama, this show, which features work by artists like Andrea Fraser, Jonathan Monk, and Ken Rum, uses humor to critique the more staid conceptions of contemporary society.
