With the spring art fairs behind us, we can relax for a moment and enjoy some restorative community time. That’s exactly the purpose of Bahar Behbahani’s Damask Rose project at Governors Island, where artists and cultural practitioners convened to share stories, play music, and make art. Diba Mohtasham was there to participate and report.
Across the river in New Jersey, Aaron Short visits artist studios at Mana Contemporary while a monument for Gaza is installed in the city of Paterson. Also, who’s the artist behind that wacky nude figure that was just installed in front of the New Museum?
—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief
A Persian Garden Blooms on Governors Island
On the unseasonably warm afternoon, three shallow fountains on Governors Island were transformed by handwoven, antique carpets and pink, red, and purple crocheted canopies, setting the stage for Bahar Behbahani’s Damask Rose: A Gathering. As part of Governors Island Arts’s annual Interventions series, Behbahani worked with the organization’s associate curator and producer to convene over two dozen community practitioners and cultural groups for a four-hour event blending storytelling, communion, and rest.
Read the full report by Diba Mohtasham
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Across the River
- Aaron Short walks us through Mana Contemporary’s Spring Open Studios in Jersey City, which saw the largest participation number in years.
- The city of Paterson celebrated Palestine Day last Sunday by unveiling its new Gaza Square on Main Street with a sculpture by Kyle Goen.
What Else is Happening
- Sarah Lucas’s “VENUS VICTORIA,” on view at the New Museum for the next two years, subverts the mostly male history of public monuments.
- An intimate collection of rare, early Basquiat works is now on view at The Bishop Gallery in Brooklyn.
- Cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder’s Neue Galerie is merging with the Metropolitan Museum of Art down the street.
- As part of the programming for the Whitney Biennial, Maia Chao activated the museum’s seventh-floor galleries with her performance “Being Moved.”
- A new exhibition at the Library for the Performing Arts celebrates the legacy of Martha Graham and her dance company’s centennial anniversary. [nypl.org]
- Join Forge Project for an evening of readings, screenings, and conversation at Performance Space New York with Bonney Hartley and Wunetu Wequai Tarrant. (Thurs May 21) [performancespacenewyork.org]
- Contemporary Asian art is the central force of Focus Art Fair this year, organized around the topical theme of “Human-Technology Coexistence.” (Thurs May 21–Sun May 24) [focusartfair.net]
