While some art galleries and institutions across the world might be enjoying a summer break, stripping down on new exhibitions in favor of permanent collection displays in a seasonal reset, this doesn't seem to be the case in New York City.
The ever-awake metropolis and its wider namesake state are continuing to highlight the flow of creative expression at the heart of its art and design scene, hosting solo and group shows, retrospectives, as well as open-air art installations that testify to the disruptive cultural legacy of its inhabitants.
Despite differing in medium, style, and overall objective, the 10 design exhibitions listed below all struck me with the same thought — how artistic practices can show us new (and better) ways forward.
Be it because of how they leverage creativity as an antidote to the obstacles of the everyday or to call out the harm endured by specific communities across the globe — and the planet as a whole — each of these initiatives has taken me out of my summer-induced leisure mode to ask the hard questions.
1. Arlene Shechet: Girl Group
Storm King Art Center, 1 Museum Rd, New Windsor, NY 12553
The gravity-defying lightness and contagiousness of American sculptor Arlene Shechet's work are such that, just by researching this exhibition from my desk in cloudy London, I was immediately transported to the lush outdoors of New York's Storm King Art Center, where her Girl Group series is currently on view (through 10 November).
A large-scale, metal and paint-based reinterpretation of her ceramic body of work Together (2020), which Shechet conceived as a regenerative response to the stillness and solitude of the pandemic, this new collection is imbued with the same soul-soothing energy of its main inspiration. Standing out for their fantastical shapes and pastel-shaded hues, the totemic, vaguely anthropomorphic silhouettes of the artist invite visitors to discover the park in which they rise in a playful, child-like way, as if they were watching the unfolding of a choreography.
2. Greater Delight
By appointment only
Art furniture and design collectors will fall for this stunningly curated showcase of objects, including contributions from contemporary artists Alana Burns, Guy Corriero, John Hogan, Floris Wubben, and Rahee Yoon. An eclectic, multimedia selection of uniquely beautiful pieces — from Surrealism-inspired, shell-encrusted silver cutlery to ancestral, turquoise sculptural masks and just-as-fascinating glass creations — Greater Delight (through 23 August) explores the multiple motifs that prompt us to make a given furniture item, decoration, or accessory part of our home by diving into the many meanings we infuse into our treasured objects.
Reflecting on the "historical", "fiduciary", and "personal" rationale behind every collector's picks, or how through each of them they either seek "to define a genealogical narrative and thus clarify the present"; "to assign value according to rarity and context, thus generating a return for the canny investor"; or to capture "something inexplicable that stems from the immediate experience the collector has with the work", the exhibition reminds us of the subjective, deeper, and often unexpressed value that lies in the things around us, far beyond their appearance.
3. Regina José Galindo: Tierra
MoMA, 11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019
Not everyone agrees with the notion of art as something inherently political, but Guatemalan performance artist and poet Regina José Galindo is the living example of how the power of creativity can be harnessed to have people confront the corrupt state of the world. Recently acquired by the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, her bold, revealing audiovisual piece Tierra (2013) focuses on the reality of her native country to expose ongoing exploitative practices affecting local labor, natural resources, and human life.
Organized by MoMA PS1's assistant curator Elena Ketelsen González, the presentation (through 26 August) puts viewers in front of Galindo's "larger-than-life" film projection, making it impossible for them to un-see what's before them: standing nude on an island of dirt as a bulldozer digs all around her, the under-35 Golden Lion-winning artist's poignant work denounces the massacre of thousands of Indigenous people during the Guatemalan Civil War. But remembering isn't enough for Galindo, who embraces art "to defend the land that roots me".
4. Projects: Tadáskía
MoMA, 11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019
In an art scene where myths like that of the "doomed" or "damned" artist continue to influence the creative production and lifestyles of rising and established personalities alike — often leading us to consider "real art" as something rooted in suffering — the strikingly colorful and uplifting oeuvre of Afro-Brazilian artist Tadáskía captured my attention for its ability to convey the complexity of life in a way that convinces us it is worth enduring, rather than succumbing to.
At New York's MoMA, her solo exhibition Projects: Tadáskía, on display in the museum's street-level galleries through 14 October, she combines drawing, sculpture, and mixed media in an explosive, joyful retelling of her experiences as a Black trans woman. Marking the artist's first solo showcase in the US, the teeming-with-life, wall-large pieces and rainbow-hued visions in this presentation reject condescending portrayals of the non-binary experience, unleashing the euphoria that springs from being our truest selves.
5. Diana Orving: Spirit Playground
Carvalho Park, 112 Waterbury St, Brooklyn, NY 11206
What I love most about art is the way in which certain artworks talk to you even before you have a chance to even think what they are meant to be about — and Stockholm and Paris-based installation artist Diana Orving's recent textile piece Spirit Playground perfectly fits this description.
Open at Carvalho Park through 17 August, this floating, cloud-like artwork appears imbued with a life of its own. Suspended mid-air in the Brooklyn institution, it is as akin to the hyper detailed fabric of organic membranes as well as trees as to the imaginary substance of our fantasies and dreams. On the occasion of the exhibition, the installation has been periodically activated by a series of performances led by acclaimed New York City Ballet principal dancer Sara Mearns and choreographer Jodi Melnick.
6. Suchitra Mattai: We are nomads, we are dreamers
Socrates Sculpture Park, 32-01 Vernon Blvd, Queens, NY 11106
I like public installations as they manage to reach even those who might not otherwise engage with art at more traditional galleries and institutions. While that is already enough to make them a valuable addition to any outdoor space, I am even more drawn towards projects that — catching us unprepared in the midst of our wanderings — can spark in-depth reflection. That is the case of Suchitra Mattai and her ongoing open-air exhibition We are nomads, we are dreamers, which can be seen at Socrates Sculpture Park until 25 August. Drawing on her Indo-Caribbean descent, the Denver-based multidisciplinary artist has crafted vividly woven reflective pods designed as a testament to "the migratory oceanic journeys of past, present, and future diasporic communities".
Taking the park's East River bank location as a starting point for her research, Mattai has transformed vintage saris belonging to women of the South Asian diaspora into sculptural works embodying their stories of transatlantic migration. Altered by the impact of both living beings and natural elements including sun, rain, and wind, each of the creations acts "as an ever-evolving testament to the human experience of adaptation — a monument to the journey of becoming".
7. Survival Piece #5: Portable Orchard
Whitney Museum of American Art, 99 Gansevoort St, New York, NY 10014
Just like there has been a rise in modern interior design projects seeking to take the outdoors indoors, I have noticed a growing number of art exhibitions inserting plants into the gallery space to convey a statement.
In the case of Survival Piece #5: Portable Orchard, on view on the eighth floor of the Whitney Museum of American Art through 5 January 2025, the clue is in the title: the first solo museum presentation of the indoor citrus grove originally conceived and designed in 1972 by fully realized indoor citrus grove designed in 1972 by artists Helen Mayer Harrison (1927-2018) and Newton Harrison (1932-2022), this unusual display reinvents conventional agricultural practices for today's climate emergency. Composed of 18 live citrus trees, each placed in self-contained planters complete with individual lighting systems, the installation forces us to acknowledge the urge for "a productive and sustainable food system where natural farming practices are obsolete and cannot be taken for granted".
8. Odd Couple: American Art Furniture 1980-Now
Superhouse, 120 Walker St #6R, New York, NY 10013
Stepping into New York’s gallery Superhouse feels like traveling back in time as The Odd Couple: American Art Furniture 1980-Now (through 17 August) takes visitors on a journey through the styles, visions, narratives, and perspectives adopted by a transgenerational roster of era-defining American artists.
Designed by architect Andre Bahremand, the exhibition installation, explains the hosting institution, places rare pieces from the functional art movement of the 1980s, the studio craft movement spanning the 1980s through the 2000s, and contemporary sculpture in dialogue to examine the pivotal role played by US-based creatives in the rise of art furniture. Featuring artworks by fifth-generation furniture maker Howard Meister, imaginative Californian artist Garry Knox Bennett, and Belgian-Congolese newcomer Kim Mupangilaï — whose wood-carved furniture embodies the fluid converging of her dual roots — The Odd Couple offers a quirky, thought-provoking take on contemporary design as embraced by a dozen forward-thinkers.
9. Rose B. Simpson: Seed
Madison Square Park, 11 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10010
Inwood Hill Park, Payson Ave. &, Seaman Ave, New York, NY 10034
Primarily known for the sleekly furnished loft-style apartments abounding in its film portrayals, as well as for the blooming creative community serving as its driving force, New York City has also got its fair dose of outdoor spaces and public gardens for a total of over 2,300 parks. So why not fill them with art? It's the question that the founding team behind Madison Square Park Conservancy's public art program must have considered, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. On display concurrently in the eponymous location and Inwood Hill Park, Native mixed-media artist Rose B. Simpson's Seed charges the sun-filled atmosphere of both spaces with an unexpectedly sacred aura.
Carved out of weathered steel and bronze, the installation comprises multiple anthropomorphic sculptures placed all around a female bust centerpiece 'sprouting' from a patch of grass. Erected in memory of Native American history and as 'sentinels' guarding on Natives' future, this powerful project calls residents to ponder their role in the ongoing fight for Indigenous people's rights, invoking further social cohesion and civic engagement in troubling times.
10. Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design
MoMA, 11 W 53rd St, New York, NY 10019
For Paola Antonelli and Maya Ellerkmann, Senior Curator and Curatorial Assistant of the Museum of Modern Art's Department of Design and Architecture, respectively, and creators of the ongoing exhibition Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, "any act of good design must also be an act of empathy, respect, and responsibility toward all living organisms and ecosystems — as well as future generations".
They have made it crystal clear in the show, which promotes a circular, eco-friendly approach to design by taking the artworks' "life cycles", or the multiple steps leading up to their manufacture, center stage in its MoMA installation (through 25 August). Paying particular attention to sustainably produced furniture items and homeware as well as clothing and accessories, Life Cycles seeks to demonstrate "that design can be elegant, innovative, and compelling, while at the same time offering new strategies for repairing our planet".
While it is true that art and creativity can both cater to our need for escapism, allowing us to imagine something else than the reality around us, turning a blind eye on the challenges that characterize the contemporary era can prove problematic in the long run.
In this selection of New York exhibitions, I wanted to stress how artists and designers from across the globe are not just using their craft to reflect on their personal experiences and preoccupations, but they are also embracing it to make us more receptive towards what we might be trying to ignore — from the need to reassess our consumption practices to the inequality still weaving its way into the world. Spirited and thought-provoking, these showcases demonstrate how not all meaningful conversations have to start from overly serious artworks, and that engagingly immersive alternatives can be as convincing.
