Fall is a beautiful time of year ~ a time for annual events like Open House New York and Archtober, finding Art in Odd Places, and outdoor art installations from the Garment District, the Upper East Side to Birds on Broadway. We will celebrate the magic of Harry Potter visit the home/studio of Basquiat, view the Shadows of Andy Warhol, and immerse ourselves in conversation about the Art of Jewelry. Here are 60 + art installations, exhibits and events to add to your list in October.
1. The Annual ‘Archtober’ begins on October 1
The annual event, Archtober, will kick-off on October 1st featuring hundred of events, tours and exhibitions organized by more than 60 partners across all five boroughs. With so many interesting events, talks and tours on their calendar, deciding what to add to your list won’t be easy. We found a few things that caught our eye that we would like to share, beginning on October 1st.
2. Toward a Livable City ~ October 1
Toward a Livable City is presented on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Municipal Art Society (MAS), exploring the organization’s profound impact on the metropolis we live in today.
3. Candy Nations Arrive on the Garment District Mall ~ October 3
The Garment District Alliance ushers in its Winter art installation with a parade of nine-foot-tall ‘Candy’ sculptures. The exhibit, Candy Nations, will honor New York City’s status as a global capital, and will include twenty colorful candy-shaped sculptures that will extend along the Broadway pedestrian plaza between 36th Street and 39th Street.
4. ‘Obsessorize’ on Madison Avenue ~ October 4
Organized by the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District and Marie Claire magazine, Obsessorize will feature 28 giant sculptures (eight-feet high) created by students at The School of Visual Arts (SVA). The 28 students were inspired by head-to-toe accessories, taking inspiration from past decades of iconic accessories. The results will be enclosed in plexiglass cases. Obsessorize will be on view from October 4 to October 26, free and open to the public located on Madison Avenue between East 57th and East 86th Streets.
5. Art in Odd Places ~ October 4 – 27
2018 Art in Odd Places will feature its Public Festival on 14th Street from October 11 – 14th, from Avenue C to the Hudson River. In addition, Westbeth Gallery will haven an accompanying 2018 Festival Exhibition at the Gallery from October 4-27th, located at 55 Bethune Street.
6. New York Historical Society Celebrates Harry Potter at 20 ~ October 5
The much anticipated exhibition, Harry Potter: A History of Magic, in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the U.S. publication of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, will be on view at The New York Historical Society from October 5, 2018 to January 27, 2019.
7. American Masters Exhibition & Sale at Salmagundi Club ~ October 8
Each year, The Salmagundi Club holds a spectacular exhibition with some of today’s best-known artists. The 2018 American Masters Exhibition & Sale will celebrate the recent $1.5 million renovation and restoration of the Club’s Upper Gallery space in their historic townhouse in Greenwich Village.
8. Nicholas Holiber: Audubon Sculpture Project ‘The Birds on Broadway’ (under construction) ~ on view October 10
The National Audubon Society, Gitler &___ , NYC Audubon and the Broadway Mall Association have a very special installation scheduled for April, 2019 unfolding along the Broadway Mall from 67th Street to 168th Street.
While we wait for the completed Broadway Mall Association Project, we can watch the artist, Nicolas Holiber, at work building one of the Audubon Sculptures in the gallery at Gitler & ___ from October 10th until finished, likely around October 30th. Gitler & ___ is located at 3629 Broadway, between 149th and 150th Streets, in Hamilton Heights.
9. Tony Ousler: Tear of The Cloud in Riverside Park ~ October 10
Public Art Fund will present a three-week long exhibition entitled Tony Oursler: Tear of The Cloud in Riverside Park South. This commissioned piece will be on view in the evenings, projected directly onto the historic West 69th Street Transfer Bridge gantry, the Hudson River, and the surrounding landscape.
10. 2018 Open House New York Weekend ~ October 12-14
The 2018 Open House New York Weekend will take place from October 12-14, 2018. The full list of participating sites has been released ~ and reservations will began on September 28 ($5 fee per guest for each reservation reserved).
11. Museum of Pizza Pop Up ~ October 13
The Museum of Pizza Pop Up will be the first immersive art experience celebrating pizza. Tickets ~ $35.
12. Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition Finalists (Center for Architecture) ~ October 15
AIA New York is proud to be partnering with Times Square Arts on this year’s Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition. For the first time ever, the proposals for the Valentines Heart Design Competition will be exhibited at the Center for Architecture. At this opening event, finalists will present their proposed installations and the winning entry will be announced! All eight project proposals will remain on display through November 2, 2018, at the Center for Architecture.
13. Intimate Immensity: Alberto Giacometti Sculptures ~ October 17
Luxembourg & Dayan will open its doors to the exhibition Intimate Immensity: Alberto Giacometti Sculptures, 1935-1945. This is the first U.S. exhibition dedicated exclusively to the artist’s cycle of very small human figures created in France and Switzerland during the Second World War. The exhibition is curated by leading Giacometti scholar Casimiro Di Crescenzo and will feature a commissioned installation designed by well-known Swiss sculpture, Urs Fischer.
Luxembourg & Dayan is located at 64 East 77th Street, which is Manhattan’s second narrowest townhouse ~ an interesting companion to Giacometti’s insights concerning scale.
Two New Art Installations Arriving in Marcus Garvey Park ~ October 21
On the heals of the installation, Atlas: The Third Millennium, the Public Art Initiative will be installing two new sculptures in Marcus Garvey Park, with an unveiling and Opening Reception on Sunday, October 21.
14. Cooper Union, Opening of Archive & Artifact ~ October 23
In celebration of the last 50 years, Cooper Union exhibits Thesis projects completed between 1969 and 2018 from The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture. The exhibit includes physical hand drawings, born-digital drawings, and models of 35 undergraduate Thesis projects. In addition, visitors will get an exclusive preview of the school’s Digital Access Project, an online database of the Student Work Collection that will allow visitors to access, via computer terminals in the gallery, over 500 Thesis projects completed between the mid 1960s through 2003, including nearly 8,500 digitized records.
15. The French Maison Van Cleef & Arpels + L’ÉCOLE ~ October 24
L’ÉCOLE School of Jewelry Arts, with support of Van Cleef & Arpels, will return to New York City this month with a series of classes, exhibitions, and evening conversations immersing the public in the art of jewelry.
16. Kenny Scharf + Malia Scharf = The Scharftees Pop-Up ~ October 25-27
Love wearable art? Get ready for Scharftees ~ when Kenny Starf and his daughter, Malia will hold a pop-up at Allouche Gallery from October 25-27.
17. Andy Warhol’s Shadows Returns to New York City ~ October 26
Andy Warhol’s Shadows (1978-79) will return to New York City in October, marking a homecoming for the monumental work that was first presented by Dia in the New York City in 1979. Shadows, a single painting in multiple parts, is one of Warhol’s most abstract works, and cohesively synthesizes key elements of his practice that includes film, painting, photography, and screen printing.
Still on View
18. Christopher Myers: Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me at Fort Gansevoort Gallery
Maping the dreams of migrants, artist Christopher Myers presents three bodies of work on three floors of Fort Gansevoort Gallery, entitled Let the Mermaids Flirt With Me. The work ranges in medium from appliqué tapestries that borrow equally from Matisse, Gee’s Bend and Asafo Flags ~ delicate embroideries ~ and a series of model boats drawn from stories of refugee youth that Myers worked with in Munich, Germany in 2016.
19. Al Diaz @ Same Old Gallery ~ East Ville Home of Basquiat
57 Great Jones, once owned by Andy Warhol, was the home and studio of Jean-Michel Basquiat. This month, the ground-floor space has been converted to a temporary gallery, inspired by the late artist ~ with an opening exhibition by Basquiat’s friend, Al Diaz/#SAMO in honor of the 30th anniversary of the artists passing.
20. Rose III by artist Isa Genzken at Zuccotti Park
It’s been seven years since Zuccotti Park was filled with the protest movement known as Occupy Wall Street, which began on September 17, 2011. In remembrance of the event, Brookfield Properties installed the artwork, Rose III, blooming in the northwest corner of the Park.
21. Full Steam Ahead by artist Arlene Shechet at Madison Square Park ~ on view to April 28, 2019
Madison Square Park will be kicking off its Fall season with the new art installation entitled Full Steam Ahead by artist Arlene Shechet. This installation consists of a series of sculptures in porcelain, wood, and cast iron installed around and within the emptied circular reflecting pool in the north end of Madison Square Park.
Wave Hill, in partnership with the American Society of Botanical Artists, are collaboratively celebrating the tradition and contemporary practice of botanical art with the 21st Annual International exhibition, Botanical Artists ~ and what a beautiful time of year to visit Wave Hill.
23. Visual Language at Faction Art Projects ~ on view to October 6, 2018
Faction Art Projects returns this Fall in a collaboration with the East Los Angeles Gallery, Subliminal Projects, in a bi-coastal exhibition entitled Visual Language. This group exhibition examines the integration of word and images in art and Western Culture, bringing together a broad spectrum of alternative strategies for expressing contemporary everyday experiences.
24. Paper Trail at Allouche Gallery ~ on view to October 7, 2018
Allouche Gallery explores the use of paper in a new group exhibition entitled, Paper Trail. From drawings and paintings to sculptures and collages, the artists employ unique methods of layering, space, and emphasis.
25. Washington 20/20/20 by artist Kenseth Armstead at Union Square ~ on view to November 1, 2018
Presented in collaboration with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and the Union Square Partnership, the sculpture ~ Washington 20/20/20 ~ by artist, Kenseth Armstead, was composed as a companion to the first sculpture on New York City parkland, the George Washington Statue in Union Square.
26. Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture 1963-2017 ~ on view to December 2, 2018
Odyssey: Jack Whitten Sculpture 1963-2017, now on view at MET Breuer, is an exhibition of Whitten’s sculptures, first created in New York and later at his summer home on Crete. Included in the exhibition are forty sculptures and eighteen of the artist’s lusciously layered paintings.
27. Yinka Shonibare MBE: Wind Sculpture (SG) via Public Art Fund ~ on view to October 14, 2018
As if blowing in the wind, the art installation, Yinka Shonibare MBE: Wind Sculpture (SG) I is the latest installation beautifying the Doris C. Freedman Plaza via Public Art Fund. If you haven’t been to see this graceful sculpture, you have time. It will be on view to mid October, 2018.
28. Simone Leigh, a solo exhibition at Luhring Augustine ~ on view to October 20, 2018
Luhring Augustine will open its doors to the solo exhibition of recent works by Simone Leigh. Best described by the Gallery, “The exhibition features a new body of sculptural work that departs from and continues the exploration of her earlier series: Anatomy of Architecture.
29. Lygia Pape at Hauser & Wirth ~ on view to October 20, 2018
Lygia Pape is one of the most significant Brazilian artists of her generation, having worked in a wide-range of media including sculpture, drawing, engraving, filmmaking and installation. Her work will be on view throughout three-floors of Hauser & Wirth New York’s 69th Street gallery.
30. Carlos Molina: ICONTASTIC ~ on view through October 20, 2018
The artist Carlos Ivan Molina, in his first New York City exhibition, includes in this exhibition images of individuals who have inspired this artist to honor political/historical heroes of his beloved Colombia, as well as those who have brought joy, music and mirth to his life. This exhibition is on view at Taller Boricua Gallery, East Harlem.
31. Stanley Kubrick: Through a Different Lens at MCNY ~ on view through October 28, 2018
The exhibition, Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs, opened at The Museum of the City of New York, featuring more than 120 photographs by Stanley Kubrick from the Museum’s Look Magazine archive.
32. Huma Bhabha: We Come in Peace at The MET ~ on view to October 28, 2018
One of the many signs that Spring is here is when The Roof Garden opens at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Huma Bhabha, We Come in Peace has landed.
33. Harlem/Havana Photo Exhibit ~ on view to October 30, 2018
Harlem Havana Photo & Art Exhibit 2018 is an international exhibit featuring 30 intergenerational artists and photographers who honor the unique and storied history of two iconic and diverse communities — Harlem and Havana. In an eclectic mix of styles and mediums each artist reveals the diverse legacies, the common bonds and humanity that connect us all.
34. Tony Cragg: Monumental Sculptures on Park Avenue ~ on view through October, 2018
Let’s take a stroll and see the five Tony Cragg: Monumental Sculptures that now grace the Park Avenue Mall from 52nd Street to 79th Street.
35. Chen Dongfan: The Song of Dragon and Flowers ~ on view to November 1, 2018
The Chinatown BID, NYC DOTart, Fou Gallery and ArtBridge have come together to present the street mural Chen Dongfan: The Song of Dragon and Flowers.
36. Neorealismo: Nuova Fotografia Italiana at Keith de Lellis Gallery ~ on view to November 3, 2018
Neorealismo: Nuova Fotografia Italiana, A Group Exhibition of Vintage Photographs will be on view from September 5 to November 3, 2018 at Keith de Lellis Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, Suite 703, NYC.
37. Jorge Palacios, Link at Flatiron Plaza North ~ on view to November 6, 2018
Jorge Palacios ‘Link’ arrived at Flatiron Plaza North, adjacent to Madison Square Park. The installation is a monumental work created from accoya wood, measuring approximately 13 feet high by 10 feet wide, located across from the Flatiron Building,
Storefront for Art and Architecture opened its doors to the exhibition, Subculture: Microbial Metrics and the Multi-Species City by Kevin Slavin, Elizabeth Hénaff, and The Living / David Benjamin in collaboration with Evan Eisman Company.
The New Beginning for Italian Photography: 1945-1965, an exhibition of Italian postwar photography, will be on view at Howard Greenberg Gallery. The exhibition explores how photographers documented daily realities during the two decades after World War II.
40. Peter Halley at Lever House Park Avenue ~ on view to December, 2018
With the Adam Pendleton exhibit coming to an end at Lever House on August 28, 2018, we look forward to Fall, and the installation of the American artist, Peter Halley on two floors of this iconic building.
41. B. Wurtz: Kitchen Trees via Public Art Fund ~ on view to December 7, 2018
Public Art Fund unveiled its third Summer 2018 installation this week in City Hall Park. The installations, entitled Kitchen Trees are the creation of the artist B. Wurtz.
42. The Future: A Year-Long Exploration at The Rubin Museum of Art ~ on view to December 31, 2018
From February 23 to December 31, 2018, viewers will be invited to step into a world where past, present, and future exist all at once ~ The Future: A Year-Long Exploration at The Rubin Museum.
43. Onkel Oskar’s suspenders in Sherman Creek ~ on view to November 14, 2018
This installation consists of six carved wood and mixed media sculptures placed throughout Sherman Creek Park. Drawing on his family and childhood recollections, New York-based artist Peter Bulow has created a garden within a garden: a personal garden of his childhood, populated by monumental statues of his family. Visitors will find his great aunt Trude and great uncle Oskar from Berlin, his Hungarian mother Giselle, depicted when she was living in India and wearing a sari, and the artist himself as a five year old boy next to Oskar, wearing identical suspenders, showing a tiger he had made out of clay.
Grey Art Gallery/NYU will open its doors to an exhibition portraying life in Italy through the lens of photographers before, during and after World War II in NeoRealismo: The New Image in Italy, 1932-1960.
45. Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams at MoMA ~ on view to January 1, 2019
Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams is a whimsical and wonderful wish for a more harmonious society throughout the world. The eclectic, colorful exhibit has been shown almost daily on social media pages, blog sites, and Instagram. But this is such an exceptional exhibition ~ and the first retrospective of Kingelez’s work in the United States, that we are adding to the tsunami of images and descriptions.
46. Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy at MET Breuer ~ on view to January 6, 2019
Conspiracy! Fake News! In the exhibition, Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy, MET Breuer reaches back in time and traces the simultaneous development of two kinds of art about conspiracy. Works based on historical research, and investigative reporting and ‘plunging down the rabbit hole’ works where facts and fantasy freely intermingle – a state of being that is all too familiar these days. The exhibition Everything is Connected: Art and Conspiracy is the first major exhibit to tackle this perennially provocative topic.
With over 150 artworks in the exhibition, Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power shines light on a broad spectrum of Black artistic practice from 1963 to 1983, one of the most politically, socially, and aesthetically revolutionary periods in American history. Soul of a Nationwill be on view to February 3, 2019.
48. Kathy Ruttenberg on Broadway ~ on view through February, 2019
The Broadway Mall Association presented the art installation for Spring/Winter 2018 ~ Kathy Ruttenberg on Broadway: in dreamsawake. Artist, Kathy Ruttenberg created six site-specific sculptures that run along the Broadway Mall from 64th Street to 157th Street that continue to draw crowds each day.
49. Tamara Johnson: Picnic at Maria Hernandez Park, Brooklyn ~ on view to March 20, 2019
This sculpture was made specifically for Maria Hernandez Park and the surrounding Bushwick community. The familiar picnic scene symbolizes the gathering, relaxing, and sharing experienced with friends and family. This hand-cast concrete picnic serves as a tribute to those symbols, turning a temporary happening into a static monument for participation and contemplation.
50. ASKEW ONE: A Refurbished Basketball Court ~ on view to April 16, 2019
A newly refurbished basketball courts and an artistic mural at Marcy Playground include new asphalt, four new polycarbonate backboards, and a mural designed by artist ASKEW ONE, recognized worldwide for his unique approach to graffiti art.
51. Tauba Auerback: Flow Separation via Public Art Fund ~ on view to May 12, 2019
The 1930s-era, John J. Harvey Fireboat has had a lengthy history, including pumping water to firefighters at the World Trade Center after the September 11 attacks. The Public Art Fund exhibition, Tauba Auerbach: Flow Separation has created a new look in World War I-era camouflage, just in time for the 100th Anniversary year of the end of World War 1.
52. Meg Minkley: Fiesta Forever in Powers Street Garden, Brooklyn ~ on view to May 31, 2019
Fiesta Forever celebrates the beginnings of Spring and the fun of Summer and honors the re-birth of color in the city. The mural is illustrative of the vast collection of flowers that bloom throughout New York City from Spring all the way through to Summer. This project is part of NYC Parks GreenThumb’s Art in the Gardens – Shed Murals project, an initiative that provides local artists with the opportunity to collaborate with community gardens as a platform to create and display their art.
53. Sonic Gates on Staten Island ~ on view to June 1, 2019
The Design Trust for Public Space and Staten Island Arts announce the Future Culture 2018 Public Art Program Winners ~ Sonic Gates + Court Yard Fridays ~ a series of eight public artworks, which will be installed in July, consisting of eight sound sculptures, one murals, and four world music concerts, created by, and featuring Staten Island-based artists and community members.
54. Ziemia in McGolrick Park, Brooklyn ~ on view to June 8, 2019
Ziemia is an art installation that sits in a garden filled with native plants in Msgr. McGolrick Park, Brooklyn. Translated from Polish, Ziemia means ‘Earth” ~ and there is a beautiful story behind its creation.
55. Functional Bodies in Macdonald Park, Queens ~ on view to June 8, 2019
Functional Bodies is a community engaged project involving students from PS 99, Seniors from Young Israel of Forest Hills Senior Center, Friends of MacDonald Park, and RPGA Studio. Incubated by social sculpture artist Yvonne Shortt, it is focused on creating collaboratively with local communities to prompt more people to volunteer in their park. The sculpture consists of a dog and girl, both with body parts designed for gardening.
56. Maren Hassinger: Monuments in Marcus Garvey Park Harlem
June 16th brought inHarlem back to Marcus Garvey Park, with the eight site-specific installations Maren Hassinger: Monuments. Take a walk with us, beginning on 124th Street at the Fifth Avenue entrance.
57. Tanda Francis: Adorn Me in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn ~ one view to to July 13, 2019
Tanda Francis’ work examines the African presence in public space as a powerful force of beauty and cultural relevance. Inspired by African sculptural tradition, including Ife portraiture, Francis also incorporates Victorian and colonial ornamentation into her work. Adorn Me will address the underrepresentation of this demographic in public artworks, and provide a healing message during a time of heated debate over monuments erected as symbols of oppression and control.
58. Come Closer in Tribeca Park ~ on view through July, 2019
The artist Rebecca Manson invites viewers to “Come Closer and the View Gets Wilder” with her art installation in Tribeca Park.
59. Kathleen Granados: Present Histories at Harlem Art Park ~ on view to August 10, 2019
The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance/Public Art Initiative unveiled the installation Present Histories: An East Harlem Photo Album by artist Kathleen Granados in the Harlem Art Park, East Harlem. This is an ongoing installation, with the artist continuing to accept images from residents, and adding to a unique collection exploring the history of East Harlem by the people who live there.
60. Art Elevated: Look Up presented by Garment District Alliance ~ on view to October 31, 2018
The Garment District Alliance in partnership with Orangenius will have New Yorkers looking up for their new exhibition entitled Art Elevated, an aerial display of the works of artists from around the world, located high up on banners throughout the Garment District.
61. Karla & James Murray, Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S.
As part of the Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant, the installation Karla & James Murray: Mom-and-Pops of the L.E.S. displays wood-framed sculptures of near life-size photographs of four mom-and-pop neighborhood stores of the Lower East Side, no longer in business. The installations will be on view to June 19, 2019.