February 2021 is finally here, and our featured image says it best, we are paralyzed with hope. We kick-off the month in celebration of Black History Month, followed by Valentine’s Day, and a number of new exhibitions and installations indoors and out. In addition, many previous exhibits and installations are still on view. Here are a few suggestions for February, 2021.
Let’s Celebrate Black History Month 2021
In spite of the Pandemic, this year we celebrate Black History Month with a look-back at tragedies and accomplishments. Hand-in-hand, over 20-million people have taken part in Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in the U.S. alone ~ and millions more worldwide. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation won Sweden’s Olof Palme human rights prize for 2020, with an online prize-giving ceremony that took place in Stockholm on January 30, 2021. In addition, Black Lives Matter has been nominated for a 2021 Nobel Peace Prize.
Now looking forward, we celebrate Black History Month 2021, with culturally significant artworks along with their creators, past and present, in all five boroughs. Here are a few suggestions.
Grand Central Terminal Turns 108 ~ February 2
Grand Central Terminal is a major destination when visiting New York, and a welcome historic site for all who move through it every day. They will be celebrating their 108th birthday on February 2nd with some very special birthday events.
An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families: a Virtual Book Talk ~ February 2
Join The Tenement Museum on YouTube Live for a virtual talk with Jane Ziegelman, author of 97 Orchard Street: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. A renowned food historian, Jane will be joined by Tenement Museum’s Collections Manager, Lana Dubin. Together, they will explore the culinary life of the residents of 97 Orchard Street, one of the historic tenement buildings of the Tenement Museum.
Harlem and the Kamoinge Workshop ~ February 3
As part of The Whitney Museum of American Art current exhibition, Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop, the online event, Harlem and the Kamoinge Workshop, The Whitney will hold a number of online events including Harlem and the Kamoinge Workshop on February 3rd at 7pm, presented in partnership with Aperture.
Susan Grabel: Homeless in the Land of Plenty at Ceres Gallery ~ February 3
Ceres Gallery in Chelsea has opened its doors to the timely exhibition, Susan Grabel: Homeless in the Land of Plenty ~ Redux, clay sculptures. Grabel has a long tradition of social commentary in her work. Through it, she explores the social and political realities of modern society, and tries to evoke the complex web of feelings that these realities engender.
Ebecho Muslimova: Scenes in the Sublevel at The Drawing Center ~ February 5
For Ebecho Muslimova’s first solo museum exhibition, the artist presents Scenes in the Sublevel, a site-specific installation that includes ten large-scale mixed-media drawings. Muslimova (b. 1984, Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia) is known for her pen-and-ink drawings and large-scale paintings that feature her bold and uninhibited cartoon alter ego, Fatebe. Her latest body of work takes up The Drawing Center’s downstairs gallery as the stage for Fatebe’s intrepid misadventures.
David Hammons: Body Prints, 1968-1979 at The Drawing Center ~ February 5
The first museum exhibition dedicated to David Hammons’s pivotal early works on paper, David Hammons: Body Prints, 1968–1979 brings together the monoprints and collages in which the artist used the body as both a drawing tool and printing plate to explore performative, unconventional forms of image making. More than a half century after they were made, these early works on paper remain a testament to Hammons’s desire to reinterpret notions of the real; his celebration of the sacredness of objects touched or made by the Black body; his biting critique of racial oppression; and his deep commitment to social justice.
Adam Neate: Madalena at Allouche Gallery ~ February 6
Allouche Gallery will open its doors to a new solo exhibition by British Dimensionalist artist Adam Neate entitled Madalena on February 6th.
Swoon: The House Our Families Built at Prospect Park ~ February 6-7
Swoon: The House Our Families Built, exploring the beauty and the burden of our personal legacies will be located at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1 on January 30-31; In Prospect Park (Flatbush & Empire) on February 6-7; in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on February 13-14; and in Union Squareat the North Plaza at 17th Street on February 21st.
Arts Hearts Fashion/New York Fashion Week ~ February 6 ~ 9
Now in its 14th season, Art Hearts Fashion will take place from February 6-9, showcasing the collections of more than 30 international designers and artists at New York Fashion Week.
Above YouTube video, artist Domingo Zapata Fall Winter/2020/2021 for Art Hearts Fashion during New York Fashion Week.
The Rubin Museum of Art Celebrates The Himalayan New Year 2021 ~ February 7
The Rubin Museum of Art will be celebrating the Himalayan New Year on February 7th with a virtual, festive afternoon filled with art-making activities, baking and performances.
2021 Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition Unveiling ~ February 10
It wouldn’t be Valentine’s Day without the Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition ~ and this years winner is Love Letters created by Soft-Firm, curated by Reddymade. Take a look at the installation that will be unveiled on February 10th at 11am on Father Duffy Square.
Feel the Love all Month at Rockefeller Center with Love at the Center
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a vending machine filled with…….Jewelry! This fabulous invention will be part of Rockefeller Center’s ‘Love At The Center’ event. The event will including a month-long schedule of workshops and collaborative installations ~ all with the theme of Love.
Not Feeling the Valentine’s Day Love?
Not feeling the love? The Bronx Zoo has some alternatives ~ Name a Roach.
February 2021 at Fotografiska New York Begins on ~ February 12
Valentine’s Day and Black History Month bring a season focused on love, recognition and appreciation for ourselves and others. Fotografiska New York invites all to join them for a month for Love Potion Workshops, Intimate Portrait Sessions, Celebrations of Artists of Color, and more
Swoon: The House Our Families Built at Flushing Meadows Corona Park ~ February 13-14
Swoon: The House Our Families Built, exploring the beauty and the burden of our personal legacies will be located at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1 on January 30-31; In Prospect Park (Flatbush & Empire) on February 6-7; in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on February 13-14; and in Union Squareat the North Plaza at 17th Street on February 21st.
Angelica Yudasto: Rubbings of Vaporwave ~ February 17
Yudasto is a multi-disciplinary artist interested in impressions of the body and the vulnerability evoked in what is easily shattered and dissolved. When she makes arrangements, the environment shifts. Her works are temporary recreations of her internal psyche using fragmented forms and the residual. Yudasto’s responses to the space are recorded in the site-sensitive installation. Her pieces are momentary and transient.
Roni Horn. Recent Work at Hauser & Wirth ~ February 18
Roni Horn has spent the past four decades questioning accepted notions of identity and meaning, thwarting closure and opening up new possibilities of perception through her expansive body of work across mediums. Beginning 18 February, ‘Roni Horn. Recent Work’ will present the artist’s latest achievements in the realm of drawing, a medium she has described as ‘a kind of breathing activity on a daily level.’
Dennis Osadebe: Safe Space at GR Gallery ~ February 18
GR Gallery is thrilled to announce “Safe Space”, the first solo exhibition of Dennis Osadebe with the gallery, after two years of collaboration. The show will reveal the latest series of artworks conceived by the artist appositely for this occasion focused on the concept of a safe space as their point of departure, defined by Osadebe as a place to experiment, be yourself, reflect, enjoy, and dream, the works consider the spaces potential dimensions, the narratives that contain it and the theatre or spectacle that unfolds around it. A new print, also inspired from this new concept, will be released for the show. Opening reception: Thursday February 18th, 4:00pm – 8:00pm (Exhibition Dates: February 19 – March 14, 2021). The artist will attend the opening event
Online Sales for Frick Madison Begin ~ February 19
The Frick Collection announced today that it will open the doors to Frick Madison, its temporary new home, on Thursday, March 18, 2021. Located at the Breuer-designed building at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street, former site of the Met Breuer and the Whitney Museum of American Art, Frick Madison will welcome visitors Thursday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Timed entry tickets will need to be purchased in advance, with online sales beginning February 19. The Frick Collection will operate Frick Madison for approximately two years while its historic buildings on East 70th Street undergo renovation. This temporary relocation enables the Frick to provide public access to its celebrated collections during a time when the museum and library would otherwise be closed. Details about member previews and a virtual press preview will be shared in the coming weeks.
#NYPOPSUP Begins ~ February 20
Hugh Jackman, Renée Fleming, Amy Schumer, Alec Baldwin, Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, Sarah Jessica Parker, Isabel Leonard, Nico Muhly, Joyce DiDonato, John Early and Kate Berlant, Patti Smith, Mandy Patinkin, Raja Feather Kelly, J’Nai Bridges, Kenan Thompson, Gavin Creel, Garth Fagan, Larry Owens, Q-Tip, Billy Porter, Conrad Tao, Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber, Tina Landau, Rhiannon Giddens, Aparna Nancherla, Anthony Rodriguez, Jonathan Groff, Savion Glover, Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, Chris Celiz, Christine Goerke, Kelli O’Hara, Dev Hynes, Phoebe Robinson, Sara Mearns, George Saunders, Caleb Teicher, Danielle Brooks, Jeremy Denk, Idina Menzel, Sondra Radvanovsky, Gaby Moreno, Davóne Tines, Jerrod Carmichael, Taylor Mac, Sutton Foster, Jessie Mueller, and Courtney ToPanga Washington ~ Did we get your attention yet? Welcome to #NYPopsUp, a festival featuring hundreds of pop-up performances throughout the five boroughs and across New York State beginning February 20th
Swoon: The House Our Families Built in Union Square at 17th Street ~ February 21
Swoon: The House Our Families Built, exploring the beauty and the burden of our personal legacies will be located at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1 on January 30-31; In Prospect Park (Flatbush & Empire) on February 6-7; in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on February 13-14; and in Union Squareat the North Plaza at 17th Street on February 21st.
Public Art Fund Presents ‘Awol Erizku: New Visions for Iris ~ February 24
On February 24, Public Art Fund will debut New Visions for Iris, a 350-site photography exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Awol Erizku. On view at 200 JCDecaux bus shelters across New York City and 150 in Chicago, this is the first exhibition in Public Art Fund’s partnership with JCDecaux to be presented in two cities concurrently.
Shinichi Sawada at Venus Over Manhattan ~ February 24
Beginning February 24th, Venus Over Manhattan will present the first United States solo exhibition of Shinichi Sawada’s ceramic sculptures. The showcase of thirty works follows a recent museum solo exhibition that traveled in fall 2020 from the Museum Lothar Fischer, in Neumarkt, Germany, to the George Kolbe Museum, Berlin. On view through April, the Venus exhibition has been organized in collaboration with Jennifer Lauren Gallery, Manchester, UK, who has been worked with the artist for many years.
Robert Nava: Angels is Inaugural Exhibition at Vito Schnabel Gallery Second Gallery Space ~ February 25
Robert Nava: Angels will inaugurate Vito Schnabel’s second New York City exhibition space, located at 455 West 19th Street in the Chelsea Arts District. This will be the first New York solo exhibition for the Brooklyn-based artist, and will be a debut for a new series of paintings devoted to the archetype of the seraphim, the winged figure that has animated art history since the early Christian era of the 4th century. With these works, the angel takes its place in Nava’s contemporary visual mythos, joining riotously colored monsters, knights, and chimerical beings that populate his deceptively carefree canvases and works on paper.
Did you know that Human Connection Arts has an Indoor Gallery in Williamsburg?
Indoor gallery with rotating art exhibitions, small creative events, rehearsal space is open to the public from Tuesday through Thursday, 1:00 to 6:00pm. An outdoor courtyard is open every Sunday afternoon with free interactive, creative performances, including outdoor heaters, canopies, hot beverages, and snacks ~ bundle up and join them at 259 Kent Street, Brooklyn.
MTA Launches Living Memorial Honoring Transit Workers Lost to COVID-19
While you’re traveling on the MTA, take notice of the 138 three-panel digital screens at 107 subway stays on view through February 7th, honoring all transit workers lost to COVID-19.
Still on View:
About Time: Fashion and Duration at The Met on view through February 7, 2021
The Costume Institute’s upcoming exhibition About Time: Fashion and Duration (on view October 29, 2020 to February 7, 2021) will trace 150 years of fashion, from 1870 to the present, along a disrupted timeline, in honor of the Museum’s 150th anniversary. Employing philosopher Henri Bergson’s concept of la durée—the continuity of time—the exhibition will explore how clothes generate temporal associations that conflate the past, present, and future. The concept will also be examined through the writings of Virginia Woolf, who will serve as the exhibition’s “ghost narrator.”
Teiji Hayama: Ethereal Icons at GR Gallery on view to February 13, 2021
Teiji Hayama: Ethereal Icons is the first solo exhibition for the artist with the gallery, exhibiting sixteen new oil paintings. Opening reception, January 14 from 4-8pm. GR Gallery is located at 255 Bowery, between Houston & Stanton, NYC.
Flare by Kimberly Schneider ~ an Online Exhibition ~ on view through February 14, 2021
The virtual exhibition, Flare by Kimberly Schneider features a selection of 25 photograms that are part of a larger photographic series initially started by the artist during the quarantine of 2020. Within the restricted space of her darkroom, Schneider has utilized what was at hand ~ wilted flowers, glitter, lace, and moving water ~ ultimately rendering a countless array of mysterious silhouettes that appear to either float, glimmer, combust, or fade away.
PSArt2020 on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art through February 14, 2021
Returning to The Met for the 13th consecutive year, the exhibition P.S. Art: Celebrating the Creative Spirit of NYC Kids will feature works of art in a variety of media created by public school students in New York City. The exhibition will be on view from October 8, 2020, through February 14, 2021, at The Met Fifth Avenue in the Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education. On the evening of October 8, there will be a private virtual opening ceremony with remarks at 5 p.m. by Max Hollein, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Richard A. Carranza, Schools Chancellor; and Alison Scott-Williams, President of Studio in a School NYC. P.S. Art 2020: Celebrating the Creative Spirit of NYC Kids is a project of the New York City Department of Education and Studio in a School NYC.
Gordon Hookey: Sacred Nation, Scared Nation at Fort Gansevoort on view to February 20, 2021
Sacred Nation, Scared Nation is the gallery’s first exhibition with the noted Waanyi Aboriginal artist Gordon Hookey. Organized in collaboration with Los Angeles-based artist Gary Simmons, the presentation will focus on Hookey’s use of metaphors, wordplay, and humor – sometimes brazenly provocative – to subvert tropes of Western colonialization and to reclaim, empower, and redefine Aboriginal culture. Eschewing the traditional dot abstraction most commonly associated with indigenous Australian art, he deploys deceptively folksy figuration, contemporary images, and bold painted words in paintings that connect Black Aboriginal experience to that of African Americans.
A stranger’s soul is a deep well at Fridman Gallery on view through February 20, 2021
Fridman Gallery presents A stranger’s soul is a deep well, a multidisciplinary exhibition highlighting the work of nine contemporary artists: Ambrose, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Athena Latocha, Abigail Levine, Nate Lewis, Tyrone Mitchell, Wura-Natasha Ogunji, Sahana Ramakrishnan and Matana Roberts.
Brian Clarke: The Art of Light at MAD on view through February 21, 2021
The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) will reopen on September 17, 2020 with a major exhibition of works by celebrated architectural artist and painter Brian Clarke (b. 1953, United Kingdom). The first museum exhibition in the U.S. of Clarke’s stained-glass screens, compositions in lead, and related drawings on paper, Brian Clarke: The Art of Light showcases the most considerable artistic and technical breakthrough in the thousand-year history of stained glass.
3 Points of View by Kamoinge Photographers at Keith de Lellis Gallery on view to February 26, 2021
3 Points of View by Kamoinge Photographers Anthony Barboza, Beuford Smith and Shawn Walker on view at Keith de Lellis Gallery and in the online viewing room.
Inkyeong Baek: Happy Hour at Fremin Gallery on view to February 27, 2021
Fremin Gallery kicked-off 2021 with the work of Korean artist, Inkyeong Baek. The exhibition, entitled ‘Happy Hour’ beautifully captures in oil the delicate magic of glassware in her signature style.
Paris Wanderlust on view Galerie l’Atelier + Fremin Gallery to February 27, 2021
For all those who love Paris, you won’t want to miss Galerie l’Atelier, in partnership with Fremin Gallery, in its presentation of Paris Wanderlust. Each artist in this group exhibition brings the city to life, capturing their most treasured places. Here, the gallery describes this pictorial adventure.
Lindsay Burke: A Shift in the House at Marinaro Gallery on view to February 28, 2021
Marinaro Gallery will open its doors to the second solo exhibition with the gallery by Lindsay Burke with her exhibition, A Shift in the House. In her new body of work, Burke presents a series of paintings in which the house is more than just a functional structure; it is, in Burke’s universe, a surrogate for the mind and body, offering a way to visualize the drama of living in the world itself.
The New York African Film Festival on view to March 4, 2021
The 28th edition of the New York African Film Festival (NYAFF) returns with a virtual program celebrating the shared aspirations that drive humanity through time and the voices of the women who push the culture forward while preserving treasured traditions. Presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC) and African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF), this year’s NYAFF will showcase ten features and 21 short films from Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. The event will be presented under the banner “Notes from Home: Recurring Dreams & Women’s Voices” in FLC’s Virtual Cinema from February 4 to 14 and at the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem from February 18 to March 4.
Han Feng: The Gift at Robert Klein Gallery on view through March 13, 2021
Robert Klein Gallery, in partnership with M97 Gallery, is pleased to present a new exhibition of photographs by New York and Shanghai-based artist and designer Han Feng. The exhibition will be on view from January 18 through March 13, 2021, at Robert Klein Gallery and online. The exhibition, entitled The Gift, presents a series of 20 artfully and poetically conceived still life photographs, created over the last year in her New York City studio during the pandemic.
Working Together: The Photographers of the Kamoinge Workshop at The Whitney Museum on view to March 28, 2021
In 1963 a group of Black photographers based in New York came together in the spirit of friendship and exchange and chose the name Kamoinge—meaning “a group of people acting together” in Gikuyu, the language of the Kikuyu people of Kenya—to reflect the essential ideal of the collective. Focusing on the first two decades of the collective (1963–1983), Working Together celebrates the Kamoinge Workshop’s important place in the history of photography and foregrounds the collective’s deep commitment to photography’s power and status as an independent art form.
Tom Friedman’s Looking Up on View at Rockefeller Center Through March, 2021
Sculpture artist, Tom Friedman’s ‘Looking Up‘ is the latest artwork to grace the Channel Gardens, facing Rockefeller Center. The ten-foot tall, stainless steel sculpture, depicts a quasi-human figure gazing up to the heavens ~ or maybe, like many New Yorkers know, there’s a lot to see when looking up!
All The Stars In The Sky Have the Same Face is still on view on the facade of The Jewish Museum
The Jewish Museum has been approved by NYC Landmarks to display a multi-story mural installed at the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 92nd Street with the neon-blue message, ‘All the Stars in the Sky have the Same Face‘. It was originally designed in 2011 by American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, with lettering in Hebrew, Arabic and English. We aren’t yet sure when the mural will come down, but feel fairly certain it will be on view at least until April 2021.
Hou de Sousa: Ziggy on view throughout Winter 2021
The Downtown Alliance has kicked-off the New Year with one of our favorite installations, Ziggy, located at 200 Water Street throughout Winter, 2021.
The High Line Shortlisted Proposals for The Plinth with Sculptural Maquette’s on view to April, 2021
The High Line asked for your thoughts on 80 artists’ proposals for the third and fourth High Line Plinth commissions to open in 2022 and 2024 ~ and with your help, they now have a shortlist of 12, on view as sculptural maquette’s in the Coach Passage at 30th Street. The selected artists are Iván Argote, Nina Beier, Margarita Cabrera, Nick Cave, Banu Cennetoğlu, Rafa Esparza, Teresita Fernández, Kapwani Kiwanga, Lu Pingyuan, Pamela Rosenkranz, Mary Sibande, and Andra Ursuţa.
Albers and Morandi: Never Finished will be on view at David Zwirner to April 3, 2021
David Zwirner is pleased to present Albers and Morandi: Never Finished, which will be on view at the gallery’s 537 West 20th Street location. The exhibition explores the formal and visual affinities, and contrasts between two of the twentieth century’s greatest painters: Josef Albers (1888–1976) and Giorgio Morandi (1890–1964).
Beth Lipman: Collective Elegy at Museum of Art & Design on view to April 4, 2021
The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) presents Beth Lipman: Collective Elegy, from September 25, 2020 to April 4, 2021, a major midcareer survey that is the first to assess the remarkable achievements of the renowned contemporary artist. From sumptuous displays of excess, including provocative installations comprising hundreds of individual glass elements, to poetic and contemplative works in glass, metal, clay, video, and photography, the works on view are ethereal meditations on time and mortality and simultaneously sobering indictments of our contemporary consumer culture and its impact on the planet.
Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration at MoMA PS1 on view through April 4, 2021
MoMA PS1 will open its doors to the timely exhibition, Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration, highlighting more than thirty-five artists reflecting on the growing COVID-19 crises in U.S. prisons. The exhibition features work by people in prisons and work by non incarcerated artists, with a creative eye towards state repression, erasure, and imprisonment, and is on display across PS1’s first floor galleries.
Salman Toor: How Will I Know at The Whitney Museum on view through April 4, 2021
Salman Toor’s first solo museum exhibition—originally scheduled to open in March 2020 but postponed due to the pandemic—will be presented by the Whitney Museum of American Art from November 13, 2020 to April 4, 2021. Primarily making intimate oil-on-panel works, Toor expands the tradition of figurative painting by melding sketch-like immediacy with disarming detail to create affecting views of young, queer Brown men living in New York City and South Asia. Salman Toor: How Will I Know is part of the Whitney’s emerging artists program, which most recently included solo shows by Kevin Beasley and Eckhaus Latta, and will be on view in the first-floor John R. Eckel, Jr. Foundation Gallery, which is accessible to the public free-of-charge.
Howardena Pindell: Rope/Fire/Water at The Shed on view through April 11, 2021
For her solo exhibition at The Shed, Howardena Pindell will present Rope/Fire/Water, her first video in 25 years and a project unrealized by the artist since the 1970s that The Shed commissioned. In this powerful work, Pindell recounts personal anecdotes and anthropological and historical data related to lynchings and racist attacks in the United States. She accompanies this voice-over with archival photos of lynchings and the historic Birmingham, Alabama, Children’s Crusade, a series of nonviolent protests carried out by young people in May 1963.
Luciano Garbati: Medusa with the Head of Perseus at Collect Pond Park on view to April 18, 2021
Medusa With The Head of Perseus is a seven-foot bronze sculpture that inverts the narrative of Medusa, portraying her in a moment of somberly empowered self-defense. In Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Medusa was a maiden in the temple of Athena, who was stalked and raped by Poseidon. Athena, in a rage, banishes and curses Medusa with a monstrous head of snakes and a gaze which turns men to stone. Medusa is herself blamed and punished for the crime of which she was the victim; she is cast away as a monster and then with the cruel assistance of Athena and Poseidon, eventually is hunted-down and beheaded by the epic hero Perseus, who displays her head as a trophy on his shield. Garbati’s sculpture speaks directly to the 16th Century Florentine bronze masterpiece Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini (1545-1554). Through this work, Garbati asks “how can a triumph be possible if you are defeating a victim? Collect Pond Park is located at 130 Leonard Street, NYC.
Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away on view at Museum of Jewish Heritage to May, 2021
The Museum of Jewish Heritage reopened its doors to the largest and most extensive exhibition on Auschwitz ever presented in the United States, featuring more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs ~ Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away. The exhibition has been extended to May, 2021.
Grief and Grievance: Art and Mourning in America at New Museum on view to June 6, 2021
The New Museum will present an intergenerational exhibition of works from thirty-seven artists, conceived by curator Okwui Enwezor beginning January 27, 2021.
Art for the Community: The Met’s Circulating Textile Exhibition, 1933-1942 will be on view through June 13, 2021
Between 1933 and 1942, The Metropolitan Museum of Art organized one of its especially noteworthy landmark educational initiatives to bring the Museum’s collection to as many New Yorkers as possible. Called the Neighborhood Circulating Exhibitions, the series consisted of small, thematic displays of select artworks presented in New York Public Library branches, high schools, city universities, and settlement houses. The effort, which was developed in response to an inquiry from a high school teacher, reached more than two million visitors and will be the focus of the exhibition Art for the Community: The Met’s Circulating Textile Exhibitions, 1933–1942, on view October 31, 2020, through June 13, 2021, in honor of The Met’s 150th anniversary.
Gillie and Marc’s ‘King Nyani’ on view through July, 2021
To raise awareness and funds for the critically endangered gorilla species, public artists Gillie and Marc have created a massive sculpture of the animal that will be unveiled later this month in Hudson Yards’ Bella Abzug Park. Titled King Nyani, Swahili for gorilla, it’s the world’s largest bronze gorilla sculpture.
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
Copyright Capehart Photography 2020
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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Still not ready to step out yet? Here are some fabulous live stream and virtual exhibits and tours. You can visit more than 2,500 museums and galleries online.
See you in March, 2021!