"Robert Smithson" Through October 23rd
The funny thing about Robert Smithson’s most recognizable artwork is that it has not been visible to the naked eye for more than thirty years (drought seasons notwithstanding). When Smithson constructed "Spiral Jetty" in 1970, he sculpted black basalt rocks and soil into a 1500 foot long, slightly elevated (though not nearly enough, time would tell) coil. The formation spiraled into the rust-colored water of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, radically shifting the politics of art-making, -viewing, and –collecting. Like Spiral Jetty, Smithson’s influence looms large in an underwater, rhizomatic way. His works are regarded as crucial, pivotal, and momentous by those representing staggeringly varied perspectives. The Land Art movement cites Smithson as a founding figure. Minimalist and Conceptualist writings frame many of their theoretical arguments and critiques in both Smithson’s artwork and writings. He also emerges centrally in Pop endeavors—these artists swooned over his folding together of the industrial and the natural, the consumer self and the aesthetic self. All this is, of course, besides the personal meaning that one develops for Smithson in the presence of his works, er, rather, the documentation of his works. Can the Whitney’s retrospective begin to shed light on how this artist, who died at the age of 35, came to be so utterly relevant to everyone?
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART - 945 Madison Avenue, at 75th Street - 212.570.3600 - http://www.whitney.org

"Lee Friedlander" Through August 29th
In its desire to retell, assess, and physically display an artist’s oeuvre, any retrospective can quickly become a curatorial, Stephen Dedalus-type nightmare. When successful, it is the result of a delicate, ineffable balance born of countless choices of inclusion, omission, and who knows what else. With more than 500 photographs included, one word immediately comes to mind to describe the Lee Friedlander retrospective now on view at MOMA: “exhaustive,” with the pun very much intended. As one of America’s foremost living photographers, Friedlander’s prolific career spans four decades, more than twenty published artist books, and what I can only presume is enough 35mm film to circle the world at least several times. The curators have certainly erred on the side of inclusion, but if Friedlander’s images are so utterly captivating and singular that this exhibition evades the nightmarish, overburdened quality that retrospectives of this scale often suffer from. Instead, it shines like the powerful July sun.

MUSEUM OF MODERN ART - 11 W 53rd St. - 212.708.9400 - http://www.moma.org

"Greater New York 2005" Through September 26th
Five years ago, I watched closely the artists in the first Greater New York exhibition bask in the new light of art world recognition—and my, what an after-party did that opening have. Now, from the sober sidelines of an altogether different professional life, I find myself still drawn to the appeal of this type of show. The organizers’ self-professed goal was to capture the specific spirit of the last five years of art-making in New York City, contemplate its themes and forms, and wrestle with its implications—and do so with the help of the artists themselves. So, like its predecessor five years ago, the application process was opened to any artist who lived and worked in the New York City environs during the time period. Two thousand artists responded to the invitation. The final exhibition list carries a hearty 160 names and has provoked both disdain for its unoriginality and excitement over the never-before-seen talent. Neither is in short supply. Not surprisingly, the show takes over the entirety of P.S. 1’s gargantuan converted public school space, all 45,000 square feet of it.

P.S. 1 - 22-25 Jackson Avenue, at 46th Avenue - Long Island City, Queens - 718.784.2084 - http://www.ps1.org

"Ancestry and Innovation: African American Art from the Collection" Through September 4th
After the wildly successful museum tour of “The Quilts of Gee’s Bend,” who could blame the American Folk Art Museum for organizing a similarly themed show from their own holdings? Luckily for them (and for us), the AFAM’s collection of black vernacular art is as good as it gets. In addition to displaying those beloved quilts, the exhibition reveals the cross-pollination of themes and techniques from an array of mediums, including painting, works on paper, and sculpture.
AMERICAN FOLK ART MUSEUM - 45 W. 53rd St. - New York NY 10019 - 212.265.1040 - http://www.folkartmuseum.org