Sometimes you can’t help but talk about the weather — like when a blizzard rolls through town, bringing with it almost two feet of snow. It’s a time to stay indoors, to turn inward — and not only because of Mayor Mamdani’s travel ban, which he announced with an earsplitting, cortisol-spiking alarm that united New Yorkers in fear.
Take this week as a short respite before March brings a back-to-back avalanche of blockbuster exhibitions: the Whitney Biennial, Carol Bove at the Guggenheim, and Raphael at the Met being just a shortlist. Scroll below to meditate on questions of how to tell the story of an already over-interpreted region like Appalachia; to learn about Helene Schjerfbeck, an artist who might be the Finnish Edvard Munch; to plunge into the depths of Glenn Ligon’s blues.
And if you’re brave enough to venture outside, the city that stops for nothing offers a ton to do: zine-making workshops, talks on the political future of art in NYC, lion dances, and a two-week documentary film festival that’ll transport you to locales that are hopefully a little warmer, a little drier.
— Lisa Yin Zhang, Associate Editor
How to Tell the Story of Extraction in Appalachia
On a February day in 1972, a coal slurry dam collapsed in West Virginia and released a tidal wave of black sludge, killing more than 100 people and leaving 4,000 homeless. The mining company responsible for the tragedy left the land toxic for decades, and survivors traumatized. Backström’s resultant works from nearly a decade of fieldwork in the region, O’Neill-Butler writes, make a case for working-class solidarity through a multilayered overview of this “nexus of environmental degradation, disaster capitalism, and intergenerational poverty.”
An Intimate Evening of Art and Impact at the National Arts Club
A rare chance to make art with Mickalene Thomas. March 6 at the National Arts Club. Limited tickets remain for HELP USA’s Art of Resilience cocktail benefit, featuring a hands-on creative experience drawn from the artist’s practice. Proceeds support expressive arts therapy for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.
From Our Critics
Bridget Quinn
Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
“Maybe the most powerful thing about these late self-portraits is Schjerfbeck’s unflinching embrace of her monstrous, aging intensity.”
John Yau
Squeak Carnwath: Goddess of All at Jane Lombard Gallery
“Carnwath operates under the deep paradox of her commitment to paint and painting, even as she lives in a world that is spiraling out of control, and wrests out of it precarious instances of order.”
Daria Simone Harper
Glenn Ligon: Late at night, early in the morning, at noon at Hauser & Wirth
“It is because of this ability to transmute fixed forms into perception-bending experiences for the viewer that Ligon will always be a bit of a magician to me.”
What Else Is Happening?
- Winter Storm Hernando caused museum closures at The Met, the Guggenheim, MoMA, the Whitney, and more.
- Artist Sarula Bao’s embroidered horse paraded down Chinatown to mark the first day of the 15-day Lunar New Year celebrations. It’ll reappear on Mott Street this Saturday, the 28th, and Think!Chinatown is hosting creative and culinary programs through the first week of March.
- The anonymous activist group Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard has successfully advocated for the eviction of a drone manufacturer from the complex, which hosts dozens of artist studios and cultural organizations.
- The Museum of the Moving Image is screening three episodes of the Sopranos this week, featuring discussions with the series creator and cast members, to accompany its exhibition on the show’s set design. (Thurs Feb 26–Sat Feb 28) [movingimage.org]
- Doc Fortnight, MoMA’s annual festival of nonfiction film and media, begins this week. (Thurs Feb 26–Thurs Mar 12) [moma.org]
- Join expert astronomer Novaughn Miller for an evening of stargazing on the Cloisters Lawn. (Fri Feb 27) [Fort Tryon Park Conservancy]
- There’ll be a Lion Dance in Long Island City, culminating at MoMA PS1. (Fri Feb 27) [longislandcityqueens.com]
- Baxter St is hosting a zine-making workshop, plus books and pictures from NYPL, Secret Riso Club, 8 Ball Community, and more. (Sat Feb 28) [baxterst.org]
- Collective Focus is holding a hands-on zongzi-making workshop at Signal Nightclub in East Williamsburg. Learn how to make these sticky rice dumplings and help provide free food access across Brooklyn. (Sun Mar 1) [Collective Focus]
- Local artists are selling crafts as part of a Lunar New Year market/ fundraiser for families in Gaza at Word Up Community Bookstore in Washington Heights. (Mon Mar 1) [wordupbooks.com]
- Anna Deavere Smith and Gonzalo Casals will be hosting a conversation on the future of arts politics in the city. (Mon Mar 2) [tisch.nyu.edu]
- The City has upped its pay rate to $30 per hour to help clear snow and ice after this weekend’s blizzard. [311.nyc.gov]
