Editors’ Picks: 4 Great Art and Design Events This Week

Here are Galerie’s picks of the must-see art and design events this week.

Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness by Leonardo da Vinci Photo: Courtesy of The Met website

1. Leonardo da Vinci’s Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

To commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will display the Master’s unfinished work Saint Jerome Praying in the Wilderness, within the Robert Lehmann Collection; it’s on loan from the Vatican Museum. Da Vinci began to paint his subject in 1483, illustrating Saint Jerome of the Christian Church as an elderly hermit in prayerful anguish. The artist’s unfinished brushstrokes and fingerprints can be observed upon the canvas, allowing visitors to gain insight into his remarkable creative process. —Kaela Walker

When: Through October 6, 2019

Where: 1000 Fifth Avenue

Kolho chairs by Matthew Day Jackson, Formica, and Made by Choice. Photo: Dominic Brown

2. Matthew Day Jackson’s Kohlo Collection
Casa Perfect

Artist Matthew Day Jackson has turned to furniture design, developing a Formica surface that subtly replicates the surface of the moon in an artful new collection of table and chairs. Dubbed Kohlo, the collection is a result of a collaboration between Jackson, Finnish design manufacturer Made by Choice, and the Formica Group. First presented during Milan design week earlier this year, the collection is now on view at New York design gallery, Casa Perfect. Also on view will be a “tie-dyed” stoneware dining collection by Laura Seymour. The debut at Casa Perfect will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch, which took place on July 16, 1969. —Lucy Rees

When: Opens July 16

Where: 8 Saint Luke’s Place, New York City

THE HAMPTONS

Upstairs Art Fair is located at a barn in Amagansett. Photo: Courtesy of Upstairs Art Fair

3. Upstairs Art Fair

During the summer, for those art-world denizens heading to the East End for some downtime, the Upstairs Art Fair offers a different approach from the usual white-tented affair. Founded by rare-book dealer Harper Levine and Half Gallery founder Bill Powers in 2017, the fair, which kicks off this Friday, July 19, at 6 p.m. (and a VIP preview starting at 4 p.m.), features 15 galleries, including CANADA, Ceysson & Bénétière, and 56 Henry, mostly from New York’s Lower East Side, who will set up shop in an Amagansett barn. But rather than booths, the galleries have one wall on which to hang their works salon-style. The vibe is relaxed. —Rozalia Jovanovic

When: July 19–21

Where: 11 Indian Wells, Amagansett

Chris Martin, Untitled, 2015–19 Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Rental Gallery

4. “Vanquishing Ocular”
Rental Gallery

This group show of contemporary painting at Rental Gallery is curated by artists David Salle and Nicole Wittenberg. Artists include Tamara Gonzales, Federico De Francesco, Jocelyn Hobbie, Patricia Treib, Chris Martin, and many more. “The show’s theme is: no theme,” according to the curators. “As the title suggests, we point to visuality as a primary value, an end in itself. Even for those artists whose work invokes a personal backstory, or points to complexities and histories beyond the frame, the experience of what’s actually on the canvas—it’s aliveness in the moment and its insistence as a physical thing—is how we come to know it, and which forms the terms by which it can be understood. One might just say: ‘good painting,’ or even simpler: ‘paintings we like.'” Enough said. —R.J.

When: Opening reception is July 20, 6–8 p.m.

Where: 87 Newtown Lane, East Hampton