Contents for October 13th, 2025
CONTENTS (please click on the links or scroll down for complete information on each post):
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Weekly Spotlight: Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese (LigoranoReese), FF Alumns, present “DemocracyICED”, ice sculpture installation at National Mall, Oct. 15
Clemente Padín, FF Alumn, In Memoriam
1. Nima Nikakhlagh, FF Alumn, at Grace Exhibition Space, Manhattan, Nov. 7
2. Cassils, FF Alumn, at The 8th Floor, Manhattan, Oct. 23
3. Micki Spiller, FF Alumn, at The Greek Cultural Center, Astoria, NY, Oct. 24-Nov. 9
4. John Kelly, FF Alumn, Autumn news
5. Modesto Flako Jimenez, FF Alumn, receives Joan D. Firestone Award 2025
6. Asia Stewart, FF Alumn, at GMTC, Manhattan, Oct. 17
7. Nancy Azara, FF Member, online with Zoom, Oct. 19
8. Paula Felix-Didier, FF Member, receives Jean Mitry Prize, Pordenone Silent Film Festival
9. Ann Messner, FF Alumn, at Monira Foundation Cinema, Jersey City, NY, Oct. 19
10. Marina Abramović, FF Alumn, at Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria, thru Mar. 1, 2026
11. Robert Rauschenberg, FF Alumn, now online at NYTimes.com
12. Barbara Rosenthal, FF Alumn, new publication
13. Ida Applebroog, FF Alumn, now online at Artforum.com
14. Elaine Angelopoulos, FF Alumn, at Gowanus Open Studios, Brooklyn, Oct. 18-19 and more
15. Doug Beube, FF Alumn, at Monira Foundation & Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, opening Oct. 19
16. Marina Abramović, FF Alumn, now online at NYTimes.com
17. Keith J. Varadi, FF Member, at Gene’s Dispensary, Los Angeles, CA, thru Nov. 15
18. Bob & Bob, FF Alumns, now online at ArtReportToday.com
19. Judith Bernstein, Claes Oldenburg, Walter Robinson, Mira Schor, Mimi Smith, FF Alumns, at Lyles & King, Manhattan, thru Nov. 8
20. Isabella Bannerman, FF Alumn, at Property Is Theft Bookstore, Brooklyn, Nov. 12
October 17, 18
21. Josely Carvalho, Paul Zelevansky, FF Alumns, Open Studios at 315 W. 39 ST., NYC, October 17, 18
22. Marina Abramović, FF Alumn, at Factory International, Manchester, UK, thru Oct. 19
23. Betty Beaumont, FF Alumn, now online at https://www.bettybeaumont.com/forbidden-books
24. Paul Zelevansky, FF Alumn, now online at https://vimeo.com/1124515607
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Weekly Spotlight: Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese (LigoranoReese), FF Alumns, present “DemocracyICED”, ice sculpture installation at National Mall, Oct. 15
Please visit this link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/800703596186018
Thank you.
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Clemente Padín, FF Alumn, In Memoriam
It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Clemente Padín, renowned poet, experimental artist, graphic designer, and figurehead of Latin American mail art, but more importantly, beloved husband, father, and grandfather.
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1. Nima Nikakhlagh, FF Alumn, at Grace Exhibition Space, Manhattan, Nov. 7
Nima Nikakhlagh will present a new performance piece, Opening (the Wall), on Friday, November 7th at Grace Exhibition Space, as part of the International Performance Art Fall 2025 Season.
Opening (the Wall) is a durational performance that uses text as a central element to explore the dynamic space between artists and spectators, defining their relationship through contemporary artistic experiences. The work evokes themes of boundaries, separation, and the barriers that inhibit communication and connection—offering a moment for the audience to break free from traditional roles and potentially confront their own internal “walls” of expectation. Participants, as active creators of the experience, are invited to open the wall—physically, mentally, or emotionally—dismantling discomfort and challenging both social and personal norms.You are the ones ‘opening’ the experience.
OPENING (THE WALL)
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2025
DOORS AT 6:30 PM
GRACE EXHIBITION SPACE
182 Avenue C (between 11th & 12th Streets)
New York, NY 10009
GES: https://graceexhibitionspace.org/
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2. Cassils, FF Alumn, at The 8th Floor, Manhattan, Oct. 23
Thursday, October 23rd | 6-8PM
Our Friends to the North:
Denise Markonish in Conversation with Sameer Farooq and Cassils
details and rsvp here: https://www.the8thfloor.org/newevents/2025/10/23/denise-markonish-in-conversation-with-sameer-farooq-and-cassils
Denise Markonish, Chief Curator at Madison Square Park NYC in conversation with NYC-based Canadian artist Cassils, and Toronto-based artist Sameer Farooq. Together, they will reflect on their practices, experiences as artists in the diaspora, and the current political climate between America and Canada.
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3. Micki Spiller, FF Alumn, at The Greek Cultural Center, Astoria, NY, Oct. 24-Nov. 9
Khali Sykes as Mary Shelley
Hannah Adrian as Percy Bysshe Shelley (and more!)
Written by Haley Schwartz
Directed by Jack Dryden
Production Stage Manager Maysie Ocera
Sets and Costume Design by Micki Spiller
Lighting Design by Reagan Tankersley
Sound Design by Nic Neves
Produced by Kasey O’Brien
DEAD THINGS is a contemporary retelling of the early life of Mary Shelley, author of FRANKENSTEIN. It’s basically about a really smart, really cool lady, who wants a bright and beautiful and wild life, but she’s really conscious of this one thing that’s just beneath the surface, ready to strike at any time.The play explores love, death, queerness, possession, and what it means to be a writer. DEAD THINGS asks, how do we love despite the omnipresence of death?
This play is the perfect example of what we believe in at the Garret. It’s smart, it’s funny, it moves fast, and it’s after something otherworldly. Haley Schwartz has written something brave and profound, and I’m so excited to share it with it’s FIRST EVER audience. Will you be lucky enough to be there?!
Garrett Theater is at the Greek Cultural Center 26-80 30th Street #2BA Near corner of 30th St & Newtown Ave Astoria, NY 11102
Or PLEASE write us an email GARRETTHEATRE@GMAIL.COM
Speaking of…CHECK OUT OUR SPOOKY STORY CONTEST FROM INSTAGRAM. JUST A FEW MORE DAYS TO ENTER https://www.instagram.com/p/DPMA7n4jqUr/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
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4. John Kelly, FF Alumn, Autumn news
Dear Friends,
Greetings from Boston, where I’m currently an Artist-In-Residence (https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/contemporary-art/artists) at the ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM for the month of October. While here, I have unfettered access to this incredible and unique collection, and am meeting with the archivists, restorers, and curators that maintain the legacy of the visionary Mrs. Gardner.
Our WEBSITE has been completely redesigned, and has gone public (aside from some fine-tuning). It’s a fairly comprehensive archive of over 40 years of creative work, which will continue to be fleshed-out and updated. You can check it out HERE (https://www.johnkellyperformance.org/).
SAVE THE DATE! I am scheduled for a solo exhibition at P·P·O·W Gallery (https://www.ppowgallery.com/) , opening on January 9th and running through February 21st. I will be exhibiting my graphic memoir A FRIEND GAVE ME A BOOK. This 340 page hand-illustrated epic will finally receive the public viewing that I feel it deserves, and in a gallery that had it’s roots in the East Village. Once I’m back from Boston I will get to work on a 30″ x 30″ oil on linen painting that will be hung in the window of the gallery’s street level entrance on Broadway, just below Canal Street.
PSYHKO III THE MUSICAL – 40th Anniversary Reunion – OCTOBER 28th, at THE
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
Mark Oates’s musical satire of the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho premiered onstage at New York City’s legendary PYRAMID CLUB in December 1983, starring Oates and Downtown fixtures John Kelly, Stephen Tashjian (aka Tabboo!), and Mark Phredd (aka Hapi Phace). The 24-minute screen adaptation, Psykho III the Musical, made in 1985 by Oates and renowned video artist Tom Rubnitz, preserves a landmark of the influential Lower Manhattan queer theater scene of the period. For this unique celebratory event, the original cast will join Oates’s wife Anne McInnis and composer Chal Pivik on a panel moderated by writer-performer Kestutis
Nakas. TICKETS (https://www.moma.org/calendar/film/5852)
This past summer I spent 5 productive weeks in residency at YADDO, in Saratoga Springs, NY, together with a group of fantastic artists, writers, composers, and filmmakers. I completed 8 oil on linen covered panels, imagery that is related to my soon to be exhibited graphic memoir.
Please stay well in these challenging times.
I remain yours,
~ John
DONATE (https://fundraising.fracturedatlas.org/john-kelly-performance)
Donations to John Kelly Performance made through Fractured Atlas are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. Follow the link to make a secure online donation or get information on how to donate by check.
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5. Modesto Flako Jimenez, FF Alumn, receives Joan D. Firestone Award 2025
Step Inside the Creative Process:
The Fourth Annual
Joan D. Firestone Award Ceremony
Every year, the Joan D. Firestone Award lifts up one of the country’s most innovative artists with an unrestricted $18,000 grant to ignite the next stage of their journey. This year, we celebrate past and present recipients with an unforgettable evening of performance and conversation.
First, experience a special sneak peek of Tokitae, the visionary new work by 2024 JDFA recipient Taibi Magar (OBIE, Is God Is), created in collaboration with the Lummi Nation and featuring puppetry by Amanda Villalobos.
Following the performance, we are pleased to announce Modesto Flako Jimenez as the 2025 Joan D. Firestone Awardee, who will spend a few minutes telling us about the next iteration of Taxilandia: Fort Greene, Bed-Stuy, and East New York.
Then, pull up a seat for a rare artist-to-artist conversation: Tony Award–winning playwright David Henry Hwang will lead a dialogue between Taibi and Modesto Flako Jimenez and past JDFA recipient Irina Kruzhilina.
These are some of the theatre’s most dynamic and socially resonant artists. The conversation will spotlight Flako’s community-driven work guiding audiences through Brooklyn in a custom taxi, Irina’s wildly inventive theater-making with 19 teenagers, and Taibi’s daring exploration of a language-free whale puppet show.
Not simply a ceremony, this is an invitation into the universe of the artists daring to create what’s next.
The evening will conclude with a few words from our most beloved friend and supporter Joan D. Firestone!
Event Details
Wednesday, October 22 at 7PM
St Michael’s Church
225 w.99th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam
In the spirit of Joan’s legacy of generosity, tickets are pay-what-you-can, ensuring that everyone is welcomed into our circle of community and art.
“Please join us so you can meet these incredible artists, and share in a conversation about their process”
— Anne Hamburger
for ticket reservations: https://ci.ovationtix.com/34637/production/1254632?entryTime=27781&performanceId=11707848
This evening, and the Joan D. Firestone Award itself, is made possible by the generosity of our community of supporters.
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6. Asia Stewart, FF Alumn, at GMTC, Manhattan, Oct. 17
I’d love to see you next Friday, October 17th at gmtc https://gmtc.nyc/ a new performance lab in Chinatown.
Critic, essayist & editor Jenny Wu invited me to present a work-in-progress in the space while the writer Ho Won Kim responds to my work. I decided to use this as an opportunity to learn how to make & breakdown homemade soap.
leach
Friday, October 17th, 4:30pm – 7:30pm***
210 Canal Street, Room 310 New York, NY 10013
***Durational, come & go as you wish
FREE! RSVP
As audiences enter the space, they encounter a performer standing beside a leaky sink. Her arms, bound by rings of cedarwood soap, are chained to the walls. Witnesses are invited to wash their hands with the soap. Through repeated, collective handwashing, the soap will dissolve and release the performer from her restraints.
stop by after work or before you kick off your weekend!
x Asia
Asia Stewart
she/her
Performance Artist
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7. Nancy Azara, FF Member, online with Zoom, Oct. 19
Workshop by Fanny & Emily in honor of Nancy Azara
Sunday, October 19, 2025
12-3pm (Online Zoom)
$40
The spiral is the journey inward and outward — the dance between what we have been and what we are becoming.
~ Lynn Andrews
Using art making and meditation, we will explore the idea of the spiral as related to our view of ourselves. Participants will make collages and drawings using various materials such as watercolor, pencil, crayon, etc. Open to all.
To reserve a place, register with Viewcy, call or email Emily at 347-609-2207, emily.mharris@gmail.com
In conjunction with “Crossing Over”, an exhibition and memorial for Nancy Azara at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, Woodstock, NY. Nancy Azara was a sculptor who worked in wood and whose scroll rubbings and tracings were collaged on mylar and paper. Azara exhibited her work extensively and was the author of Spirit Taking Form: Making a Spiritual Practice of Making Art, Red Wheel/Weiser and the subject of the monograph VOTIVES: Sculptures: Nancy Azara (2022). www.nancyazara.com
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8. Paula Felix-Didier, FF Member, receives Jean Mitry Prize, Pordenone Silent Film Festival
Now I can tell it but I still can’t believe it. I was given the Jean Mitry Prize in Le Giornate del Muto di Pordenone. It’s an honour that fills me with pride, excitement and a sense of absolute surreal.
This award, which recognizes exceptional contribution to the study and valuation of silent cinema, is named after one of the great theorists of cinema. To be on that bucket list now alongside figures I’ve admired all my life.. it’s surreal.
It’s also beautiful to receive it together with Vivomatografías magazine and its editors Andrea Cuarterolo and Georgina Torello, colleagues whom I admire deeply. Her work, her dedication and her passion for preserving and spreading cinematic heritage is a constant inspiration.
For those who don’t know them, Cinema Muto’s Le Giornate is THE world’s reference festival of silent cinema. Every year, in Pordenone, Italy, researchers, archivists, cinephiles and professionals meet to celebrate and study the origins of the seventh art.
This recognition is not mine alone. It is from the entire team of the Museum, whose tireless work, commitment and professionalism make everything we do possible. My pride for them is total and absolute.
For me, this award reinforces my commitment to preserving cinematic heritage, to the ethics in our archival work, and to the passion that must guide every step in this beautiful work of keeping the memory of cinema alive.
Thanks to Le Giornate, thanks to the jury, thanks to my team, thanks to those who believe in the importance of preserving our cinematic history. This is just the beginning of a renewed commitment.
Paula
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9. Ann Messner, FF Alumn, at Monira Foundation Cinema, Jersey City, NY, Oct. 19
Messner ‘subway stories and other shorts’ my short super 8 films from the 1970’s will be screening at the Monira Foundation Cinema Sunday October 19, at 1 and 4pm. MANA Contemporary, 888 Newark Ave, Jersey City. A short walk from the PATH train Journal Square Station (takes about 30 minutes total from the WTC).
“‘subway stories and other shorts’ brings together the digitized Super 8 documentation of Ann Messner’s renowned guerrilla performances from the 1970s, shot in the New York City subway system and other public thoroughfares. In the cramped container of the subway carriage Messner tested the pliability of the social contract and found “a universe of concentrated collective imagination, with untapped potential.””
There are two screenings 1-2 and 4-5 (listed on the Monira Foundation events page, links are below). Please note the event is FREE:
https://monirafoundation.org/event/subway-stories-and-other-shorts-1978-9-by-ann-messner/
https://monirafoundation.org/event/subway-stories-and-other-shorts-1978-9-by-ann-messner-2/
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10. Marina Abramović, FF Alumn, at Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria, thru Mar. 1, 2026
Marina Abramović
Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria
October 10, 2025 – March 1, 2026
Sean Kelly is delighted to announce Marina Abramović , a major retrospective at the Albertina Modern in Vienna, Austria, on view from October 10, 2025 – March 1, 2026. The exhibition places Abramović’s oeuvre within a historical and conceptual framework that highlights the consistency of her artistic concerns. Central to this presentation is the reenactment of pivotal historical performances, staged daily within the galleries, which render tangible themes that have defined her work since the beginning, including body limits, energy from natural materials, enlightenment, and audience participation.
Over the course of more than half a century, Abramović has expanded the parameters of performance, transforming it from a marginal, ephemeral practice into one of the most vital and enduring forms of visual arts. In her early works such as the Rhythm series, Abramović’s exploration of endurance and passivity opened performance to dimensions of empathy and complicity, wherein the audience assumed a participatory role in the unfolding of the work, dissolving the boundary between observer and participant.
Her collaboration with the German artist Ulay (1943–2020), yielded a body of performances that interrogated duality, confrontation, and intimacy. Their partnership produced a series of iconic works in which personal vulnerability and mutual trust became the ground for broader reflections on human relationships, power, and the politics of presence. When their collaboration ended in 1988, Abramović’s practice shifted toward solo performance, deepening her engagement with audience interaction and introducing participatory sculptural objects known as Transitory Objects for Human Use, expanding her investigation into ritual, spirituality, and the transference of energy between bodies and materials.
Among the seminal performances of this later period is Balkan Baroque, presented at the 1997 Venice Biennale, in which Abramović confronted the traumas of her native region through a visceral tableau of endurance, memory, and mourning. Equally emblematic are The House with The Ocean View (2002, Sean Kelly Gallery) and The Artist Is Present (2010, Museum of Modern Art, New York), a durational work in which Abramović invited museum visitors to sit across from her in silence for eight hours a day over three months, transforming the museum into a site of profound collective encounter. Together with her more recent installation Four Crosses (2019), these works articulate Abramović’s enduring interest in performance as a medium of transformation, both personal and communal, where the intersections of physical and spiritual boundaries serve as the focal point for artistic revelation.
Vienna constitutes a resonant site for this retrospective. Abramović first exhibited in the city in 1978 at the International Performance Festival, situating her within the radical lineage of Viennese Actionism, a movement that foregrounded the body as a site of material and symbolic transformation. This exhibition represents the most comprehensive showcase of Abramović’s work in Austria to date, highlighting the historical context of her career and affirming her pivotal role in the continuing discourse surrounding performance art as a significant medium of contemporary artistic practice.
For all other inquiries, please email Lauren Kelly at Lauren@skny.com
For more information about this exhibition, please visit www.albertina.at
For information on Marina Abramović, please visit skny.com
For media inquiries, please email Adair Lentini at Adair@skny.com
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11. Robert Rauschenberg, FF Alumn, now online at NYTimes.com
Please visit this link:
Thank you.
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12. Barbara Rosenthal, FF Alumn, new publication
Barbara Rosenthal, FF Alumn, new book JUST PUBLISHED in PAPERBACK! “Existential Cartoons,” in Russian and English, the catalog of my 2007 solo show at the L-Gallery in Moscow. imprint: Homo Futurus Editions. Your independent bookstore or Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Existential-Cartoons-Barbara-Rosenthal/dp/B0FRZQ4S8Z/ref=sr_1_1?crid=18TYCATQORJ07&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.VQAWGsiTi0tNGqPJCjG38w.FFjpP00vqVosbHFVUHY1fRWQL4_5QgYn5gRaUXbp5q4&dib_tag=se&keywords=%22Existential+Cartoons%22+barbara+rosenthal&qid=1760035236&sprefix=existential+cartoons+barbara+rosenthal%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1
((Boy oh boy am I glad I went to Russia and China in those years ago when such artist exchanges were easy!))
“Existential Cartoons” is still available as hand-printed inkjet saddle stitched at Printed Matter, too: https://www.printedmatter.org/catalog/37710/
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13. Ida Applebroog, FF Alumn, now online at Artforum.com
Please visit this link:
https://www.artforum.com/events/ida-applebroog-ronald-feldman-review-1234735548
Thank you.
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14. Elaine Angelopoulos, FF Alumn, at Gowanus Open Studios, Brooklyn, Oct. 18-19 and more
Two venues will feature “Matthew Shepard Candlelight Vigil in NYC 10/19/98”
Gowanus Open Studios
Saturday October 18th and Sunday October 19th
From 12:00 noon – 6:00 pm
&
“Performance, Activist, and Existential Photographs”
Group Exhibition
Ronald Feldman Gallery
September 2nd – November 20th
Thank you.
Elaine Angelopoulos
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15. Doug Beube, FF Alumn, at Monira Foundation & Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ, opening Oct. 19
OPEN BOOK (altered)
Oct 19, 2025 – Jan 31, 2026
Curators, Ysabel Pinyol Blasi and Kele McComsey.
OPENING: Sunday, October 19th, 12-6 PM
Monira Foundation & Mana Contemporary
888 Newark Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07306
Books disseminate ideas to some of the largest audiences in the world, empowering makers of all disciplines to share ideas and give strength to communities far and wide. Through the Open Book program, the exhibition highlights makers from around the world to present unique works and ideas. Open Book (altered) focuses on highlighting artist book makers who utilize the book to bring ideas to life through traditional and non-traditional book forms, as well as artists whose work can be viewed through the approach of an open book and displayed using different media and formats.
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16. Marina Abramović, FF Alumn, now online at NYTimes.com
Please visit this link:
Thank you.
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17. Keith J. Varadi, FF Member, at Gene’s Dispensary, Los Angeles, CA, thru Nov. 15
Grand Buffet
Joshua Abelow
Jesse Benson
Bjorn Copeland
Michael Kennedy Costa
Juliana Halpert
Merideth Hillbrand
Sophia Le Fraga
David Muenzer
LeRoy Stevens
October 11th to November 15th, 2025
Opening Saturday, October 11th
8 pm
After having my gallery located on the edge of MacArthur Park — perhaps the most disregarded area in all of Los Angeles — for about a year and a half, I came to understand the depth and the breadth of the unrequited love that many Angelenos have with this city. I then came to realize that this is somewhat emblematic of the unrequited love that many Americans have with this country as a whole. What is happening within Los Angeles County is not the same as the nationalism or patriotism exhibited in other parts of the United States, of course, as the people I have been interacting with or walking past were not aggressive or exclusionary or xenophobic; nor are most of the people I interact with or walk past elsewhere. Most people I engage with simply want to know that they and the rest of us from West Covina to West Hollywood will be taken care of in the most basic of ways — housing, healthcare, food, etc. Why are city officials more focused on preparing for the Olympics and building new shopping centers than figuring out new solutions for traffic patterns and providing more widespread and better promoted harm reduction services?
That was both a snarky rhetorical question and a legitimately sincere question. I know why the local government does what it does — it is greedy and corrupt, like all forms of government. But also, why does it have to be that way? Why can’t people ever choose love and empathy over money and more money?
Community has always and always will be such a major focal point of Gene’s Dispensary and its expansive and varied programming. From day one, I have involved people and practices I have cared deeply about for many years. From day one, I have organized exhibitions and events elsewhere with people I greatly admire at places I greatly admire. From day one, I have been determined to stay rooted in my community, while also growing my community.
This exhibition is the first exhibition at the new Gene’s location in Chinatown: 422 Ord Street, 2B, Los Angeles, CA 90012. It’s above Leroy’s and next to The Fulcrum. These two spaces are operated by two of my best friends and favorite people, Ian James and Josh Schaedel. I am further integrating myself and my gallery into my community (like, I mean, officially).
This exhibition also includes nine of my favorite artists and people: Joshua Abelow, Jesse Benson, Bjorn Copeland, Michael Kennedy Costa, Juliana Halpert, Merideth Hillbrand, Sophia Le Fraga, David Muenzer, and LeRoy Stevens. I have previously worked with each of these artists in some capacity, some more extensively and/or intensely than others, but they are all now officially a part of the Gene’s extended family.
Take a look around. Have a little bit of this, have a little bit of that. Chin-chin!!
⁃ Keith J. Varadi, October 2025
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18. Bob & Bob, FF Alumns, now online at ArtReportToday.com
OUT TODAY!
PART ll of Art Report Today’s DEEP DIVE in to BOB & BOB!
Birth of an Art World Duo at the Dawn of Performance Art – Part ll
For those who missed PART l, Click HERE
Thank you.
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19. Judith Bernstein, Claes Oldenburg, Walter Robinson, Mira Schor, Mimi Smith, FF Alumns, at Lyles & King, Manhattan, thru Nov. 8
10th Anniversary Exhibition
October 9 – November 8
Opening Reception: Thursday, October 9, 6-8pm
Lynsey Addario, Paola Angelini, Farley Aguilar, Ophelia Arc, Carmen Argote, Judith Bernstein, Akea Brionne, Zoë Buckman, Chris Dorland, Liana Finck, Alessandro Fogo, Fernanda Galvão, Aaron Gilbert, Aneta Grzeszykowska, MacGregor Harp, Chris Hood, Katayoun Hosseinrad, Hortensia Mi Kafchin, Xie Lie, Rosa Loy, Erica Mahinay, Jessie Makinson, Sarah Miska, Danny Moynihan, Claes Oldenburg, Cato Ouyang, David Pagliarulo, Ren Light Pan, Regina Parra, Walter Robinson, Adrianne Rubenstein, Kathy Ruttenberg, Yves Scherer, Mira Schor, Mimi Smith, Jo-ey Tang & Thomas Fougeirol, Lily Wong
I founded Lyles & King in 2015 with the belief that experiencing art in the flesh—body to object—could be transformative in an all-too-digital world.
My interest in art as experience grew out of my graduate studies in performance, actions, and phenomenology. This focus has shaped our program from the beginning and informed our approach to exhibitions as embodied encounters. Our exhibitions correspondingly foreground issues of identity, gender, and the vicissitudes of our lived subjectivity. We’ve championed under-recognized artists like Mira Schor, Rosa Loy, and Kathy Ruttenberg alongside voices like Cato Ouyang, Aneta Grzeszykowska, Chris Dorland and Akea Brionne, helping bring their work to wider audiences. I believe such work, rooted in the body while informed by history, challenges hegemonic ways of thinking, builds empathy, and expands our inner lives. At its best, it opens us up, breaks us down, and makes us feel alive.
Lyles & King is not just a space where art is installed. It’s a place where people come together. I chose to concentrate on gallery work for the immediacy and intimacy of it. I relish the ability to move quickly from idea to exhibition, and there is nothing quite like the privilege of witnessing the moment when people encounter an artist’s work for the first time. Over the last ten years, as our team and business have grown, we’ve shepherded shows and careers, and collectively built families, both new and chosen. Alongside Alexandra King, my wife, I now have the great joy of watching our two little daughters roam the gallery.
My father was a John Ruskin-quoting decorative painter. I grew up understanding that selling art wasn’t just a meaningless market transaction. Every sale is a way for an artist to make the work they need to make and live the life they want to live. Each artwork contains an aura of the maker and that energy alters a room and our lives.
This is our 113th exhibition.
Thank you for your support. Thank you for visiting.
-Isaac Lyles
Email gallery@lylesandking.com for more information
Lyles & King
19 Henry Street
New York, NY 10002
646-484-5478
Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 11am – 6pm
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20. Isabella Bannerman, FF Alumn, at Property Is Theft Bookstore, Brooklyn, Nov. 12
A book party for “Partisans – A Graphic History of Anti-Fascist Resistance” edited by Raymond Tyler and Paul Buhle with multi media presentations by Isabella Bannerman and others at PIT, 411 South 5th Street, Brooklyn, $10 suggested donation
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21. Josely Carvalho, Paul Zelevansky, FF Alumns, Open Studios at 315 W. 39 ST., NYC, October 17, 18
PLEASE VISIT THE OPEN STUDIOS
AT 315 W. 39 ST., NYC:
(THAT’S A LITTLE WEST OF EIGHTH AVE.)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 17TH, 4:00-9:00 PM
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, 3:00-6:00PM.
Josely Carvalho, Room 403
Paul Zelevansky, Room 807B
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22. Marina Abramović, FF Alumn, at Factory International, Manchester, UK, thru Oct. 19
Marina Abramović
Balkan Erotic Epic
Factory International, Manchester, United Kingdom
October 9 – 19, 2025
Sean Kelly is delighted to announce the world premiere of Marina Abramović’s Balkan Erotic Epic, a large-scale performance work that explores the eroticism, spirituality, and traditions of Balkan folklore at Factory International. Rooted in the artist’s Balkan heritage, Abramović merges elements of performative tradition with sensuality and eroticism, to reflect the artist’s ongoing exploration of the body and the limits of human experience.
Born in the Balkans and deeply influenced by its spiritual practices, Abramović revisits ancient mythologies and folklore related to the rituals of the region, rediscovering the past and presenting it in a new light. Featuring a cast of over 70 performers including, dancers, musicians and singers, the immersive activation unfolds across thirteen visceral scenes each drawing on rituals, legends and beliefs from the Balkan region.
Abramović states, “Balkan Erotic Epic is the most ambitious work in my career. This gives me a chance to go back to my Slavic roots and culture, look back to ancient rituals and deal with sexuality, in relation to the universe and the unanswered questions of our existence. Through this project I would like to show poetry, desperation, pain, hope, suffering, and reflect our own mortality.”
For more information about Marina Abramović Balkan Erotic Epic, please visit factoryinternational.org
For information on Marina Abramović, please visit skny.com
For all other inquiries, please email Lauren Kelly at Lauren@skny.com
For media inquiries, please email Adair Lentini at Adair@skny.com
Artist Talk: Marina Abramović
Saturday, October 11, 4pm
Factory International, Aviva Studios, Manchester, United Kingdom
Join Marina Abramović for an artist talk on the occasion of the world premiere of Balkan Erotic Epic. In this exclusive talk, hear Abramović reflect on her creative process and the personal and political forces behind the piece.
Register here: https://factoryinternational.org/whats-on/artist-talk-marina-abramovic/
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23. Betty Beaumont, FF Alumn, now online at https://www.bettybeaumont.com/forbidden-books
Banned Books Week was last week, but the fight against censorship is far from over.
23,000 books are banned thus far and more and more are being banned, and more and more varied books. Can you imagine the volume of information, of stories, of memoirs, of experiences that are being stolen from the shelves of school libraries!
This is not normal. We cannot allow it to be normalized.
It is important to read banned books, to purchase banned books, to love them, to defend them, and to share them. Because when we engage with the full spectrum of human philosophy and thought we exercise the highest form of civic experience that any of us can achieve and we all get to contribute to the foundation of our society. When we read and learn and listen and speak we remind the world that liberties cannot defend themselves. We must be active and we remind the world that free people read freely.
Take a commitment – all of us who care about reading, who care about young people, who care about education – to become as tenacious in our commitments to fight for this fundamental freedom for all of us if we are to defeat this scourge on American Democracy.
I have created a page on my website, www.bettybeaumont.com to advocate and share resources on organizations, events and news about book banning in America, intercut with images of my growing collection of banned books.
Please visit this link:
https://www.bettybeaumont.com/forbidden-books
Betty Beaumont has received numerous grants and awards including the Distinguished Alumni Award (University of California, Berkeley), the Pollock Krasner Foundation, the Gottlieb Foundation and Creative Capital grants, and National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts Fellowships. In addition to exhibitions in galleries in Europe, Japan, South Korea, South America, Africa, Egypt, Mexico, Cuba and the U.S., Beaumont has shown internationally at museums including the Centre Pompidou-Metz (France), National Museum of Modern Art (Tokyo and Kyoto), Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Egypt), Museum Het Nieuwe Domein (Netherlands), Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba José Marti (Havana), and in New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Queens Museum, Hudson River Museum, Katonah Museum, and MoMA PS1. Beaumont has held academic positions at the University of California at Berkeley, SUNY Purchase, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, New York University, and Columbia University. She has produced work in a variety of media including photography, sculpture, installations, public interventions, and new media.
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24. Paul Zelevansky, FF Alumn, now online at https://vimeo.com/1124515607
TO THE GREAT BLANKNESS
MAILING LIST:
PZ, October 5, 2025
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Goings On for Artists is compiled weekly by Rohan Subramaniam, Archive Intern, Summer/Fall/Winter 2024/2025
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