Warhol, Janaina Tschäpe, Lyle Ashton Harris, and More Must See Shows in New York

Andy Warhol at The Whitney
November 12—March 31, 2019
The first retrospective of Andy Warhol’s art in the U.S. since 1989, “From A to B and Back Again” is a landmark exhibition featuring over 350 of his works—some assembled together for the first time ever. Curated by Warhol authority Donna De Salvo alongside Christie Mitchell and Mark Loiacono, the survey stretches across four galleries of the Whitney in order to include some of Warhol’s earliest work as a commercial illustrator, a selection of hand-painted pop works and photo silkscreen paintings, portraits, his later work and collaborations, and scheduled programming of several of Warhol’s avant-garde films. Also, a highlight of the exhibition, is one of Andy Warhol’s final works—Camouflage Last Supper.

Janaina Tschäpe at Sean Kelly
Now—December 8
“HumidGray and ShadowLake” is Janaina Tschäpe’s debut exhibition at Sean Kelly Gallery showcasing her distinctive style of abstraction, which uses organic forms to suggest ideas of growth, transition, and metamorphosis. In the show, works like MorningGreen and Kleine Nachtmusik (a take on a starry night sky hovering over a field) demonstrate the artist’s process, which she describes as “an idea of color developing into a landscape.”

Lyle Ashton Harris at Salon 94 Bowery
November 9—December 21
53-year-old Lyle Ashton Harris has returned to self-portraiture for his inaugural show at Salon 94, claiming his spot as an artist whose core engagements lie within the areas of sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, class, and aging. In his exhibition “Flash of the Spirit,” Harris uses masks (borrowed from his family’s collection of West African masks) to portray these themes, posing himself in idyllic landscapes like Provincetown, Massachusetts and Fire Island, New York, boldly exploring the inevitable journey through aging and towards death.

Nate Lowman at Gagosian Gallery
Now—December 15
“Never Remember,” Nate Lowman’s premier exhibition at Gagosian, is a survey of the artist’s Maps (a series of drop cloth paintings he began in 2013) and a selection of related works. Named as a biting reversal of the slogan “Never forget,” the exhibition showcases how Lowman calls on abstraction as a means of demonstrating his sharp political skepticism for the American way. In his work, Lowman transforms debris from contemporary American life in order to reevaluate familiar symbols and signs from the media, street, home, and studio.

Mandy El-Sayegh at Lehmann Maupin
November 8—December 22
Mandy El-Sayegh’s first solo show in the U.S., “MUTATIONS IN BLUE, WHITE, RED,” joins together works from several of her series to display the roots of her practice— assemblage and the political, economic, and social complexities of humanity. In the show, viewers will find a number of works including mixed media paintings from the London-based artist’s White Grounds and Net-Grid series, a selection of her table works, and parts of the Piece Paintings series. El-Sayegh has also created an installation where layers of The Financial Times have been applied to the walls and floors of the gallery, creating a new landscape for her work to reside in, reflecting the artist’s interest in the complicated interactions and confrontations between the body and the political landscape.

KAWS at Skarstedt Gallery
November 8—December 19
In KAWS’ debut show at Skarstedt Gallery, “GONE,” the artist’s iconic CHUM character no longer valiantly charges towards the future. Instead—an allusion to the current cultural and political environments we are living in—CHUM stands with his head hanging low, casting a sense of loss and sadness across the entire show that is sure to make viewers pause in moments of careful contemplation. In addition to the solemn iteration of CHUM, the exhibition includes three large-scale bronze sculptures, and a series of new multi-paneled paintings.

“Gutai” at Hauser & Wirth
Now—December 22
Hauser & Wirth’s exhibition “Gutai” explores the legacy of the Japanese avant-garde art movement, which was known for employing slogans like, “Don’t imitate others!” and “Engage in the newness!” Works by artists from the Gutai Art Association (formed by Jiro Yoshihara in 1954) come together to show how the movement created a freewheeling relationship between art, space, body, and time. Included are pieces like Tsuyoshi Maekawa’s burlap works, Kazuo Shiraga’s performance-born painted canvases, and Sadamasa Motonaga’s Work 145, which employed his own take on the “tarashikomi” technique, in which a second layer of paint is applied on top of the first still-wet layer.

“Calder/Kelly” at Lévy Gorvy
November 9—January 9, 2019
“Calder/Kelly” is the first major exhibition exploring both the visual and personal likenesses between the American artists Alexander Calder and Ellsworth Kelly. It celebrates not only fifty years of work, but also their longstanding friendship. Spread throughout the three floors of Lévy Gorvy’s gallery space, a dynamic exchange between figuration and abstraction is epxlored by displaying the artist’s work side by side. Included are works like Kelly’s Red White and Three Gray Panels and Calder’s Black Beast and Red Maze III.