Thursday November 8
(Art)
Playing With Dolls
Taking his trademark doll installations a step further than in previous works, Philadelphia-based artist Adam Parker Smith’s first solo show in New York, Bold as Love, opens tonight with a reception at the Priska C. Juschka Fine Art gallery. For this exhibition, Smith draws inspiration from an imagined scene in Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. The arrangement of 70 heads on pikes—some of which depict celebrities, others Smith’s friends and colleagues—interrogates the sensationalization of violence in today’s media and teases our addiction to it. Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, 547 W. 27th St. 2nd Fl. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-244-4320, priskajuschkafineart.com; 6 to 8, free. (Benjamin Sutton)
Friday November 9
(Film)
Indian Auteur
The sexy historical drama Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is one of less well-known films being screened during the IFC’s A Tribute to Mira Nair, the acclaimed director of Monsoon Wedding and this year’s hit The Namesake. Set in the 16th Century, Kama Sutra follows two best friends who grow up into opposite class situations, eventually turning against each other in a duel of seduction and deceit. Kama Sutra plays today through Sunday at noon, with other Nair films showing the following two weekends. IFC Center, 323 6th Ave. (at W. 3rd St.), 212-924-7771, www.ifccenter.com; noon, $8/$11. (Benjamin Sutton)
(FILM)
Horror Hype
The blowout performance of Saw IV at the box office last weekend proves audiences can still stomach the torture porn trend, but that doesn’t mean any boos and whistles will do. You won’t find a better opportunity to discern the dividing line between grotesque ingenuity and empty frights than at the After Dark Horrorfest. Self-proclaimed as “the largest film festival in the world,” Horrorfest is mostly a chance for direct-to-video releases to screen on 300-odd screens before falling to whims of the average video store drifter. Kudos to After Dark Films for including Mulberry Street, Jim Mickle’s clever send-up of NYC grime, which finds metropolitan dwellers turning into vicious rat people in a chaotic tale of survival. Various venues; Nov. 9-18; www.horrorfestonline.com. (Eric Kohn)
Saturday, November 10
(SHOPPING)
Artsy Flea Market
Support one of New York’s last artist housing communities at the Westbeth Artists Housing’s beautification committee’s annual flea market and yard sale. Every year the artists living in the community purge their closets and apartments, getting rid of unwanted treasures that can now be yours. Handmade sweaters, original art, designer clothing and much more is available at rock bottom prices. Runs through Monday. Westbeth Underground, 55 Bethune St., 212-691-1574; 11 am to 6 pm. (Carla Zanoni)
Sunday November 11
(EVENT)
Uncool Crisco Kids
Remember all those dorky games you played in the basement with friends and family? Now you can do them in the Lower East Side and feel hella-cool. But really we know Disco Crisco Twister is just an excuse to squeal like a dork. Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton St. (betw. Allen & Ludlow Sts.), 7, $5/$8. (RSVP at going.com/discocriscotwister) (Molly Garcia)
(WALKING TOUR)
Walk Into the Sunset
Need to brush up on your neighborhood knowledge? Become an expert on a beautiful Brooklyn area by taking the Municipal Arts Society of New York’s Sunset Park Walking Tour. Focusing on the eponymous park in the nabe, the city’s largest nationally-registered Historic District and its third largest Chinatown, urban historian and local activist Joe Svehlak will get you up to speed on the area’s past, present and future. Group meets at 10:30am at the N.E. corner of 43rd St. & 4th Ave. in Manhattan. Municipal Art Society of New York, 212-935-3960, mas.org; $12/$15. (Benjamin Sutton)
Monday November 12
(PARTY)
Biteable
The Green Movement is all about being sexy, so forget the crunchy pas at the Garden of Hedonism party that promises a celebrity solar-powered mechanical bull riding contest. Yes, we’re not making this up. So look for Kevin Connolly, Jennifer Coolidge, John Ventimiglia and others riding bareback. Johnny Utah’s, 25 W. 51st St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-265-8824; 6-9. (Molly Garcia)
(PERFORMANCE)
Something Special
PERFORMA 07, the second visual art performance biennial, seeks to address new issues in art by looking to past traditions. Sanford Biggers’ The Somethin’ Suite is a nod to the old negro variety shows, highlighting the problematic racist attitudes and the paradoxical talent that lies therein, which superimposes spoken word poetry and song to spin the past 60 years of popular American music on the traditional minstrel show. The Box, 189 Christie St. (betw. Rivington & Stanton Sts.),212-982-9301; 10, $25. (Nida Najar)
Tuesday, November 13
(ART)
Bridging Between Bridges
You don’t know about the new bridge in Dumbo that runs between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges? The first public artwork in the Dumbo Arts Center’s Outer Space program is an installation by Osman Akan. Dubbed The Third Bridge, Akan’s luminous work is a meditation on the various social functions of bridges; as connections between once distant peoples, metaphors for social mobility, markers of natural borders, testaments to humanity’s inventiveness and countless other social and natural phenomena. On display until January 14, make sure to see it by night, at its most dramatic. Brooklyn Bridge Park, at Walter & Dock Sts., B’klyn, 718-694-0831, dumboartscenter.org; 8am to 8pm, free. (Benjamin Sutton)
(EVENT)
Big Girls’ Toys
Babeland hosts a wine and cocktail hour honoring a bunch of sex toys that a wise and discerning public have deemed their favorite means to a happy end during A Toast of Thanks to Our Favorite Toys. A breakdown of the virtues of the store’s best-selling sex toys aptly accompanies free booze and other activities.
Just for fun, see how you measure up to other New Yorkers in terms of sex smarts with their sex trivia test. As an added bonus, they give away a prize bag with $75 worth of sex toys to one lucky prize winner. Babeland, Rivington St. (near Ludlow), 212-375-1701; 7:30, free. (Nida Najar)
Wednesday, November 14
(Dance)
Sassy Ballet
Complexions Contemporary Ballet returns to the Joyce Theater for a two-week run. Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s company, celebrated for its electrifying physicality, passion and virtuosity over the years, unveils two different programs and works by Rhoden and guest choreographers William Forsythe, Rennie Harris, Nicolo Fonte and Uri Sands. Highlights include the new “Peace Project,” consisting of dances by company members as well as new duet by Rhoden for Desmond Richardson and Carmen De Lavallade. Tonight’s show features a revival of “Pretty Gritty Suite,” Rhoden’s 2004 tribute to Nina Simone. Runs through Nov. 25. The Joyce Theater, 175 8th Ave. (at 19th St.), 212-242-0800, www.joyce.org; 7:30 , $44. (Carla Zanoni)
(READING)
Global City
Want to get a mini-MFA experience? Three Global City Review contributors, Linsey Abrams, Fred Tuten, and Michelle Yasmine Valladares, read from new work. Abrams is the Director of the MFA Creative Writing program at City College and the author of Our History in New York and Charting by the Stars. Tuten is the author of five novels including The Green Hour, which is his most recent book. He teaches at both City College and The New School. Valladares teaches at City College and has published a collection of poetry called Nortada, the North Wind. McNally Robinson Booksellers 52 Prince St. (at Mulberry St.), 212-274-1160; 7, free. (Nida Najar)
(Art)
Playing With Dolls
Taking his trademark doll installations a step further than in previous works, Philadelphia-based artist Adam Parker Smith’s first solo show in New York, Bold as Love, opens tonight with a reception at the Priska C. Juschka Fine Art gallery. For this exhibition, Smith draws inspiration from an imagined scene in Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. The arrangement of 70 heads on pikes—some of which depict celebrities, others Smith’s friends and colleagues—interrogates the sensationalization of violence in today’s media and teases our addiction to it. Priska C. Juschka Fine Art, 547 W. 27th St. 2nd Fl. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-244-4320, priskajuschkafineart.com; 6 to 8, free. (Benjamin Sutton)
Friday November 9
(Film)
Indian Auteur
The sexy historical drama Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love is one of less well-known films being screened during the IFC’s A Tribute to Mira Nair, the acclaimed director of Monsoon Wedding and this year’s hit The Namesake. Set in the 16th Century, Kama Sutra follows two best friends who grow up into opposite class situations, eventually turning against each other in a duel of seduction and deceit. Kama Sutra plays today through Sunday at noon, with other Nair films showing the following two weekends. IFC Center, 323 6th Ave. (at W. 3rd St.), 212-924-7771, www.ifccenter.com; noon, $8/$11. (Benjamin Sutton)
(FILM)
Horror Hype
The blowout performance of Saw IV at the box office last weekend proves audiences can still stomach the torture porn trend, but that doesn’t mean any boos and whistles will do. You won’t find a better opportunity to discern the dividing line between grotesque ingenuity and empty frights than at the After Dark Horrorfest. Self-proclaimed as “the largest film festival in the world,” Horrorfest is mostly a chance for direct-to-video releases to screen on 300-odd screens before falling to whims of the average video store drifter. Kudos to After Dark Films for including Mulberry Street, Jim Mickle’s clever send-up of NYC grime, which finds metropolitan dwellers turning into vicious rat people in a chaotic tale of survival. Various venues; Nov. 9-18; www.horrorfestonline.com. (Eric Kohn)
Saturday, November 10
(SHOPPING)
Artsy Flea Market
Support one of New York’s last artist housing communities at the Westbeth Artists Housing’s beautification committee’s annual flea market and yard sale. Every year the artists living in the community purge their closets and apartments, getting rid of unwanted treasures that can now be yours. Handmade sweaters, original art, designer clothing and much more is available at rock bottom prices. Runs through Monday. Westbeth Underground, 55 Bethune St., 212-691-1574; 11 am to 6 pm. (Carla Zanoni)
Sunday November 11
(EVENT)
Uncool Crisco Kids
Remember all those dorky games you played in the basement with friends and family? Now you can do them in the Lower East Side and feel hella-cool. But really we know Disco Crisco Twister is just an excuse to squeal like a dork. Arlene’s Grocery, 95 Stanton St. (betw. Allen & Ludlow Sts.), 7, $5/$8. (RSVP at going.com/discocriscotwister) (Molly Garcia)
(WALKING TOUR)
Walk Into the Sunset
Need to brush up on your neighborhood knowledge? Become an expert on a beautiful Brooklyn area by taking the Municipal Arts Society of New York’s Sunset Park Walking Tour. Focusing on the eponymous park in the nabe, the city’s largest nationally-registered Historic District and its third largest Chinatown, urban historian and local activist Joe Svehlak will get you up to speed on the area’s past, present and future. Group meets at 10:30am at the N.E. corner of 43rd St. & 4th Ave. in Manhattan. Municipal Art Society of New York, 212-935-3960, mas.org; $12/$15. (Benjamin Sutton)
Monday November 12
(PARTY)
Biteable
The Green Movement is all about being sexy, so forget the crunchy pas at the Garden of Hedonism party that promises a celebrity solar-powered mechanical bull riding contest. Yes, we’re not making this up. So look for Kevin Connolly, Jennifer Coolidge, John Ventimiglia and others riding bareback. Johnny Utah’s, 25 W. 51st St. (betw. 5th & 6th Aves.), 212-265-8824; 6-9. (Molly Garcia)
(PERFORMANCE)
Something Special
PERFORMA 07, the second visual art performance biennial, seeks to address new issues in art by looking to past traditions. Sanford Biggers’ The Somethin’ Suite is a nod to the old negro variety shows, highlighting the problematic racist attitudes and the paradoxical talent that lies therein, which superimposes spoken word poetry and song to spin the past 60 years of popular American music on the traditional minstrel show. The Box, 189 Christie St. (betw. Rivington & Stanton Sts.),212-982-9301; 10, $25. (Nida Najar)
Tuesday, November 13
(ART)
Bridging Between Bridges
You don’t know about the new bridge in Dumbo that runs between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges? The first public artwork in the Dumbo Arts Center’s Outer Space program is an installation by Osman Akan. Dubbed The Third Bridge, Akan’s luminous work is a meditation on the various social functions of bridges; as connections between once distant peoples, metaphors for social mobility, markers of natural borders, testaments to humanity’s inventiveness and countless other social and natural phenomena. On display until January 14, make sure to see it by night, at its most dramatic. Brooklyn Bridge Park, at Walter & Dock Sts., B’klyn, 718-694-0831, dumboartscenter.org; 8am to 8pm, free. (Benjamin Sutton)
(EVENT)
Big Girls’ Toys
Babeland hosts a wine and cocktail hour honoring a bunch of sex toys that a wise and discerning public have deemed their favorite means to a happy end during A Toast of Thanks to Our Favorite Toys. A breakdown of the virtues of the store’s best-selling sex toys aptly accompanies free booze and other activities.
Just for fun, see how you measure up to other New Yorkers in terms of sex smarts with their sex trivia test. As an added bonus, they give away a prize bag with $75 worth of sex toys to one lucky prize winner. Babeland, Rivington St. (near Ludlow), 212-375-1701; 7:30, free. (Nida Najar)
Wednesday, November 14
(Dance)
Sassy Ballet
Complexions Contemporary Ballet returns to the Joyce Theater for a two-week run. Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s company, celebrated for its electrifying physicality, passion and virtuosity over the years, unveils two different programs and works by Rhoden and guest choreographers William Forsythe, Rennie Harris, Nicolo Fonte and Uri Sands. Highlights include the new “Peace Project,” consisting of dances by company members as well as new duet by Rhoden for Desmond Richardson and Carmen De Lavallade. Tonight’s show features a revival of “Pretty Gritty Suite,” Rhoden’s 2004 tribute to Nina Simone. Runs through Nov. 25. The Joyce Theater, 175 8th Ave. (at 19th St.), 212-242-0800, www.joyce.org; 7:30 , $44. (Carla Zanoni)
(READING)
Global City
Want to get a mini-MFA experience? Three Global City Review contributors, Linsey Abrams, Fred Tuten, and Michelle Yasmine Valladares, read from new work. Abrams is the Director of the MFA Creative Writing program at City College and the author of Our History in New York and Charting by the Stars. Tuten is the author of five novels including The Green Hour, which is his most recent book. He teaches at both City College and The New School. Valladares teaches at City College and has published a collection of poetry called Nortada, the North Wind. McNally Robinson Booksellers 52 Prince St. (at Mulberry St.), 212-274-1160; 7, free. (Nida Najar)
