Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week – 1/28-2/3
In a city where hundreds of interesting happenings occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Art Nerd‘s philosophy is a combination of observation, participation, education and of course a party to create the ultimate well-rounded week. Jump ahead for Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer’s top picks for 6sqft readers!
Last week’s blizzard Jonas may have made a fun day for jumping in snow piles, but it put a total damper on a bevy of artists waiting to present themselves to the hungry art world. This week, make up for lost time at Last Rites’ rescheduled Allison Sommers opening or the most popular winter pool party at the Grace Hotel, hosted by artist Annika Connor. Two LA artists with opposing views come together at Joseph Gross Gallery, while Katya Grokhovsky invites visitors to put their hands all over her exhibition. Peter Caine brings a pooping robotic Ronald Reagan to a gallery on the Lower East Side (enough said). Times Square Arts invites guests to meet their first artists in residence, and the Schomberg Center invites Basquiat fans to a talk relating his work to its effects on African Diasporic communities.
Peter Caine – “Let’s Print That Shit at Walmart” ↑
Frosch and Portmann, 53 Stanton Street
January 28, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Peter Caine’s animatronic robotic sculptures wowed at PS1 a few years ago. Now, Caine puts his grotesque spin on the 2016 primaries, with surreal portraits of our favorite candidates…and a robotic sculpture of a shitting Ronald Reagan to boot.
“Never Said Never” – A Contemporary Exhibition of New Works by Matt Herget and Knowledge Bennett ↑
Joseph Gross Gallery, 548 West 28th Street
January 28, 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Tonight’s show features two self-taught artists who are based in Los Angeles…but their similarities end there. Mr. Herget’s work is painterly impasto with a tactile aesthetic, while Knowledge Bennett is straight up pop art–and features a lot of groin grabbing.
Katya Grokhovsky: “Touch It” ↑
SOHO20 Gallery, 56 Bogart Street, Brooklyn
January 28, 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Tonight, Katya Grokhovsky’s evolving exhibition comes to a head when visitors are invited to not only see the art, but also to touch it! Touch all the art you want, then stay for a performance by Christen Clifford.
SOLD Magazine Launch Party and Exhibition ↑
17 Frost Gallery, 17 Frost Street, Williamsburg
January 28, 6:00-10:00 p.m.
For their first “artists by artists” magazine, SOLD is throwing a bash that includes an exhibition curated by Ellis Gallagher, along with a boozy party. Check out works by Crash One, Dain, Chris RWK and more.
“What Passing Bells:” A. W. Sommers Solo exhibition ↑
Last Rites Gallery, 325 West 38th Street
January 29, 6:00 p.m.
Postponed by Jonas, tonight you can finally check out the beautiful miniature drawings and watercolors of Allison Sommer. Her ability to render the morbid and grotesque with a gauzy haze of delicacy makes the subject almost glamorous (the Victorians would have approved). Friday’s show is a slight departure from her previous work, inspired by a poem by Wilfred Owen whose text is incorporated into Britten’s “War Requiem,” and incorporating collage into her multi-layered drawings and paintings.
Annika Connor- Pool Party Take 2 ↑
Room Mate Grace Hotel, 125 West 45th Street
January 30, 8:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Romantic painter Annika Connor’s yearly January pool party soiree got blizzarded out last weekend, but never fear, swimsuits can be worn this weekend. If you happen to be beach ready in January, enjoy a winter swim alongside the artist and her friends, as well as music by Ian Mellencamp, saunas, dancing and a complimentary vodka gimlet.
Artists At the Crossroads with R. Luke DuBois and Okwui Okpokwasili ↑
The Times Center, The Stage, 242 West 41st Street
February 1, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Times Square Arts launched its first artist residency program last fall, an interesting program that uses the heavy traffic of Times Square to engage artists with the public. Tonight, hear the fruits of their labor, so to speak, and meet the pioneer artists.
Talks at the Schomburg: Basquiat and Contemporary Queer Art ↑
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, 515 Malcolm X Blvd
February 1, 6:30-8:00 p.m.
In conjunction with the exhibition “Basquiat: Still Fly at 55,” tonight’s talk explores and historicizes the cultural phenomena and life events that laid the foundation for Basquiat’s creative genius and his undeniable impact on African Diasporic communities across the globe. If you can’t get up there, you can watch it in your jammies on livestream!
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Lori Zimmer is a writer, curator and founder of Art Nerd New York, an off-beat art history guide to the city. Lori also recently released her first book through Rockport Publishers, The Art of Cardboard: Big Ideas for Creativity, Collaboration, Storytelling, and Reuse. Follow her on Twitter @LoriZimmer.
