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This Week: Must-See Arts in the City

The art of the nude at the Met, early digital works at the Museum of the Moving Image, paintings from a secret chapel go on view at St. Peter's in Manhattan, and painters and performance artists all around Chelsea. It's an intriguing week in New York. Here's what we're looking at:

Naked Before the Camera at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Drawing from its permanent collection holdings, the Met has put together an exhibit of more than 60 images that examines the role of the nude in photography, dating back to early experiments in the mid-19th century. This includes images that show the nude as object of desire, as anatomical study, as exotic other and as a template for which to experiment with surrealism (hello, distortion!). Expect works by the likes of Brassaï, Irving Penn, André Kertész, Larry Clark and Hannah Wilke — among many others. Through September 9, on the Upper East Side.

JODI: Street Digital at the Museum of the Moving Image Since the 1990s, the collective known as JODI (the artists Joan Heemskirk and Dirk Paesmans) have been playing with the architecture of the internet to make art. They’ve modified video games, created smartphone apps and drawn on LED screens, but they are best known for crafting wild, blinking internet sites that take elements of the web (clicking, abstract shapes, code) and turn them into hallucinatory, nonsensical abstractions. (You can get a taste of this on their web site, jodi.org.) The Museum of the Moving Image is now putting together more than a decade's worth of the group’s work, the first significant exhibit JODI has had in New York in almost 10 years. This is a good opportunity to get your cyberpunk on. Opens Saturday, in Astoria.

Dean Radinovsky, The Paintings of Chapel Americana, at St. Peter’s Church. Back in 2010, my colleague Jennifer Hsu and I paid a visit to a small, brilliantly-lit chapel created by artist Dean Radinovksy inside a condemned building just off the West Side Highway in Midtown. The walls of the structure (long since razed) were covered in luminous abstract paintings, which Radinovsky will be displaying at St. Peter’s Church. Chapel Americana may be gone, but its paintings live on. Opens on Wednesday, in Midtown.

Through a Glass Darkly, Oasa DuVerney, Julia Kul, Jayson Musson, at Postmasters Gallery In a mixed bag of a spring show, three artists will be displaying recent works that explore ideas of gender, identity and race in video and performance. The works range from the heartwreching (Oasa DuVerney has a video in which her son reenacts the fatal accident that sparked the Crown Heights Riots) to the hilarious (internet satirist Jayson Musson's faux instructional video ‘How to be a Successful Black Artist’). Opens Saturday, at 6 P.M.

Ron Gorchov at Cheim & Read Since the 1960s, Gorchov has been taking elements of sculpture and abstract minimalist painting and fusing them into singular combinations: namely, curved frames covered in linen or canvas that, in their shape, resemble horse saddles. These, he smears with enigmatic mirror images of paint, creating pieces that are as much about depth as they are about color -- all of it totally Rorschachian. Opens Thursday at 6 P.M., in Chelsea.

The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is doing the first major show in almost 10 years devoted to the digital duo known as JODI -- known for making works such as 'LED Puzzled,' above.
The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria is doing the first major show in almost 10 years devoted to the digital duo known as JODI -- known for making works such as 'LED Puzzled,' above. (Courtesy of JODI)
JODI is known for modifying video games and creating internet-based works that consist of hacks. Seen here: 'Geo Goo,' a 2012, made with Google Maps.
JODI is known for modifying video games and creating internet-based works that consist of hacks. Seen here: 'Geo Goo,' a 2012, made with Google Maps. (Courtesy of JODI)
Artist Dean Radinovsky spent years building a secret structure, titled 'Chapel Americana,' in a condemned building near the West Side Highway.
Artist Dean Radinovsky spent years building a secret structure, titled 'Chapel Americana,' in a condemned building near the West Side Highway. (Carolina A. Miranda)
Now Radinovsky will be displaying the paintings from inside his chapel at St. Peter's Church in Manhattan. That's the artist above, installing the work.
Now Radinovsky will be displaying the paintings from inside his chapel at St. Peter's Church in Manhattan. That's the artist above, installing the work. (Courtesy of Dean Radinovsky)
Though the chapel was demolished, Radinvosky's paintings remain. Here is a view of one wall.
Though the chapel was demolished, Radinvosky's paintings remain. Here is a view of one wall. (Courtesy of Dean Radinvosky)
Postmasters in Chelsea is kicking off spring with a group show that includes this video work by Oasa DuVerney, which restages the accident that sparked the Crown Heights Riots.
Postmasters in Chelsea is kicking off spring with a group show that includes this video work by Oasa DuVerney, which restages the accident that sparked the Crown Heights Riots. (Courtesy of the artist and Postmasters)
The Postmasters show will also feature video work by the so-called Hennessy Youngman (alter-ego of Jayson Musson), discussing how to be a successful black artist.
The Postmasters show will also feature video work by the so-called Hennessy Youngman (alter-ego of Jayson Musson), discussing how to be a successful black artist.

The video is hilariously insightful. Get the YouTube version here.

(Courtesy of the artist and Postmasters)
Ron Gorchov's unusual paintings -- on canvas stretched over bent rods, resembling a horse saddle -- go on view at Cheim & Read this week.
Ron Gorchov's unusual paintings -- on canvas stretched over bent rods, resembling a horse saddle -- go on view at Cheim & Read this week. (Courtesy of the artist and Cheim & Read)
Gorchov has been a presence since the 1960s, toying with boundaries between painting and sculpture. 'Erato,' a work from 2012, is shown above.
Gorchov has been a presence since the 1960s, toying with boundaries between painting and sculpture. 'Erato,' a work from 2012, is shown above. (Courtesy of the artist and Cheim & Read)
The Met's nudes exhibit looks at the way nudes have been employed in photography since the early days of the medium. One of Irving Penn's twisty nudes, from 1957, is shown above.
The Met's nudes exhibit looks at the way nudes have been employed in photography since the early days of the medium. One of Irving Penn's twisty nudes, from 1957, is shown above. (Copyright Irving Penn. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Also included in the Met show will be works by Brassaï -- including this 1931-34 image of a reclining woman.
Also included in the Met show will be works by Brassaï -- including this 1931-34 image of a reclining woman. (Copyright the Estate of Brassaï. Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
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