NARS Foundation (narsfoundation.org/2023-exhibitions/bodies-we-inhabit & narsfoundation.org/2023-exhibitions/doctrine-of-signature-nicki-cherry)
201 46th Street, 4th Floor, Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Until May 17

Wendy red star: Our side

What do you do when you come across elements of your cultural heritage in museum collections and archives built up by your oppressors? Apsáalooke (Crow) artist Wendy Red Star’s answer to this question is to create her own personal archive of these objects in the form of annotated photographic collages that sing of beauty, longing, loss and perseverance. That’s what you’ll see in this exhibit alongside larger, wordless collages on fabrics traditionally used for Apsáalooke badges. —HB

Sargent’s Daughters (sargentsdaughters.com)
179 East Broadway, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Until May 20

Ken Tisa: dream cards

I never expected to fall in love with Ken Tisa’s embellished textile works of hundreds and hundreds of beads, buttons and sequins meticulously stitched onto vintage. fabrics. But the New York artist’s wacky, eccentric tapestries quickly won me over with their humor, eerie beauty, and embrace of visual traditions as disparate as Haitian voodoo flags and flea market kitsch. This is the first time that new textile works by Tisa have been exhibited since the late 1980s. —Valentina Di Liscia

Kate Werble Gallery (katewerblegallery.com)
474 Broadway, Third Floor, Soho, Manhattan
Until May 26

Matt Bollinger: Station

This is a small, simple show in a small, modest space about simple, modest people on the fringes of the so-called American Dream. The characters depicted are working-class white people living their lives, doing their manual labor, and finding moments of respite and fellowship. A shadowy figure holding a plastic shopping bag with a smiling emoji caught my eye in the background of one of the paintings. Look for it when you visit the show and read critic John Yau’s full review at Hyperallergic here. —HB

Francois Ghebaly Gallery (ghebaly.com)
391 Grand Street, Chinatown, Manhattan
Until May 27

Kyle Goen: Let art be training in the practice of freedom

by Kyle Goen Freedom Practice Training is a breath of fresh air. Goen has no interest in the art market – like so many cutting-edge artists these days – and has collected a wide range of work from his decade or so helping social movements create graphic materials that speak loudly. to a wide audience. His style is most often linked to the Decolonize this place movement that was born here in New York, but the language has been widely disseminated, in turn helping to influence other movements. This lovely little exhibit not only lets you see the graphic work and read the related publications (which he ALSO designed), but also browse and listen to his record collection. Highly recommended. —Hrag Vartanian

The empty circle (theemptycircle.fr)
499 Third Avenue, Park Slope, Brooklyn
Until May 27

Tali Keren: De-graph

For years, Israeli artist Tali Keren has investigated the destructive political alliance between America’s fundamentalist Christian right and her country’s Zionist leaders. It’s an unlikely marriage between parties who have diametrically opposed beliefs about who will have the upper hand on Judgment Day. Through video work and public programming that includes lectures and performances, this exhibition distills the ideological poison that messianic fanatics pour into the holy land. —HB

The James Gallery at the Graduate Center, City University of New York (centreforthehumanities.org)
365 Fifth Avenue, First Floor, Midtown, Manhattan
Until June 4

Bob Thompson: So let’s all be citizens

Lost too soon at age 28 in 1966, Bob Thompson established himself as one of the most audacious artists of his time. While most of his New York peers were deeply entrenched in the cult of abstraction, he developed a different jazz-influenced figurative style where humans, animals and ghosts blend together in intensely vivid colors. Although his short career spanned less than a decade, he left an indelible mark on the history of American art. This show will be an opportunity to celebrate his unparalleled legacy and to mourn the emptiness left in his absence. —HB

52 walker (52walker.com)
52 Walker Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
Until July 8

Arctic Highways

Twelve Native artists from Alaska, Canada and Sápmi, the original name of the region spanning Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, present artwork and duodji — traditional Sami craftsmanship — in this exhibition. Artist Meryl McMaster, who is of Nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) and British and Dutch descent, took the self-portrait into view during her travels through ancestral sites in Canada to deepen her connections to her heritage. In “What Will I Say to the Sky and the Earth II” (2019), she wears a floaty white dress printed with red mayflowers in a seemingly vast snowy expanse; the image seems to stretch endlessly beyond the frame, defying notions of borders and borderlessness. —DV

Scandinavian house (scandinaviahouse.org)
58 Park Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan
Until July 22

Misha Japanwala: Beghairati Ki Nishaani: Traces of shamelessness

One of the most effective tools of social control is the oppressive institution of shame. Karachi-born artist Misha Japanwala rebels against this device by presenting copper casts of the bodies of queer, trans and Pakistani women who have responded to an open call. Together, they proudly and shamelessly declare themselves “shameless”. —HB

Hannah Traore Gallery (hannahtraoregallery.com)
150 Orchard Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Until July 30

Daniel Lind Ramos: El Viejo Griot: A history of todos nosotros

The title of this exhibition refers to the old griot, the eldest figure in the colorful annual festival dedicated to the patron saint of Loíza, the birthplace of Daniel Lind-Ramos in Puerto Rico. Griots are West African troubadours who preserve history through storytelling, and like these storytellers, Lind-Ramos guides us through the past and present with his majestic assemblages of found objects, often using remains recovered from the streets in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. In the expert hands of the artist, they are completely transformed. —DV

MoMA PS1 (momaps1.org)
22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens
Until September 4

Featured MFA Thesis Exhibitions:

• New York University: MyceliumGallery 80WSE, until May 12
• New York Academy of Fine Arts: Exhibition of MFA thesesWilkinson Gallery, from May 11 to May 20
• Columbia University: Exhibition of MFA theses in visual arts from the class of 2023Wallach Art Gallery, until May 21
• Hunter College: MFA Thesis Thesis Exhibition, Part II205 Hudson Gallery, from May 11 to May 23
• Cornell University: Applause from the cornersOrtega y Gasset Projects, until May 28
• New York Studio School: Exhibition of MFA thesesNew York Studio School, May 17 to May 31

More recommendations from our New York Art Guide Spring 2023: