Production still from the film "William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible." © Art21, Inc. and The Metropolitan Opera, 2010.
In this week’s roundup: William Kentridge makes several appearances, Mark Dion renovates Walden, Nancy Spero is celebrated, Louise Bourgeois draws on fabric, Kiki Smith debuts a stained glass window, Maya Lin asks us “What is Missing?” and much more.
- William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible, premieres on PBS this week. Check your local listings to find out when the program will air on your local PBS station. The program gives viewers an intimate look into the mind and creative process of William Kentridge.
- Kentridge is also on view at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Two exhibitions — Ambivalent Affinities and Projects — are currently on view and showcase Kentridge’s work from 1989 to present. The show closes on December 11.
- Ursula von Rydingsvard will be exhibiting her new works in handmade paper for Deckle Deckle at the Dieu Donné (NYC). The show begins October 21 and runs through December 4.
- Mark Dion and J. Morgan Puett co-founded Renovating Walden. This participatory art installation explores the meanings, readings, and misreadings spawned by Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book Walden, or Life in the Woods. This also includes numerous special events and is on view through November 14, at Tufts University Art Gallery at the Aidekman Arts Center.
- Reading Nancy Spero will celebrate the art of the late Nancy Spero through readings of her key text-and-image artworks from the 1970s and a performance of Bertolt Brecht’s The Ballad of Marie Sanders, a central text of Spero’s work in the 1980s. The presentation will take place on November 3 at 7pm, at The Drawing Center. Events will be free and open to the public.
- Louise Bourgeois: The Fabric Works presents work by the late Louise Bourgeois, who created seventy fabric drawings made between 2002 and 2008, as well as four large-scale sculptures. This exhibition will be on view October 15 – December 18 at Hauser & Wirth London, Savile Row.
- Laurie Anderson will curate and perform a new body of work at the upcoming Cabaret! to kick off the Academy’s Centenary Celebration, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the merger of the American Academy in Rome and the American School of Classical Studies in Rome. The event takes place on October 26.
- Mary Heilmann will talk about the concept of free time in at the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University. This lecture is tied to a undergraduate seminar on Issues in Contemporary Art and will take place on November 9. This event is free and open to the public.
- Laylah Ali will talk about her use of everyday objects juxtaposed with violent subject matter as political resistance and betrayal as part of the Contemporary Perspective Lecture Series at the CFA Concert Hall at Boston University on November 4th, 6pm. The lecture is free and open to the public.
- Kiki Smith collaborated with architect Deborah Gans to create a tablet-shaped stained glass window that was recently debuted for the Museum at Eldridge Street. This permanent installation is the culminating work of an award-winning restoration of the 1887 Eldridge Street Synagogue, a New York City and National Historic Landmark.
- Julie Mehretu concludes a survey of modern drawings from the British Museum’s collection that explores the interchange of ideas between artists mainly working in Europe and America during the past hundred years. Picasso to Julie Mehretu is on view through April 25, 2011.
- Maya Lin presents What is Missing?, a multi-media, multi-site memorial which consists of several permanent and temporary art installations, 70 videos, and future plans for a book. The goal of this project is to “build awareness about species loss and highlight what scientists and environmentalists throughout the world are doing to protect species and habitat.”
- Oliver Herring, Areas for Action at Meulensteen presents several ongoing performances, improvisatory sculptures, and real-time collaborative artworks by Oliver Herring. Events take place over the entire run of the show. Visitors should consult the exhibition schedule online for a complete list of performances and events, all of which are open to the public through November 6.