December 29, 2021

Lubaina Himid at Tate Modern, through July 3, 2022

“Over four decades, Lubaina Himid’s powerful and poetic work has made her an increasingly influential figure in contemporary art – from her pivotal role in the British Black arts movement of the 1980s to winning the Turner Prize in 2017. Tate Modern presents Himid’s largest solo exhibition to date, incorporating new paintings and significant highlights from across her remarkable career. Taking inspiration from the artist’s interest in opera and her training in theatre design, the show unfolds across a sequence of scenes which put the visitor centre-stage. Through a series of questions placed throughout the exhibition, Himid asks us to consider how the built environment, history, personal relationships and conflict shape the lives we lead.

Presenting over 50 works that bring together painting, everyday objects, poetic texts and sound, the exhibition offers a rare chance to experience the breadth of Himid’s influential career. Early installations including the well-known A Fashionable Marriage 1984 enter into a dialogue with recent works such as her series of large format paintings Le Rodeur 2016-18, while new paintings created during lockdown go on public display for the first time.” — Tate Modern

Himid says: “I have always thought of my work as starting when people get to see it. For me nothing starts until then.”

Lubaina Himid, Ball on Shipboard, 2018. Rennie Collection, Vancouver © Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid, Between the Two my Heart is Balanced, 1991.Tate © Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid, Blue Grid Test, 2020 © Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid, Jelly Mould Pavilions for Liverpool, 2010. Acrylic on jelly moulds. Dimensions variable© Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid, Man in a Shirt Drawer, 2017-8Tate © Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid, The Operating Table, 2017-8. Private Collection © Lubaina Himid
Lubaina Himid, A Fashionable Marriage, 1986. installation view, 2017 © Nottingham Contemporary. Photo: Andy Keate. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens
Lubaina Himid, There Could Be an Endless Ocean, 2018. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens
Lubaina Himid, The Sweet Sharp Taste of Limes, 2017-18 © Lubaina Himid. Courtesy the artist and Hollybush Gardens

The exhibition is organised by Tate Modern in collaboration with Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne/Plateforme 10. Lubaina Himid is curated by Michael Wellen, Curator, International Art, Tate Modern and Amrita Dhallu, Assistant Curator, International Art, Tate Modern.

Images courtesy Tate Modern.

December 26, 2021

In America: A Lexicon of Fashion at The Met Fifth Avenue, through September 5, 2022

“The Costume Institute’s In America is a two-part exhibition on view September 18, 2021, through September 5, 2022. Part One, In America: A Lexicon of Fashion, in the Anna Wintour Costume Center, celebrates The Costume Institute’s 75th anniversary and establishes a modern vocabulary of fashion. Part Two, In America: An Anthology of Fashion—opening in the American Wing period rooms on May 5, 2022—will present sartorial narratives that relate to the complex and layered histories of those rooms. Parts One and Two will close on September 5, 2022. 

Part One—In America: A Lexicon of Fashion: Smaller in scale than Part Two, this portion of the exhibition, in the galleries of The Costume Institute’s Anna Wintour Costume Center, uses the organizing principle of a patchwork quilt. A signature quilt from The Met’s American Wing collection, begun in 1856 by Adeline Harris Sears and made of small, diamond-shaped squares signed by some of the most famous Americans of the period—including eight Presidents—opens the show and serves as a metaphor for the United States and its unique cultural identities.” — The Met 

Gallery View, Nostalgia (right) and Belonging (left). Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Nostalgia. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Belonging. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Delight. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Wonder (Left), Warmth (Center), Joy (Right). Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Wonder. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Assurance. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Consciousness. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gallery View, Signature Quilt. Image: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Signature quilt, “Tumbling Blocks” pattern, Adeline Harris Sears (American, 1839–1931), begun 1856; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, William Cullen Bryant Fellows Gifts, 1996 (1996.4).

“Fashion is both a harbinger of cultural shifts and a record of the forces, beliefs, and events that shape our lives,” said Max Hollein, the Marina Kellen French Director of The Met. “This two-part exhibition considers how fashion reflects evolving notions of identity in America and explores a multitude of perspectives through presentations that speak with powerful immediacy to some of the complexities of history. In looking at the past through this lens, we can consider the aesthetic and cultural impact of fashion on historical aspects of American life.”

Part One is organized by Andrew Bolton with Amanda Garfinkel, Assistant Curator, and The Costume Institute curatorial team. Part Two is organized by Bolton and Jessica Regan, Associate Curator of The Costume Institute, and Amelia Peck, the Marica F. Vilcek Curator of American Decorative Arts and Supervising Curator of the Ratti Textile Center, with the support of Sylvia Yount, the Lawrence A. Fleischman Curator in Charge of the American Wing.

Images courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

December 22, 2021

Shikō Munakata: A Way of Seeing at Japan Society, December 10, 2021 – March 20, 2022

“Japan Society is pleased to present Shikō Munakata: A Way of Seeing, a new presentation of nearly 100 path-breaking works by the celebrated artist Shikō Munakata (1903–1975). Primarily known for his powerfully expressive woodblock prints in black on white paper, this exhibition reveals the breadth of Munakata’s oeuvre, which spanned from prints to calligraphy, sumi ink paintings, watercolors, lithography, and ceramics and occasionally included a vibrant color palette inspired by the colorful lantern floats in the annual Nebuta Festivals of his native Aomori Prefecture. Organized from Japan Society’s rare collection—the largest Munakata collection in the United States—the installation revisits this imaginative twentieth-century artist. 

A highlight of the installation is the complete Tōkaidō Series (1964), a set of sixty-one prints—half in color and half in black-and-white—that depict scenes the artist witnessed while traveling along the historic coastal route between Tokyo and Kyoto. Munakata’s series extends to Osaka, building upon the nineteenth-century ukiyo-e master printmaker Utagawa Hiroshige’s (1797–1858) portrayal of the traditional fifty-three stations. This full set by Munakata will be on view for the first time since 1965.” — Japan Society 

Installation views of Shikō Munakata: A Way of Seeing at Japan Society. Photos by Corrado Serra.

“Black and white are absolute. Expressing the most delicate vibration, the most profound tranquility, and unlimited profundity.” —Shikō Munakata

Shikō Munakata: A Way of Seeing is organized by Japan Society and curated by Tiffany Lambert, Curator, Japan Society. Original exhibition design is by New York-and-Barcelona based MAIO who provide a fresh, complimentary display that uses the artworks themselves to define the exhibition space and viewing experience.

“Shikō Munakata created his artworks from an unusual closeness. A visual impairment made him work with his eyes just inches from the woodblock, thus focusing on specific areas and details more so than the whole, a fact that reinforces even more the haptic nature of the works,” says MAIO. “The exhibition display aims to restitute this feeling of closeness, while playing freely with reinterpreted techniques and concepts, such as urazaishiki (back-coloring) or zakki (a set of ordinary elements) to bring a new perspective to the broad corpus of his works.”

December 18, 2021

Dawn DeDeaux: The Space Between Worlds at New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), through January 23, 2022

“The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) presents Dawn DeDeaux: The Space Between Worlds, the first comprehensive museum exhibition for the pioneering multimedia artist Dawn DeDeaux, on view October 22, 2021 through January 23, 2022. One of the first American artists to connect questions about social justice to emerging environmental concerns, DeDeaux’s art responds to an uncertain future imperiled by runaway population growth, breakneck industrial development, and the imminent threat of climate change. 

Since the 1970s, DeDeaux’s practice has included video, performance, photography, sculpture, and installation to create art that grapples with the social, political, and environmental impacts of the Anthropocene, and responds to the unique threats facing her home state of Louisiana, one of the fastest disappearing landmasses in the world. The Space Between Worlds is organized around a series of immersive installations that span DeDeaux’s entire 50-year career. Featured are early projects like CB Radio Booths, which linked communities across New Orleans via radio and satellite, to more recent works from her MotherShip series, which plots our escape from a ruined earth, and a brand new immersive 70-foot video installation entitled Where’s Mary.” — New Orleans Museum of Art  

Dawn DeDeaux, CB Radio Booths, 1975- 76, Installation view, dimensions variable, Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Seth Boonchai
Dawn DeDeaux, America House, 1989- 91/2021, Digital drawings, metal framing, motion detector lights, dimensions variable, Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Seth Boonchai
Dawn DeDeaux, The Face of God, In Search of, 1996/2021, Four synchronized video projections, metal bed, dimensions variable, Video production and editing: Danny Miller (1996) and Conor McBride (2021), Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Seth Boonchai
Dawn DeDeaux, The Face of God, In Search of, 1996/2021, Four synchronized video projections, metal bed, dimensions variable, Video production and editing: Danny Miller (1996) and Conor McBride (2021), Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by the artist
Right: Dawn DeDeaux, Where’s Mary, 2021 (detail), Digital projection and found sculpture, 156 x 840 inches, Video Production: Dave Greber, Filming: John Bagnall and Elsa Kern from Fish Pot Studio, Paul Costello; Sound: Dawn DeDeaux, Pedro Segundo; Produced by John Fischbach with Westley Fontenot and Misha Kachkachishvili of Esplanade Recording Studio; Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Dawn DeDeaux, The Face of God, In Search of, 1996/2021 (detail), Four synchronized video projections, metal bed, dimensions variable, Video production and editing: Danny Miller (1996) and Conor McBride (2021), Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Photo by the artist
Dawn DeDeaux, Watermarker Highrise, 2021, Polished acrylic with embedded digital images, dimensions variable, Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Seth Boonchai
Right: Dawn DeDeaux, Calvary at Ground Zero: Louisiana’s Vanishing Landscape, 2014–16, Six digital drawing on six metal panels, 114 x 48 inches (each), Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Middle: Dawn DeDeaux, Parlor Games: Aleppo, Palmyra, Rome, Luxor, Athens, Sienna & New Orleans, 2016–17, Medallion, marine chain, wrecking ball, chain, columns, dimensions variable Collection of Jack Bakker © Dawn DeDeaux
Foreground: Dawn DeDeaux, The Mantle (I’ve Seen the Future and It Was Yesterday), 2016–17, Aluminum mantle, found objects, dimensions variable, Collection of Jack Bakker © Dawn DeDeaux Middle: Dawn DeDeaux, Parlor Games: Aleppo, Palmyra, Rome, Luxor, Athens, Sienna & New Orleans, 2016–17, Medallion, marine chain, wrecking ball, chain, columns, dimensions variable Collection of Jack Bakker © Dawn DeDeaux Background: Dawn DeDeaux, Calvary at Ground Zero: Louisiana’s Vanishing Landscape, 2014–16, Six digital drawing on six metal panels, 114 x 48 inches (each), Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Photo by Seth Boonchai
Foreground: Dawn DeDeaux, Parlor Games: Aleppo, Palmyra, Rome, Luxor, Athens, Sienna & New Orleans, 2016–17, Medallion, marine chain, wrecking ball, chain, columns, dimensions variable Collection of Jack Bakker © Dawn DeDeaux Background: Dawn DeDeaux, The Mantle (I’ve Seen the Future and It Was Yesterday), 2016–17, Aluminum mantle, found objects, dimensions variable, Collection of Jack Bakker © Dawn DeDeaux Background: Dawn DeDeaux, MotherShip Ring: Alpha Omega, 2012/2021, Aluminum truss, 360 inches (diameter) Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Photo by the artist
Foreground: Dawn DeDeaux, MotherShip Ring: Alpha Omega, 2012/2021, Aluminum truss, 360 inches (diameter) Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Background: Dawn DeDeaux, The Day Old Forster Oak Fell Into the Ring, 2011, Digital drawing on aluminum, 120 x 432 inches, Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux Photo by Seth Boonchai
Dawn DeDeaux, Where’s Mary, 2021 (detail), Digital projection and found sculpture, 156 x 840 inches, Video Production: Dave Greber, Filming: John Bagnall and Elsa Kern from Fish Pot Studio, Paul Costello; Sound: Dawn DeDeaux, Pedro Segundo; Produced by John Fischbach with Westley Fontenot and Misha Kachkachishvili of Esplanade Recording Studio; Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Jonathan Traviesa
Dawn DeDeaux, Where’s Mary, 2021 (detail), Digital projection and found sculpture, 156 x 840 inches, Video Production: Dave Greber, Filming: John Bagnall and Elsa Kern from Fish Pot Studio, Paul Costello; Sound: Dawn DeDeaux, Pedro Segundo; Produced by John Fischbach with Westley Fontenot and Misha Kachkachishvili of Esplanade Recording Studio; Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Jonathan Traviesa
Dawn DeDeaux, Where’s Mary, 2021 (detail), Digital projection and found sculpture, 156 x 840 inches, Video Production: Dave Greber, Filming: John Bagnall and Elsa Kern from Fish Pot Studio, Paul Costello; Sound: Dawn DeDeaux, Pedro Segundo; Produced by John Fischbach with Westley Fontenot and Misha Kachkachishvili of Esplanade Recording Studio; Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by Jonathan Traviesa
Dawn DeDeaux, Paradise Lost, 2021, Found wrought iron gate, Collection of the Artist © Dawn DeDeaux, Photo by the artist

“Dawn DeDeaux has long grappled with existential questions surrounding earth and humanity’s survival,” said Susan Taylor, Montine McDaniel Freeman Director of NOMA. “Originally scheduled for Fall 2020 but twice postponed—once due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and again because of the recent climate change-induced catastrophe of Hurricane Ida—the works and messages presented in the exhibition are more relevant than ever as we navigate this challenging time.”

Images courtesy New Orleans Museum of Art.

December 13, 2021

Sharks at American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), opens December 15, 2021

“People have been fascinated by sharks for as long as we have been exploring the oceans. Fixed in the public imagination as toothy, fearsome predators, sharks are far more fascinating, and more complex, than their depiction in popular culture. Sharks, a new exhibition opening at the American Museum of Natural History this winter, will bring to life the incredible diversity of this ancient group of fishes and will offer visitors a unique look at pre-historic and modern shark species, their habitats and hunting styles, and the conservation threats these magnificent animals are facing today.

Visitors to Sharks will explore the diversity, anatomy and behavior of sharks and their close relatives through encounters with tiger sharks, great whites, and other familiar favorites along with little-known creatures such as the torpedo ray, the longnose chimaera, and the tiny dwarf lantern shark, which glows in the dark and is small enough to hold in your hand. The exhibition will showcase fossils from the Museum’s extensive collections, current Museum research, and a spectacular ‘parade’ of sharks highlighting the diversity of ancient and modern shark species through 30 lifelike models that range from 33 feet to 5 inches long, including the prehistoric megapredator megalodon, the ‘Tyrannosaurus rex of the seas,’ which was so large it preyed on whales. Other exhibition highlights include an interactive that challenges visitors to hunt like a hammerhead and touch-free media that reveals distinctive shark traits with the wave of a hand. Sharks also delves into the serious conservation issues facing sharks today, including overfishing and habitat destruction, demonstrating that while these amazing animals pose few threats to people, we represent a serious danger to them.” — American Museum of Natural History

Installation views of Sharks at American Museum of Natural History. Photos by Corrado Serra.

Sharks is curated by John Sparks, curator in the Museum’s Department of Ichthyology in the Division of Vertebrate Zoology. Sharks has also drawn on the expertise of John Maisey, curator-in-charge emeritus, fossil fish, Division of Paleontology.

December 11, 2021

The Experimental Self: Edvard Munch’s Photography at Scandinavia House, December 10, 2021 – March 26, 2022

“The Experimental Self: Edvard Munch’s Photography, an exhibition organized by American-Scandinavian Foundation with The Munch Museum in Oslo that first brought the photographic work of the master painter to NYC in 2017/18 before traveling worldwide, returns to Scandinavia House this winter with a newly conceived design and a section including vintage camera equipment alongside the release of the 2020 illustrated book The Experimental Self: The Photography of Edvard Munch, awarded with diploma as one of The Year’s Most Beautiful Books, 2021 by Grafill, Norway’s National Organization for Visual Communication.

Internationally celebrated for his paintings, prints, and watercolors, Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944) also took photographs. In 2017/18, the exhibition The Experimental Self: Edvard Munch’s Photography at Scandinavia House drew widespread acclaim for introducing audiences to his photographic and film work, emphasizing the artist’s experimentalism and examining his exploration of the camera as an expressive medium. This exhibition includes Munch’s experimental portraiture of friends and family as well as his selfportraiture, including images from what he termed his ‘Fatal Destiny’ portfolio, staged between 1902 and 1908. By probing and exploiting the dynamics of ‘faulty’ practice, such as distortion, blurred motion, eccentric camera angles, and other photographic ‘mistakes,’ Munch photographed himself and his immediate environment in ways that rendered them poetic. In both still images and in his few forays with a hand-held moving-picture camera, Munch not only archived images, but invented them. As a recent Financial Times Magazine review of the works states, ‘Munch’s mercurial snapshots trace the survival of an artist obsessed with loss… his photographs remain tantalisingly opaque a century on’.” — Scandinavia House

Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait ‘à la Marat,’ Beside a Bathtub at Dr. Jacobson’s Clinic, 1908-09. Original: Gelatin silver contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait at the Breakfast Table at Dr. Jacobson’s Clinic, 1908-1909. Original: Gelatin silver contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Nurse in Black, Jacobson’s Clinic, 1908-09. Original: Preserved negative. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait on Beach with Brushes and Palette in Warnemünde, 1907. Original: Collodion contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait in Profile Indoors in Åsgårdstrand, ca. 1904. Original: Gelatin silver contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Edvard Munch and Rosa Meissner in Warnemünde, 1907. Original: Collodion contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait with Valise, 1906. Original: Collodion contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait with Model for a National Monument, Kragerø, 1909-10. Original: Gelatin silver contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum
Edvard Munch. Paintings in the Winter Studio in Ekely, 1931-32. Original: Gelatin silver contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum

Title image: Edvard Munch. Self-Portrait Wearing Glasses and Seated Before Two Watercolors at Ekely, ca. 1930. Original: Gelatin silver contact print. Courtesy of Munch Museum.

The Experimental Self: Edvard Munch’s Photography was curated by Dr. Patricia Berman.

Images courtesy Scandinavia House.

December 7, 2021

SVA❤️Milton: The Legacy of Milton Glaser at SVA Gramercy Gallery, December 7, 2021 – January 15, 2022

“School of Visual Arts (SVA) is pleased to present ‘SVA❤️Milton: The Legacy of Milton Glaser,’ a new exhibition exploring design giant Milton Glaser’s early life and career, on view December 7, 2021 through January 15, 2022 at the SVA Gramercy Gallery at 209 East 23rd Street. An immersive experience that places the enduring influence of Glaser in a real-world context, the exhibition celebrates his legacy as a designer and teacher through photographs, audio and original work from the Glaser Archives at SVA. Additionally, a digital companion exhibition featuring videos and notable quotes mounted on the walls will be viewable from the sidewalk outside the SVA Flatiron Gallery windows at 133/141 West 21st Street through January 10. 

‘SVA❤️Milton’ brings the viewer into Glaser’s world with elaborate sets like a record shop with more than 100 of his album covers, a book shop with actual books as well as digital images of book and magazine covers, his many SVA subway posters, his extensive collection of activism art and posters, intricate process work, classroom photos and archival audio recording of his classes at SVA, his desk with all its surroundings from his office, photographs from childhood and his Push Pin Studios days and much more.” — School of Visual Arts

Poster: 1971. Give Earth a Chance. Environmental action coalition.
Album Cover: 1964. Jazz Odyssey, Volume II. The Sound of Chicago
Album Cover: 1968. Townes Van Zandt. For the Sake of the Song
Album Cover: 1972. Doc Watson. Elementary Doctor Watson
Album Cover: 1975. Rameau. Les Indes Galantes
Album Cover: 1976. Albert King. Truckload of Lovin’
Album Cover: 1977. Lightnin’!
Album Cover: 1978. Isaac Stern. Vivaldi The Four Seasons
Album Cover: 1978. The New Brubeck Quartet Live at Montreux
Book Cover: 1966. Harriet Beecher Stowe. UncleTom’s Cabin
Book Cover: 1967. Christina Stead. The Puzzleheaded Girl
Book Cover: 1970. Hermann Hesse. Gertrude

“SVA❤️Milton” is organized by SVA BFA Design and BFA Advertising chair Gail Anderson, SVA Archives director Beth Kleber, 3D Design chair Kevin O’Callaghan and associate art director of SVA’s in-house design studio Visual Arts Press Brian E. Smith, in partnership with the Milton Glaser Design Study Center and Archives, housed at SVA and containing thousands of the designer’s works. O’Callaghan also designed the layout of the exhibition. The Flatiron Gallery windows are designed by Matthew Iacovelli, assistant to the chair of BFA Advertising and BFA Design.

Images courtesy School of Visual Arts (SVA).

December 6, 2021

Modern Worlds: Austrian and German Art 1890-1940 at Neue Galerie, through March 13, 2022

“On November 11, 2021, Neue Galerie New York opened ‘Modern Worlds: Austrian and German Art, 1890-1940,’ an exhibition of major works of Austrian and German fine art and design from the permanent collection. The presentation, organized in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the founding of Neue Galerie New York, fills the entirety of its landmark Museum Mile building. The opening of this exhibition offers visitors access to all of the galleries for the first time since March 2020, when the Neue Galerie, along with museums in New York and around the world, shuttered in response to the pandemic.
 
On view through March 13, 2022, ‘Modern Worlds: Austrian and German Art, 1890-1940’ underscores the Neue Galerie’s unique mission to bring a sense of perspective back to Germanic culture of this period, and to make the best of this work available to American and other audiences for both scholarly and aesthetic inquiry. Since the museum opened in November 2001, it has presented a range of exhibitions, each exploring a distinct aspect of the innovative, modern spirit discovered and pursued by artists and designers in Austria and Germany at the turn of the twentieth century. This exhibition acknowledges the continued growth and evolution of the museum. Major acquisitions have augmented the Neue Galerie’s holdings, and one of the highlights of the presentation is Carl Moll’s 1905 White Interior, displayed at the Neue Galerie for the first time.” — Neue Galerie

Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907, oil, silver, and gold leaf on canvas. Neue Galerie New York. Acquired through the generosity of Ronald S. Lauder, the heirs of the Estates of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer, and the Estée Lauder Fund
Carl Moll (1861-1945), White Interior, 1905, oil on canvas. Private Collection
Egon Schiele (1890–1918), Town among the Greenery (The Old City III), 1917, oil on canvas. Neue Galerie New York, in memory of Otto and Marguerite Manley, given as a bequest from the Estate of Marguerite Manley. Photo: Hulya Kolabas for Neue Galerie New York
Josef Hoffmann (1870-1956), Tobacco case acquired by Otto Primavesi, 1912, Execution: Wiener Werkstätte, model no. G 1705, gold, amber, coral, garnet, lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl, opal, quartz, rhodochrosite, tourmaline, and turquoise. Private Collection
Gabriele Münter (1877–1962), Woman in Garden, 1912, oil on canvas. Neue Galerie New York. This work is part of the collection of Estée Lauder and was made available through the generosity of Estée Lauder. Photo: Hulya Kolabas for Neue Galerie New York. © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Max Beckmann (1884–1950), Self-Portrait with Horn, 1938, oil on canvas. Neue Galerie New York and Private Collection. © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Copyright © 2021 Neue Galerie New York.
Paul Klee (1879–1940), Mystical-Ceramic (In the Manner of a Still-Life), 1925, oil on board. Neue Galerie New York. This work is part of the collection of Estée Lauder and was made available through the generosity of Estée Lauder. Photo: Hulya Kolabas for Neue Galerie New York. © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn

Images courtesy Neue Galerie.


November 30, 2021

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre at New York City Center, December 1 – 19, 2021

“Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Center’s Principal Dance Company and America’s beloved cultural ambassador to the world, returns to the stage for a much-anticipated annual season in their ‘home’ theater December 1–19, 2021. Marking a decade of leading the Company forward, Artistic Director Robert Battle will present Ailey’s renowned artists in a diverse repertory of premieres, new productions and Ailey classics. The repertory features two world premieres adapted from video to stage by Robert Battle and Ailey Resident Choreographer Jamar Roberts as well as four new productions.” — Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater 

“There will be much to celebrate this December as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater returns to the stage at our New York City Center “home”, reconnecting to audiences during live performances with artistry that renews our spirit of courage, hope and joy,” stated Artistic Director Robert Battle. “I am deeply humbled to have led this seminal Company for a decade, joined by incomparable dancers and choreographers on a journey of discovery that extends from the powerful works of our founder to the important voices of today – an ongoing dance dialogue that shines a light on the resilience of the human spirit.”

2021-22 Season World Premiere: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Solomon Dumas, Samantha Figgins, and Belen Indhira Pereyra in Robert Battle’s For Four (virtual premiere at the Ailey Spirit Gala, 2021). Photo by Christopher Duggan.
2021-22 Season World Premiere: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Jacquelin Harris. Ghrai DeVore-Stokes, and Chalvar Monteiro in Jamar Roberts’ Holding Space. Photo by Christopher Duggan.
New Production: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Clifton Brown and former member Linda Celeste Sims in Robert Battle’s Unfold. Photo by Julietta Cervantes.
New Production: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Jacqueline Green in Alvin Ailey’s Pas de Duke. Photo by Pierre Wachholder.
New Production: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in Alvin Ailey’s The River (2014 production). Photo by Paul Kolnik.
New Production: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s Matthew Rushing in Alvin Ailey’s Reflections in D (previous production). Photo: Eduardo Patino, NYC.

Title image: Photo: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Photo by Dario Calmese.

Images courtesy Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

November 29, 2021

Soft Water Hard Stone at New Museum, through January 23, 2022

“The 2021 New Museum Triennial, Soft Water Hard Stone, brings together works across mediums by forty artists and collectives living and working in twenty-three countries. On view from October 28, 2021 to January 23, 2022, and now in its fifth installment, the exhibition is co-curated by Margot Norton, Allen and Lola Goldring Curator at the New Museum, and Jamillah James, Senior Curator, The Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), and presents new and recent work by a majority of artists who are exhibiting in a U.S. museum for the first time.

The title of the 2021 Triennial, “Soft Water Hard Stone,” is taken from a Brazilian proverb, versions of which are found across cultures:  Água mole em pedra dura, tanto bate até que fura (Soft water on hard stone hits until it bores a hole).

The proverb can be said to have two meanings: if one persists long enough, the desired effect can eventually be achieved; and time can destroy even the most perceptibly solid materials. The title speaks to ideas of resilience and perseverance, and the impact that an insistent yet discrete gesture can have over time. It also provides a metaphor for resistance, since water—a constantly flowing and transient material—is capable of eventually dissolving stone—a substance associated with permanence, but also composed of tiny particles that can collapse under pressure.” — New Museum

Installation views of Soft Water Hard Stone at New Museum, New York. Photos by Dario Lasagni. Images courtesy New Museum.

November 26, 2021

The Hare with Amber Eyes at The Jewish Museum, through May 15, 2022

“The Jewish Museum presents The Hare with Amber Eyes, an exhibition that tells the story of the Ephrussi family—celebrated in the 2010 memoir and The New York Times bestseller of the same name by Edmund de Waal—and showcases the breadth and depth of their history and illustrious collections. The exhibition, on view at the Jewish Museum from November 19, 2021, through May 15, 2022, explores the family’s rise to prominence and splendor in the first half of the nineteenth century, followed by a focus on the prolific collector and historian of art, Charles Ephrussi, to the inter-war years, and finally World War II, when the family lost its fortune and collection to Nazi looting.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro, working closely with de Waal and the Jewish Museum, created an interpretive installation using art and artifacts, loaned variously by the family and by other cultural institutions. These items trace the turbulent history of the Ephrussi’s movements through place and time. The domestic setting of the Jewish Museum evokes the architecturally distinguished homes the Ephrussi family inhabited over the course of generations. Their stories are brought to life through audio excerpts from The Hare with Amber Eyes read by Edmund de Waal and encountered by visitors at specific locations throughout the exhibition, giving context to the wide range of objects on display.” — The Jewish Museum

Installation views of The Hare with Amber Eyes, the Jewish Museum, NY, November 19, 2021-May 15, 2022. Photos by Iwan Baan.

The Hare with Amber Eyes is organized by the Jewish Museum, New York; Stephen Brown, Curator, with Shira Backer, Leon Levy Associate Curator; and Elizabeth Diller in collaboration with Edmund de Waal. Interpretation and design by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Title image: Recumbent hare with raised forepaw, signed Masatoshi. Ivory, eyes inlaid in amber colored buffalo horn. Osaka, Japan, ca. 1880. de Waal family collection.

Images courtesy the Jewish Museum.

November 20, 2021

Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction at The Museum of Modern Art, November 21, 2021 – March 12, 2022 

“The Museum of Modern Art presents Sophie Taeuber- Arp: Living Abstraction, the first major US exhibition in 40 years to survey this multifaceted abstract artist’s innovative and wide-ranging body of work. The exhibition explores the artist’s interdisciplinary approach to abstraction through some 300 works assembled from over 50 public and private collections in Europe and the US, including textiles, beadwork, polychrome marionettes, architectural and interior designs, stained glass windows, works on paper, paintings, and relief sculptures.” — MoMA

“With this exhibition, we aim to advance the understanding of what abstraction meant to Taeuber-Arp, and of how she contributed to its history through her steady commitment to innovation and experimentation,” said Umland. “The model she provides of a ‘living abstraction’—by which we mean one that relates to the body, to the applied arts, to architectural interiors, and to her contemporary circumstances—encourages a more open-ended and generative approach to the history of modern art.”

Installation views of Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction, on view from November 21, 2021 through March 12, 2022 at The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Photos: Jonathan Muzikar.

Sophie Taeuber-Arp: Living Abstraction is organized by The Museum of Modern Art, Kunstmuseum Basel, and Tate Modern, by Anne Umland, the Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA; Walburga Krupp, independent curator; Eva Reifert, Curator of Nineteenth-Century and Modern Art, Kunstmuseum Basel; and Natalia Sidlina, Curator, International Art, Tate Modern, London; with Laura Braverman, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, MoMA.

Title image: Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Animated Circle Picture. 1935. Oil on canvas. 19 7/8 × 25 5/8″ (50.5 × 65.1 cm). Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y. Charles Clifton Fund. Courtesy Albright-Knox Art Gallery, photo Brenda Bieger. 

Images courtesy The Museum of Modern Art.