Have you signed up with Indivisible? Have you harangued your elected reps? Have you considered giving time and money to organizations that support the people who will be affected by the ongoing radicalization of the United States government? Okay, cool, we can proceed.
Today I offer another volume of delightful visuals captured from New York galleries and museums over recent weeks. I hope to return to regularly scheduled programming soon (whatever that’s supposed to mean), but until then, feast your eyes - they can’t stop you from enjoying images, at least not yet.
Barry McGee, Cherry Picking, The Hole
This basement exhibit felt like a junior companion of the KAWS collection show I shared last week. Like KAWS, McGee is a street artist who made the transition into galleries. Not all of the work here is his, though - it’s generously interspersed with work by friends and colleagues, none of which was individually credited, so we’re on our own.
Roxanne Jackson, Unknown Giants, Anton Kern Gallery
This was from a window exhibit right across the street from The Hole, and how could I not love it?
Playing with Design: Gameboards, Art, and Culture, American Folk Art Museum
We managed to roll up to the American Folk Art Museum (one of the city’s gems - right across from Lincoln Center, and always free) on the closing day of this exhibit of handmade vintage game boards. Dash counted more than 40 parcheesi boards alone. I turn out to have fairly little patience for playing board games, but I absolutely adore their design, and I love how these combine the gaming tradition with elements of vernacular painting and sculpture.
Anything but Simple: Gift Drawings and the Shaker Aesthetic, American Folk Art Museum
Famous for their austerity, the Shakers could be downright extravagant when it came to expressing their faith and wonder in the world through “gift drawings,” generally created by women. These precise and elaborate designs are windows into souls whose deep engagement with both the seen and unseen leaves me reeling.
Covering the New Yorker, L’Alliance
I didn’t even know this one was happening! We stumbled upon it on our way to the subway. For all of its century-old ubiquity and the (often justified) stereotyping of its readers, I can’t do without The New Yorker. The writing, the cartoons, the art, the history - the entire package is a foundational element of my personal taste and aesthetic. It was wonderful to see the original art behind so many covers I’ve enjoyed over the years, from creators past and present.
