Continuing: Chuck Close | Portraits of Artists at Pace Prints

Chuck Close (1940–2021) was a remarkably versatile and creative printmaker who utilized a wide range of techniques to render images of himself and his friends. In addition to his self portraits, the exhibition presents images in a variety of printing techniques that portray Close’s friends and fellow artists John Chamberlain, Philip Glass, Lyle Ashton Harris, Alex Katz, Roy Lichtenstein, Lucas Samaras, and James Siena.

The exhibition focuses on prints from from 1980 to 2015 created using processes including intaglio, etching, woodcut, screen printing, and pigmented paper pulp. With this exhibition, Pace Prints is grateful and proud to look back on 40 years of collaborations with Chuck Close and to see the lasting impact of both what he learned from and contributed to contemporary printmaking.

Watch a video in which Pace Prints Director Rachel Gladfelter and Master Printer Justin Israels discuss the creation of Chuck Close’s 2015 self-portrait (left), which involved 24 blocks and 86 colors.

Pace Prints, 536 West 22^nd Street, New York, NY Info

Wednesday, March 20-Sunday, March 24: Affordable Art Fair at Metropolitan Pavilion

The Affordable Art Fair’s mission is to help people fall in love with art by making it accessible and affordable. A global brand and one of the leading and most popular art fairs in the world; each year 16 fairs take place in 13 cities worldwide.

At this 35^th edition of Affordable Art Fair NYC you’ll find an inspiring and friendly atmosphere where you can browse thousands of original contemporary paintings, sculptures, photographs and prints showcased by a myriad of local, national and international exhibitors. With contemporary artwork by over 400 established artists and rising stars, and price points ranging from $100 – $12,000 – there is something to suit every taste and wallet whether you are a first-time art buyer or a seasoned collector. Below: Papamichalopoulos, Shunga II,  at Decorazon, Stand D1

Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, New York, NY Info

Thursday, March 21, 4-8pm CET: PictoPro Live on Character-ful Careers

This online Pictoplasma PROgram celebrates outstanding commissioned character design across the industries, with 20 new artist talks and presentations from international creatives and upcoming talent, bringing professional personification to public installations, picture books, products, brands, video games, and all things in between. Above: art by Parn Aniwat @wood.youmind

Registration requires activation of a PictoPRO membership, which additionally unlocks a full year of 24/7 access to our on-demand library of past PictoTalks and offers real-time online streams  of our conferences, including the upcoming 20^th anniversary Berlin edition this May). Register

Friday, March 22, 10:39am-3:30pm: New School | New Books 2024

At a time of heightened concern about freedom of speech—both within and outside the academy—New School New Books 2024 serves as a crucial reaffirmation of these rights, for everyone at the university and beyond. The second edition of the annual series introduces the latest publications by New School faculty in a three-part collective reading event. This year's series is convened in conjunction with the Spitting Image Art Book Fair (March 22–23), which showcases artists’ books, zines, and print ephemera along with selections from the VLC Fellows Library as well as other VLC publications. 

New School New Books 2024 is organized by the Vera List Center for Art and Politics and co-presented with the Creative Writing Program and the Office of Equity & Belonging. It is co-sponsored by the Provost's Office and The New School Libraries. View the full list of authors and their publications via the Libraries’ New School New Books 2024 guide.

The New School, 66 West 12^th Street, Room A510, New York, NY Register

Last Chance, Sunday, March 24: Unnamed Figures at Folk Art Museum

As a corrective to histories that define slavery and anti-Black racism as a largely Southern issue, Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North offers a new window onto Black representation in a region that is often overlooked in narratives of early African American history. Through 125 remarkable works including paintings, needlework, and photographs, this exhibition invites visitors to focus on figures who appear in—or are omitted from—early American images and will challenge conventional narratives that have minimized early Black histories in the North, revealing the complexities and contradictions of the region’s history between the late 1600s and early 1800s.  

American Folk Art Museum, 2 Lincoln Square, New York, NY Info

Continuing Roy Lichtenstein | Bauhaus Stairway Mural at Gagosian

In the 1960s, Lichtenstein forged a new approach to painting by fusing popular culture and Western art history. His work is rooted in the seductive powers of advertising, and elevates the graphic imagery of popular print media and comic book illustrations to the realm of high art. Employing a handmade process, he mimicked the printing techniques of magazines and newspapers, making Benday dots and bright color synonymous with Pop art. Lichtenstein produced murals throughout his career, from Girl in a Window for the New York State Pavilion of the 1964 World’s Fair to Times Square Mural, designed in 1994 and installed in 2002.

Measuring more than 26 feet tall and painted in oil and Magna on canvas, Bauhaus Stairway Mural pays homage to German abstract artist Oskar Schlemmer (1888–1943) and his painting Bauhaustreppe(Bauhaus Stairway, 1932). Lichtenstein’s mural was commissioned for the main atrium of the headquarters of the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in Beverly Hills, which the building’s architect, I.M. Pei, envisioned as a meeting place for writers, directors, actors, musicians, and agents—an emphasis on cross-disciplinary interaction that resonated with Lichtenstein’s interest in accessible creative forms. This installation is presented in recognition of the centenary of the artist’s birth. Info

Gagosian, 555 West 24^th Street, New York, NY Info