Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week, 9/3-9/9
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!
If you’re staying in the city over this long Labor Day weekend, start September off right by giving in to your cultural lust. Head to Times Square to sample the newest art film for #MidnightMoment or kick off the reopening of galleries with DUMBO’s first Thursday Gallery Walk of the season. Sample artist Boy Kong’s museum-influenced show at Gitler and the Affordable Art Fair, or hit up one of the Metropolitan Opera’s free screenings al fresco outside of Lincoln Center. You can also experience Washington Square Park as Jackson Pollock did with the annual outdoor art exhibition, and combine two things you never thought would mix at the Public Address Gallery: conceptual art and karaoke. And don’t forget the long-standing multi-cultural tradition of the epic West Indian-American Day Carnival and Parade (bring feathers and glitter!).
Rashaad Newsome’s “The Conductor (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi)” #MidnightMoment ↑
Times Square
Ongoing through September 30th, 11:57pm- midnight
Times Square Arts’ monthly #MidnightMoment for September falls into the hip hop realm, with an incredible video by Rashaad Newsome that is an abstraction of the hand gestures of top hip-hop MCs from over one hundred music videos. Look out for later this month when the nightly presentation is paired with a live component!
The Metropolitan Opera’s annual Summer HD Festival ↑
10 Lincoln Center Plaza
Ongoing through September 7, most screenings at 7:45pm
For each night of the festival, 3,100 people can relax under the stars and watch a screening of one of the famed opera company’s performances on the big BIG screen—for free. Rain or shine, first come, first served. Bring a well-concealed drink and a date.
DUMBO First Thursday Gallery Walk ↑
Various locations in Dumbo
Thursday, September 3, 6:00-9:00pm
Two Trees and DUMBO BID kick off gallery season with a neighborhood-wide celebration. Galleries will stay open late, restaurants and bars will offer specials, and the streets will be abuzz with artist talks, special performances, and, of course, the killer view of Manhattan. Check out the 11 new exhibitions opening while you peruse the ‘hood.
West Indian-American Day Carnival and Parade ↑
Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Pkwy, Brooklyn
Thursday-Monday, September 3-7
Five days of music and festivities lead up to one of the most colorful and gorgeous parades in New York. On Labor Day, revelers will don glitter, glitz and feathers for a seven hour festival and parade. Bring your dancing shoes to get down to steel drum bands and calypso, and come hungry to sample some of the area’s best Caribbean delights.
Sentences on Conceptual Art Karaoke ↑
Public Address Gallery, 3611 14th Avenue Room 607, Brooklyn
Saturday, September 5, reception 7:00-8:00pm, karaoke 8:00-10:00pm
Channeling Sol LeWitt’s “Sentences on Conceptual Art,” 1969, artists Alan and Michael Flemming fuse two things we thought they never would: conceptual art and bubblegum pop karaoke. Sing along to your fave Britney Spears jam…only using lines from LeWitt’s cerebral conceptual piece from before you were born.
Washington Square Park Outdoor Art Exhibition ↑
Washington Square Park
Saturday-Monday, September 5-7
The inspiration for the annual outdoor art exhibition in Washington Square Park is rather romantic, modeled after the tale of a desperate Jackson Pollock and his friends Willem deKooning’s attempts to making rent on their Washington Square Park studios by hawking their masterpieces out in front of their apartments. This weekend check out the latest from artists en plein air and pick up a piece to take home. Or you can just marvel while walking through the iconic park.
Boy Kong- “SAMESUN” ↑
Gitler &_______, 3629 Broadway
Tuesday, September 8, 6:00-9:00pm
Artist Boy Kong distills the museum and gallery exhibitions of 2015 into simplistic building blocks of light, form and composition, which are fleshed out into his own brand of still life paintings. The young artist’s second solo show will run concurrently with the Affordable Art Fair, in which Kong is a featured artist.
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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.
