If you thought your New York art calendar was going to slow down during the summer months, well, we hate to tell you… Our list of must-see exhibits in June features notable exhibitions across the boroughs, including works artwork on book covers in Brooklyn, Chinese paintings of flowers and birds in Manhattan, and vanessa german’s reinterpretation of “Washington Crossing the Delaware” at the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey. As with ice cream flavors, there’s something for everyone, so dig in and stay cool.
Toca La Sopa: Umbrales Infinitos
Search for “Chino Latino” and most of the results will make your mouth water – the term is a popular descriptor for the Chinese-Cuban fusion restaurants that emerged everywhere from Havana to New York starting in the mid-20th century. The convergence of Chinese and Cuban culinary traditions has been accompanied by a parallel phenomenon in the visual, performing and literary arts. This series of exhibitions and events at the Chinatown Soup arts and community center demonstrates that the movement has been understudied and seeks to address it through displays of dance, textiles, photography, and more. — Valentina Di Liscia
Chinatown Soup (chinatownsoup.nyc)
16B Orchard Street, Chinatown, Manhattan
Until June 11
Madeleine Hollander: Hydro Parade: Watercolors
When I first saw Madeline Hollander’s watercolors on display in a quiet gallery upstairs in Bortolami, I had no idea what I was looking at, but I was completely transfixed – always a good sign. The delicate shapes of some of these works, reminiscent of Rorschach’s inkblots or Rubin’s vases, are inspired by the outlines of containers kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Hollander will stage this month three choreographic performances retracing its various sources of water, from majestic fountains to invisible circuits deep in the earth. The artist made these watercolours, whose beauty belies a complex dance notation system, using water from a natural spring below the museum. — DV
Bortolami Gallery (bortolamigallery.com)
39 Walker Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Until June 17
Library Group Exhibition
Someone here in the office said the other day that the books you buy don’t represent who you are, but who you want to be. This is what to think about when visiting this exhibition, where an impressive number of artists (136) paint on book covers. In addition, the painting-books are organized in alphabetical order on shelves, like a real bookworm would. What a great concept from this young Gowanus gallery and curator Glenn Goldberg. — Hakim Bishara
Tappeto Volante Projects (tvprojectspaceship.com)
126 13th Street, Brooklyn
Until June 18
No biography
In this serious, light-hearted and moving presentation, the New York-based non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the work of artists living with HIV/AIDS looks introspectively, asking the question: “An exhibition does she have to be “about” HIV and AIDS to do it’s “on a mission” for Visual AIDS? The wide range of works in the exhibition – from intimate self-portraits by HIV-positive photographer D’Angelo Lovell Williams to eerie assemblages by late artist and trans activist Chloe Dzubilo – offer a multi-layered and nuanced answer to this important question. — DV
No biography (visualaids.org)
323 W 39th St, 2nd Floor, Midtown, Manhattan
Until June 24
Lee Friedlander framed by Joel Coen
If you’re a fan of Lee Friedlander’s photography and Joel Coen’s films, this show is for you. There is no main theme for the exhibition, except for Coen’s propensity for strange and unusual compositions. That should be enough, but you’ll also get a glimpse of American life and a mini-retrospective of Friedlander’s six-decade career. Actress Frances McDormand, who is also Coen’s wife, helped select the 45 photos submitted. — HB
Luhring Augustine (luhringaugustine.com)
531 West 24th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
Until June 24
Flowers on a River: The Art of Chinese Painting of Flowers and Birds
At the center of this fascinating exhibit is a breathtaking painted scroll by the most famous painter monk Zhu Da (1626-1705, known as Bada Shanren), who came to New York from the Tianjin Museum. The American public has long appreciated the art of Zhu Da, who has many works in U.S museum collections, but this masterpiece is rarely seen outside of China. The last time he traveled was for a 2013 exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Painted when he was 72, the scroll, titled “Flower of a River” (1697), illustrates the life of a lotus flower. The Gesture Brush will appeal to any lover of abstract art, and it’s just one of 100 stunning works by 59 artists showcasing the long tradition of birds and flowers. painting in Chinese art. — Hrag Vartanian
China Institute Gallery (chinainstitute.org)
100 Washington Street, 2nd Floor, Hoboken, New Jersey
Until June 25
vanessa german: …please imagine all the things I can’t say…
Figures of female power dominate artist vanessa german’s solo exhibition. In his visions of hoarding, German seems to borrow from the long history of altarpieces, toys, dioramas, American commercialism, as well as West African folk practices and contemporary black arts movements. She is a polymath and each work demonstrates her vast interests and the material universe in which she finds herself immersed.
The large “LaQuisha Washington Crosses the Day Aware” (2018) is a standout piece, playing with the famous 19th century painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851) and updating it in a way that would be familiar to fans of The art of Betye Sarre. If you attend, check out “Can I Love You Without Capitalism?” “How?” (2020), a personal favorite as it demonstrates how she can create wonderful silhouettes with her sculptures, while surprising you with color, material or shape. She is incredibly talented at finding a way to connecting what might appear to be very disparate and unrelated objects, and it is this care and sensitivity that makes her work so powerful. excluding tax
Montclair Art Museum (montclairartmuseum.org)
3 South Mountain Avenue, Montclair, New Jersey
Until June 25
Cathy Josephowitz: forever Young
For artist and dancer Cathy Josefowitz, connecting with her body can take many forms. In one of his paintings, a cheerful figure wrapped in lush bedding drinks from a light blue glass; in another, a man performs the mundane but satisfying routine of cleaning his ears with a cotton swab. A gouache on paper represents a couple in a loving embrace, their muscular limbs entwined. If you like Maria Lassnig or Egon Schiele, this extensive show – which also includes images of Josefowitz’s choreographies – is a good opportunity to discover the work of the New York-born, Swiss-born artist, who has received less than recognition during his lifetime. — DV
Hauser & Wirth (vip-hauserwirth.com)
32 East 69th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Until July 22
Something Beautiful: Cropping The Colección
El Museo del Barrio, the East Harlem institution dedicated to Latino and Nuyorican artists, will breathe new life into nearly 500 works from its permanent collection in a year-long series of rotating displays also showcasing recent commissions and acquisitions. . Historic works by major figures in the history of Latin American art, such as the Puerto Rican masters Augusto Marín and Myrna Báez, coexist with contemporary gems like the oil and gold leaf portrait of the artist. Brazilian artist Dalton Paula “Esperança Garcia” (2022); together they tell the story of El Museo’s collecting practices over the past 50 years – and the many shortcomings and efforts to remedy it. — DV
The Barrio Museum (elmuseo.org)
1230 5th Avenue at 104th Street, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Until March 10, 2024
Shelley Niro: 500 years of itch
Spanning Shelley Niro’s five-decade career, this retrospective (her first) includes works that connect the artist’s Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) lineage, her femininity and her joy amid colonial legacies. In one section of the exhibit, paintings reimagine the story of Sky Woman and assemble “think capsules” mapping the life stages of Mohawk women, while beadwork critiques the commercial character of Niagara Falls, a site spiritual haudenosaunee. To me, her photography shone, often paired with embroidery or ornate mat in her portrayal of matrilineal bonds, the women of her family, and sometimes herself with humor and deep affection. — Lakshmi Rivera Amin
National Museum of the American Indian (americanindian.si.edu)
1 Bowling Green, Financial District, Manhattan
Until January 1, 2024
