Opening day, 10:30 am-8 pm: XL  | 19 New Acquisitions in Photography

Featuring a selection of recent acquisitions by an international, cross-generational group of artists, XL: 19 New Acquisitions in Photography addresses photography's influential role in contemporary art. These primarily multi-part and serial works, which are being shown at MoMA for the first time, range from postwar experiments with darkroom processes (such as photograms and photomontages), to 1970s feminist performances conceived for the camera, to political and documentary engagements with labor history and globalization in the 1980s and 1990s, to forms of archival and historical reconstitution made since 2000. Works by: Robert Frank, Stephen Shore, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Allan Sekula, Yto Barrada, Liz Deschenes, Mariah Robertson, and a section (opening August 23) devoted to photographic works exploring the intersection between the personal and the broadly political by Phil Collins, Stan Douglas, Leslie Hewitt, Taryn Simon, and Hank Willis Thomas. Gallery talk today at 1:30 pm. Information. Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53^rd Street, NY, NY.

Above: Table by Fabian Marcaccio, on view at The Boiler through June 9. 

Tonight at The Boiler Expanding its model of a collaborative platform for presenting and experiencing contemporary art, Seven will hold its second New York area exhibition in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at The Boiler. Launched in 2010 by seven galleries from New York and London, Seven is a unique initiative committed to presenting artworks on their own terms and providing an intimate, personal way to engage the viewer. Participating galleries are Feature Inc., BravinLee programs, Pierogi, Postmasters, P•P•O•W, and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, five of which are original participants. Artists whose work is being presented are Mamie Holst, Fabian Marcaccio, Yoko Inoue, Kim Jones, David Diao, Hunter Reynolds and Bruce Pearson. The Boiler, 191 North 14th Street, Brooklyn, NY. Information.

Saturday, 2-4 pm  Meet Magdy El Shaffee, graphic novelist of the ongoing Egyptian Revolution. Peter Kuper, graphic novelist and longtime contributor the World War 3 magazine, sent this in: Last month Egyptian cartoonist Magdy El Shafee was arrested during a protest at Abdel Moneim Riyad Square in Cairo. El Shafee was freed after four days, but his arrest is a reminder of the difficulties with free speech and other basic civil liberties going on in Egypt right now. El Shafee is perhaps best known as the author of Metro, one of the first, if not the first Egyptian graphic novels, but he’s also a contributor to World War 3 magazine in the US, and to highlight his experiences, they’ve reprinted his first contribution to the magazine. The event takes place at the School of Visual Arts Auditorium, 209 East 23^rd Street, third floor, NY, NY.

Saturday, 6-8 pm Endless Bummer II / Still Bummin' is a group exhibition featuring works by artists Lucas Ajemian, Alan Belcher, Phil Chang, John Divola, Brad Elterman, Ryan Foerster, Brendan Fowler, Jonah Freeman/Justin Lowe, Liam Gillick, Samara Golden, Mark Hagen, Joey Kotting, Liz Larner, Klara Liden, Christian Marclay, John Miller, Steven Parrino, Karin Sander, Paul Sietsema, Jim Skuldt, Emily Sundblad, Kaari Upson, James Welling, and Eric Wesley. Above, left, image not identified on gallery website; right: image by John Divola. Marlborough Chelsea, 545 West 25^th Street, NY, NY. Information.

Monday, May 13, 6:30 pm SVA MFA in Visual Narrative and the French Embassy present Talking Pictures, a discussion with illustrators Antoine Guilloppé and Istvan Banyai, moderated by faculty member Leonard Marcus. SVA Theater, 333 West 23^rdStreet, NY, NY. Information. $10 donation to scholarship fund of the MFA Visual Narrative Department. Information.