1. An Incomplete History of Protest at The Whitney
An Incomplete History of Protest looks at how artists from the 1940s to the present have confronted the political and social issues of their day. Since its founding in the early twentieth century, the Whitney has served as a forum for the most urgent art and ideas of the day, at times attracting protest itself. An Incomplete History of Protest, however, is by name and necessity a limited account. No exhibition can approximate the activism now happening in the streets and online, and no collection can account fully for the methodological, stylistic, and political diversity of artistic address. At the root of the exhibition is the belief that artists play a profound role in transforming their time and shaping the future.
2. White Man On a Pedestal in Pioneer Works
(Nov 10 – Dec 17, 2017)
Pioneer Works is pleased to present White Man On A Pedestal (WMOAP), a two-person exhibition by Doreen Garner and Kenya (Robinson). WMOAP questions a prevailing western history that uses white-male-heteronormativity as its persistent model. At a time when removing Confederate statues—literally white men on pedestals—are cultural flashpoints of whiteness and class, Garner and (Robinson) play with the size, texture, and scale of white monumentality itself, referencing both real and imagined figureheads of historical exclusion. Garner’s practice has long involved itself with medical histories. Her research on Dr. J. Marion Sims, canonized as ‘The Father of Modern Gynecology,’ reveals the savagery of his oft-repeated procedures on enslaved women, which were performed without anesthesia or even consent. These women have effectively been lost to history, while a statue of Sims holds court in Central Park. In WMOAP, Garner’s process is two-fold: to recognize Sims’ test subjects and to protest the doctor by three-dimensionally scanning his statue and rebuilding it in Pioneer Works.
Through WMOAP, Garner and (Robinson) collaboratively re-enact and hold a funeral for oppression, while revealing the difficulties of making this work within an institutional setting that too often benefits from systems of oppression.
3. Michelangelo Exhibition at The Met
(Nov 13, 2017 - Feb 12, 2018)
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), a genius in the history of Western art, is the subject of this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. During his long life, Michelangelo was celebrated for the excellence of his disegno, the power of drawing and invention that provided the foundation for all the arts. This exhibition presents a stunning range and number of works by the artist: 133 of his drawings, three of his marble sculptures, his earliest painting, his wood architectural model for a chapel vault, as well as a substantial body of complementary works by other artists for comparison and context.
4. Ai Weiwei: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
(Dec 8, 2017 — Feb 11, 2018)
You might have already spotted one of these pieces since they're hard to miss! Employing actual fences set in public areas throughout New York City, this unusual outdoor show will highlight the potent symbolism of barriers and walls at a time when they have become a hot topic. Sites chosen for the installation include Essex Street Market, Cooper Union, bus shelters in Brooklyn and Queens' Flushing Meadows Corona Park, along with other spots throughout the five boroughs.
5. Festival of Life by Yayoi Kusama
(Nov 02, 2017 to Dec 16, 2017)
If you happen to follow any NYC-based artsy instagram accounts, you definitely know about this one. David Zwirner Gallery presents two major concurrent exhibitions of recent work by Yayoi Kusama on view across three gallery spaces in New York: in Chelsea and the Upper East Side. The exhibitions will feature sixty-six paintings from her "My Eternal Soul" series, new large-scale flower sculptures, a polka-dotted environment, and two Infinity Mirror Rooms in the Chelsea locations, and a selection of new Infinity Nets paintings uptown.
6. Whiteout by Erwin Redl at Madison Sq. Park
(Nov 16, 2017 - March 25, 2018)
Whiteout, a newly commissioned public art project by artist Erwin Redl (Austrian, b. 1963) is comprised of hundreds of transparent white spheres, each embedded with a discrete, white LED light and suspended from a square grid of steel poles and cabling. The sequence of light will be an incandescent treatment of urban public space across the dark seasons of the late fall and winter.
Erwin Redl is best known for creating spectacular light projects on the facades of buildings. Whiteout will be the thirty-fifth outdoor exhibition organized by Madison Square Park Conservancy.
7. Edvard Munch Exhibition at The Met Breuer
(Nov 15, 2017 - Feb 4, 2018)
This exhibition features 43 of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944) landmark compositions created over a span of six decades, including 16 self-portraits and works that have never before been seen in the United States. More than half of the works on view were part of Munch's personal collection and remained with him throughout his life.
8. "VOLEZ, VOGUEZ, VOYAGEZ" by Louis Vuitton
(Oct 27, 2017 to Jan 07, 2018)
The global journey of “Voguez, Volez, Voyagez – Louis Vuitton” continues with its arrival in New York, where the former American Stock Exchange will provide a grand backdrop for this immersive exhibition, curated by Olivier Saillard. At this exhibition you will be able to enjoy memorabilia from George Vuitton’s participation in the 1893 Chicago World Fair, to archival items that belonged to such illustrious clientele as Ernest Hemingway, Lauren Bacall, F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as the Rockefeller and Vanderbilt families. Displays of collaborations with artists Stephen Sprouse and now Jeff Koons will allow visitors to see the House codes interpreted with a vibrant and distinctly local influence.
