Twin Cities' 5 must-see art shows this weekend + one NYC show

Lucy Walker (Photo: courtesy Jim Denault)

SCREENING

Lucy Walker – Life Like Reality

Walker Cinema (725 Vineland Pl, Mpls)

Thurs, Oct 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15, $12 for Walker members, students and seniors

The Walker hosts a retrospective and dialogue of film and virtual reality director Lucy Walker. Her talk will include a conversation with film critic Scott Foundas. About Lucy Walker's work, the Walker Art Center writes: "A master of her craft, Walker captures sublime turning points in people's lives when they must push past impossibility and "dare to be honest," conjuring that most human need to connect." More info here: https://walkerart.org/calendar/2017/dialogue-lucy-walker

Trestle Support Systems

Northern Pacific Center (1511 Northern Pacific Rd, Brainerd, MN 56401)

Saturday, Oct 28 at 6 p.m.

Buses leave Minneapolis' Soap Factor at 2 p.m.

Northern Pacific Rail Yard Tours at 4 p.m. & 5 p.m.

Artist talk on Oct 29 at 1 p.m.

https://www.facebook.com/events/146337639305381/

Jump in your car and drive to Brainerd, where artist Pete Driessen presents Trestle Support Systems, created with red pine wood and metal hardware. The focus of this show is on the site-specific Trestle and Trestle Worker.

A portrait of Ifrah Mansour in "The Blacker the Berry."

ONGOING

Public Functionary

Runs through Nov 25

Minneapolis-based photographer Bobby Rogers captures black models in noble poses against bright backgrounds, decorating them in gold and other regalia. His first solo exhibition nods to both a 1920s novel published during the Harlem Renaissance, and a 2015 song by Kendrick Lamar. His portrayals of black people as royalty is reminiscent of the work of Kehinde Wiley, who was selected to paint Barack Obama's official portrait. Rogers includes 10 portraits in this show, including one of Somali performance artist Ifrah Mansour, who currently has work up at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. "I'm trying to help people rid themselves of interracial prejudices and see themselves as magnificent beings," he told the Star Tribune. Read more about Rogers' show at startribune.com/art. (Noon-6 p.m. Tue.-Thu., 6-11 p.m. Fri., noon-5 p.m. Sat. Ends Nov. 25 with artist conversation at 7 p.m. Nov. 10. Public Functionary, 1400 12th Av. NE., Mpls. public functionary.org.) More info here: http://www.startribune.com/art-spotlight-bobby-rogers-at-public-functionary/453373083/

Photograph of Jovan Speller by Aaron Lavinsky/ Star Tribune

ONGOING

When: Runs through November 7

Open: Mon-Fri. 9 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sat 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun 12 p.m.-5 p.m.

Where: Minneapolis College of Art and Design, 2501 Stevens Ave., Mpls 55404

Info: mcad.edu

Five lucky artists became Jerome fellows this year: Nikki J. McComb, Kelsey Olson, Edie Overturf, Jovan C. Speller and Amanda Wirig. All of the artists explore social issues in their own way. McComb delivers the facts about murders by needless gun violence through text and photography. Olson explores mysterious materiality in her collage-like prints made of gelatin, plastic, beads, vinegar, and other things. Overturf's woodcuts portray magical scenes of apocalyptic futures. Spellers' van dyke brown prints imagine her conception of "black quiet," and Wirig co-opts kitschy vintage 1950s imagery for contemporary messages of political empowerment. It's not a coincidence that the exhibition closes on Nov 7, Election Day.

MINNEAPOLIS IN NEW YORK CITY

Minneapolis' own Brant Kingman at the MoMA exhibition "Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978-1983"

Exhibition opens at MoMA on Halloween, October 31

Brant Kingman performance at MoMAPS1 on Sunday, November 5

Minneapolis-based Brant Kingman will do alive re-enactment he used to do at Club 57 and other venues in the 80s at MoMA. For his performance, he'll do the "electric paintbrush," which he says he invented in 1982. "I paint a huge painting (8'x12') from scratch in 20 minutes," he told the Star Tribune. "I will paint it with a guitar shaped paint-brush which is connected to an audio sampler so that each brush stroke plays a sound." Named for its address at 57 St. Mark's Place, Club 57 in the East Village happened to be in existence from 1978-83, around the same years that Kingman lived on the Lower East Side and frequented the club. The show is co-curated by Ann Magnuson, who ran the club. Check out more of Kingman's work here: https://kingman.smugmug.com/Art/Club-57-AVANT-The-New-York/