Gallery Tour
Mostly New
Currently on view at the Grey Art Gallery through December 17, Mostly New: Selections from the NYU Art Collection showcases modern and contemporary artworks from NYU’s trove of more than 6,000 pieces.
Initiated in 1958, the NYU Art Collection grew quickly through the mid-1960s, with many sculptures, drawings, prints, and photographs installed throughout the campus. Then in 1975, Abby Weed Grey donated some 700 works from the Middle East and Asia dating primarily from the 1960s—a contribution that also established the Grey Art Gallery as NYU’s fine arts museum. The collection will again expand significantly with Dr. James Cottrell and Joseph Lovett’s promised gift of approximately 200 artworks—a number of which are on display now—by downtown New York artists.
Even as COVID-19 forced the museum to close its doors, staff continued the important work of caring for the pieces and providing a home for art on NYU’s campus. The recent acquisitions and little-seen gems on display in the exhibition testify to the ongoing efforts to deepen a collection that augments the university’s educational commitment and embraces the Grey Gallery’s role as Greenwich Village’s art museum.
Keith Haring’s color offset lithograph “Bill T. Jones” (1984) was a gift to the collection from Denise Green.
Khaleej Modern
Curated by Aisha Stoby, who this year curated the inaugural Oman Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Khaleej Modern: Pioneers and Collectives in the Arabian Peninsula, 1941–2008 is a landmark historical survey of 20th-century modern art movements across the Arabian Peninsula—collectively known in Arabic as the “Khaleej”—with many of the works being presented for the first time in decades.
Oil on canvas board “Building of Ships” (1966) by Ibrahim Ismail, whose segmented style reflects scenes of daily life in Kuwait in vivid colors.
On view at the NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery through December 11, the exhibition is based on Stoby’s PhD research tracing the region’s “pre-boom era” and examining the evolution of visual art movements as the discovery of oil began to transform the region. Enhanced by the presence of rare and archival material, it delves into the shifting understanding of public and private spaces and their relationship to national identity as expressed through art practices. “An exhibition like this is quite rare, a kind of opening salvo and call to action, offering new vistas on art history and art practice in this region,” says Maya Allison, executive director of the gallery and university chief curator. “Rather than a definitive survey, this project sets us on a journey to explore the under-studied—and, for some people, unknown—emergence of modern art in the Arabian Peninsula over the last century.”
Estilazo
Curated by Dominican-born artist Dulcina Abreu, Estilazo is now on view at the Latinx Project through December 5.
“Flotando en las Nubes” by Angel Añazco
Through digital paintings, material culture, photography, and curated mixtapes, the featured artists open a portal to their intimate exploration of the self and its ultimate impact in the collective imagination. Together they narrate the stories of interconnected creative circuits in Latinx club culture, exploring avenues for self-expresion, entrepreneurship, and activism while reclaiming space for queer collective joy.
The artists have all been participants or organizers of parties confronting the silos of White corporate America. Since the early 2000s, Latinx and Caribbean collectives have been building a network of sanctuary spaces for their queer communities within the urban fabric of New York and its diasporas. Estilazo aims to historicize these communities’ intellectual labor and celebrate their artistic imprint in contemporary culture. Through documents, ephemera, photography, fashion, and media, the exhibition presents iconic moments of queer Latinx underground club culture, expanding gender norms, notions of sensuality, and queer fiction.
More to Explore
- Now through Dec. 15 at Deutsches Haus at NYU: Regula Rüegg: Photographs
In her new solo exhibition, photographer Regula Rüegg presents photos from the past 20 years of her career, focusing on the unspectacular events and small shifts in everyday life—the often overlooked background of the grander things.
- Now through Dec. 16 at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center: Illustrating Spain in the US
Commissioned by the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain and curated by award-winning writer Ana Merino, the exhibition unites comic creators and scholars in a joint artistic effort to deepen the Spanish presence in this country.
- Now through Dec. 16 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts at NYU Shanghai: Close Your Eyes and You Will Know
This mixed media installation by Taipei artist Yin-Ju Chen and shaman practitioner Li-Chun Lin employs shamanic methods to access altered states of consciousness, while inviting viewers to learn about and experiment with shamanic practice.
Photos from top: artwork © Keith Haring Foundation, photo by Tseng Kwong Chi © Muna Tseng Dance Projects Inc; courtesy of Ibrahim Ismail and Barjeel Art Foundation, Sharjah; courtesy of Angel Añazco