This week, Daniel Penny went to trial on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for putting Jordan Neely into the chokehold that led to his death. He was acquitted of both charges. As history so often shows, it was artists who were most clear-sighted. “A man was lynched here,” a group of anonymous activists proclaimed in a guerrilla action, replacing the ads in an F train car — the same line on which Neely died — with those words. Guerrilla action, artwork — altar. I see a through-line from the transformation of that mundane site into one of grieving to the work of Anne Samat, whose show at Marc Straus Gallery downtown is reviewed this week by AX Mina. Samat configures common items — toy soldiers, rake heads, plastic keychains — into towering memorials to her late family members. It’s a novel yet familiar sight in a city of ghost bikes and impromptu sidewalk vigils. Memorial takes many forms. In 1964, off-duty police officer Thomas Gilligan shot and killed James Powell, a 15-year-old Black kid, on East 76th Street. Writer June Jordan attended his funeral, the catalyst for the so-called Harlem Race Riots. Esquire commissioned a piece from her; Jordan suggested, instead, a redesign of Harlem Public Housing, a collaboration with architect Buckminster Fuller. That never came to fruition, but Jordan’s memorial to Powell, an “attempt to beam people out of their current despair into transcendent buildings-as-ships,” is remembered
by Nathan Gelgud in his comic this week. There’s all that and our monthly list of great art shows to see around the city, from Simone Leigh’s majestic sculptures of Black female figures to Andrea Geyer’s piercing manifesto about what museums can and should be, delivered via pithy banners. Let us live in such a way that we can, in Geyer’s words, “face history without fear.”
— Lisa Yin Zhang, Associate Editor
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Vibrant sculptures by Anne Samat, Bill Viola’s humanistic videos, and emotive pieces by the Studio Museum’s artists in residence are some of our favorite artworks right now. | Natalie Haddad, Hrag Vartanian, Hakim Bishara, AX Mina, and Sebastián Meltz-Collazo
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SPONSORED
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Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s after-dark illuminated trail returns this winter from November 22, 2024, to January 5, 2025. Offering a magical seasonal experience for visitors of all ages, this year’s Lightscape has been reimagined with all-new installations alongside returning favorites.
Get tickets
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NYC HOUSING & HISTORY
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In the wake of the 1964 race riots, the Black feminist writer collaborated with architect Buckminster Fuller on a never-realized project to reimagine the neighborhood’s public housing. | Nathan Gelgud
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Meet the artists, activists, and organizers on the front lines of the housing justice movement in New York City. Part six of a series. | Noah Fisher
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SPONSORED
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Museum of the City of New York’s new exhibition features artists like Keith Haring, Lee Quiñones, Lady Pink, and Futura 2000. Learn more
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CLOSING SOON
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WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?
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Protestors staged a guerrilla action on the F train in honor of Jordan Neely, who died at the hands of Daniel Penny, replacing the ads with one chilling line: “A man was lynched here.”
‘Tis the season for book fairs, apparently. Associate Editor Lakshmi Rivera Amin checked out the Press Play book fair this past weekend.
A mere bus ride away (or walk, if you’re like me), Prospect Park hosted a Lenape Culture and Craft fair. Staff Reporter Maya Pontone was on the scene.
Tomorrow, Wed. Dec. 11, Irrelevant Press is hosting the third episode of “Web4,” a speaker series on “sharing, browsing, chatting, liking, learning, searching, linking, growing,” at Secret Riso Club. [instagram.com]
On Thurs., Dec. 12, the Amp is kicking off a holiday party with a panel discussion between Shannon Lee, Diana Seo Hyung Lee, and William Chan. [instagram.com]
Friday through Sunday, Dec. 13–15, Stephen Street Gallery in Ridgewood is hosting a holiday market. [instagram.com]
This Sat. Dec. 14, Skewville Presents is hosting a build-a-bong workshop at 237 Starr Street in Brooklyn. [instagram.com]
This weekend, Sat., Dec. 14, & Sun., Dec. 15, Storefront for Art and Architecture is hosting a Book Bash for independent publishers. [storefront.nyc]
Ride a Holiday Nostalgia Train — it’ll, according to the New York Transit Museum, “transport straphangers back in time” — this Sunday, Dec. 15. [nytransitmuseum.org]
- Next Monday, Dec. 16, the New York Review of Architecture is hosting a double-issue launch party at DSK beer garden in Fort Greene. There might be crafts. [instagram.com]
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You’re currently a free subscriber to Hyperallergic. To support our independent arts journalism, please consider joining us as a member. |
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