Editors’ Picks: 8 Great Art and Design Events This Week

With the holidays over and 2019 officially underway, it’s time to look forward to the new year of art and design ahead. Kicking things off this week are a few major openings, including a Hilton Als–curated group show at David Zwirner and a solo exhibition of works by the late Richard Artschwager at David Nolan. Meanwhile, Kevin Beasley presents a sound performance surrounding his Whitney exhibition, “A View of a Landscape,” and 20th-century art and design come together at Shin Gallery.

Read on for Galerie’s curated list of the best art and design events in New York this week, January 7.

Emil Lukas, The Location of Possible and Impossible Moves, 2018. Ink, paper, and thread under glass in painted wood frames. Forty pieces. Photo: Courtesy of Sperone Westwater

1. Emil Lukas
Sperone Westwater

Lukas presents a series of intricate compositions that he created by placing live insects into puddles of ink and allowing them to roam each canvas. These works will be complemented by some of the artist’s luminous “thread paintings.”

Where: Sperone Westwater, 257 Bowery

When: January 9–February 23

Recommended: Hauser & Wirth Inaugurates Outpost in St. Moritz

Dana Schutz, Presenter, 2018. Oil on canvas. Photo: Courtesy of Petzel

2. Dana Schutz: Imagine Me and You
Petzel Gallery

Schutz’s third exhibition with the gallery will include a group of sculptures, a first for the artist, who is better known for her figurative paintings that juxtapose figures with subject matter like treadmills and TED Talks.

 Where: Petzel Gallery, 465 West 18th Street

When: Opening reception: Thursday, January 10, 6–8 p.m.; on view through February 23

Roy McMakin, A Rocking Chair (That Never Had a Seat) I Painted Blue When I was Sixteen, 2011. Enamel on found chair. Photo: Courtesy of Garth Greenan Gallery

3. Roy McMakin: A Bed, a Chair, a Chest of Drawers, a Lamp, a Table, and a Window
Garth Greenan Gallery

Roy McMakin’s take on traditional furniture is rooted in contradiction, as pieces that appear useful at first glance are rendered useless, good only for contemplation—for example, a rocking chair lacks a seat or a bench is too high for a child but too low for an adult to comfortably use.

Where: Garth Greenan Gallery, 545 West 20th Street

When: January 10–Febraury 16

Jumping 1, still from When the Spirits Moved Them, They Moved, 2018. Photo: Courtesy of Ryan Lee Gallery

4. Mariam Ghani and Erin Ellen Kelly: When the Spirits Moved Them, They Moved
Ryan Lee Gallery

The duo presents the New York premiere of their three-channel video, which was shot at the Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky. The 22-minute video has been condensed from a daylong dance performance that speaks to the simplistic Shaker way of life, which once had as many as 5,000 followers throughout America.

Where: Ryan Lee Gallery, 515 West 26th Street

When: Opening reception: Thursday, January 10, 6–8 p.m.; on view through February 16

Richard Artschwager with Chair sculptures (1965/2000), photographed by Ann Artschwager, Hudson, New York, circa 2000. Photo: Richard Artschwager with Chair sculptures (1965/2000), photographed by Ann Artschwager, Hudson, New York, c. 2000.

5. Richard Artschwager: Self-Portraits and the American Southwest
David Nolan

Rare works from the final years of the late artist’s life will be exhibited, some for the first time, simultaneously with an exhibition of his works at Gagosian Madison Avenue. The works at David Nolan, though some of the artist’s last, mark a return to his earliest artworks, which were rooted in self-representation and landscape.

Where: David Nolan, 527 West 29th Street

When: Opening reception: Thursday, January 10, 6–8 p.m.; on view through February 23

Richard Avedon, James Baldwin, Writer, Harlem, New York, 1945. Photograph. Photo: © The Richard Avedon Foundation

6. God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin
David Zwirner

The 20th-century American novelist and critic James Baldwin is the subject of this group exhibition curated by writer Hilton Als, which will include works by Njideka Akunyili Crosby, Richard Avedon, Beauford Delaney, Marlene Dumas, Glenn Ligon, Cameron Rowland, Kara Walker, James Welling, and more.

Where: David Zwirner, 525 and 533 West 19th Street

When: Opening reception: Thursday, January 10, 6–8 p.m.; on view through February 16

Recommended: Revisiting Richard Avedon and James Baldwin’s Groundbreaking 1964 Collaboration

“De Forma” will include both furniture and paintings. Photo: Courtesy of Shin Gallery

7. De Forma
Shin Gallery

Art meets design in the Lower East Side gallery’s group show of furniture and paintings, featuring works by Gotthard Graubner, Gerrit Rietveld, Isamu Noguchi, and Ted Stamm dating from 1955 to 1984. Each artist takes a unique approach to the exploration of functional forms in relation to their environment.

Where: Shin Gallery, 68 Orchard Street

When: Opening reception: Friday, January 11, 6–8 p.m.

Kevin Beasley, rebuilding of the cotton gin motor, 2016. Photo: Courtesy of the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York / Courtesy of Carlos Vela-Prado

8. Kevin Beasley with Taja Cheek
Whitney Museum

“Kevin Beasley: A View of a Landscape” presents a series of live performances by the artist and other collaborators throughout the run of the exhibition. In this performance, Beasley is joined by Taja Cheek, a musician and MoMA PS1 assistant curator. Beasley and Cheek will interact directly with the cotton gin motor installation to produce new sound compositions.

Where: Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort Street

When: Saturday, January 12 at 6 p.m.