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This Week: Must-See Arts in the City

Two Italian designers face off at the Met, a group of artists take on the art market and a moody photographer shows his latest in Chelsea. Plus, forget about Bushwick ... this weekend, it's all about Queens -- as in Ridgewood, where the Queens Museum is holding a "historic art crawl." There's lots to do in the city this week and here's just a bit of what's cooking:

Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art The latest fashion extravaganza at the Met (check out WNYC’s slideshow from the red carpet on Monday night) pairs the work of two famous Italian designers, past and present: Elsa Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada. While the two were never contemporaries (Schiaparelli passed away in 1973), both figures represent fashion’s more experimental tendencies. Schiaparelli was known for employing slinky knits, unusual patterns and wild fabrics. She also spent a good deal of time partying with the surrealists. (It was Salvador Dalí who helped her design her infamous shoe hat, shown at left.) Prada is no slouch in the arts department herself (she supports contemporary artists through her own personal foundation) and she has a singular voice as a designer: employing unusual textures, ornamentation and patterns for a look that challenges traditional notions of beauty (a.k.a. “ugly chic”). The show’s concept is intriguing and some of the dresses are absolutely beguiling. It’s too bad the curators had to take this promising interplay between artists and bury it in an installation design that does everything possible to obscure the frocks on display. It is a wannabe Blade Runner environment of mirrors, dim rooms, shiny Lucite cases, wall-sized videos and back-lit monitors with bright, black-and-white images (some of which move). The fashion doesn't stand a chance. By all means go to the show — the designs are worth it. Just be sure to pack the Dramamine. Through August 9, on the Upper East Side.

Richteriana at Postmasters Gallery Featuring work by half a dozen artists, the latest group show at Postmasters explores the connection between art and the market: specifically the market of German painter and installationist Gerhard Richter, who was rated as a good investment by John Binstock, an art advisory guy at Citibank. (I’m not making this up. Reuters blogger Felix Salmon recently picked apart Binstock’s report, which stated that the artist “has recently emerged powerfully as the next great market force among the tradition of 20th century painters including Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol.”) While the show doesn’t seek to repudiate Richter as an artist, it does seek to ask the question of why certain objects are imbued with value — either social or monetary — while others are not. A good thought experiment. Opens on Saturday at 6 p.m., in Chelsea.

Ari Marcopoulos, Wherever you go, at Marlborough Chelsea Photographer and filmmaker Marcopolous takes simple images with a basic point-and-shoot camera and then manipulates them — either by photocopying, or other basic means — to make grainy over-sized prints that he then hangs on gallery walls. In his latest outing, the artist displays moody bits of graffiti, abstracted surfaces and encounters with friends and complete strangers. Opens on Thursday at 6 p.m., in Chelsea.

Cage Transmitted at 155 Freeman To celebrate composer John Cage’s centenary, the Bushwick non-profit Norte Maar has been staging a series of events in his honor. The latest goes down at the Brooklyn space belonging to the literary mag Triple Canopy and will consist of a performance by Robert Whitman followed by a screening of rare video showing Cage reading Marcel Duchamp, James Joyce, Erik Satie: An Alphabet. Doors open on Thursday at 7 p.m. Performance is at 7:30 p.m., in Greenpoint.

Storm King re-opens for the season Spring is upon us (if this cottony layer of clouds ever goes away) and the Storm King sculpture center is re-opening, with a new installation of pieces that explore elements of light and landscape. Expect works by figures such as Anish Kapoor, Donald Judd and Olafur Eliasson (he of the giant East River waterfalls). On Saturday, in the Hudson Valley.

Actually, It's Ridgewood. Historic Art Crawl A whole host of galleries that are regularly touted as being located in Bushwick are actually in Ridgewood, the Queens community that harbors tasty pignoli cookies and inspired Ecuadorean sandwiches. To draw attention to this geographic dislocation, the Queens Museum of Art has organized a gallery crawl of all the spaces on the Queens side of the Bushwick border — which kicks off this Saturday afternoon at the historic Vander Ende-Onderdonk House. The grounds that surround this colonial Dutch farmhouse (set in the middle of an industrial area) have been turned into a sculpture park. The art party continues to various other spaces from there … Follow along via the Twitter hashtag #repQueens. On Saturday, starting at 3 p.m.

A group of artists get together at Postmasters in Chelsea to explore art (Gerhard Richter's) and the market. Rafael Rozendaal's 'net art piece 'Color Flip' is seen here.
A group of artists get together at Postmasters in Chelsea to explore art (Gerhard Richter's) and the market. Rafael Rozendaal's 'net art piece 'Color Flip' is seen here.

You can access it here.

(Courtesy of the artist and Postmasters)
I <3 a Supply Chain: Writer, artist and filmmaker Greg Allen had Richter's private documentation photographs reproduced -- in a fuzzy Richter style -- at a factory in China.
I <3 a Supply Chain: Writer, artist and filmmaker Greg Allen had Richter's private documentation photographs reproduced -- in a fuzzy Richter style -- at a factory in China. (Courtesy of the artist and Postmasters)
In a massive piece that combines textile and painted elements, Fabian Marcaccio nods the political content in some of Richter's work. The piece above depicts a Michigan militia.
In a massive piece that combines textile and painted elements, Fabian Marcaccio nods the political content in some of Richter's work. The piece above depicts a Michigan militia. (Courtesy of the artist and Postmasters )
The photographs of Ari Marcopoulos go on view at Marlborough in Chelsea.
The photographs of Ari Marcopoulos go on view at Marlborough in Chelsea. (Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Chelsea)
The artists manipulates pictures shot on a simple point-and-shoot by photocopying them and then blowing them to large sizes -- resulting in grainy, sometimes ghostly images.
The artists manipulates pictures shot on a simple point-and-shoot by photocopying them and then blowing them to large sizes -- resulting in grainy, sometimes ghostly images. (Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Chelsea)
The Queens Museum of Art is kicking off an art walk at the Dutch colonial Vander Ende-Onderdonk House in Queens this Saturday. Above, 'A Piano Has the Same Mass,' by Sarah Bednarek.
The Queens Museum of Art is kicking off an art walk at the Dutch colonial Vander Ende-Onderdonk House in Queens this Saturday. Above, 'A Piano Has the Same Mass,' by Sarah Bednarek. (Courtesy of the artist and Lesley Heller Workspace)
Curator Deborah Brown and Lower East Side Gallery Lesley Heller Workspace have turned the colonial site into a sculpture garden. Above, 'Reducer (Part One),' a sculpture by Bryan Reade.
Curator Deborah Brown and Lower East Side Gallery Lesley Heller Workspace have turned the colonial site into a sculpture garden. Above, 'Reducer (Part One),' a sculpture by Bryan Reade. (Courtesy of the artist and Lesley Heller Workspace)
After visiting the sculpture gardens -- which includes the work by Kai Vierstra seen here -- the Museum's gallery crawl will continue to galleries such as Regina Rex and Valentine.
After visiting the sculpture gardens -- which includes the work by Kai Vierstra seen here -- the Museum's gallery crawl will continue to galleries such as Regina Rex and Valentine. (Courtesy of the artist and Lesley Heller Workspace)
At the Met: the Schiaparelli/Prada extravaganza explores some of the common themes that bind the two designers. Seen here: Elsa Schiaparelli wearing one of her own designs in 1931.
At the Met: the Schiaparelli/Prada extravaganza explores some of the common themes that bind the two designers. Seen here: Elsa Schiaparelli wearing one of her own designs in 1931. (Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph by Man Ray)
Schiaparelli employed pattern to great effect as has Prada -- as seen in this trompe l'oeile dress that looks pleated but isn't.
Schiaparelli employed pattern to great effect as has Prada -- as seen in this trompe l'oeile dress that looks pleated but isn't. (Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photograph by Toby McFarlan Pond)
The show also explored the ways in which the two fashion designers differed: Schiaparelli was more about decorating the upper body; Prada has historically focused on a woman's hips and legs.
The show also explored the ways in which the two fashion designers differed: Schiaparelli was more about decorating the upper body; Prada has historically focused on a woman's hips and legs. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The gallery devoted to the designers' surreal creations was a hot mess of overinstalled everything: lights, lucite, video. This is a highly idealized press image.
The gallery devoted to the designers' surreal creations was a hot mess of overinstalled everything: lights, lucite, video. This is a highly idealized press image. (Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)
And here's what it looked like in real life. Sadly, the clothes lost the battle against all the shiny gewgaws.
And here's what it looked like in real life. Sadly, the clothes lost the battle against all the shiny gewgaws. (Carolina A. Miranda)
Storm King, the sculpture center in the Hudson Valley opens this weekend, with a series of new installations. Seen here: a video stil of Anthony McCall's 'Landscape for a Fire,' from 1972.
Storm King, the sculpture center in the Hudson Valley opens this weekend, with a series of new installations. Seen here: a video stil of Anthony McCall's 'Landscape for a Fire,' from 1972. (Courtesy Sean Kelly Gallery, New York)
The new Storm King installs explore aspects of light and landscape -- as in Roni Horn's 2009/10 piece, 'Untitled ('...it was a mask, but the real face was identical to the false one.')'
The new Storm King installs explore aspects of light and landscape -- as in Roni Horn's 2009/10 piece, 'Untitled ('...it was a mask, but the real face was identical to the false one.')' (Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth)
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