MONDAY, APRIL 13
Party: “Once Upon A Time” at the New York Academy of Art
Spring benefits are upon us, and this year the New York Academy of Art’s annual Tribeca Ball will honor media titan Peter Brant. Chairs include Shelley and Vincent Fremont, Bob Colacello, Marianne and Stephen Holm, and Tony Shafrazi, with an star-packed artists’ committee that includes David Altmejd, John Currin, Rachel Feinstein, Urs Fischer, Eric Fischl, Cindy Sherman, and more.
111 Franklin Street, New York, ticketed event
Party: ‘Lucky Draw” at SculptureCenter
There’s also going to be a bash at SculptureCenter, with a funky art raffle and auction that will hand out the first pick of the night to one lucky winner. But don’t worry, a ticket still guarantees you’ll go home with a work of art. And who could lose with works by Alice Aycock, Bruce High Quality Foundation, Mark Dion, and Fab 5 Freddy on offer.
Sculpture Center, 44-19 Purves Street, Queens, ticketed event
TUESDAY, APRIL 14
Screening: Vincent Van Gogh: A New Way of Seeing from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam underwent a major overhaul in 2013, and reinstalled its collection to put the showcase artwork by the Dutch master within the context of his life, family, and influencers. On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the artist’s death, the museum has created a film to take international viewers through the collection and the artist’s life story, narrated by curators, conservators, and researchers. The film will screen at 300 select U.S. movie theaters for one night only.
Check listings and buy tickets at New York theaters here
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
Talk: Peter Saul at Pratt Institute
Painter Peter Saul currently has a survey exhibition of his brightly hued, politically-infused, pop culture influenced work from the ’60s and ’70s up at Madison Avenue gallery Venus Over Manhattan, open through April 25. Now, a chance to hear the man speak about his life and work at Pratt Institute. The lecture is free and opening to the public.
Memorial Hall Auditorium, Pratt Institute, 200 Willoughby Avenue, Brooklyn, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Opening: “Left Coast: California Political Art” at the CUNY Graduate Center
This exhibition of political artwork from California spans the 1980s through today, and the roll artists have played in the state’s activist movements. The show, which runs through May 29, features recently commissioned work by Andrew Schoultz, Bay Area collective Precita Eyes Mural Collection, and Futurefarmers, and pieces by Judith F. Baca, Enrique Chagoya, Bruce Conner, Lari Pittman, and Martin Wong.
The James Gallery, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 5th Avenue, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Opening: The AIPAD Photography Show at the Park Avenue Armory
This year marks the AIPAD Photograph Show’s 35th year. It’s the longest-running exhibition of its kind, and one of the biggest annual photo fairs on the art calendar. The 2015 edition features 89 international photography galleries, and highlights include 12 prints of Ansel Adam’s famously defaced 1941 photograph Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico at Scott Nichols Gallery’s booth, Alec Soth’s most recent series Songbook from Weinstein Gallery, and early photographs of India and Burma by Captain Linnaeus Tripe (currently the subject of an exhibition at the Met) at Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs and Robert Koch Gallery.
Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York, opening night preview 5-9 p.m.
THURSDAY, APRIL 16
Opening: “Tiffany Chung: finding one’s shadow in ruins and rubble” at Tyler Rollins Fine Art
Vietnamese artist Tiffany Chung is among the list of select artists exhibiting at the Venice Biennale this summer, but she’s also got a solo exhibition of multi-media works about three major natural and manmade disasters, opening at Tyler Rollins on Thursday. Central to the works are the devastating effects of the 1995 Kobe, Japan earthquake, the ongoing warfare in Syria, and the Vietnam war.
Tyler Rollins Fine Art, 529 West 20th Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Opening: “Elmgreen & Dragset: Past Tomorrow” at Galerie Perrotin
The artist duo will be transforming the uptown gallery into the bedroom of fictional protagonist Norman Swann. The character first popped up in the pair’s 2013 Victoria and Albert Museum exhibition “Tomorrow,” where viewers got a glimpse inside the family home of the “elderly, disillusioned and failed architect.” A press release for the show described Mr. Swann as a metaphor for “old Europe,” and the objects in his bedroom indications of his outdated, traditional beliefs and values.
Galerie Perrotin, 909 Madison Avenue, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Opening: The Drawing Center’s Spring Exhibitions Reception
There’s a ton going on at the Drawing Center right now. Natalie Frank just opened an exhibition of 25 drawings from her gorgeously illustrated feminist tome of Grimm’s fairy tales. A selection of 40 portraits from the Beaux-Arts de Paris’ collection will rotate weekly in a specially built room in the Main Gallery. The third artist-directed Open Sessions group exhibition—this time it focuses on themes of language, objects, narration, and performance—features work by Becky Brown, Ernesto Caivano, Annette Cords, and more. French artist Abdelkader Benchamma has created a specially commissioned wall drawing in the gallery’s main entryway titled Representation of Dark Matter. And U.K.-based artist Rachel Goodyear’s drawings and animations will be showcased in The Lab corridor. A single reception will celebrate all five shows from 6-8 p.m. on Thursday night.
The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, New York, 6-8 p.m.
Opening: David Shrigley at Anton Kern Gallery
British artist David Shrigley has published over 40 books, was a Turner Prize nominee, and has a much anticipated Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth commission coming in 2016. He’s also got a solo show of 78 drawings, two sculptures, and an animation coming to Anton Kern this week. To give you an idea of what to expect, the humorist has created a larger-than-life working telephone that’s hooked into the gallery’s main phone line.
Anton Kern Gallery, 532 West 20th Street New York