Frieze Sculpture at Rockefeller Center returns to Rockefeller Center—opening this week and continuing through October 2, 2020. Loring Randolph, Director of Frieze NY, says, “So much has changed since our planned opening of this year’s Frieze Sculpture on the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, April 22nd, but what has not waivered is Frieze and Rockefeller Center’s commitment to putting the art of our time in the public realm. I am particularly excited to have the opportunity to see Ghada Amer’s Women’s Qualities take over the Channel Gardens, and self-taught 94-year old artist, Thaddeus Mosely, showcase his first bronze sculptures at the apex of those gardens on 5th Avenue. Above: Women’s Qualities by Ghada Amer

Curated by Brett Littman, Executive Director of the Noguchi Museum, the outdoor presentation places significant sculptural works by leading artists in open, public locations throughout Rockefeller Plaza, allowing for ample social distancing space in compliance with all City and State guidelines.

Leading international artists Ghada Amer, Beatriz Cortez, Andy Goldsworthy, Lena Henke, Camille Henrot and Thaddeus Mosley present new site-specific works exploring themes including women’s suffrage, migration, urban planning, and ecology.  Info

The Sculptors Alliance, now in its 40^th year supporting artists involved in community arts and education, launched its new online programs yesterday. Marco Palli, President, says, “The Sculptors Alliance has long enjoyed an active exhibition history at galleries and alternative spaces in and around New York City We are now reaching out to our community to develop online exhibitions, with virtual opening receptions that can be attended by people everywhere." Info Above: Quiet Place (detail) by Damien Vera, from "Metal: A Sculpture Exhibition," presented by Sculptors Alliance, Governors Island, 2017; Photo: Marco Palli

First among its new programs is an Open Call for work in the 3D. Curator Natsuki Takauji proposes that we explore “How is the global pandemic changing our lives.” FLUXUX: Vita Mutata, aims to uncover the ways in which artists work and question old approaches as they develop new ones. The exhibition will be presented online due to conditions brought on by COVID-19, which has put in-person exhibitions temporarily on hold. 

Participants are encouraged to submit works made before the pandemic period and works made during the pandemic period. The virtual exhibition will focus on the processes that expose the artists’ transition from pre-pandemic through the lockdown and beyond. The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2020 Info

Socrates Sculpture Park, a haven for cutting edge sculpture, community arts and culture—and a weekend farmers market—has remained open through COVID-19, with stringent adherence to guidelines. InfoWhile the art is live and in 3D, staff works remotely, producing online events relating to Monuments Now, the summer installations. 

Artist Xaviera Simmons' powerful three-part monument, The structure the labor the foundation the escape the pause, is now on view at the Park as part of the MONUMENTS NOW exhibition. Simmons' installation considers, among many layers of conceptual and formal intent, the history and future of reparations for descendants of American chattel slavery. Next week you can learn more about her thoughts and artistic process in conversation with Socrates' Curator, Jess Wilcox, on Thursday, September 10 at 5pm EST via Zoom or Facebook Live. Info

Tomorrow the Whitney Museum of American Art reopens, with the debut of Around Day’s End: Downtown New York, 1970–1986. The exhibition pays homage to Gordon Matta-Clark's legendary Day's End (1975) and features works by twenty-two artists who engaged with the Meatpacking District and West Side piers, among other downtown Manhattan locations, in the 1970s and early 1980s. Info Above: Gordon Matta-Clark, Day's End Pier 52.3, 1975 (printed 1977). © Estate of Gordon Matta-Clark / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

In 1975, Matta-Clark created Day's End in a former shipping warehouse on Pier 52, which stood on the Hudson River across from the Museum's current home. Matta-Clark cut massive openings into the dilapidated pier shed's walls, roof, and floor. He wanted to transform the building into a "temple to sun and water.” 

Around Day’s End also anticipates David Hammons's monumental public artwork Day's End, to be completed in late fall 2020 and located directly across from the Whitney in Hudson River Park. Info Also titled Day's End, Hammons’s sculpture is a meditation on Matta-Clark's intervention. Above: A rendering of David Hammons's homage to Gordon Matta-Clark Day's End (rendering). Image courtesy of Guy Nordenson and Associates.

Hammons first proposed his sculpture to the Museum in 2014 and it is nearing completion this fall during a period of profound crisis and uncertainty. While it conjures the layered history of the neighborhood and the river, Hammons's project acts as an evocative landmark for the reimagining of the site and serves as a powerful testament to the tenacity and resilience of New York.

The High Line today announced that the exhibition of Simone Leigh’s sculpture Brick House has been extended and will remain on view through Spring 2021 from its original closing date of September 2020. Located at the center of the Spur on the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, Brick House is the first commission for the High Line Plinth. 

The High Line also announced that the High Line will expand public access to the park through 30th Street beginning Saturday, September 5, 2020. The park will be open to visitors seven days a week, from 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., from Gansevoort Street to 30th Street, including the Spur located at 10th Avenue and 30th Street. In addition, visitors now will be able to enter at 23rd Street as well as at Gansevoort Street, with all movement flowing north, in one direction. The park reopened to 23rd Street in July after temporarily closing in March to help limit the spread of COVID-19. Info

The High Line, working with NYC Parks, will continue to practice safety protocols put into place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. These measures include limiting the number of people permitted to be on the park at one time to ensure visitors are able to stay at least six feet apart while on the High Line. In order to minimize wait times and discourage groups from gathering at the entrance, timed-entry reservations can be made in advance at thehighline.org/welcome. A limited number of walk-up passes will be available at entrances each day. For more information about timed entry visit thehighline.org.

Next week you can join photographer Elinor Carucci in conversation with Edwynn Houk regarding photography and making work during COVID-19 quarantine times. Carucci will also address her fine arts work and other elements of her career as an artist, immigrant, editorial photographer, teacher, mother and feminist. 

Following the discussion, there will be a Q&A to discuss and celebrate the opening of Carucci's latest body of work, "Elinor Carucci: Midlife," which will be on view in Edwynn Houk Gallery's online viewing room. Above: Love in the Time of Corona; © Elinor Carucci, courtesy the artist and School of Visual Arts

This event will be held online via Zoom. Registered guests will receive Zoom access details 24 hours prior to the start of the event. RSVP here.