I Licked It, It’s Mine.
What does it mean to be “consumed” by lust, or to “possess” another? The artists Oh de Laval, Shafei Xia, and Urara Tsuchiya explore every manner of appetite, from sublimated yearning to all-consuming hunger. United by an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek approach to the erotic and a flair for fantasy, the paintings and ceramic sculptures in this exhibition at the Museum of Sex move between pulpy melodrama and decorative daintiness. Along the way, sexuality is experienced as love, but also as competition, involving our animal natures—and sometimes even the swapping of human and animal roles.
Oh de Laval paints erotic vignettes, replete with cinematic references and commanding femmes fatales. For this exhibition she has painted a monumental new work, The Intimacy of knowing how to make someone’s perfect cup of tea, in which a hostess prepares to take possession of her priapic partner. Shafei Xia’s rococo-inflected magical realism is exemplified by the paintings and sculptures in this exhibition; a timeless universe in which two of her favorite protagonists, the tiger and the pig, share tender moments with a teeming cast of human characters. Urara’s Tsuchiya’s ceramic vessels and sculptures range from studied realism to playful exuberance. A new work, Doll House, imagines an every-day orgy in an apartment setting. Like the more narrative works in the exhibition by Shafei Xia and Oh de Laval, Tsuchiya’s richly enigmatic compositions invite playful and pointed speculation. Together, these artists explore the intersection of the fantastic and the ordinary, the child-like and the refined, in a rich dialogue around what belongs to who.
LAST CHANCE
2. Egon Schiele: Living Landscapes
Closes Monday, January 13
This exhibition on view at Neue Galerie investigates the importance of landscape in the Austrian artist’s work. Plants, natural environments, and townscapes determine the spaces Egon Schiele created in his paintings, and they also reflect the rich symbolism he employed that is centered around the human condition. In particular, plants are often endowed with an allegorical meaning. Flowers and trees assume the role of portrait subjects and convey an almost human appearance. Schiele’s landscapes always represent more than their apparent subject matter. His portrayal of nature and his rendering of towns and trees epitomize the life cycle and the human condition. Schiele is arguably best known for his portraits, but he was also a gifted landscape painter. Even while a child, Schiele was a keen recorder of nature.
His rapturous painting, Town among Greenery (The Old City III), shown here, is one of the masterworks presented in this exhibition. While the exact location of this scene is unclear, it most likely represents an imaginative and composite creation based upon Schiele’s study of Krumau and its environs. Here, the city is sandwiched between dense and verdant clusters of trees. Uncharacteristically, Schiele has even populated the vibrantly hued streets with figures immersed in the details of daily life.
3. Make Way for Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-Garde
NYU Grey Art Museum presents a survey of the groundbreaking career of the first woman modern art dealer. Berthe Weill (1865–1951) championed many fledgling masters of modern art early on—such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Amedeo Modigliani—as well as numerous others who did not achieve wide acclaim. Yet her role in early 20th century modernism has been omitted from most historical accounts.
The exhibition features some 110 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture—many of which were shown at her gallery during the first four decades of the 20th century. The exhibition also includes archival documents—such as letters, exhibition catalogs, photographs, and journals—that reveal her deep relationships with a range of artists. Examining Weill’s contributions to the history of modernism as a gallerist, a passionate advocate of contemporary art, and a Jewish woman, it brings to light the remarkable achievements of a singular figure who overcame sexism, antisemitism, and economic struggles in her quest to promote emerging artists.
4. Museum of Broadway
Only open for two years, The Museum of Broadway allows visitors to walk through Broadway's history. the Museum begins in 1732 with the first documented performance in New York City and moves Visitors through to the present as you go backstage with your favorite Broadway stars. As you walk the timeline, you'll come upon exhibits dedicated to groundbreaking moments in Broadway’s history - those that pushed creative boundaries, challenged social norms, and paved the way for those who would follow.
NEW
5. Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial
Featuring 25 new site-specific installations, this exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum explores design’s role in shaping the physical and emotional realities of home across the United States, US Territories, and Tribal Nations. The exhibition is the seventh offering in the museum’s Design Triennial series, which was established in 2000 to address the most urgent topics of the time through the lens of design.
“Going Home” (ground and first floor) considers how people shape and are shaped by domestic spaces. Through reinterpretations of diverse home environments that traverse interior and exterior spaces, this section explores the historical and personal factors that influence home design and its profound impact on people’s experiences, behaviors, and values.
“Seeking Home” (second floor) addresses a range of institutional, experimental, and utopian contexts that challenge conventional definitions of home. Installations examine the idea of home through the lenses of cultural heritage, the human body, imagined landscapes, and refuge.
“Building Home” (third floor) presents alternatives to single-family construction models, expanding and redefining home to embrace community space, cooperative living, land stewardship, decolonial practices, and historic preservation. Large-scale installations explore building typologies grounded in regional histories and cultural specificity, and address contemporary issues such as housing precarity, environmental advocacy, memory, and aging.