Colonialism and Slavery
“Padraos,” an exhibition of collages by Leslee Stradford, will open at The Church in Sag Harbor on Saturday, with a reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., and remain on view through Feb. 12. The artwork was inspired by Herman L. Bennett’s book “African Kings and Black Slaves: Sovereignty and Dispossession in the Early Modern Atlantic.”
Padraos are stone pillars left by Portuguese explorers in the 14th and 15th centuries to establish their dominion in western and southern Africa. As slavery was the most important industry for those explorers, the Padraos came to symbolize Portuguese authority over the African people themselves.
A conversation between Dr. Stradford and Dr. Bennett will take place on Feb. 12 at 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $10, and a reception will follow.
“Padraos” is part of the multi-site exhibition “Afrofuturism: Re-Imagining the Future by Honoring It Now.”
Christensen in Montauk
A show of work by the abstract painter Dan Christensen is opening Thursday at Lucore Art in Montauk and will continue through March 31. Drawn from a private collection, the show spans five decades of the career of the longtime Amagansett resident, who died in 2007.
Christensen’s art is usually categorized as Color Field painting or Post-Painterly Abstraction, terms attributed to the influential critic Clement Greenberg, who called Christensen “one of the painters on whom the course of American art depends.” However, according to Lisa Peters, an art historian, Christensen drew from a variety of Modernist sources and used many idiosyncratic techniques to create a unique body of work.
A reception will be held Feb. 12 from 3 to 6 p.m.
Wiley and Sherald Films -- Postponed Until March 4
Two short films celebrating the artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, who painted the official portraits of the Obamas for the National Portrait Gallery, will be shown at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill on March 4 at 6 p.m. Originally scheduled for Friday, the event has been postponed due to forecasts for inclement weather.
Organized with Hamptons Doc Fest in recognition of Black History Month, the program includes “Kehinde Wiley: An Economy of Grace” and “Bree Wayy: Promise, Witness, Remembrance.”
“An Economy of Grace” reveals how Mr. Wiley, known for his portraits of Black men, turned to depicting African-American women as part of his exploration of the image and status of African-Americans throughout history.
“Bree Wayy” focuses on the artists throughout the country who created artworks in tribute to Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Louisville. Ms. Sherald’s portrait of Taylor was the centerpiece of the exhibition “Promise, Witness, Remembrance” at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville.
After the screening, Corinne Erni, the museum’s senior curator, will discuss the films via Zoom with Jessica Chermayeff, the producer of “An Economy of Grace,” and Dawn Porter, the director of “Bree Wayy.”
Tickets are $15, $5 for members and students.
Primordial Forms
“Paul Waters: In the Beginning, Paintings from the 1960s and ‘70s” will open on Friday at the Eric Firestone Gallery, 40 Great Jones Street in NoHo, with a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. It is the first solo show of the African-American painter’s work in 50 years.
Mr. Waters’s paintings reflect his interest in indigenous traditions, teaching, children’s books, and Western painting. The exhibition includes several canvas collages whose painted silhouettes suggest primordial forms and imaginary animals, arranged in rhythmic patterns.
The artist's intuitive practice has included the use of his hands and fingers to apply paint, and the application of scissors as a drawing tool, which connects his work to that of Matisse.
The exhibition will run through March 26.
Black Public Art
The relationship over the years between African-American culture and public art in New York City will be the subject of a Zoom talk by Sylvia Laudien-Meo, an art historian, on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
The presentation will include recent efforts to redress historical wrongs; for example, a marker for the original slave market and a memorial to an African burial ground that had been built over and neglected until being discovered in the 1990s.
Public art works by such contemporary Black artists as Pope L., Martin Puryear, Kara Walker, Hank Willis Thomas, Nari Ward, Simone Leigh, and others will also be discussed.
Registration for the free program is via the Rogers Memorial Library website.
Pollock-Krasner Zooms
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center will get a jump on Valentine's Day Thursday at 4 p.m. with "Dynamic Duos," a virtual look at how notable art couples have supported and challenged each other. Joyce Raimondo, the center's education coordinator, will discuss Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, Elaine and Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg, and others.
John Torreano, whose work is on view at the Parrish Art Museum, will be the guest artist for the house and study center's "Painting Outer Space/Inner Space," Friday at 4 p.m. via Zoom. After a discussion of how other artists have been stirred by the cosmos, Mr. Torreano will show his recent paintings, inspired in part by the Hubble telescope's photographs.
Joyce Raimondo will continue her exploration of the fundamentals of art through the eyes of Pollock and Krasner on Wednesday with If Lines Could Talk from 4 to 5:15 p.m. Participants will learn the language of line in Pollock's drip paintings and other artworks and map their own emotions with lines and drawing.
Registration information for all events can be found on the center's website under the calendar tab.
This column differs from the originally published print and online versions to indicate the postponement of an event due to inclement weather.
