Hello! I’m Rhea, and I’m heading into my fourth year as a staff writer at Hyperallergic.
Our much-loved Lisa has graciously passed me the baton for the New York newsletter now that she’s settled in Iowa City. Luckily, she’s still with Hyperallergic, though she is a formidable standard to follow in this corner of the publication. Even so, I’m delighted to share details about MoMA PS1’s new courtyard commission, where an interactive garden installation walks the line between Eden and hedon via a giant teddybear’s rectum.
No, that is not the setup for a Lewis Carroll fanfiction take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. We’re talking about Precious Okoyomon’s Among the Flowers I Learned to Love: A Garden of Decreation, which “transforms the concrete corner of the museum into a place of joy, exploration, and, dare I say, tranquility,” according to Hyperallergic’s co-founder and Editor-at-Large Hrag Vartanian. On view for the next two years, Okoyomon’s installation ranks high on our list of 15 must-see outdoor art shows across all five boroughs.
For anyone who prefers dependable air-conditioning to weather-related uncertainty, a trip to the Brooklyn Museum may be in order for a major exhibition dedicated to Dutch fashion designer Iris van Herpen. Long admired in celebrity and haute couture circles, van Herpen is recognized for her gravity-defying 3D-printed designs, which draw structural inspiration from the natural world. One of our contributors, Livia Caligor, had the chance to both speak and pleat with the designer onsite at the makeshift atelier featured in the exhibition.
As I run from my own thoughts on the treadmill we call life, I often forget how fortunate I am to live in a city brimming with culture and inspiration. A visit to My Camera Is My Sketchbook at the Schoelkopf Gallery might be just the reminder I need, as Richard Estes’s visual reflections on New York City show that beauty can be noticed and captured anywhere.
15 Outdoor Art Shows to See in NYC This Summer
Slide through a teddy bear, get weird with a neural network’s hallucinations, play ping-pong on an artist-made table, and so much more.
Features
A Precious Garden Grows at MoMA PS1
Precious Okoyomon’s new work transforms the concrete corner of the museum courtyard into a place of joy, exploration, and, dare I say, tranquility. | Hrag Vartanian
The Day I Pleated With Iris van Herpen
A show at the Brooklyn Museum invites guests to work alongside the Dutch fashion designer in her recreated atelier. | Livia Caligor
From Our Critics
Julia Curl
Walter Benjamin and the Edges of Photography at the Jewish Museum
“Photographs that aestheticize things while erasing their meaning are dangerous, [Benjamin] argued …. Practitioners can bathe the chimneys of a steel factory in the same soft light as the trees of a forest, but unlike the paintbrush, the camera creates an undeniable impression of reality. Beyond that, not only can photography glaze everything into something beautiful, but people (myself included) will happily eat it up.”
Read the full review
Gladys Lou
Ellen Pau: She Moves at SculptureCenter
“Water reappears in various forms …. Its changing states, from melting ice to evaporating mist, become a metaphor for Hong Kong herself — ‘always on the verge of disappearing,’ as late cultural theorist Ackbar Abbas puts it — leaving little time for reflection before new changes arrive.”
Read the full review
What Else Is Happening?
The IFC Center is showing Wild Inside, a documentary about Flaco the owl! After the screening today, stay for a talk with Jacqueline Emery and David Lei, wildlife photographers and coauthors of Finding Flaco: Our Year with New York City’s Beloved Owl. (Tues Aug 4) [ifccenter.com]
Enjoy an evening of artisans, vendors, live music, dance, and dialogue at the Bronx Music Heritage Center, welcoming artists from the Andean diaspora, including Amado Espinoza. (Wed Aug 5) [Bronx Music Hall]
The Bronx Museum is teaming up with Wave Hill for a night of music, art, and community in celebration of David Antonio Cruz’s exhibition. (Fri Aug 7) [bronxmuseum.org]
Bring your junk journal with you to the library for an evening of community crafting! (Fri Aug 7) [nypl.org]
The Whitney’s Free Friday Nights continues this week with live music by Flore Laurentienne. (Fri Aug 7) [whitney.org]
Join Dancers for Palestine for a screening and discussion of short films exploring dance in Palestine and its diaspora. (Sat Aug 8) [interferencearchive.org]
8Ball Community is hosting a zine fair at the La Plaza Cultural Community Garden. (Sat Aug 8) [8Ball Community]
Join Brooklyn Public Library for “Ancestors, Archives, and Art Making,” a three-part workshop series in which participants will learn technical skills for preserving their family stories and ancestral-inspired artmaking. (Sat Aug 8) [bklynlibrary.org]
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts’s new photo exhibition explores the surprising animal muses behind some of the world’s greatest performers. Through Feb 2027) [nypl.org]
