Planning to experience some new art in New York this weekend? Head over to Mishkin Gallery for an exhibition honoring Puerto Rican art. And don’t miss the two artists at MoMA PS1 in Queens who are exploring their Aymaran roots.
Newly Reviewed
Flatiron District
‘We didn’t ask permission, we just did it …’
Duration: Until December 8th. Location: Mishkin Gallery, 135 East 22nd Street, Manhattan; Contact: 646-660-6653, mishkingallery.baruch.cuny.edu.
Six years ago, Puerto Rico faced the perfect storm of Hurricane Maria and a fiscal crisis, while discussions on decolonization were at its peak on the mainland. However, the art scene in Puerto Rico has always been grassroots and adaptable. The curatorial duo known as Embajada (or “Embassy”), Manuela Paz and Christopher Rivera, ambitiously bring the recent history of Puerto Rican biennials to Manhattan with a retrospective of work previously featured in three series of international group shows held between 2000 and 2016. The artists and the issues they address continue to be relevant and impactful. Many of the participants, such as Edra Soto and Daniel Lind-Ramos, have recently been featured in major Caribbean exhibitions at the Whitney and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. The Mishkin exhibition provides a behind-the-scenes look at their work.
Inside the gallery, a line of rolled coins winds around a display case filled with miscellaneous items. During the first PR Invitational, Mexican artist Damián Ortega created “100 dólares de dieta” by living without cash and exchanging his $100 stipend for 10,000 pennies. The Gran Tropical Bienal embraced the natural beauty of beaches and jungles, represented here by “Escuela de Oficios,” an outdoor library installation made from cat tail fiber mats and crates of printed materials by Jorge González Santos. Hanging on the wall are the mesh “Ponchos Anti-Zika” by Jessica Kairé, which embody the threat of fever. Mike Egan organized the three Cave-In shows in a cavern that once harbored nationalist rebels. Artists like Rivera, Andra Ursuta, and Candice Lin produced work on-site. Andy Meerow plastered the rock with posters reading “Wet Pain” – a raw message that resonates on the walls of Mishkin. TRAVIS DIEHL
Long Island City
Chuquimamani-Condori and Joshua Chuquimia Crampton
Duration: Until October 2nd. Location: MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, Queens; Contact: 718-784-2084, momaps1.org.
In the early 20th century, Francisco Tancara assisted Protestant Adventist missionaries in building schools in Bolivia on Indigenous lands. Today, this labor, presumably done on behalf of the Indigenous Aymara community, is used to justify the continued presence of the church on native lands. Chuquimamani-Condori and Joshua Chuquimia Crampton, siblings based in California and belonging to the Pakajaqi Nation of Aymara people (Tancara was their great-great-grandfather), explore stories like these in their project at MoMA PS1. They have also released a highly acclaimed series of musical recordings.
The installation at MoMA PS1 depicts the confrontation between their ancestors and representatives of the colonial church and state. It includes two symposiums on Indigenous and migrant justice, a live musical performance, and the centerpiece – a two-story banner resembling a cosmic map or sci-fi video game. The banner also features an Aymaran form of visual storytelling called qillqa. At its center, a large qillqa head breaks apart to reveal photos of Tancara and the artists’ great-great-grandmother, Rosa Quiñones. Visitors can listen to stories about a family who bought back their land from a colonial government, as well as accounts of various encounters with the authorities.
However, the siblings view their work as more than just a retelling of stories of dispossession. They consider it “medicine” – specifically Aymara q’iwa and q’iwssa medicine, or “queer medicine”. This exhibition goes beyond aesthetics, artistic innovation, and monetary value. Its purpose is to reclaim art as a ritualistic tool for healing old wounds, both historical and planetary. MARTHA SCHWENDENER
Last Chance
Brooklyn
David L. Johnson
Duration: Until September 10th. Location: Art Lot, 206 Columbia Street, Brooklyn; Website: artlotbrooklyn.com.
Public spaces in New York City can be tricky to navigate, as many parks and plazas are privately owned and community gardens have limited open hours. Finding a place to sit can be particularly challenging, especially for those who are tired, sick, or homeless. This dilemma is subtly addressed in David L. Johnson’s exhibition “Community Garden.” At first glance, the title may seem misleading, as the show consists of 11 planters arranged within a small, fenced-off area. The ground is covered in gravel and weeds, with only one bench. However, the unassuming aesthetics hide the radical concept behind this installation.
All the planters were originally located elsewhere in the city and served as intentional obstructions to shade and rest areas. Johnson, a native New Yorker, has a practice of covertly removing examples of “hostile architecture” from the streets and presenting them as art. In this exhibition, the repurposed planters have been cleaned and filled with wild bergamot, a plant with medicinal properties that attracts pollinators.
In a departure from its usual practice, Art Lot is open to the public for the duration of the exhibition, allowing anyone to visit at any time and perhaps take home some bergamot. Johnson’s defiant gestures serve as acts of care and liberation. Within the exhibition, former obstacles have been transformed into facilitators of life, and I imagine people now finding relief by sitting where these planters once stood. JILLIAN STEINHAUER
SoHo
Arlan Huang
Duration: Until September 10th. Location: Pearl River Mart Gallery, 452 Broadway, Manhattan; Website: pearlriver.com.
When you move beyond the sphere of blue-chip art and the readily available historical accounts of modern and contemporary art in New York, the narratives thin out. “Just Between Us: From the Archives of Arlan Huang,” a group exhibition at the renowned Chinese export emporium Pearl River Mart, is a significant addition to an under-recorded narrative – the story of Asian American art and artists in this city.
Arlan Huang, born in San Francisco, relocated to New York in the late 1960s to pursue a career in art. He became a fixture in Manhattan’s Chinatown, working as an artist, business owner, and community organizer. In the 1970s, together with fellow artist Karl Matsuda, Huang founded Squid Frames, an art framing business that still operates today (though it has since moved to Brooklyn). Throughout the next two decades, Huang participated in two groundbreaking Asian American art collectives: Basement Workshop and Godzilla: Asian American Arts Network. These entities provided a platform for artists who had not found mainstream acceptance and expanded the definition of Asian American art as a transnational identifier.
Huang has also been a dedicated art collector, often obtaining pieces through trades or small gifts from fellow artists. The current exhibition is a time capsule of an era and a creative culture, showcasing a collection of nearly everything acquired by Huang. Most of the works in the show are small, desk-drawer size prints, photographs, drawings, and paintings. While some names may be recognizable (such as Tomie Arai, Ken Chu, Corky Lee, Martin Wong, Lynne Yamamoto, and Danielle Wu, who also curated the show alongside Howie Chen), others are lesser-known. Huang’s archive is a necessity for preserving an evolving history, and every item in it is a complete delight. HOLLAND COTTER
SoHo
‘A Greater Beauty: The Drawings of Kahlil Gibran’
Duration: Until September 10th. Location: The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, Manhattan; Contact: 212-219-2166, drawingcenter.org.
“You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and grief, but rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound.” This quote is from the Lebanese-American writer Kahlil Gibran’s famous book “The Prophet” (1923). The book, a fusion of poetry, religion, and self-help, has sold over 100 million copies worldwide. However, Gibran was not just an author; he was also an artist. This overdue exhibition, organized by Claire Gilman, chief curator at The Drawing Center, showcases over 100 pieces of his artwork.
Like “The Prophet,” which delves into the human experience in search of universal truths, Gibran’s artwork focuses on people. The exhibition features charcoal and graphite portraits of renowned artists such as Auguste Rodin, Albert Pinkham Ryder, Claude Debussy, as well as psychoanalyst Carl Jung and unidentified mystics. In pieces like “The Summit” (circa 1925) and “The Waterfall” (1919), bodies intertwine, representing the connection between earthly existence and the divine.
Gibran drew inspiration from various sources, including Symbolist art, with its otherworldly aspirations, the soft aesthetics of Pictorialist photography, and the idealized classicism of the Pre-Raphaelites. He largely rejected the abstraction that dominated 20th-century art, which partly explains why his work as an artist has been overlooked. However, his pieces possess an unrestrained…
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