Visiting the world of Meret Oppenheim is a little like confronting Object, her famed fur teacup—the viewer is tempted to imagine what’s underneath. It’s just an ordinary teacup, isn’t it—but is it?  Such layers and layers of surprises await. The current retrospective at MOMA has unearthed through nearly 200 paintings, sculptures, assemblages, reliefs, jewelry designs, works on paper, and collages to reflect a marvelously fluid mind.

Anita Shapolsky gallery is currently presenting "Masters of Abstraction," that takes place in the virtual world of the Hamptons Art Fair. This group show is composed of artists who are known for their strong, lyrical, expressive brushstrokes; their use of color; and their ambitious geometric compositions. Featured artists include: Seymour Boardman, Ernest Briggs, Amaranth Ehrenhalt, Ethel Schwabacher, Yvonne Thomas, and Jeanne Miles.

To be or not to be—an artist.  For anyone who’s ever pursued painting as a career—house painters excluded—you might want to think again.  There are enough cliches about the profession to fill MoMA’s walls: “You have to live miserably to be an artist.”  “We can’t edit our psyches.”  “I’m not a decent human being, I’m an artist.” “We show up late.” There’s more you’ve probably come to easily recognize, but the ones I’ve quoted are all in Michael Walker’s film, PAINT. 

Thanks to No Longer Empty, a New York-based nonprofit involved in pumping new life into community spaces abandoned or left behind, the Old Bronx Borough Courthouse is opening its doors once again.  Only this time, after being shuttered for 37 years, its walls no longer resound with the smack of a judge’s gavel.  Instead, artists, performers, and the community-at-large can enter its cavernous space and call it home.

New York-based artist Eddie Granger has made it his artistic mission to bring back the somewhat unfashionable idea of optimism. “I’m tired of seeing art that is silent or morbid,” he explains. “Everyone thinks that art needs to be really sensitive or dark. Can we divert from this dark place everyone thinks they need to go? Can we do something different?” Originally from Louisiana, Granger has recently begun to make a name for himself in the New York City art world through his assemblage work formed entirely of cut crayons.