Step into Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock’s office, and he’ll likely greet you with a shot of espresso. As head of the visual arts program, he’s also a go-to source for recommendations of the best art shows in New York City.
With an eye for unconventional artists and atypical art spaces, he picked an eclectic assortment of film, photography, mixed-media, and architecture shows to catch this spring. But he was sure to note that before you head to MoMA or the Bronx Documentary Center for one of his suggested exhibitions, start close to home, and see the work of Fordham’s own art students at the Lipani and Ildiko Butler Galleries throughout this semester as part of their Senior Thesis Exhibitions.
1. Pia Dehne, “Faced with a Choice Do Both”
Artist Pia Dehne’s work fuses a super-realistic, old-world master painting style with surrealism, said Apicella-Hitchcock.
“If you think about botanical studies at the New York Botanical Garden or Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings, there’s this dialogue about femininity and sensuality. Pia’s work has that as well, but it’s a different generation’s conversation—it’s a little more punk, a little more rock and roll.”
Running through April 19 at Isabel Sullivan Gallery, 39 Lipesenard Street, Tribeca
2. Jamel Shabazz, “Seconds of My Life: Photographs from 1975-2024”
Jamel Shabazz is a Brooklyn-born photographer whose work captures 1970s and ’80s New York City and its early hip-hop era.
“His work is sometimes critiqued because the subjects are always smiling,” said Apicella-Hitchcock. “But he flips that critique—he says, ‘No, that’s what I want. That smile is indicative of what I brought to the exchange and how I made them feel comfortable.’”
The space is special, too: The Bronx Documentary Center [BDC] is dedicated to educating young photographers and providing resources for local artists.
Running through April 20 at Bronx Documentary Center Annex, 364 East 151st Street, the Bronx
3. Christian Marclay, “The Clock”
“The Clock” is a “staggeringly good” 24-hour cinematic piece, where Christian Marclay has spliced together thousands of film clips featuring clocks and watches, all synchronized to the actual time.
“It’s fascinating because you start to realize how much happens in films at one minute before the hour. People are running for trains, proposing, bombs are about to go off—and then, at the hour mark, all hell breaks loose.”
Running through May 11 at MoMA, 11 West 53rd Street, Midtown
4. Dieter Roth, “Islandscapes,” and The Roth Bar
Dieter Roth was an artist who blurred boundaries between painting, sculpture, books, and installation art, said Apicella-Hitchcock, who admires his sense of humor and his “very organic, indeterminate mix of materials.”
The Roth Bar accompanies the exhibition. In the past, this installation operated as a fully functioning bar and living social experiment, said Apicella-Hitchcock, where patrons’ empty bottles became part of the work, conversations were recorded and archived, and Roth’s art hung on the wall. For now, it is only open for private gallery events.
Running through April 19 at Hauser & Wirth, 443 West 18th Street, Chelsea
Bonus Picks
- “Louis Faurer/Helen Levitt” at Deborah Bell Photographs through April 19—Levitt is one of Apicella-Hitchcock’s favorite New York street photographers, and Faurer is an underappreciated contemporary of hers, he said.
- “Pirouette: Turning Points in Design” at MoMA through Oct. 18—A survey of groundbreaking design moments, covering everything from Crocs to the origins of emojis.
- “Swamp Summit: Dirt and Water” at Storefront for Art and Architecture through April 19—Apicella-Hitchcock said Storefront is a “great space” whose exhibitions are themed around architecture and urban design; their current one explores our relationship with water and climate change.
