Currently on view at Alexander + Bonin Gallery is Bella Figura, an exhibition of new work by Willie Cole. Cole’s assemblages of found objects, such as irons, bicycles, water bottles, and women’s shoes, offer a multivalent commentary on gender, consumerism, sexuality and African-American identity.

A central facet of Cole’s work since the 1980s has been his deployment of high-heeled shoes, which he has recast into pieces resembling furniture, bouquets, masks, animals, and humanoid forms. Uniting these sculptural interventions is the way that Cole incorporates both explicit and indirect references to African arts, cultures, and mythologies. This is particularly present in Woman in Heels 2019, a new 6-foot bronze of a kneeling female figure inspired by Senufo sculpture. The Senufo, who live in southern Mali, Burkina Faso, and Cote d’Ivoire, are known for their bronze and wood sculptures which are often used for divination and religious worship. Also on view are a selection of recent shoe masks and Head Over Heels 2019, a series of portraits on canvas that activate and personify the masks. [Text from gallery press release]
Alexander + Bonin Gallery, 47 Walker Street, NY, NY Info Photos © Peggy Roalf

Also on view, at the Johnson-Kulukundis Family Gallery, Byerly Hall, at Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, through June 29^th: Willie Cole’s Beauties invite viewers to forge thematic connections across objects and disciplines, and to explore the ways in which works of visual art can serve as a basis for primary source-based research. In an effort to support continued intellectual engagement with Cole’s Beauties, a slideshow is available for download that includes primary source materials across Harvard’s collections that engage with the broad themes of ironing, laundry, and pressure. InfoFor access to the slideshow, please email ventures@radcliffe.harvard.edu 
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Below the fold for this week

Talks / Book Events / Screenings / and Beyond

Wednesday, May 8

Game of Leopards and Wolves | Marlon James in conversation with Victor LaValle, 7 pm. The Graduate Center, CUNY, 365 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY Info

New York City debut of Japanese quartet SAICOBAB, consisting of avant vocalist YoshimiO of Boredoms/OOIOO (celebrated as a battler of Pink Robots by The Flaming Lips) and instrumentalists Yoshida Daikiti (sitar) and Motoyuki “Hama” Hamamoto (percussion, gamelan), 8 pm. ISSUE Project Room, 22 Boerum Place, Brooklyn, NY Info

Thursday, May 9

Rising Together | Artists in conversation, 6:30 pm. The Center for Book Arts, 28 West 27^thStreet, NY, NY Info

Saturday, May 11

Delano Dunn in Conversation with Susan Luss, 2:30 pm. In conjunction with his current solo show, Phantom Paradise, on view at Lesley Heller Gallery, 54 Orchard Street, NY, NY Info

Elise Engler and Simin Farkhondeh in conversation regarding Engler's current exhibition Diary of a Radio Junkie: 1262 Days of Waking up to the News, 4-6 pm. Frosch & Portmann, 53 Stanton Street, NY, NY Info

Dear Diary | a reading hosted by Davina Diiviinity, featuring five New York artosts. 6-8 pm. Picture Room, 117 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY Info

Monday, May 14

Eva Davidova and Kara Rooney | Wellness and the Future of Oppression/a dinner party happening, 7 pm-late. 20 Jay Street, Suite #301B, Brooklyn, NY Info Info

In Galleries / Lens-Based Art

Wednesday, May 8

Elise Peterson | In Due Time, 6-8 pm. Baxter Street at the Camera Club of New York, 126 Baxter Street, NY, NY Info

Marybeth Rothman | Reclaimed & Reimagined, 6-8 pm. Lichtundfire, 175 Rivington Street, NY, NY Info

Thursday, May 9

Chip Hooper | From the Edge, 6-8 pm. Robert Mann Gallery, 525 West 26^thStreet, NY, NY Info

Mark Masyga, Fluency and Clank, currently on view at Front Room Gallery

In Galleries

Thursday, May 9

Hunter MFA Thesis Exhibition, Part II | Mayday,6-9 pm. 205 Hudson Gallery, Hunter College, 201 Hudson Street, NY, NY Info

Renaldo Kuhler | Rocaterrania, 6-9 pm. Ricco/Marresca Gallery, 529 West 20^thStreet, NY, NY Info

Carolee Schneeman | Tooth and Paw, 6-8 pm. P.P.O.W, 535 West 22^ndStreet, NY, NY Info

12 Chairs | Louise Bourgeois, Constance Culpepper, Richard Diebenkorn, Carole Freeman, Frank Gehry, Jerry Mischak, Elizabeth Murray, Bruce Nauman, Ken Price, Dan Rizzie, Tom Slaughter, & Jim Watt, 6-8 pm. Jim Kempner Fine Art, 501 West 23^rdStreet, NY, NY  Info

Highlight: The High Line | Five contemporary abstract painters, 6-8m pm. Hollis Taggart, 507 West 27^thStreet, NY, NY Info

Friday, May 10

Jared Buckhiester | Refusing to Shake, 6-8 pm. Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, 54 Ludlow Street, NY, NY Info

Mark Masyga | Solo exhibition, 7-9 pm. Front Room Gallery, 48 Hester Street, NY, NY Info

Tribeca Days | Nine artists, 6-8 pm. Hudson Yards Fine Art, 7 Franklin Place, NY, NY Info

Saturday, May 11

Martin Wilner | The Case Histories, 6-8 pm. Pierogi, 155 Suffolk Street, NY, NY Info

Dance with Me | curated by Kyle Staver, 5-7 pm. Zürcher Gallery, 33 Bleecker Street, NY, NY Info

Elliot Lloyd | Color Wave, 1973-1977, 4-7 pm. David Richard Gallery, 211 East 121^stStreet, NY, NY Info

Sunday, May 12

Harry Dodge | User, 6-8 pm. Callicoon Fine Arts, 49 Delancey Street, NY, NY Info

Joan Miro, currently on view at the Museum of Modern Art

In Museums

Sunday, MY 11

Here We Land, gallery tour, 2 pm. Glyndor Gallery, Wave Hill, West 249^thStreet at Independence Avenue, Bronx, NY Directions Info

Camp | Notes on Fashion.The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY Info

Closing May 12

Frida Kahlo | Appearances Can Be Deceiving. Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY Info
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