TUESDAY, JANUARY 13
Opening: “Exploring France: Oil Sketches from the Thaw Collection” at the Morgan Library and Museum
Works from the collection of Eugene V. Thaw take center stage in this exhibition of 18th century oil sketches. The show examines the practice of using oil to sketch en plein air landscapes, which eventually translated into a more widespread focus on the French landscape as a primary subject for artists of the Barbizon school. — Alanna Martinez
The Morgan Library and Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, New York
Talk: Clifford Owens at SVA
Clifford Owens stirred up controversy in 2012 over the inclusion of a “forced sex act” proposed by fellow artist Kara Walker in his “Anthology” series at MoMA PS1. Prompted by the Observer’s original reporting on the events, Ms. Walker showed up to the final performance, creating an unanticipated element to Mr. Owens’ confrontational actions. Those events, and many of his other provocative performances, are sure to be topics of discussion in this free talk, open to the public and SVA’s student body. — A.M.
School of Visual Arts, 133/141 West 21st Street, Room 101C, New York, 6 p.m.
Opening: “The New York School, 1969: Henry Geldzahler at the Metropolitan Museum of Art” at Paul Kasmin Gallery — AM
Henry Geldzahler served as the New York City commissioner of cultural affairs, was a star curator at the Met, and is a widely published art critic and historian. This historical show revisits one of Geldzahler’s most famous exhibitions at the Met, “New York Painting and Sculpture: 1940-1970,” a massive group show of some of the biggest contemporary artists of the time. This redux is curated by Stewart Waltzer, and will feature many of the art works shown in the original 1969/1970 show. The list is full of art world titans such as Josef Albers, Alexander Calder, Dan Flavin, Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Rauschenberg, and more. — A.M.
Paul Kasmin Gallery, 293 10th Avenue, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Opening: The White Columns Annual
For the ninth year in a row, White Column has asked a curatorial team to put on a show that somehow reflects on the past twelve months. And what’s great is that this year, they’ve chosen the collective Cleopatra’s—Erin Somerville, Colleen Grennan, Bridget Finn, and Bridget Donahue—to take the reigns.—Nate Freeman
White Columns, 320 W. 13th Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14
Opening: “Djordje Ozbolt: More paintings about poets and food” at Hauser & Wirth
This will be the London-based artist’s first New York exhibition with Hauser & Wirth, and he’s going big. The show’s press release explains that Mr. Ozbolt “wistfully ransacks cultures, traditions, curiosities, and epochs,” in order to create “mysterious and often macabre imagery” in his paintings and sculptures. On view at the gallery will be his newest, 50 ways to leave your lover (2014), a installation of 50 paintings and a trolley cart made of scraps meant to hold and transport the work. — A.M.
Hauser & Wirth, 32 East 69th Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15
Opening: “Tomi Ungerer: All in One” at the Drawing Center
“All in One” is the first U.S. career retrospective of author and illustrator Tomi Ungerer, best known for his children’s books titles done in the 1960s like The Three Robbers (1961) and Moon Man (1966). An accomplished illustrator, he also designed ad campaigns for The New York Times and the Village Voice in addition to drawing political cartoons about racism, fascism, and the Vietnam War. — A.M.
The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Opening: “Calvin Marcus: Green Calvin” at C L E A R I N G
The buzz on this young Los Angeles-based artist is apparently pretty deafening, so the massive Bushwick outpost of the Brussels gallery may have a hot show come Thursday. Details seem slim, but the show will consist of nine painting that, in the words of the release, “reflect on the introspective, often narcissistic, nature of art production.” Ceramic chickens are somehow involved. I’ll bet it’s worth braving the L train for.—N.F.
Clearing, 396 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn, 6-9 p.m.
Opening: Jesus Rafael Soto at Galerie Perrotin
Emmanuel Perrotin can always be counted on to throw a good party, but come on the early side to see this show by the Venezuelan artist, who factored in pretty significantly to “ZERO: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s–60s,” which just closed at the Guggenheim.—N.F.
Galerie Perrotin, 909 Madison Avenue, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Performance: My Barbarian at Abrons Arts Center
Los Angeles-based artist collective My Barbarian (Malik Gaines, Jade Gordon, and Alexandro Segade) will perform an adaptation of Brecht’s The Mother with their work The Mother and Other Plays—an interactive show that encourages the audience to take part. There will be musical numbers, so get your singing voice ready. — A.M.
SATURDAY JANUARY 17
Talk: Mimi Thompson and Stanley Whitney on the Work of Al Taylor
David Zwirner just opened a show at his 20th Street gallery devoted to two different series by Al Taylor. So why don’t we have a little Saturday morning chat about the works with the writer Mimi Thompson and the artist Stanley Whitney? Sounds delightful, as long as you don’t sleep in.—N.F.
David Zwirner, 537 W. 20th Street, New York, 11 a.m.
Opening: Noriyuki Haraguchi at Fergus McCaffrey
It’s the third time that Fergus McCaffrey has devoted a show to this titan of Japanese postwar, but he’s still not as well-known here as he is in his home country. The weather is probably better at Mr. McCaffrey’s new gallery on St. Barth’s, but this will certainly work, too.—N.F.
Fergus Mccaffrey, 514 W. 26th Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.
SUNDAY JANUARY 18
Opening: “Tam Ochiai: Everyone Has Two Places” and “Flats” at Team Gallery
The Soho stalwart once again reigns supreme over Sunday night, with its two spaces a block apart offering the openings of two shows: a solo for the Japanese-born artist Tam Ochiai, and “Flats,” a group show that includes Team artists Wolfgang Tillmans, Carina Brandes and Brice Dellsperger among many others.
Team Gallery, 83 Grand Street and 47 Wooster Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.