A common (annoying) complaint among New York cultural critics is that there is too much going on in the city. This week, for instance, there are several dance shows that I will not see, with serious regrets. I know – everyone should have such problems. But one show that I will not miss is Bill [...]

Machines machines machines machines machines machines machines  is garbage. Literally. The set appears to be largely composed of bits of string and rope, junk from the attic, parts of old tools recombined into bionically repurposed ones, thrift shop furniture, and cardboard sets made futuristic with discarded calculator keypads. In this dismal economy, the show—a production [...]

It’s been nine years since the paintings of Alice Neel (1900–1984) received a retrospective airing at the Whitney Museum, and though another major survey of her work is being planned for next year, it will be mounted by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and won’t be traveling to New York. That’s a real shame, [...]

There’s a lot happening on Museum Mile these days. Among many highlights, the Met just opened their new American Wing, with a cascade of period rooms and galleries of decorative and functional objects orbiting around the huge Charles Engelhard Court, an atrium showcasing sculpture and stained glass. And up the street, the Guggenheim is celebrating [...]

If Francis Bacon’s (1909-1992) artwork were a movie, it would no doubt captivate that mythical “ideal” demographic—males 18-49. His work is scary, brutal, graphic, hallucinogenic, and muscular, like so many blockbuster films nowadays. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. That’s partly why the Met’s retrospective of the British artist seems in tune with the [...]

Christopher Williams’ latest project that closed last weekend at DTW, entitled The Golden Legend, flies in the face of just about everything conjured up by the phrase “New York contemporary dance.” This cycle of male saints, following Williams’ memorable project for female saints a few years back, comprises solos performed by well-known dancers, plus supporting [...]

I remember a favorite old college T-shirt, yellow with blue lettering, proudly proclaiming “a century of women on top” (this from a women’s college), which finally got so shredded from overuse that I had to throw it out. Back when I first got that shirt, which is a long time ago now, I think I [...]

This Spring, two museum shows pegged to age groups are facing off from each other across the length of Manhattan. Downtown, through July 5, the New Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting the first in its series of “generationals”—tri-annual surveys of contemporary artists aged 33 and under—titled “Younger Than Jesus.” Uptown, through August 2, the [...]

Yayoi Kusama, born in 1929, has been a fixture in contemporary art circles for decades, and rightly so. Her obsessive canvases (“infinity nets”) and humorous, eye popping installations allow her work to traverse the verdant median between rigorous abstraction and loosely knit narrative. That her personal backstory, dealing with dark psychologial impulses and obsessiveness, manifests [...]

Lincoln Center has become an elder statesman of New York. At least, that’s the conclusion I reached after coming back from the opening celebration that just concluded yesterday morning at Alice Tully Hall—the kickoff event of “Lincoln Center 50 Years.” The event felt the way I imagine the annual Al Smith Dinner feels. That is, [...]