Shows to See: Back to School in New York
Our picks of shows worth seeing this month
At the top of each month, Shows to See arrives in your inbox to help make art viewing a more streamlined, more pleasant, and dare I say more fun experience.
School is back in session, and by school we mean the art world. The sleepy summertime season has officially ended (though I personally remain in that headspace as long as I can sit on my back deck in a bikini top) and all of the major art world players are back to the grind. This week in NYC, the season kicks off with The Armory Show, which in turn brings to town auxiliary fairs (Independent 20th Century being our fave), and openings upon openings at galleries across the city. It is easily one of the most overloaded times of the calendar year to catch so many great exhibitions, so without further ado, let’s get into a selection of New York-based shows we think you should add to your September plans.
Uptown
Ellen Siebers at Franklin Parrasch
19 E 66th St
On view until October 4
TL;DR We only came across Ellen’s work in the last year, but realizing how many close confidents in the art circuit (including one of our favorite art-posting accounts run by artist Peter Shear) are long-time fans of the work makes a whole lot of sense. I don’t have much to say about Ellen’s work because it really requires you to just see for yourself and feel. Ellen is based in Upstate New York and her paintings seem to soak up that environment in the most natural, sponge-like way. I will be spending approximately an entire afternoon sitting amongst these works.
Chelsea
Nengi Omuku at Kasmin
506 W 27th St
Opening TONIGHT
TL;DR If you can clear your Friday morning, I deplore you to attend a walkthrough and conversation that I am co-hosting with Nengi and Kasmin (for details, email hello@rococoadvisory.com), where you will get the best scoop I could never articulate in a few short lines here. If that isn’t an option, just know that Nengi’s debut New York solo exhibition is a pause of serenity amidst the hustle and bustle outside its doors. Nengi beautifully weaves personal stories with current events and Nigerian history into oil paintings that feel as significant as they do weightless.
Wangari Mathenge at Nicola Vassell
138 10th Ave
Opening September 5
TL;DR Similarly to Josh’s *about time* solo exhibition landing in New York, I can track my early longings for Wangari to show in a significant way to 2018 when I first came across her work. The 51 year old artist only began to pursue painting professional five years ago, though her work feels like its had a lifetime of maturation. We applaud any series of work that introduces a new mode of observation into our psyche and in this case, Wangari setting up cameras to understand altered states of consciousness and sleep does just that.
Downtown
Josh Hagler at Nicodim
15 Greene St
On view until October 12
TL;DR We’ve caught Josh’s work a handful of times over the past few years in bits and pieces—a painting or two in a group show, one at a fair—all the while waiting patiently for a larger showcase to occur and fully become enraptured by the gravity that his mixed-media paintings possess. The work feels like contemporary fossils of the American West he resides within, but in Josh’s own words, which as the press release shares, include “sentimental tired-ass dadness” they need not be approached with the intensity that they emulate.
Across the Pond at Eric Firestone
40 Great Jones St
Opening September 6
TL;DR This show caught our attention first and foremost because it was organized by an artist we swoon, Emma Fineman (just realized her sister is Chloe Fineman of SNL fame and are not-so-secretly freaking out). We’d call out this show for Emma’s work alone, but have been granted a bonus in the additional artists Emma invited to be included. From the exhibition title, you can gleam the gist that all artists call a place across the ocean their home, specifically in this case, the UK. Included are a few names we know and a few we are excited to be introduced to.
Jose de Jesus Rodriguez at Deli
36 White St
Opening September 5
TL;DR Perhaps the exhibit we are most looking forward to is Jose de Jesus Rodriguez’s long awaited New York solo debut (realizing in real time this seems to be a theme of this year - j’adore). Jose’s paintings are like nothing else we can think of, which immediately gets brownie points, but more than that they are mind maze, I Spy-like compositions using the old school (like Renaissance-era old school) technique of fresco, which went from being everywhere in Michelangelo’s day to nowhere in our day. Rather than booking a late-summer trip to Italy, head on down to Tribeca to enjoy these gems.
*Honorable mentions because as I said we are up to our gils in good art this month: Élise Lafontaine at Jack Barrett, Naudline Pierre at James Cohan, Srijon Chowdhury at PPOW, Anthony Cudahy’s double header at GRIMM and Hales, Soumya Netrabile at Rachel Uffner, Jeff Way at Storage, Daniel Crews-Chubb at Timothy Taylor, Violet Dennison at Tara Downs, Amanda Ba at Jeffrey Deitch, Oren Pinhassi at Lehmann Maupin, Mary Stephenson at Chapter