New York
April 26, 2023
In this issue:
- This weekend’s “People’s Ball” at the Brooklyn Public Library is your antidote for the Met Gala
- John Yau reviews Maia Ruth Lee’s multidisciplinary work, which goes beyond the literal as she shares her experiences with migration, diaspora, and rootlessness
- Censored in its home country, an award-winning Pakistani film is screening in full at NYC’s Film Forum
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You’ve Heard of the Met Gala, But Do You Know Brooklyn’s “People’s Ball”?
Unlike the Met Museum’s fest, this beloved Brooklyn celebration is completely free and no invitation is required. | Elaine Velie
The People’s Ball
Apr. 30
Brooklyn Public Library, 10 Grand Army Plaza, Prospect Heights (bklynlibrary.org)
SPONSORED
Missing Generations: Photographs by Jill Freedman on View at the Derfner
Marking the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, this exhibition at the Derfner Judaica Museum includes 36 images from 1993 and 1994 by noted street photographer Jill Freedman documenting sites of destruction and the resurgence of Jewish life after the Holocaust in Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic.
Jill Freedman (b. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1939–d. New York City, 2019), “Auschwitz 1. Tourist family entering gas chamber” (detail) (1994), gelatin silver print, 8 1/2 x 12 11/16 inches (courtesy the Jill Freedman Family Estate)
FROM OUR CRITICS
A Tension in Paint Befitting Our Times
Maia Ruth Lee wants viewers to make associations as well as recognize the unstable world in which she and many others live. | John Yau
Maia Ruth Lee: The skin of the earth is seamless
Apr. 6–May. 6
Tina Kim Gallery, 525 West 21st Street, Chelsea (tinakimgallery.com)
SPONSORED
After “The Wild”: Contemporary Art from The Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Collection
On view through October 1 at the Jewish Museum in New York, this exhibition features works by 47 contemporary artists made between 1963–2023. Learn more.
NOW SCREENING
Banned Pakistani Film Joyland Arrives in New York
Saim Sadiq’s award-winning film is still banned in Punjab, where it was filmed. | Rhea Nayyar
Joyland is a breakthrough film that holds the mirror up to Pakistan’s past, present, and future through an examination of womanhood and its expectations, for both trans and cis women, within the combined web of patriarchy and religion. And through its confrontation of womanhood is truth in how stringent gender roles impact men as well, a side effect that has yet to be unpacked across South Asia.
Joyland
Screening through May 4
Film Forum, 209 West Houston Street, South Village (filmforum.org)
SPONSORED
Smack Mellon Gravity Racers Benefit Party & Art Auction
On May 6, come watch the races, party, and leave with a work of art — all in support of the Brooklyn arts organization! Learn more.
NEWS IN NYC
New York State's Board of Regents has voted to officially ban schools from using Indigenous caricatures and derogatory names for mascots.
The Smithsonian Institution is reviewing allegations made against Nancy Yao during her leadership at the Museum of Chinese in America.
Striking workers of the Hispanic Society Museum & Library stage an action outside the Upper East Side home of Board Chair Philippe de Montebello.
SPONSORED
Hard Return: 9 Experiments for this Moment
Jesus Benavente presents I Am America and America Hates Me, a series of installations and performances exploring how our surroundings shape our sense of self and the permissible. On view in Purchase, NY, May 3–7. Learn more.
ON VIEW IN MUSEUMS
Of Mythic Worlds: Works from the Distant Past through the Present
Mar. 8–May 14
The Drawing Center, 35 Wooster Street, Soho (drawingcenter.org)
Bispo do Rosario: All Existing Materials on Earth
Jan. 25–May 20
Americas Society, 680 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan (as-coa.org)
Crafting Freedom: The Life and Legacy of Free Black Potter Thomas W. Commeraw
Jan. 27–May 28
New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, Upper West Side, Manhattan (nyhistory.org) | Read the review.
Uncommon Denominator: Nina Katchadourian at the Morgan
Feb. 10–May 28
The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue, Murray Hill (themorgan.org)
Claude Gillot: Satire in the Age of Reason
Feb. 24–May 28
The Morgan Library & Museum, 225 Madison Avenue Murray Hill (themorgan.org)
What That Quilt Knows About Me
Mar. 17–May 28
American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square, New York, Upper West Side (folkartmuseum.org)
Deconstructing Power: W. E. B. Du Bois at the 1900 World’s Fair
Dec. 9–May 29
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2 East 91st Street, Upper East Side (cooperhewitt.org)
For more recommendations, check out our Spring 2023 New York Art Guide.
