Weekend Arts Planner: A new visual arts space in Chelsea and music from Sikh trumpeter and vocalist, Sonny Singh
Once again WNYC's Culture and Arts Editor Steve Smith joins David Furst for our weekend arts planner. This week, it's a mix of new visual art and new music.
1. Lauren Halsey's first solo exhibition in New York
David Kordansky opened his first gallery in Los Angeles’s Chinatown in 2003, and rapidly developed a reputation for showcasing the city's most fascinating artists. He moved to a bigger space in Culver City in 2014, and just last week opened his first New York City gallery at 520 West 20th St.
For his big New York splash, Kordansky is showing works by Lauren Halsey, one of L.A.'s most exciting young artists. Halsey was in the news here already just recently: In March, the Met Museum awarded her its annual rooftop installation commission, and then in April came news that for logistical reasons the rooftop show is postponed a year.
For anyone who's curious about what’s to come, the show at Kordansky is a great way to whet the appetite. Halsey is a passionate collector of signs, posters, advertisements and nostalgic miniatures that might verge on kitsch, fashioned into pillars, dioramas and so-called "funkmounds" that celebrate life, work, culture, leisure and Blackness writ large. You're overwhelmed by big, splashy pieces – including a wall-mounted creation with real running water – while at the same time drawn close with the tiny, loving details she packs into her creations. It's an effervescent explosion of color, on view though June 11.
2. The first solo album from Sikh trumpeter and vocalist, Sonny Singh.
You may not have heard of Sonny Singh, but if you're ever heard the irresistible Punjabi party band Red Baraat then you know his trumpet playing and singing. Sonny has also performed extensively with Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab, who this year became the first-ever Pakistani singer to win a Grammy award. This week, Singh released his debut solo album, "Chardi Kala," and he'll be celebrating with a record-release show at Joe's Pub on Tuesday night - May 17.
In addition to being a singer, songwriter, musician, and bandleader, Singh is a Sikh activist and someone works tirelessly to promote tolerance and understanding. The title, "Chardi Kala," refers to the Sikh principle of eternal optimism, and that's definitely what comes through across the span of his album. He taps into his formative years performing Sikh kirtan music, but true to his all-embracing mindset, he packs a lot of other musical influences into his sound, and the results are utterly irresistible.
