nyc art scene

Opens Tues, June 18, 6-9p:

“Slow and Steady Wins the Race, Works on Paper 1962–2010”
 Ken Price

The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster St., NYC

This exhibition marks the first survey of drawings by Ken Price, an artist best known for his sculptural work. A selection of 65 works on paper will track Price’s pursuit of drawing over 50 years and will demonstrate a wide range of characters and techniques. This exhibition will open concurrently on June 18 with the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s presentation of the traveling retrospective of Price’s sculpture that originated at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  - thru Aug 18

Opens Tomorrow, May 11, 5-7pm:

“A More Perfect Union”
 Ralph Fasanella

Andrew Edlin Gallery, 134 Tenth Ave., NYC (bt 18th & 19th Streets)

Spanning the entire career of the legendary self-taught New York painter, the works collected in this exhibition reveal many of the subjects and scenes that most captivated Fasanella: urban neighborhoods, labor activism (the Great Strike of 1912, Lawrence, MA), and national tragedies (the assassination of JFK) and traumas (the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg). Today, as demonstrated by the surge of protest by groups like Occupy, and growing recognition of the abiding facts of American economic disparity, Ralph Fasanella’s paintings are more revelatory, and relevant, than ever.

Opens Tonight, Jan 12, 5-8p:

“On Creating Reality, by Andy Kaufman”
 presented by artist Jonathan Berger

Maccarone, 630 Greenwich St., NYC

The exhibition will act as a portrait of an unclassifiable figure in American cultural history whose work has been seminal in the evolution of performance art, new media and relational aesthetics. The show presents an extensive collection of ephemera and artifacts from Andy Kaufman’s personal and professional life: photographs, correspondence, performance notation, scripts, props and costumes. In lieu of explanatory text labels accompanying these materials, a rotating series of Kaufman’s friends, family, and collaborators will be physically present in the exhibition at all times, for all 25 days that the exhibition is on view, representing the diverse range of relationships, which span Kaufman’s life, work, and interests. A central table and chairs within the gallery space will allow these guests to interact and talk with visitors, offering the opportunity for intimate and unscripted conversations about Kaufman with those that knew him, a rare opportunity to engage with primary sources of this particular history. - thru Feb 16

In conjunction with Maccarone’s presentation, “Andy Kaufman’s 99cent Tour,” a series of screenings and events at Participant Inc., will take place from Feb 12th- 24th

Additionally, MoMA PS1 will host a Sunday Session devoted to the work of Andy Kaufman on Feb 17th featuring the New York premiere of “Tony Clifton Plays the Sunset Strip”

Just Opened:

“A Cosmos”
 Rosemarie Trockel

New Museum, 235 Bowery, NYC (2nd, 3rd & 4th FL)
Visitors who donate a clean, gently used winter coat will receive one free admission.

presents an imaginary universe in which Trockel’s own artwork from the past thirty years is juxtaposed with objects and artifacts from different eras and cultures that map many of her artistic interests.. films and videos, knit paintings, projects for children, ceramics, drawings, and collages, plus a panoply of sculptures in a range of materials, are among the myriad forms that comprise her practice. - thru Jan 20

Just Opened:

“Where Is Jack Goldstein?”

Venus Over Manhattan gallery, 980 Madison Ave., NYC (bt 76th & 77th St)

Jack Goldstein’s dazzling and too-brief career remains much admired but stubbornly enigmatic. His rejection of Minimalism and urgent embrace of imagery helped establish him as a key figure in what is today known as the Pictures Generation, and made him one of the most influential American artists of the 1980s. He showed his work initially at the new Metro Pictures; bounced among several other galleries; then slowly faded from view and eventually removed himself completely from the New York art scene. He tragically ended his own life on March 14, 2003. In the decade since his death, interest in Goldstein has grown significantly, and yet the deeper intentions of his rapturous but ominous work remain a mystery. This exhibition invites further exploration of that mystery and re-contextualizes the artist’s significant contributions. - thru Jan 15

Recently Opened:

Yayoi Kusama : Retrospective

Whitney Museum, 945 Madison Ave., NYC (@ 75th St.)

Well known for her use of dense patterns of polka dots and nets, as well as her intense, large-scale environments, Yayoi Kusama works in a variety of media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, film, performance, and immersive installation. Born in Japan in 1929, Kusama came to the United States in 1957 and quickly found herself at the epicenter of the New York avant-garde. After achieving fame through groundbreaking exhibitions and art “happenings,” she returned to her native country in 1973 and is now one of Japan’s most prominent contemporary artists. This retrospective features works spanning Kusama’s career.

Kusama’s Fireflies on the Water is being shown in the Museum’s Lobby Gallery in conjunction with the Yayoi Kusama retrospective. Timed tickets are required to view Fireflies on the Water and can only be reserved on the day of your visit at the admission desk.

thru Sept 10:

“Just Knocked Out”
 Lara Favaretto

MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, NY
Subway E,G,M,7 (intersection of 46th Ave)

first survey of Lara Favaretto (b. Treviso, 1973), comprising a dozen works from the past fifteen years, as well as new pieces created specifically for the exhibition. Favaretto’s installations and audio, sculptural, and kinetic works balance between failure and aspiration. A sense of resignation to the forces of decay and obsolescence runs throughout her work—most visibly in her minimal cubes made of confetti, which decompose during the period of their display. - thru July 29