The Very Best of NYC Art

Medium of Desire, Picasso Sculpture and much more

On Dec 18, be sure to attend the opening of the brand new photography-based exhibition at Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art: Medium of Desire: An International Anthology of Photography and Video. Featuring work from fourteen different artists, the selection showcases the use of human beauty, desire, sexuality and Eros to show how feelings of desire, when successfully represented, minimize our differences and bring us closer. If you miss the opening, you can see the show thru Mar 16.

Pablo Picasso achieved international fame and fortune as a painter in the early 20th century, but his oeuvre of sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art includes pieces that are as incredibly inventive and mind-blowing as his famous paintings, drawings and collages. Now on view, it’s a must-see exhibition at MoMA this season.

If you haven’t seen Take an Object at MoMA yet, do. Dating from the mid-1950s to the 1970s, the works in Take an Object reflect an interest—shared by a generation of artists working all around the globe—in using everyday objects and other non-traditional materials to create their work. Artists range from Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg to Niki de Saint Phalle, Betye Saar and Katsuhiro Yamaguchi. On view now thru Feb 28.

The first solo exhibition of New York-based emerging artist Rachel Rose is on display at the Whitney Museum thru Feb 7. Known for her striking video installations, Rose engages with the architecture of the Whitney Museum’s new Renzo Piano-designed building through her intriguing multimedia work.

Been to the American Folk Art Museum lately? You should go now to see Art Brut in America: The Incursion of Jean Dubuffet, now thru Jan 10. It’s an off-the-beaten-path exhibition that will help you kick off your New Year by immersing yourself in art. This free exhibit—the first of its kind—contains nearly two hundred works of midcentury Art Brut, collected and identified by French artist Jean Dubuffet.

At the New-York Historical Society now thru Feb 21, explore the history of comic book superheroes in New York City in Superheroes in Gotham. This exhibition of vintage comic books, cover art, drawings and other materials explores the role of fandom and how comic book superheroes have influenced contemporary artists and animators in NYC.


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