Uptown/Midtown
Dare we declare: “Meet me in Midtown?” Martinis at Le Roc, skating at The Rink, public art in the Plaza…yes, please. Quite the change from mere years ago, when meeting someone here was utilitarian at best. Not anymore. Midtown and Uptown have a renewed energy, amplified by the Old Gotham vibe steeped into these grand buildings. This classic stretch of Manhattan, always tied to history in its architecture, has seen the revived legendary places, whether Monkey Bar and Bemelmans, or LGDR’s new 64th gallery and Villa Albertine’s use of the Payne Whitney Mansion. Old is new, once again!
SARAH SZE AT GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM
1071 Fifth Avenue
Sarah Sze is no stranger to the Upper East Side. Her mosaics are forever inset in the 96th Street Q station, a short uphill trek away from her central hall exhibition, “Timelapse” at the Guggenheim (until Sept. 10). The sensorial multi-hyphenate “created a series of site-specific installations that weave a trail of discovery through multiple spaces of the Guggenheim’s iconic Frank Lloyd Wright building,” so describes the exhibition text. Round the rotunda we go…!
Installation view, Sarah Sze: Timelapse, Wider than the Sky, 2023, March 31—September 10, 2023, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Photo: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York
ROCKEFELLER CENTER
With support from the Art Production Fund, Basil Kincaid has takeover the vitrine spaces of 45 Rockefeller Center with quilts woven from salvaged fabric in St. Louis, MO, and Ghana; as well as a 125-foot mural in the concourse of 45 Rockefeller Plaza composed of images Kincaid created by staging resin figurines in differing locales. With RockCenter’s history of public art, we’re all eyes on its evocative contemporary programming.
Photo by Daniel Greer, courtesy of Art Production Fund
FEMME F(R)ICTION AT MAISON ACADEMY
2 E 63rd St, New York, NY 10065
The ladies are moving in—to the Academy Mansion, the lavish residence passed through the hands of a few storied financier men. An exhibition filling four floors with over 50 women-identified artists from the last century, “Femme F(r)iction” is an exaltation of identity, power, sexuality and solidarity across generations. Curated by consultancy 1760, the show includes Francois Gilot, Judy Chicago, Andrea Bowers, Tamara de Lempicka, and Brigitte D’Annibale.
Photo Credit: Joshua Geyer
TAMO JUGELI AT POLINA BERLIN
165 east 64th Street
The Georgian emerging painter has been quickly snapped up by some of New York’s top collectors (like Tom Hill). This marks Jugeli’s 2nd show with Berlin in her apartment gallery, and on our lists as an artist to watch.
Images by Steven Probert, courtesy Polina Berlin Gallery.
LAUREN HALSEY, THE MET ROOF COMMISSION
1000 Fifth Avenue
Titled the eastside of south central los angeles hieroglyph prototype architecture (I), Lauren Halsey’s Met Roof Commission was born of the same place—south central LA—and its collectivist spirit where Halsey lives and works herself. Four sphinxes anchor the glass-tiled 22-foot-high interactive environment, bringing Halsey’s own realities and reference points to those of the Met’s own history and holdings.
Courtesy of the artist, David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles/New York