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With NYC’s gallery scene emerging from its summer lull, there are once again numerous exhibitions to visit in the city. From Tashawn “Whaffle” Davis’s surrealistic installation/paintings at Peninsula Art Space, to The Hole’s art show exploring the rebirth of rock in NYC chronicled in the book Meet Me in The Bathroom, to Elisa Lendvay’s multimedia sculptural works at Sargent’s Daughters, there is no shortage of great exhibitions to check out this September.
[/pullquote]With the high summer temperatures finally subsiding, New York City’s gallery scene is once again starting to heat up. Overwhelmed by the number of shows you could visit? Does even the thought of strolling through Chelsea on a Thursday evening give you significant stress? Look no further! Spanning Brooklyn and Manhattan, these are three fantastic gallery shows to check out in the month of September.
Show: Smile Sometimes
Gallery: Peninsula Art Space
Opening: Saturday, Sept. 7, 6 pm to 9 pm
Duration: Sept. 7 through Sept. 15
Hours: Saturday and Sunday, 12 pm to 7 pm or by appointment.
Address: 352 Van Brunt St., Brooklyn, NY
Smile Sometimes is Red Hook’s Peninsula Art Space’s first annual Fall Incubator, showcasing the work of a young, local emerging artist. The first iteration features the work of Tashawn “Whaffle” Davis, a multidisciplinary artist and son of the Red Hook Art Project’s managing director Tiffiney Davis. Davis’s work explores a variety of cultural and socio-political issues in today’s society through the use of humor, pop culture, memes, and surrealism. The artist’s work represents the struggles of the black community, as seen in news articles and social media posts. His colorful, detailed images featuring landscapes and creatures put these issues into a different perspective.
For Smile Sometimes, Davis is staging an installation at Peninsula which gallery owner and director Eric Fallen describes as a “cultural diorama.” This installation was inspired by Davis’s early experiences at the Museum of Natural History and lifelong interest in dioramas. Initially, the show was conceived as a traditional painting exhibition but after seeing Davis’s “staged retro moments” on Instagram (@iamwhaffle), Fallen wanted to work with the artist on a different direction. The installation will also feature Davis’s surreal paintings set in an imaginary pastoral landscape the artist refers to as the “Fernweh” with shapeless furry mythical creatures called “Squonks.”
Show: Meet Me in The Bathroom: The Art Show
Gallery: The Hole (x UTA Artist Space)
Opening: Wednesday, Sept. 4 6 pm to 9 pm
Duration: Sept. 4 through Sept. 22
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12 pm to 7 pm or by appointment.
Address: 312 Bowery, New York, NY
I am thrilled to see there is going to be an art show inspired by Lizzy Goodman’s fantastic book, Meet Me in the Bathroom, at The Hole gallery. The book chronicles the rock renaissance taking place in New York City between 2001 and 2011. Through oral history in thematically curated chapters, the book features interviews with members of bands such as TV on the Radio, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, and Vampire Weekend. This illuminates the nascent stages of these groups and the scenes from which they were birthed.
According to the gallery’s press release, the show is positioned as the visual counterpart to the book and will feature artwork created by the musicians, visual artists inspired by their songs, and the artists who were integral to both. The show will consist of over 40 artworks spanning memorabilia, Polaroids, and other media in the form of new and archival works by Rita Ackermann, Doug Aitken, Urs Fischer, Dan Colen, Nate Lowman, Rob Pruitt, and more. It will also feature artworks by musicians including Fischerspooner, Fabrizio Moretti of The Strokes, and Karen O and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. There will be special guest performances and programming throughout the duration of the exhibition.
Show: Elisa Lendvay: Rise
Gallery: Sargent’s Daughters
Duration: Aug. 8 through Sept. 15
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12 pm to 6 pm
Address: 179 East Broadway, New York, NY
Elisa Lendvay’s inaugural solo show with Sargent’s Daughters is not one to miss! Lendvay explores dichotomies between permanence/impermanence by combining ancient forms and modern materials in her 26 new sculptural works. The work Arise (high plane) (shell), 2019, shows these contrasts through a cast concrete skull, steel, copper, aluminum, clay, paper, felt, cotton, shell, bottle caps, acrylic paint, and marble dust. The viewer is taken on a visual journey by way of the concrete skull anchoring interweaving and undulating forms. The intricacy of all the work’s details invites the viewer to continue making unexpected discoveries.
The artist takes her time with the works, sometimes spending years iterating pieces until they are complete. Lendvay creates entirely new forms by blending common artistic materials, such as plaster and paint with discarded found materials. The works Centering, 2018, and Wavy Modulation (Ghost Growth), 2018, echo the architecture of the space’s raw concrete floor and pristine white walls. See the show soon before it closes on Sept. 15th! Read more about the show here.
Piotr Pillardy is an arts writer for the Red Hook Star-Revue. He received a B.A. in History of Art and History from Cornell University, lives in Manhattan, and plays live regularly with the band Bad Weird.
