Looking for things to do this weekend in New York City? Following are our top picks for art events, film and culture in New York City. Most take places in art museums, performing arts center and art galleries which makes it easy to combine viewing art with attending an event.
1. Live Finals for The NewSong 2016 Contest at Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center hosts the 14th annual Mountain Stage NewSong Contest, which aims to find top emerging performers and songwriters in North America, on Thursday, January 7 in its David Rubenstein Atrium. Thursday evening sees the contest's finals, and audience members can see several performances by this year’s diverse selection of singer/songwriter finalists: Kaz Fujimoto, BONOMO, Megan Wilde, Rachael Kilgour, Sarah Kervin, Queen Esther, The Shades, Sarah Morris, Ken Yates and Blair Bodine. The winning singer/songwriter is awarded a chance to record an EP and perform at such events as the Sundace Film Festival and NPR's Mountain Stage series. Emceeing is John Platt of the WFUV radio station, the event’s media partner.
Admission is free but limited, on a first-come, first-served basis. The contest takes place in the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, located at 10 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York NY 10023. www.newsong-music.com.
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Last year's NewSong Contest grand prize winners, Max Hatt and Edda Glass, performing at the finals.
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2. Annual Charles Bukowski Memorial Reading at Cornelia Street Cafe
Several poets, writers, playwrights and “hardcore fans” of the late writer Charles Bukowski will come together on Friday, January 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the ninth annual memorial reading of Bukowski's works at the Cornelia Street Cafe in the West Village. Expect readings by Kim Addonizio, Mike Daisey, Richard Vetere, Puma Perl, Michael Puzzo and George Wallace. Kat Georges and Peter Carlaftes of the NYC-based independent book publisher Three Rooms Press host the event. In addition to poetry readings, expect rare videos and shared tales. The evening will also explore how Bukowski, who passed in 1994, would have reacted to contemporary culture.
Admission is $15 and includes a drink. Doors open at 5:45 and for best seating, arrive early. The Cornelia Street Café is located at 29 Cornelia Street, New York NY 10014. www.corneliastreetcafé.com.
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Kim Addonizio at a past Bukowski event at the Cornelia Street Cafe. Photo by Kat Georges
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3. Exhibition Panel Discussion at James Cohan Gallery
James Cohan Gallery’s Lower East Side space hosts a conversation between curators Eugenie Tsai and Jens Hoffmann and art historian Andrianna Campbell, who will explore the gallery’s current exhibition Robert Smithson: Pop on Sunday, January 10 at 1 p.m. Composing the exhibition is a selection of sculpture and works on paper created between 1962 and 1964, and expect the panel to highlight rarely seen works and themes that became key elements throughout Smithson’s artistic career. The exhibition is on view through January 17, 2016.
Free admission. Seating is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. To RSVP, call (212) 714-9500 or email [email protected]. James Cohan Gallery is located at 291 Grand Street, New York NY 10002. www.jamescohan.com.
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!["Untitled [Venus with lightning bolts]" by Robert Smithson, 1964. Courtesy James Cohan Gallery.](https://hamptonsarthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Untitled-Smithson-1964.jpg "\"Untitled [Venus with lightning bolts]\" by Robert Smithson, 1964.")
"Untitled [Venus with lightning bolts]" by Robert Smithson, 1964. Courtesy James Cohan Gallery.
4. A Quartet of Charlie Chaplin Films at MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art presents an afternoon of Charlie Chaplin films in its Titus Theater on Sunday, January 10 at 2 p.m.: Getting Acquainted (1914), In the Park (1915), By the Sea (1915), and The Pawnshop (1916), all written and directed by Chaplin. The afternoon looks to chart Chaplin's jump between three different studios—Essanay Company, Keystone Studios and Mutual Film Corp.—over just two years. The films are silent with musical accompaniment and are preserved on nitrate materials on loan from the Archive Film Agency. The event is also part of MoMA's series, "Modern Matinees: Fashionably Late," which celebrates the Department of Film's 80th anniversary by showing its earliest acquisitions.
Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students. MoMA is located at 11 West 53 Street, New York NY 10019. www.moma.org.
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5. Preview of Justin Peck: Creation of a Story Ballet at the Guggenheim
The Guggenheim’s Works & Process series showcasing artists-in-residents' in-progress works presents a new ballet by New York City Ballet choreographer and soloist Justin Peck on Sunday, January 10 at 7:30 p.m. Expect excerpts of the full work, which is based on “The Most Incredible Thing,” by Hans Christian Andersen. There's a commissioned score by Bryce Dessner, costumes and set design by artist Marcel Dzama, and lighting by Brandon Stirling Baker. Included with the preview is a discussion between Peck, Dessner, Dzama and Baker on their creative process, moderated by Ellen Sorrin of the George Balanchine Trust and the New York Choreographic Institute.
Held in conjunction with the performance, The Wright, the museum's adjacent restaurant, serves a prix fixe dinner at 6 p.m. For those who can’t make Sunday’s performance, there’s another on Monday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $25 to $40. The Guggenheim is located at 1071 Fifth Avenue, New York NY 10128. www.guggenheim.org.
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Adrian Danchig-Waring and Amar Ramasar being coached by Justin Peck at Works & Process. Photo: Jacklyn Meduga.
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