Are you more of an ancient Turkish tomb art kind of a gal or a contemporary Sidney Poitier deconstructive video installation kind of boy? Whichever way your palate lingers, we’ve got the goods to make your weekend a thoroughly fulfilling taste sensation.

Thursday March 21, 2013

DC Moore Gallery – Duane Michals and Milton Avery openings – 6-8pm

Whether you’re a dilettante or just a distracted child of the many-internet-tabs generation, you’ll find plenty to occupy your mind at DC Moore Gallery, which has two openings planned this Thursday. Take a peek at Duane Michals’ “Painted Photographs,” 19th-century tin-types that Michals has painted over and deconstructed to create an entirely modern look and feel. Or pop in to an exhibition of Milton Avery’s simply and soothing painted works. Enjoy in any order you please.

Mixed Greens Gallery – “Topoanalysis” opening – 6-8pm

Renowned for her painstaking artworks created with ink, her own breath and a straw, Ann Tarantino here paints with a broader canvas––a site-specific installation of laser-cut shapes on the windows of Mixed Greens’ space. Stop in for the silhouettes and stay for the shadows.

Envoy Enterprises – “Almond” opening – 6-8pm
Describing his work, artist Johan Tahon says, “the sculptures originate from an existential experience of pain, of sudden solitude, an unceasing feeling of want, an eternal void that can never be completely filled.” Sounds a bit bleak when you phrase it like that, but the exhibit––which features captivating and disturbing ceramic sculptures of human heads and bodies distorted in every direction––promises to make for an enthralling night. Those with a bumping weekend planned might as well kick it off with a glimpse into the abyss.

Friday March 22, 2013

Derek Eller Gallery – “The Unforgiving Minute” opening – 6-8pm

Two Sidney Poitier classics––”Blackboard Jungle” and “To Sir, With Love”––serve as the jumping off-point for D-L Alvarez’s new drawing, sculpture and video installation, which includes a series of Alvarez’s works on paper, plus a campy recreation of the films.

ISE Cultural Foundation – “Intangible Transportations” – 6-8pm

The media in this curated exhibit of work by Toru Ishii, Don Porcella, and Tom Sanford ranges from ancient Japanese dying techniques to pipe cleaner sculptures. But the message is all the same: mass production and capitalism have left some pretty weird imprints on this world of ours. Make sure not to miss Sanford’s “history” paintings, which combine Renaissance influences with subjects like the ever-popular heartland mainstayers the Tea Party.

McKenzie Fine Art – Tom Leaver solo exhibition opening – 6-8pm

Tom Leaver’s 5th exhibition at McKenzie is a landscape painting show with a twist: none of the painted landscapes actually exist. Rather than observing his locales, Leaver slowly builds them from scratch, creating an atmosphere slowly over time, based on the demands of the paintings themselves. A good place to zone out, or maybe to get yourself wondering what the hell reality is anyway.

Paula Cooper Gallery – “All industrious people” opening – 6-8pm

Stelae: “Carved stone reliefs that were used for commemorative purposes in the Ancient Near East.” Taking his cue from the excavation of a the ancient Nemrud Dagi temple and tomb in Turkey, artist Justin Matherly recereates these stelae in poured concrete. No better place to match your love of the classical with your appetite for the contemporary.

Saturday March 23, 2013

One Art Space – “Shared Spaces” CUNY MFA Exhibition – 6-9pm

Sick of the old and eager for the new? Check out the CUNY Queens college MFA exhibition, displaying the work of this year’s graduating students. The exhibit takes its inspiration from the urban design concept of “shared spaces,” where common street signs and traffic lights are removed to make inhabitants more aware of each others’ presence. With this much heightened awareness floating around, the chances of locking eyes with a cute up-and-comer in the arts world are undoubtedly sky-high.

Postmasters – “TMI” opening – 6-8pm

It’s official folks: Postmasters is closing up shop and moving out of its Chelsea location to a new locale. Fortunately, you’ve got one more chance to hit an opening at the existing space, with “TMI,” a retrospective of David Diao’s paintings, which the gallery has featured often since its inception in 1985. Get there while the going’s good.

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Painting by Catrin Walz Stein

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