Art Installations, Performances & Exhibits in our Parks + Online ~ May, 2020

Museums and galleries have shut their doors, but not their commitment to art and the artists they represent.  Online Viewing Rooms have been popping up due to the ban on public gatherings, and parks and public spaces have become a respite for New Yorkers getting a breath of fresh air and enjoying a bit of open space. Here are more than 30 outdoor art installations, online performances and exhibitions to enjoy in May + a host of great viewing from past months.

Let us start the month with poignant images, both video and in diary form, taken by renowned photographer, Peter Turney, who happens to be in New York during this difficult time.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crises in NYC, Peter Turnley has gone out most days, with camera and notebook. ‘The Human Face of Covid-19, NYC‘ (video above) and a link to his beautiful ‘New York Lock-down Visual Diary.’ tell the stories of so many heroes and victims, documented in images ~ a true celebration of their courage and New York spirit.

Orhan Pamuk: Nights of Plague

When Nobel Laureate and Columbia University School of the Arts Writing Professor Orhan Pamuk was asked what he’s working on right now, “remarkably, he has for some time been writing a new novel called Nights of Plague.” In a question and answer session, Professor Pamuk discusses his book alongside his drawings, pictures, and maps, illustrating the world he is inventing.

More from Pamuk’s opinion piece in the New York Times in April, 2020,  entitled ‘What the Great Pandemic Novel Teaches Us.’

In the Artist’s Studio | Bisa Butler ~ May 13

Join New Jersey-based artist, Bisa Butler in conversation with Museum of the African Diaspora’s own Demetri Broxton in ‘In the Artist’s Studio | Bisa Butler‘ on Wednesday, May 13th from 4:00-5:00pm. (Eastern Time) This talk is co-presented by Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem.

Step into the recent exhibition, ‘Bisa Butler: The Storm, the Whirlwind and the Earthquake‘ at Claire Oliver Gallery.

Fridman Gallery | Wura-Natasha Ogunji

For the fifth consecutive week, The Armory Show is pleased to present Armory Access — an initiative started in April 2020 following the COVID-19 shutdown. The platform facilitates viewing of gallery exhibitions of participants from the Presents section of The Armory Show 2020. These exhibitions either closed abruptly or never opened to the public. This week Fridman Gallery is highlighted with their solo exhibition of Nigerian artist Wura-Natasha Ogunji. This exhibition was presented for the first time at The Armory Show 2020 at Fridman Gallery’s booth. Wura-Natasha Ogunji’s hand-stitched drawings on architectural tracing paper are inspired by daily interactions in Lagos, Nigeria. Her performances explore the presence of women in public space, labor, leisure, freedom, and frivolity.

#Armoryaccess

The Salmagundi Club Annual Members’ Exhibition Online in the Artsy Showroom

The Galleries at Salmagundi unveiled its Annual Members’ Exhibition in the Artsy Showroom. The online exhibition showcases its club members’ finest works of art in all media ~ oil, watercolor, pastel, graphics, sculpture, photography and mixed media.

The National Arts Club presents NAC@Home ~ May 7

On May 7th at 1:00pm, enjoy an online performance by Jazz Pianist Jon Weber, who is a frequent performer at the Club. Here, he offers a live online performance of jazz classics. Weber has recorded and toured all over the world, winning numerous honors for performance and composition.

Atlantic Gallery presents ‘Future (Perfect)’ an Online Exhibition & Benefit

Atlantic Gallery opens its Online Viewing Room to the exhibition, Future (Perfect). In an effort to do their part and help our amazing city get through this tough time, Atlantic Gallery members have decided to donate 20% of all sales to the UNITED WAY NYC: Covid19 Community Response & Recovery Fund.

The MAS Annual Jane’s Walk Online

The Municipal Art Society (MAS) announces Jane’s Walk NYC (from Home), a reimagining of the festival that we hope brings the same joy and inspiration you’ve come to expect from this annual celebration. Each morning beginning Monday, April 27, and running through Sunday, May 3, we will announce a new daily activity that allows New Yorkers to connect virtually to celebrate and pay tribute to the magic of everyday life in New York—all the places, people, and encounters that we cherish more than ever in these difficult times. Check their website each morning at 9:00am and follow MAS on social media.

Revisit Jane’s Walk 2018 and 2019.

Andy Warhol ~ in Twelve Online Viewing Rooms of Tate Modern

This major retrospective is the first Warhol exhibition at Tate Modern for almost 20 years. As well as his iconic pop images of Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola and Campbell’s soup cans, it includes works never seen before in the UK. Twenty-five works from his Ladies and Gentlemen series – portraits of black and Latinx drag queens and trans women – are shown for the first time in 30 years. Take a virtual exhibition tour of the artist’s life and career in twelve rooms of Tate Modern.

Explore Tate’s other galleries online.

Kerstin Brätsch: Fossil Psychics for Christa in the Online Viewing Room at Gavin Brown’s enterprise

Kerstin Braetsch’s most recent works, titled Fossil Psychics for Christa, are brightly-colored, three dimensional stuccos, hovering between the realms of painting and sculpture. Stucco is a form of plaster, historically used to imitate marble and other rare stones. Step into the Online Viewing Room at Gavin Brown’s enterprise for the exhibition, Kerstin Brätsch: Fossil Psychics for Christa.

‘Beside Itself’ at Hauser & Wirth

Hauser & Wirth announces the gallery’s first entirely VR-based exhibition under the newly launched research and innovation arm ArtLab. Opening on 30 April, the group exhibition, entitled ‘Beside Itself’, will take place in the gallery of the future Hauser & Wirth Menorca, allowing visitors a first look at the art centre ahead of its opening in 2021. Visitors will be able to experience the exhibition created in HWVR, a first in virtual reality exhibition modeling, through the gallery’s website. ‘Beside Itself’ can be experienced via the gallery’s website, accessed by a computer, smart phone or using a VR headset such as google cardboard.

One World Explorer ~ Tour the City From Your Laptop

During this time when we are all home, One World Observatory is bringing the city to you with its One World Explorer, Digital Skyline Guide. Check out the helicopter tours of iconic NYC sites.

Take a Virtual Day-Trip to The Barnes in Philadelphia

The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia has a new free online program  ~ Barnes Takeout. Get your daily serving of art in this new YouTube series.

Let’s Take a Van Gogh Museum 4K Tour of Over 2,100 Artworks

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is closed due to COVID-19, but the Museum invites all to step into a seven-part virtual tour, displaying more than 2,100 artworks.

Take a Virtual Day-Trip to 12 Historic Destinations via National Trust for Historic Preservation

Stroll through Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Coconut Grove; tour the Pollock-Krasner House; the Museum at Eldridge Street; George Eastman Museum + more through the National Trust for Historic Preservation portal.

Take a Virtual Walk on Mars with NASA

You have the time, so why not take the ultimate day-trip ~ to Mars. Starting April, 2020, everyone can get a taste of what that feels like. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, collaborated with Google to produce Access Mars, a free immersive experience. It’s available for use on all desktop and mobile devices and virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) headsets. That includes mobile-based virtual reality devices on Apple and Android. Buckle up!

Times Square Arts + Artists Have Messages for all New Yorkers

Times Square Arts, Poster House, Print Magazine, and For Freedoms have launched a citywide public art campaign featuring artist-designed PSAs and messages of love, gratitude, and solidarity with New York City’s health care and essential workers. Radiating out from the screens of Times Square to the digital billboards above Lincoln Tunnel and nearly 1800 LinkNYC kiosks across all five boroughs, the initiative turns our city’s digital displays into platforms of public service and appreciation through the lens of established and emerging graphic designers and visual artists from around the world.

Fotografiska New York Presents: The Foto Sessions, a New Digital Destination for Photography & Storytelling + Fotographers (in) Focus

Fotografiska New York, the Manhattan-based photography museum, introduces the launch of The Foto Sessions; a new digital exhibition space created to showcase incredible photography while the world stays at home. In light of COVID-19 events, the museum has temporarily closed its doors, but will continue to spotlight both aspiring and accomplished photographers via the online destination. The content hub will feature virtual galleries, artist interviews and profiles, audio recordings from previous live events, and community photography submissions, all designed to bring the museum and its signature programming into living rooms across the globe.

Here’s How to Whitney From Home!

Even in uncertain times, there are no limits to the creative spirit. It’s what makes us human. So while the Museum is temporarily closed, know that the spirit of the Whitney is open to all—and committed to connecting you to inspiration, knowledge, and a sense of community through art. They’ve laid out some of the best ways to explore American art of the twentieth century to today across our website and social media channels. Start with a journey through our online collection, revisit some of your favorite Whitney exhibitions, and enjoy an array of video and audio content that will bring you closer to the stories behind the art and artists that we at the Whitney hold so dear.

Read, Watch + Listen at MoMA

MoMA has opened its Online Portal to free online courses, educational materials to teach art from home,   Artist Talks, and an online view of the Museum’s collection.

The MET 360° Project

The Met 360° Project is a series of six short videos inviting viewers to virtually visit The Met’s art and architecture using spherical 360° technology. The Project includes The Great Hall; Met Cloisters; The Temple of Dendur; Met Breuer; The Charles Engelhard Court; and Arms and Armor Galleries.

Explore The American Museum of Natural History Virtually

The Museum of Natural History is closed, but they welcome virtual visits. Here you will get a behind the scenes look at iconic habitat dioramas; inside the Museum, and a Google Arts and Culture Tour. On this page, you will also find materials for teachers (Khan Academy), families and kids.

The Galleries at The Salmagundi Club ~ ‘Land & Sea’ in the Artsy Showroom

The historic brownstone that houses The Salmagundi Club may be closed, but the artists within are hard at work, and this work can been seen in the Artsy Showroom. The site features not only the SCNY Photography Show and Land & Sea Exhibition, but also each participating artist member. All work available for sale.

Harlem Stage with a Virtual Celebration ~ May 18

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Harlem Stage is forced to cancel our Annual Spring Gala. However, they are excited to premiere a virtual celebration to be enjoyed by a much wider audience on either Facebook or Instagram. The celebration will be hosted by award-winning Broadway, television & film actor, LaChanze, producer, director, and award-winning actor, Tamara Tunie, and award-nominated, rising Broadway actor,
Celia Rose Gooding.​ Featuring new and archival performances by Nona Hendryx, José James, Jason Moran, and more. With appearances by MSNBC Host and Anchor, Joy Reid, dance legend Bill T. Jones, stars of television and film, Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy, and more. Your support matters.

Joe’s Pub Performances on Youtube

Joe’s Pub, the small performance space inside the Public Theater New York, has a plethora of performances available on youtube.

Free Passenger Search from Ellis Island Foundation

Have you tried the free passenger search to find your Ellis Island connection?

#54BelowAtHome

54 Below has gathered its online community into a virtual Living Room to enjoy performances. Until the Club can open up, enjoy Livestream.

Michael Moore’s ‘Planet of the Humans’ Documentary

Planet of the Humans was directed by Jeff Gibbs and co-produced by Michael Morre.  Watch the full 100-minute documentary streaming on YouTube for free.

It is also important to note the backlash this documentary has received from advocacy and scientific organizations ~ discussed Here.

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Launches ‘Seneca Village Unearthed’ ~ Online

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced the launch of Seneca Village Unearthed, an online exhibit and collection of artifacts from what was once New York City’s largest community of free African-American landowners. Seneca Village was located in what is now Central Park, a scenic landmark. Through this online exhibit and collection, the general public will for the first time have access to nearly 300 artifacts and get a glimpse of what life was like for Seneca villagers in the mid-19th century.

Grey Art Gallery at NYU ~ Online Gallery + Fabulous Self-Guided Walking Tours in Greenwich Village

Grey Art Gallery at NYU opens its digital window to the exhibition, Taking Shape: Abstration from the Arab World, 1950s ~ 1980s, along with a short film taken at the opening reception in January, 2020.

One Third of a Nation: The Photographs of the Farm Security Administration, 1935-1946 in the Howard Greenberg Online Gallery

Depicting challenges impoverished Americans were enduring at the time, with photographs by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks, among others, the exhibition, One Third of a Nation: The Photographs of the Farm Security Administration, demonstrates the extraordinary power of photography to define an era and inspire social change. Although the exhibition was planned months before the current pandemic situation, the images now take on a new relevance.  The exhibition is now in the Howard Greenberg Gallery Viewing Room.

Beyond the Harlem Renaissance at Keith de Lellis Gallery Online

Keith de Lellis Gallery celebrates the portraiture of Carl Van Vechten (American, 1880-1964) in its spring exhibition in the Online Viewing Room. Van Vechten moved to New York City from Chicago in 1906 to pursue a writing career (he would become the first American critic of modern dance while contributing to the New York Times) before dedicating himself to photography.

Keith de Lellis Gallery ‘Paris Photo New York’ Online

Keith de Lellis Gallery opens its Online Viewing to a selection of photographs that would have been exhibited at Paris Photo New York.

Take Refuge in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room at The Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum of Art is sending out an online ‘Rubin Care Package’ of art and practices for navigating our world in this time of instability and feeling of global community fear, loss, isolation and stress. Take refuge in the Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room with two-hours of meditative chanting, and Podcasts allowing listeners to hear meditations designed to focus our mind and control our breath.

Watch & Listen to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Watch, listen and interact with Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Learn about their recordings, enjoy music videos, and watch livestreams.

Jazz at Lincoln Center with Three Full concerts Online

Jazz at Lincoln Center has unlocked its vaults and rolled out three full concert videos from past seasons. Heading over to YouTube, enjoy The Music of Miles Davis; South African Songbook; and Family concert: Who is Chick Corea. Stay tuned for more from their archives in the near future.

….and from the vault, a commemoration of Ella Fitzgerald on what would have been her 100th birthday. Celebrate the ‘First Lady of Song’ from home Here.

92Y Livestream Concerts + Conversations

Online at the 92nd Street Y, are a number of concerts and Conversations + online classes.

Museum of Jewish Heritage Livestream Events

The Museum of Jewish Heritage has launched Livestream Events including a concert to commemorate The 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz.

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene Brings the Stage to You ~ Online

The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, who brought us ‘Fiddler on the Roof‘ in Yiddish, has stepped up with ‘Folksbiene LIVE!’, a social media performance series. Can’t get to Broadway? Check out the online stage at Folksbiene! Live.

The Schomburg Center invites the Public to Explore Victor Hugo Green + The Green Books Online

The Green Book, a guidebook for black Americans, was published by New York postal worker Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966, during the Jim Crow era in America as a way for working-class African-Americans to pursue the American Dream of travel before and during the Civil Rights Movement. The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture houses the full digital collection of Green Books and other similar guides. They are available free online.

Let’s Take a Walk in our Parks, Big & Small ~ and Bring Along Your 6′ Measuring Stick

New York City Parks have a plethora of outdoor art installations throughout all five boroughs. It may come to pass that our City is put under a ‘shelter-in-place’ order. But in the meantime, a nice long walk and some fresh air and exercise might be good for mind and soul. Here are a few suggestions, keeping in mind that some of the installations are temporary, and coming to an end as soon as the end of this month.

Still on view:

 ZOYA CHERKASSKY | Lost Time ~ Online at Fort Gansevoort on View Through May 10, 2020

ZOYA CHERKASSKY | Lost Time is the second in Fort Gansevoort’s ongoing online series, Seeing Through You. It is an exhibition of 19 new drawings by Kiev-born, Tel-Aviv-based artist Zoya Cherkassky, who taps into a collective imagined world of a pre-WWII Jewish life in Eastern Europe as an allegorical vehicle for contemplating our current crisis.

Creative Courts + Facebook AIR unveil Courts at Marcus Garvey Park on view to May 24, 2020

NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks ~  Creative Courts initiative, Facebook Artist-in-Residence Program (FB AIR Program), along with artist Saya Woolfalk, the non-profit Public Color, and the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance/Public Art Initiative have brightened up the basketball court on Madison Avenue near 122nd Street in Marcus Garvey Park.

Art Students League: Model for Monuments on view through May 2020

Art Students League unveiled this season’s Model to Monument Public Art in the Parks installations on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 in Riverbank State Park. This year, three sculpture pieces were installed along the Hudson River at 145th Street.

Robert Lobe: SuperStorm Arrived in Duarte Square Park on view to June, 2020

SuperStorm references Hurricane Sandy, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricane to hit the northeast, inflicting billion in damage. This event so moved the artist that he was compelled to create a monument reflecting the event. Robert Lobe: SuperStorm will be on view to June, 2020.

The Facade Commission: Wangechi Mutu at The MET on view through June 8, 2020

The Metropolitan Museum of Art unveiled four installations on the facade of The Met Fifth Avenue, entitled The Facade Commission: Wangechi Mutu, The NewOnes, will free us. Wangechi Mutu  was selected to create sculptures for The Met’s Fifth Avenue façade niches—the first-ever such installation on the Museum’s historic exterior—inaugurating a new annual artist commission series. The works were unveiled on September 9, 2019, and extended through June 8, 2020.

Capucine Bourcard: Eat Me!  + Public Art Initiative on view to July 1, 2020

In a city filled with fast-food options on every corner, bags of chips and cans of soda filling the shelves in local deli’s and bodega’s, and large, glossy ads of sugared drinks on billboards and in shop windows, it’s not easy promoting healthy eating to our kids. Or is it. In the installation EAT ME! the artist, Capucine Bourcart takes a deep-dive into the ease of turning this around in her community, Harlem.

Naomi Lawrence: La Flor De Mi Madre + Public Art Initiative on view to July 1, 2020

The 12 foot x 24 foot Crochet mural, La Flor De Mi Madre by artist Naomi Lawrence, is located on the fence at Eugene McCabe Field in East Harlem. It represents the diverse community in which it is placed, in a  colorful representation of national flowers.

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh: Stop Telling Women to Smile on view to at least August, 2020

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, a Brooklyn-based street artist and painter whose street art project Stop Telling Women to Smiletackles gender-based street harassment. Her work can be found on walls from New York to Paris, Los Angeles to Mexico City, and right here…… along with some unexpected additions to her posters from locals.

Jean-Marie Appriou: the Horses on view through August 30, 2020

Jean-Marie Appriou: The Horses arrived on the Doris C. Freedman Plaza, following Mark Manders: Tilted Head.  Curated by Public Art Fund Curator, Daniel S. Palmer, the massive equine sculptures stand like surreal sentinels at the entrance to Central Park.

Susan Stair: Roots on Fire on view through August, 2020

Spending time with artist Susan Stair brings a whole new meaning to the trees that fill our green spaces. As we watched her work to create the clay molds for her next installation, Roots on Fire, Stair took us on a virtual journey underground, exploring how trees constantly send electrical messages through their roots and the mushroom (or mychorrizal network) that compose the Wood Wide Web. Come along on our three-part journey, as we document the creation of the installation Roots on Fire.

Simone Leigh: Brick House Coming to the High Line Plinth on view to September, 2020

As the High Line extends north, the new extended section known as the High Line Plinth unveiled its inaugural installation ~ Simone Leigh’s Brick House, seen from 10th Avenue at 30th Street.

See you in June!