This month, we lead our Roundup into August with three of many NYC Parks Department art installations that reflect the times we live in, as we kick-off the month outdoors with everything from miniature golf in Battery Park City to a plethora of concerts and walking tours. Many of our favorite annual events are back on track, like the 9th annual Hindu Lamp Ceremony in Brooklyn Bridge Park, East Harlem’s Giglio, and the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival – plus a new mural that makes the Guinness Book of World Records. There are still tons of installations and exhibits “Still on View,” and a few wonderful finds “Out East” and “Heading North,” Here are art installations, exhibits and events to add to your list in August.
Mary Mattingly, Public Water: Watershed Core in Prospect Park
Mary Mattingly brings attention to the rarely-seen labor that humans (and non-humans) do to care for New York City’s drinking water. Visit her website for the full-story. Visit the installation in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The sculpture, a 10-foot-tall geodesic dome, is designed as a structural ecosystem covered in native plants that filter water in a gravity-fed system that mimics the geologic features of the watershed. Public Water: Watershed Core will be on view to September 7, 2021. Read more on More Art.
Anina Gerchick: BIRDLINK in Crotona Park
BIRDLINK is an interactive habitat sculpture whose mission is to support migratory birds by inserting native plant systems throughout the urban and suburban corridors through which they travel. BIRDLINK attracts the wild birds that reside or migrate trough the city with native plants at the empty tower and middle canopy levels. Visit Anina Gerchick: BIRDLINK in Crotona Park, Bronx, on view to May 21, 2022.
KaN Landscape Design and Caroline Mardok, in honor of Black Lives Matter ~ part of The Plywood Protection Project
This interactive installation of multiple cut out figures made of plywood are applied with collage and photographs from Mardok’s @ny.strong photography project. As people walk through the portals they’re transported into the energy of the protests of 2020: the unified experience of citizens across ethnicities and genders fighting for freedom and justice for Black lives. The team has also collaborated with the Bronx River Art Center on a program focused on public art and activism, offered to a team of young adults who are creating their own sculptures and photographs.
The Plywood Protection Project is an initiative to collect the plywood used by NYC businesses to board up their windows during the protests of 2020 and redistribute it to artists, extending and repurposing the life of this material. Arts not-for-profit worthless studios collected over 200 boards of plywood and initiated an open call for artists, eventually selecting five local makers to participate in a unifying public art project across all five boroughs of New York. This piece is one of the five created by the project, each installed in a different borough of New York City. KaN Landscape Design and Caroline Mardok, in honor of Black Lives Matter will be on view to November 1, 2021 in Poe Park, Bronx.
Mary Mattingly, Public Water: Watershed Core; Anina Gerchick: BIRDLINK; and The Plywood Protection Project are just part of #SummerOfNYC, NYC Parks’ free Art in the Park exhibits with more than 40 installations currently on view.
The Summer Salon at Living with Art ~ August 1
On the heals of the exhibition ‘At Home’, Living with Art Salon opens its doors to The Summer Salon, creating a unique and colorful conversation between Ceramics and Fiber Art. This new exhibition features the works of two artists ~ Reuben Sinha and Tomo Mori.
Broadway Mall Association Unveils ‘Broadway Blooms: Jon Isherwood on Broadway
We just love the Broadway Mall Association public art installations, and have been waiting to see what would come next after ‘Nicolas Holiber: Birds on Broadway.’
Broadway Blooms: Jon Isherwood on Broadway, a sculpture exhibition located at eight locations between 64th Street and 157th Street is now on view. The sculptures are shaped in the form of flowers, celebrating the return to life from a long and difficult winter into spring.
Logan Hicks: Tunnel Vision, the Largest Stenciled Mural in the World, in East Harlem
The largest stenciled mural in the world was completed this week by (who else would you expect to do it?) artist, Logan Hicks, located within the East River Plaza complex on 117th Street in East Harlem. How cool is that!
Something Broke: 2011-Windows-2021 by Mariela Scafati at Storefront for Art & Architecture
Storefront for Art and Architecture opened Something Broke: 2011-Windows-2021, an exhibition by Buenos Aires-based artist Mariela Scafati that presents an installation of hand-painted posters lettered by the artist with her writings and reflections on art, activism, and community. The exhibition, hosted at Storefront’s gallery space at 97 Kenmare Street, is open Wednesday through Saturday until September 15th, 2021.
The Public Theater Driving the Mobile Unit Through All 5 Boroughs ~ Summer of Joy
The Public Theater announced a fabulous schedule of performances for its Summer of Joy Mobile Unit. The Mobile Unit will be touring all five boroughs from July 31 to August 29, 2021 ~ all performances free and open to the public.
Pixar-Themed Mini Golf Course at Pier A ~ August 1
Pixar Putt, the ultimate pop-up, open-air mini-golf experience, will be popping up at Pier A in Battery Park City from August 1st through October 31, 2021! The colorful mini-golf experience is made up of 18 fun and interactive holes inspired by the stories, characters, and icons from some of Pixar’s most beloved films.
The Capital One City Park’s Foundation Summerstage 2021 Schedule for the Month of August, Beginning with ~ August 1
The Capital One City Park’s Foundation Summerstage 2021 kicked off its season in Central Park with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on June 17th, followed by a pre-screening of the documentary Summer of Soul in Marcus Garvey Park on June 19th. This free event continues, with many dates and locations in August.
Historic Flatiron Walking Tours Every Sunday ~ August 1
Another sign that New York has thrown open its doors to ‘Back to Normal‘ is the news that The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership’s Historic Flatiron Walking Tours will return to an in-person format on Sunday, July 18, 2021, at 11:00 AM for the first time since the COVID pandemic began. Following a year of virtual tours, the Partnership’s professional guides will return to the streets, leading groups on a fascinating stroll through the historic and vibrant Flatiron District. The tours are FREE and will take place every Sunday morning at 11:00 AM, rain or shine, year-round. No advance registration is required.
Stall & Dean unveils Sports Memorabilia Exhibition at Chelsea Market ~ August 1
Let’s take a journey through American sports history with The Museum of American Manufacturing in New York City. Stall & Dean announced its first art exhibition on display at Chelsea Market, coinciding with the global celebration of the Summer Olympics. The exhibit will take viewers through an American manufacturing time machine, with its unique display of diverse sports memorabilia and artifacts created by Stall & Dean throughout the years.
Steed Taylor: Magic Hour ~ a Road Tattoo to be Created in The Garment District ~ August 4
The Garment District Alliance will unveil a 225-foot-long painted mural by local artist, Steed Taylor. Broadway in the Garment District will receive a custom ‘road tattoo’, titled Magic Hour, created by local artist Steed Taylor. Presented by the Garment District Alliance, the 225-foot-long painted road mural stretches from 39th to 40th Streets on Broadway in the Garment District and will be available to the public through this fall. New Yorkers can watch the design come to life, as artist Steed Taylor finalizes the mural on Wednesday, August 4th. The artwork is also part of GDA’s summer programming, which features Broadway Rhythm, a series of weekly musical performances from 12 – 2pm on the Garment District plazas.
Free Tours of Battery Park City with The Skyscraper Museum ~ August 4
This summer, the Skyscraper Museum inaugurates a series of free walking tours of Battery Park City, exploring its rich history and construction from Hudson River piers, World Trade Center landfill, and Art on the Beach art installations to a master-planned community of lush landscaped parks and more than 8,200 residential units that led NYC in requiring green-building standards. Check their calendar for a date throughout June, July and August.
The Giglio Festival East Harlem ~ August 5-8
It’s back! The Giglio Society of East Harlem announced this week that the annual celebration will take place this from August 5-8, with a free Freestyle music concert on Friday night, and a Children’s Giglio lift on Saturday, followed by a Sausage & Peppers Eating Contest sponsored by Premio Sausage ~ and Sunday, August 8th,The Giglio Lift! Donations will be collected for the American Cancer Society for Breast Cancer and for the Alzheimer’s Association.
NYC DOT Summer Streets 2021 ~ August 7
Summer Streets is back and will take place on two Saturdays in August ~ August 7th, and 14th from 7:00am to 1:00pm on Park Avenue from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park.
9th Annual Hindu Lamp Ceremony in Brooklyn Bridge Park ~ August 7
Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pebble Beach will host the 9th Annual Hindu Lamp Ceremony on Saturday, August 7th. This traditional Aarti ceremony conveys gratitude to mother river, reflects on community, and remembers loved ones.
SHARE by Kaws on Rock Center Plaza ~ August 10
Coinciding with the artist’s current survey at the Brooklyn Museum, SHARE by Kaws is the latest commission on the Rockefeller Center Plaza. The 18-foot-tall bronze figure features two of the artist’s iconic motifs ~ ‘COMPANION’ and ‘BFF’.
Free Tours of Battery Park City with The Skyscraper Museum ~ August 12
This summer, the Skyscraper Museum inaugurates a series of free walking tours of Battery Park City, exploring its rich history and construction from Hudson River piers, World Trade Center landfill, and Art on the Beach art installations to a master-planned community of lush landscaped parks and more than 8,200 residential units that led NYC in requiring green-building standards. Check their calendar for a date throughout June, July and August.
Free Concerts on Little Island Beginning on ~ August 11
The statewide NY PopsUp! Initiative—designed to revitalize the arts and entertainment sector of New York—will culminate this summer on Little Island.
NYC FREE, curated by Mikki Shepard, celebrates the creativity of New York City’s artists and the resilient spirit of all its people with four weeks of free live performances at Little Island. With performances occurring throughout the park every week, come and enjoy shows of innovative dance, experimental music, interactive poetry, late-night comedy, and more!
Celebrate Art Kane harlem 1958 Place, a Co-Street Naming ~ August 12
As we approach August, and the return of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, Summerstage, and Jazzmobile’s Summerfest, ~ Uptown Grand Central and Jazzmobile announced the August 12th commemorative street co-naming of East 126th Street between Fifth and Madison Avenues. Art Kane Harlem 1958 Place will be named on the 63rd anniversary of the gathering of the 57 jazz luminaries in the iconic East Harlem photograph taken by Art Kane ~ A Great Day in Harlem.
Uptown Night Market in Harlem ~ August 12
Unfortunately due to weather, Thursday, July 8th, 2021 has been CANCELLED. Next up ~ Thursday, August 12th. The Uptown Night Market will be held on the Second Thursday of each month from July through November, from 4:00pm to 10:00pm under the Riverside Drive Viaduct near the Cotton Club and Dinosaur BBQ at 12th Avenue, near 125th-138th Streets.
Craig Harris’ Nocturnal Nubian Ball for Conscientious Ballers & Cultural Shot Callers ~ August 12-13
Save the dates because it’s only a two-day event ~ Thursday, August 12th at Bryant Park and Friday, August 13th at Marcus Garvey Park, and it’s the culmination of Harlem Stage’s Afrofuturism series that launched in 2019 as a citywide, multi-venue held at Harlem Stage, Park Avenue Armory, and Metropolitan Museum of Art, celebrating Sun Ra’s legacy.
NYC DOT Summer Streets 2021 ~ August 14
Summer Streets is back and will take place on two Saturdays in August ~ August 7th, and 14th from 7:00am to 1:00pm on Park Avenue from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park.
NYC Homecoming Week with Concerts Coming to All Five Boroughs ~ August 14-22
Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced that the City of New York will host concerts in each of the five boroughs—between August 14th to 22nd—as part of NYC Homecoming Week and to celebrate the Summer of New York City.
The Apollo Celebrates ‘Harlem Week’ with Free Panel Discussion about Harlem’s Own Luke Cage
On Saturday, August 14 at 11am ET, the Apollo Theater will celebrate HARLEM WEEK and Free Comic Book Day, the largest annual comic book event, with an exploration of Harlem-based superhero, Luke Cage. This free virtual panel of comic creators and television producers illuminates Luke Cage’s rise from the comic book page to Netflix series while tackling social justice issues.
Free Tours of Battery Park City with The Skyscraper Museum ~ August 14
This summer, the Skyscraper Museum inaugurates a series of free walking tours of Battery Park City, exploring its rich history and construction from Hudson River piers, World Trade Center landfill, and Art on the Beach art installations to a master-planned community of lush landscaped parks and more than 8,200 residential units that led NYC in requiring green-building standards. Check their calendar for a date throughout June, July and August.
Time for HipHop Free Concerts in All 5 Boroughs Beginning ~ August 16
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Universal Hip Hop Museum (UHHM) Executive Director and President Rocky Bucano today announced with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and New York State Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie the dynamic lineup of Hip Hop, Latin freestyle, dance, freestyle, techno, and funk artists set to perform at the “It’s Time for Hip Hop in NYC” concerts to be held at outdoor venues in The Bronx, Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens.
Julio Valdez: I Can’t Breathe at Collyer Brothers Park, Artist Reception ~ August 17
Public art organizer Connie Lee and Harlem-based artist Julio Valdez are pleased to announce the installation of I Can’t Breathe this week. Produced from a series of six drawings by Valdez who was inspired by the images of racial injustice that have collectively entered our minds through the media. Each drawing was scanned and printed on aluminum panels.
Artist Reception on Tuesday, August 17th from 5-8pm at Collyer Brothers Park, Fifth Avenue at 128th Street in Harlem.
Cow Parade 2021 Grazing in NYC ~ August 18
Cow Parade NYC 2021 will be grazing across all five boroughs of New York City this month, benefiting the non-profit, God’s Love We Deliver. Fifty life-size fiberglass cows, arriving in two poses (standing and grazing), will be painted by artists, designers and celebrity supporters, with each cow sponsored by businesses and individuals. The cows will then be put on display, (or put out to pasture) throughout the city’s five boroughs beginning August 18th, remaining on view until they are rounded up for the gala auction, which will take place in late September, 2021, with proceeds going to the non-profit, God’s Love We Deliver.
Free Tours of Battery Park City with The Skyscraper Museum ~ August 18
This summer, the Skyscraper Museum inaugurates a series of free walking tours of Battery Park City, exploring its rich history and construction from Hudson River piers, World Trade Center landfill, and Art on the Beach art installations to a master-planned community of lush landscaped parks and more than 8,200 residential units that led NYC in requiring green-building standards. Check their calendar for a date throughout June, July and August.
Jennifer Hudson Live at The Apollo Theater ~ August 19
Mastercard will present the “Jennifer Hudson Live at The Apollo” concert on August 19th, the first live audience performance at the Apollo Theater since March 2020. At this intimate gathering of Black women entrepreneurs and select cardholders, Ms. Hudson will perform classic Aretha Franklin hits featured in Respect as well as songs from her own catalogue. Limited tickets are available for purchase on Priceless.com here, with 100% of sales benefiting Fearless Fund.
Naomi Lawrence: Flowers of Turtle Island ~ August 20
There’s got to be a story behind an installation named ‘Flowers of Turtle Island‘. but today, we’re ahead of the press kit, passing by this gorgeous wall of flowers on our way to Amouse Bouche Bistro at La Marqueta for something good to eat while we watch the We Love New York concert.
So if you’re not lucky enough to be sitting in the middle of Central Park, or in front of your TV watching the concert on CNN (munching on your favorite sandwich), here’s a sneak-peek to enjoy on your travels wherever you may be today.
The Times Square Ferris Wheel ~ August 24
It’s a pop-up, so you better hurry! The Times Square Wheel will only be up from August 24th to September 12th. No, it’s not free. Yes, tickets required.The 110-foot tall giant ferris wheel will be located at the Crossroads of the World in Times Square, where riders will soar 110 feet up through a canyon of spectacular billboards.
Constance DeJong: A Survey Exhibition at Hunter College ~ August 24
The Hunter College Art Galleries will be reopening on August 24th with Constance DeJong: a survey exhibition, marking the artist’s first solo show at an institutional gallery. For over four decades, DeJong—“a person of language”—has made daring, original forays into the intersections of the formal avant-garde in experimental prose writing, multi-media spoken text works, and user-navigated digitalprojects. Well known for her contributions to New York’s downtown performance art and avant-garde music scene in the 1970s and ’80s, DeJong is considered one of the progenitors of media art, or “time-based media.”This exhibition highlights DeJong’s hybrid mode of art making, featuring work from the past three decades and debuting several new works by the artist.
‘Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair’ at TW Fine Art ~ Brooklyn Outpost ~ August 24
TW Fine Art is pleased to present Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair, a group exhibition of works created by fifteen artists over the last 18 months of the global pandemic. COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns shook people from their regular routines, and while many artists took a break from their practices and studios, others embraced this time to lean into their creative work, pushing their output further than ever before. This show celebrates these new works, and the bright spot that came out of an otherwise difficult year. Caught Up in a Lockdown Art Affair will be on view at TW Fine Art’s Brooklyn Summer Outpost (514 Atlantic Ave) from August 24, 2021 through September 30, 2021, with a public opening event on August 24 from 6:30pm to 10pm EST.
Martine Gutierrez: ANTI-CON by Public Art Fund ~ August 25
On August 25, Public Art Fund will present ANTI-ICON, a 300-site exhibition of ten new photographs by Brooklyn-based photographer and performance artist Martine Gutierrez. The exhibition will be on view on 100 JCDecaux bus shelters across New York City, 150 in Chicago, and for the first time in this exhibition series, 50 JCDecaux bus shelters in Boston. With ANTI-ICON, Gutierrez continues her exploration of identity across the landscapes of race, gender, class, and culture.
Monumental Women Celebrating Women’s Equality Day ~ August 26
ast year on August 26, 2020, Monumental Women unveiled the monument featuring Women’s Rights Pioneers Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton on the Literary Walk in Central Park.
This August 26th ~ Women’s Equality Day, Monumental Women will celebrate by unveiling a new and virtual five-borough Women’s Rights History Trail Map on their website. This map will feature over 150 New York City historical women, some famous and some not well-know ~ all deceased ~ linked to locations around the City, where key moments in advancing women’s rights occurred.
The Obama Portraits Tour on View at Brooklyn Museum of Art ~ August 27
From the moment of their unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., in February 2018, the official portraits of President Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama have become iconic. Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama and Amy Sherald’s portrait of the former First Lady have inspired unprecedented responses from the public. This five-city tour will be on view at The Brooklyn Museum of Art from August 27 to October 24, 2021.
Human Connection Arts ‘Makeup Day’ in Times Square ~ August 28
For all those who weren’t able to attend the annual Body Painting event in Union Square this past July 25th, Human Connection Arts will hold Makeup Day on August 28th in Times Square!
SummerStage Celebrates The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival ~ August 28 ~ 29
The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, SummerStage’s annual salute to the eponymous late saxophonist, will return for its 29th year with a weekend of live jazz in Harlem’s historic Marcus Garvey Park/Richard Rodgers Amphitheater. Running August 28 and 29, the festival will feature Jazziz Magazine’s 2007 Person of the Year, Donald Harrison and his quartet, performing “Charlie Parker with Strings” along with The Harlem Symphony Orchestra, on August 28, highlighting the historic visibility and contributions of African American orchestral instrumentalists. On August 29, the Charlie Parker Centennial Celebration with music direction by leading drummer Willie Jones III in association with Jazz at Lincoln Center will feature an international and inter-generational lineup celebrating the global impact of Charlie Parker: Nicaraguan-born American jazz pianist and music composer Donald Vega; up-and-coming bassist Endea Owens, who won Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist award in 2019; Manhattan-born veteran alto saxophonist Justin Robinson; Japan-born, New York-based prodigy saxophonist Erena Terakubo; Harlem-born and Haitian-raised alto saxophonist Godwin Louis and NY-based up-and-coming, vibrant saxophonist Sarah Hanahan.
George Rickey: Monumental Sculpture on Park Avenue ~ September 30
Kasmin, The George Rickey Foundation, Inc., and The George Rickey Estate, LLC., are pleased to announce a host of upcoming events celebrating the life and work of groundbreaking sculptor George Rickey.
A major public exhibition of his work along the central median on Park Avenue between 52nd and 56th Streets will open concurrently with an exhibition of large-scale works at the Kasmin Sculpture Garden in Chelsea, and will also coincide with the publication of the first biography of the artist.
Out East:
Hauser & Wirth South Hampton
Beginning this summer, Hauser & Wirth artists will present a number of significant outdoor sculptures in and around the Village of Southampton. Martin Creed’s multicolored neon work ‘EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT’ (2010) will be on view at the Parrish Art Museum beginning 28 May, while the gallery’s space will host several works by Spanish sculptor Eduardo Chillida and French-American master Louise Bourgeois, whose large hanging sculptures, both ‘Untitled’ (2004) will hang amid the verdant branches of trees in the garden of the Southampton Arts Center.
Later in the summer, Hauser & Wirth will also present outdoor sculptural works by Nicole Eisenman and Henry Taylor. Executed in cast bronze and aluminum, Eisenman’s outdoor works are considered landmarks of her esteemed artistic practice.
Henry Taylor’s monumental work ‘Untitled,’ (2020) – the artist’s first outdoor bronze sculpture – will have its US debut in conjunction with the artist’s solo exhibition at the gallery’s Southampton location, opening beginning July 1, 2021.
Tomashi Jackson: The Land Claim at Parrish Art Museum
Tomashi Jackson was invited as part of the Parrish Art Museum’s 2021 annual invitation to an artist to consider the entire Museum as a site for works that transcend disciplinary boundaries, encouraging new ways to experience art, architecture, landscape, and community.
In addition, catch more exhibitions still on view at Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway, Water Mill, NY.
Market Art + Design: The Hamptons ~ August 12-15
Market Art + Design, the East End’s premier art fair, returns to The Bridgehampton Museum. This eleventh edition will feature 80 top galleries presenting the best in modern and contemporary art and design in an expanded, museum-quality pavilion.
Lonnie Holley: Tangled Up in de Kooning’s Fence on view at South Etna Montauk Foundation to August 29, 2021
The newly formed non-profit South Etna Montauk Foundationannounced an exhibition worth a drive out east. Lonnie Holley: Tangled Up in de Kooning’s Fence was created during the artists’ recent residency at the Elaine de Kooning House in East Hampton, and will open on May 1st, for all who are still out east ~ and those who might like to take a ride.
Galerie House of Art & Design in Sag Harbor ~ August 7
Heading North:
Suprina: The DNA Totem on The Walkway Over the Hudson ~ July 26
Let’s take a ride! This time, Upstate to Poughkeepsie/Highland, where the artist. Suprina Kenney will be exhibiting The DNA Totem on The Walkway Over the Hudson ~ a walking bridge that spans the 1.28 miles across the Hudson River, connecting Poughkeepsie to Highland, beginning July 26th
Time Lapse at Fridman Gallery Beacon on View to August 16, 2021
Time Lapse looks at memory as a parallel dimension, in which it is possible for objects, events, and stories to travel through temporal and physical spaces, to a setting where they are perceived in a different light. The artists in Time Lapse recontextualize and reimagine relationships among materials, beings, and environments, elucidating the liminal threshold between the existence of a thing and its perception.
UncleBrother in Hancock
Kitchen and Gallery open all summer on Friday and Saturday from 5:00 – 9:00pm
Still on View:
More Life at David Zwirner on view through August 6, 2021
More Life is a series of curated solo exhibitions held at the gallery’s locations in New York and London this summer and fall. The series is presented on the fortieth anniversary of the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and focuses on some of the artists who are often neglected in broader art-historical and cultural narratives.
‘Loose Ends’ and ‘The Colour of Words II’ at Jane Lombard Gallery on view through August 6, 2021
Jane Lombard Gallery opened its doors to two summer exhibitions ~ Loose Ends, a group exhibition celebrating women working in textiles, and Jane Justin’s ‘The Colour of Words II.’
Julie Mehretu: A Mid Career Survey will be on view at The Whitey through August 8, 2021
101 1/2 in. × 17ft. 4 1/2 in. × 2 in. (257.8 × 529.6 × 5.1 cm)
Co-organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, Julie Mehretu is a midcareer survey that will unite more than seventy paintings and works on paper dating from 1996 to the present, reflecting the breadth of Mehretu’s multilayered practice. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1970 and based in New York City, Mehretu has created new forms and found unexpected resonances by drawing on the histories of art and human civilization. Her play with scale and technique, as evident in intimate drawings, large canvases, and complex forms of printmaking, will be explored in depth. Filling the Whitney’s entire fifth floor gallery, the exhibition will take advantage of the expansive and open space to create dramatic vistas of Mehretu’s often panoramic paintings. The first-ever comprehensive survey of Mehretu’s career, Julie Mehretu is organized by Christine Y. Kim, curator of contemporary art at LACMA, with Rujeko Hockley, assistant curator at the Whitney.
The Empire State Building: A Celebration in Photographs at Keith de Lellis Gallery on view to August 13, 2021
In May, 2021, The Empire State Building celebrated its 90th anniversary. This month, Keith de Lellis Gallery celebrates the 90th anniversary of New York City’s magnificent Art Deco skyscraper in its summer exhibition. After demolishing the famous original Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Fifth Avenue in 1929, the Bethlehem Engineering Corporation took on the world’s most ambitious building project to date: the construction of the Empire State Building, the first 100+ story building. The Chrysler Building, with 77 stories, briefly held the title of the world’s tallest building before being unseated by the Empire State a mere 11 months later. Dwarfing all surrounding buildings, the Empire State stands at 1,454 feet tall. Construction began on March 17th, 1930 and was completed in record time, opening on May 1, 1931. As a tourist attraction, the site found immediate success, collecting a ten-cent fee for a bird’s eye view of New York City from telescopes atop the observatory.
Alma Allen in Kasmin Sculpture Garden through August 13, 2021
Kasmin announced an exhibition of work by sculptor Alma Allen (b. 1970) spanning two of the gallery’s locations in Chelsea, New York. On view from May 4, 2021, the presentation in the Kasmin Sculpture Garden constitutes the artist’s first ever exhibition dedicated to large-scale outdoor sculpture. The exhibition continues at 514 West 28th Street with over twenty small-scale bronzes—works that function as both articulations of the polymorphous nature of Allen’s sculptural alphabet and as proposals for future large-scale works. By contextualizing these works amongst one another, the presentation demonstrates the variety of embodied forms that find expression through the artist’s hand.
Dave McKean: Black Dog at Philippe Labaune Gallery on view to August 14, 2021
Philippe Labaune Gallery will open its doors to Black Dog, an exhibition of drawings by British artist Dave McKean from his 2016 graphic novel Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash. McKean, a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans illustration, photography, film, and music, utilizes this multifaceted approach to form a dream-like psychological portrait of British landscape and wartime artist Paul Nash.
The Protest and The Recuperation at Wallach Art Gallery on view to August 14, 2021
The Protest and The Recuperation is a survey of artistic perspectives on, and responses to, the global phenomenon of mass protest and of recuperative strategies of resistance. The exhibition’s ten artists present nuanced perspectives on the value of protests as aggregate expressions of thousands, even millions, of individual participants through their myriad works focused on protest participation, observation, interpretation, representation, and appropriation.
The Gallery is open to the general public on Fridays and Saturdays, with reserved reservation.
Julius Klinger: Posters for a Modern Age at Poster House Museum to August 15, 2021
Recognized as one of the leading graphic artists of the modern age, Austrian designer Julius Klinger (1876–1942) transformed commercial visual culture through his innovative advertising posters, book and magazine illustrations, mass promotional campaigns, ornamental and typographical design, and brand development. Associated with both the Vienna Secession and Jugendstil at the turn of the twentieth century, Klinger became famous as a poster designer in Germany, eventually returning to Austria to found a studio at the outbreak of the First World War. He would stay in Vienna, with two short visits to the United States, until his deportation to a Minsk extermination camp, where he was killed in 1942.
Freak Power: Hunter S. Thompson Runs for Sheriff at Poster House Museum to August 15, 2021
Hunter S. Thompson came home from the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago disgusted yet motivated by what he’d seen: protests violently suppressed, riots, corrupt politicians, and abusive cops. Back in Aspen, he found more of the same. The local police and sheriff’s departments were targeting hippies, charging them with absurd crimes, harassing them on the streets, and trying to push them out of town. He knew something had to be done and he realized it had to be done by people like himself. The hippies, intellectuals, and freaks had remained silent long enough. The time had come to organize and seize political power. Exhibit on view to August 15, 2021.
Martin Adalian: Disintegration at JoAnne Artman Gallery on view through August 15, 2021
JoAnne Artman Gallery opened its doors to DISINTEGRATION, a showing of Martin Adalian’s most recent paintings that explore the disintegration of memory, material, and of past and present. Appearing as though recovered relics with aged facades and canvas imperfections, Adalian’s paintings fuse contemporary aesthetics of mixed media and grunge with classical portraiture. Establishing new, modern context for his portraits, Adalian imbues an audacious attitude alongside a deep appreciation toward tradition. Through his distinct combination of old and new, his works promote the retrospection of artistic innovation and human emotion while navigating the complex, cyclical nature of disintegration and rebirth.
Alternating Currents at Fridman Gallery on view to August 20, 2021
Fridman Gallery will open its doors to Alternating Currents, an exhibition of new works by 12 emerging and mid-career artists. The exhibition reveals a pursuit of a sense of connection to something larger — to history, to cultural heritage, to traditional notions of artmaking — and sometimes a desire to break from it.
Restaurant Week through August 22, 2021
It’s back! NYC Restaurant Week. Lunch, Dinner or Signature Dining Series ~ the food you love in the neighborhood you love. Right now, supporting our local restaurants is more important than ever.
Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs on View Through August, 2021
NYC DOT Art Community Commission and The Marcus Garvey Park Alliance partnered to install a timely and pertinent new art installation in Harlem. Kenseth Armstead: Boulevard of African Monarchs arrived on 116th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard on August 13, 2020.
5 Sculptures by Artist, Jim Rennert
Cavalier Gallery, Rockhill Management and NYC Parks have unveiled five sculptures by internationally acclaimed, New York-based artist, Jim Rennert in the Theatre District and Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza. Each of the more than twelve-foot tall sculptures represent a variety of obstacles faced by the working modern man.
The works at 1700 Broadway can be viewed through 2022, and at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza through August, 2021.
RE: GROWTH in Riverside Park on view Through the Summer 2021
Riverside Park Conservancy will be celebrating its 35th Anniversary, and slow emergence from the COVID-19 pandemic, by hosting a summer-long art exhibition throughout the Park entitled, RE: GROWTH, a Celebration of Art, Riverside Park, and the New York Spirit.
Three with a Pen: Lily Renée, Bil Spira, and Paul Peter Porges at Austrian Cultural Forum through September 3, 2021
Reprinted in: Trina Robbins: Babes In Arms: Women in the Comics During the Second World
War. San Diego, 2017 Lily Renée C ollection (reproduction
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York opened its doors to the presentation, Three with a Pen: Lily Renée, Bill Spira, and Paul Peter Porges, featuring works by the three Jewish artists driven from their homes in Vienna after the German annexation of Austria, the so-called “Anchluss,” in 1938. The exhibition showcases examples of their signature work in comic books, New Yorker cartoons, Mad magazine spoofs, caricatures, portraiture, fashion design, advertising, and children’s books, among other formats. Biographical material and ephemera amplify the artists’ personal stories of survival and, inn part, help contextualize their professional achievements.
Melting Point at Heller Gallery on view to September 3, 2021
Heller Gallery in collaboration with Ferrin Contemporary, will open its doors to Melting Point, a group exhibition of glass and ceramic artists whose use of the melting point is central to their practice. Featuring nearly 100 works by 22 artists. The artists, both established and emerging, explore the inherent physical qualities of materials that are formed and reformed by melting, as well as express their concern for the environmental melting point our planet seems to be approaching.
KAWS: WHAT PARTY at Brooklyn Museum on view to September 5
KAWS: WHAT PARTY is a sweeping survey featuring more than one hundred broad-ranging works, such as rarely seen graffiti drawings and notebooks, paintings and sculptures, smaller collectibles, furniture, and monumental installations of his popular COMPANION figures. It also features new pieces made uniquely for the exhibition along with his early-career altered advertisements. On view to September 5, 2021.
Laura Lappi, 7 x 7 (HOPE) on view to September 5, 2021
Finnish-born, Queens-based artist Laura Lappi’s 7 x 7 (Hope) explores issues of space in New York City and the cost of living and housing, and how that impacts many communities. With this sculpture, Lappi draws attention especially to immigrant communities and their living conditions in Queens. While Queens is the New York City’s most culturally diverse borough welcoming immigrants from different backgrounds, its housing affordability is often out of a reach for many people. The sculpture consists of a black wooden house structure that measures seven feet long, five feet wide and seven feet high, referring to the size of the average illegal basement room. Each wall has an embedded letter, creating a word H-O-P-E. Inside the structure a light is making the sculpture visible and glowing during the night. This exhibition is made possible by the Art in the Parks: Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Grant, which supports the creation of site-specific public artworks by Queens-based artists for two sites within Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life at MoMA PS1 through September 6, 2021
MoMA PS1 presents the first New York museum exhibition of the work of visionary feminist artist Niki de Saint Phalle (American and French, 1930‒2002). On view from March 11 to September 6, 2021, Niki de Saint Phalle: Structures for Life will feature over 200 works created from the mid-1960s until the artist’s death, including sculptures, prints, drawings, jewelry, films, and archival materials. Highlighting Saint Phalle’s interdisciplinary approach and engagement with key social and political issues, the exhibition will focus on works that she created to transform environments, individuals, and society.
Art on the Corner on View through September 6, 2021
An exhibition of 24 paintings, photographs, and other artworks that reflect and celebrate the Upper West Side will open on June 5th, filing the windows of 2780 Broadway. The temporary gallery, prominently located at the corner of 107th Street, was formerly home to Bank Street Bookstore.
Cheryl Parry: The Magician’s Daughter (is a Painter) on view by Garment District Alliance through September 9, 2021
Located in a street-level window at 215 West 38th Street, the free exhibit is accessible to the public from July 18 through September 9. The Magician’s Daughter (is a Painter) is part of the Garment District Space for Public Art program, which showcases artists in unusual locations and over 16 years has produced more than 200 installations, exhibits and performances.
Born in Flames: Feminist Futures at Bronx Museum of the Arts to September 12, 2021
Born in Flames: Feminist Futures is a constellation of imagined world-scapes projected by fourteen contemporary artists. Set within the space of an exhibition, the artwork presented is a projection of the artists’ larger visions about futurity. Each section of the show is a microcosmic speculation on what could have been, what is, or what is to come. These worlds are steeped in lessons of our complicated pasts, peppered with the ravages of oppression but also blooming joys. Their work critically examines current struggles for equity by exploring strategies for justice and equality through multifaceted futurisms.
Jack Howard-Potter: Torso II, Swinging II, Messenger of the Gods (medium) on view to September 12, 2021
Long Island City based sculptor, Jack Howard-Potter, makes large, often kinetic, figurative steel sculptures that can be seen in city governments, sculpture parks and public art shows around the country. The outdoor public arena is the perfect setting for the academic roots to be easily recognizable and accessible, bridging the gap between the fine art institution and the public. It all comes together in an effort to brighten the landscape and shift someone’s gaze to break the daily routine with something beautiful. Court Square Park is located at Court Square and Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, NY.
Doors for Doris by Sam Moyer through Public Art Fund on view through September 12, 2021
Artist, Sam Moyer created a new site specific installation for the Public Art Fund at the entrance to Central Park on the Doris C. Freedman Plaza. The enormous three-part sculpture creates a gateway that poetically bridges the architecture of the city and the natural landscape of the park.
Xenobia Bailey ‘Mothership’ at Brookfield Place on view to September 17, 2021
Mothership pays homage to the African American homemaker, caregiver, and domestic worker through the humble aesthetic of the needle arts. Single-stitched hand-crochet coverings draped over wooden chairs are reminiscent of the creativity and nurturing practices of her mother’s domestic skills.
Huguette Caland: Tête-à-Tête at The Drawing Center through September 19, 2021
Huguette Caland: Tête-à-Tête will be the artist’s most comprehensive solo museum exhibition. Bringing together works on paper and canvas from the past five decades—as well as caftans, mannequins, sculptures, and notebooks on and in which she wielded her pen—the exhibition will show how Caland used the candidness and mutability of the medium of drawing to challenge taboos associated with the representation of female sexuality.
El Museo del Barrio, Estamos Bien-La Triennial 20/21 on view through September 26, 2021
On March 13, 2021, El Museo del Barrio will open its doors toEstamos Bien ~ La Triennial 20/21, the museum’s first national large-scale survey of Latinx contemporary art. The exhibition will feature more than 40 artists from across the United States and Puerto Rico.
Samantha Holmes: Mundilio/Little World at West Farms Square Plaza in the Bronx, on view through September 2021
Samantha Holmes collaborated with Bronx-based lacemakers to inform the traditional Puerto Rican lace patterns ‘woven’ into the steel. The installation is a monument to women’s work and the cultural dynamism of the Bronx. Here, the artist hopes to bring the softness of cotton into the resilience of steel, as the sculpture stretches across the plaza, “filling it with the colors and textures of the surrounding neighborhood ~ weaving this vibrant community the very fabric of the piece.”
Adrian Sas: Source to Spout in Riverside Park to October, 2021
Artist Adrian Sas augments our understanding of reality with an installation entitled ‘Source to Spout‘ in Riverside Park. by wrapping a series of panoramic photographs around drinking fountains throughout the park, Sas reveals the system of protected lands, reservoirs, and aqueducts which feeds these fountains. This new and very refreshing installation will be on view from 64th street to 148th street throughout Riverside Park beginning June 18, 2021.
The Green at Lincoln Center on view Throughout The Fall, 2021
Lincoln Center Restart Stages transformed the Josie Robertson Plaza into approximately 14,000 square feet of open, park-like space. The Green will be on view through Fall, 2021.
The New Woman Behind the Camera at The Met on view to October 3, 2021
The New Woman of the 1920s was a powerful expression of modernity, a global phenomenon that embodied an ideal of female empowerment based on real women making revolutionary changes in life and art. Opening July 2, 2021 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The New Woman Behind the Camera will feature 185 photographs, photo books, and illustrated magazines by 120 photographers from over 20 countries. This groundbreaking exhibition will highlight the work of the diverse “new” women who made significant advances in modern photography from the 1920s to the 1950s.
Dawoud Bey: An American Project at The Whitney on View Through October 3, 2021
Reflecting the evolution of Bey’s vision, the exhibition examines his enduring engagement with portraiture, place, and history. From early portraits in Harlem and classic street photography to multi-panel studio portraits and nocturnal landscapes, Bey has consistently focused his lens on Black individuals, foregrounding the uniqueness of his subjects while reflecting the profound and ongoing effects of the history of the United States. Co-organized with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, An American Project will be on view at the Whitney from April 17, 2021 through October 31, 2021.
Kusama: Cosmic Nature on view at NYBG through October 31, 2021
The much anticipated exhibition, KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature by renowned Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama, which was postponed due to COVID-19, is now back on track, and opening in April. The exhibition will be installed across the Garden’s landscape, in and around the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building. What better place to socially distance than at the New York Botanical Garden.
Alex Da Corte: As Long as the Sun Lasts , a Roof Garden Commission at The Met will be on view through October 31, 2021
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that Alex Da Corte (American, born 1980) has been commissioned to create a site-specific installation for The Met’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden. The Roof Garden Commission: Alex Da Corte, As Long as the Sun Lasts will be on view from April 16 through October 31, 2021.
Carol Bove: The séances aren’t helping on view at The Met through Fall, 2021
Four new sculptures created by American artist Carol Bove for The Met Fifth Avenue’s facade niches will be on view beginning March 1, 2021. The Facade Commission: Carol Bove: The Séances Aren’t Helping is the second commission to be featured on the facade of The Met.
Maya Lin: Ghost Forest in Madison Square Park on view through November 14, 2021
At a time when New Yorkers are cherishing outdoor space ~ from pocket-parks to Central Park, the Madison Square Park Conservancy is preparing to unveil a much anticipated (and delayed) commissioned work by sculptor artist/environmental activist, Maya Lin, with her thoughtful and relevant installations entitled Ghost Forest.
Melvin Edwards: Brighter Days on view in City Hall Park to November 28, 2021
Song of the Broken Chains, 2020
Courtesy Alexander Gray Associates, New York; Stephen Friedman Gallery, London © 2021 Melvin Edwards/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Presented by Public Art Fund at City Hall Park, New York City, May 4 to November 28, 2021. Photo: Nicholas Knight, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY.
Melvin Edwards: Brighter Days will include five works created between 1970 and 1996, as well as a new sculpture commissioned in 2020, which was the originally anticipated date for this exhibit. Now, stepping out of our COVID-19 shutdown, this Public Art Fund exhibition was unveiled in City Hall Park on May 4th, 2021.
Jim Rennert: Timing, Inner Dialogue and Listen on view at Pershing Square through December 2021
Cavalier Gallery unveiled three life-size works by artist Jim Rennert, which have been installed in New York City’s Pershing Square Plaza West located on the west side of Park Avenue between East 41st and East 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. Each sculpture stands over 6 feet tall and depicts the daily struggles and achievements of everyday people. The sculpture installations are being facilitated as part of the New York City Department of Transportation’s Temporary Art Program.
Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment at The Rubin Museum of Art will be on view to January 3, 2022
The Rubin Museum of Art invites visitors to unplug and discover the possibility to free their minds with “Awaken: A Tibetan Buddhist Journey Toward Enlightenment,” opening March 12, 2021. Organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, this traveling exhibition guides visitors on a journey toward enlightenment, showcasing the power of Tibetan Buddhist art to focus and refine awareness, and highlighting the inextricable relationship between artistic endeavor and spiritual practice in Tibetan Buddhism. The exhibition has been re-imagined and adapted for the Rubin Museum’s galleries and features 35 traditional objects, including 14 from the Rubin Museum’s collection, with two contemporary works by Nepal born, Tibetan American artist Tsherin Sherpa.
Craft Front & Center at Museum of Arts & Design On View to February 13, 2022
The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) will open its doors to a new major exhibition, Craft Front & Center on May 22nd, bringing together over 70 iconic and lesser-known works from MAD’s eclectic permanent collection to highlight significant periods in craft’s history that have led to the current moment.
The High Line Art on view to March, 2022
Always something happening on The High Line. Still on view until March ~ The Musical Brain; Horizon Poems; Retainer; and 57 Forms of Liberty. Also on view, Sam Durant: Untitled (Drone).
Kim Carlino: Spectrum on view in The Garment District through March, 2022
The Garment District Alliance (GDA) is brightening Midtown Manhattan this spring with a vivid, painted mural titled Spectrum, created by artist Kim Carlino. The artwork – which contains 34 unique colors and is painted on 82 concrete blocks along the 7th Avenue pedestrian corridor – signifies the city’s vibrant comeback as New Yorkers and visitors return following the pandemic.
Claudia Wieser: Rehearsal will be on view at Brooklyn Bridge Park to April 17, 2022
On July 29, Public Art Fund will unveil Rehearsal, Berlin-based artist Claudia Wieser’s public art debut. Featuring five distinct large-scale geometric sculptures clad with hand-painted glazed tiles, panels featuring photographs of New York City and Roman and Greek antiquities, and mirror polished stainless steel, Rehearsal will create an immersive experience for park goers to explore. The cluster of sculptures will be located at the iconic terminus of Washington Street, where the Manhattan Bridge frames the Empire State Building. Juxtaposed with the surrounding architecture and natural landscape of Brooklyn Bridge Park, Rehearsal highlights the dynamism of the city and its people.
Zaq Landsbert: Reclining Liberty on view in Morningside Park through April, 2022
Sculpture artist Zaq Landsberg created and presented the illustrations for this piece during the last administration, prior to COVID-19 and our citywide shutdown. It was inspired by Buddhist imagery, and meant to depict our iconic American landmark, weary, reclining, and asking the question ~ “what stage of America are we in.” COVID-19 closed our city, and Reclining Lady lay waiting, like all of us, for better days. Fast-forward one year (or-what a difference a year makes). With a new administration and a city that is beginning to bloom along with spring, Zaq Landsberg: Reclining Liberty will emerge from the artists’ studio, with an installation date set for May 1, 2021 in Morningside Park, Harlem
Capucine Bourcart: Plastic Fantastic! on view in Harlem Art Park to June 26, 2022
Harlem Art Park unveiled its latest temporary public art installation, Plastic Fantastic! With a kaleidoscope of color, artist Capucine Bourcart encourages the viewer to evaluate their own environmental footprint. The large-scale installation measures over 66-feet wide and 7-feet high, demonstrating the abundance of single use plastics and its impact on our public spaces and our environment. Plastic Fantastic! interacts with Jorge Luis Rodriguez’s permanent sculpture, Growth, installed in 1985, along with the unique architectural elements that make this park a hidden gem in East Harlem.
Susan Stair: Ascending the Mountain in Marcus Garvey Park on view through June 30, 2022
Harlem-based non-profit the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, Public art organizer Connie Lee and Harlem-based artist Susan Stair are pleased to announce the installation of Ascending the Mountain, a public artwork in Marcus Garvey Park. Installed in three distinct sections along the staircase that leads up to the overlook terraces known as the Acropolis and the Harlem Fire Watchtower. The artwork is exhibited as part of NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and is one of six temporary public art installations organized by the public art committee in Harlem this Summer.
Sam Durant, Untitled (drone) on the High Line Plinth through August, 2022
Sam Durant’s monumental fiberglass sculpture in the shape of an abstracted drone atop a 25-foot-tall steel pole continues High Line Art’s mission of presenting new, powerful, thought-provoking artworks that generate and amplify some of today’s most important conversations.
See you in September!