July 2016 Programs at the Jewish Museum Feature Don Byron and More

New York, NY - The Jewish Museum continues its summer 2016 slate of lectures, discussions, and events in May with a performance by clarinetist-composer Don Byron as part of the Museum's ongoing partnership with Bang on a Can.  Other highlights include an adult studio workshop inspired by the work of landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx; a behind-the-scenes gallery talk led by Jewish Museum Associate Curator Stephen Brown; and gallery discussions on specific themes and topics in the exhibitions Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History and Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist.

Further program and ticket information is available by calling 212.423.3337 or online at TheJewishMuseum.org/calendar.  All programs are at the Jewish Museum, Fifth Avenue and 92nd Street, Manhattan, unless otherwise indicated.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE – JULY 2016

Adult Studio Workshop
Sunday, July 10, noon – 5pm
Participants explore key concepts that guided the work of landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx in this class taught by artist Mark Joshua Epstein. Following an in-depth walkthrough of the exhibition, Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist, attendees will investigate the relationship between topography and composition in order to create textural and layered abstract paintings that use the world around us as inspiration.

Mark Joshua Epstein (b.1979) is a New York-based visual artist and educator. His work has been shown in recent solo exhibitions at Biquini Wax, Mexico City, and Brian Morris Gallery, New York, and is featured this summer in group shows in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. He has participated in residency programs including the Millay Colony, the Macdowell Colony and the Saltonstall Foundation. Epstein is a museum educator at MoMA and The Whitney Museum of American Art, and an adjunct professor at American University.

Course fee: $65 general; $50 Jewish Museum members
All materials included with fee


Bang on a Can: Performance by Don Byron
Thursday, July 14, 7:30pm
William Petschek Family Music Program
Bang on a Can and the Jewish Museum are presenting a performance by clarinetist-composer Don Byron. A long-time collaborator with Bang on a Can, Byron has always found exhilarating and unexpected musical avenues to explore, interpreting a wildly diverse range of styles and artists from funk-drenched R&B to klezmer, from gospel legend Thomas A. Dorsey to Mickey Katz, Duke Ellington to Junior Walker. Byron is renowned for his dedication to and innovation in quintessential American traditional music genres from klezmer to blues to bluegrass to gospel to jazz.

For over two decades, Don Byron, a recipient of the first Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, has been a singular voice in an astounding range of musical contexts, exploring widely divergent traditions while continually striving for what he calls "a sound above genre." As clarinetist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and social critic, he redefines every genre of music he plays, be it classical, salsa, hip-hop, funk, rhythm & blues, klezmer, or any jazz style from swing and bop to cutting-edge downtown improvisation.  He has been consistently voted best clarinetist by critics and readers alike in leading international music journals since being named “Jazz Artist of the Year” by Down Beat in 1992. Acclaimed as much for his restless creativity as for his unsurpassed virtuosity as a player, Byron has presented a multitude of projects at major music festivals around the world.

This program is made possible by a generous endowment from the William Petschek Family.

Tickets: $18 General; $15 Students and Seniors; $12 Jewish Museum and Bang on a Can Members


This Is How We Do It
Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait
Thursday, July 21, 6:30pm
Stephen Brown, Assistant Curator, the Jewish Museum, speaks about the mystery that precipitated the exhibition, Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait.

Raising questions of authenticity and fraud, Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait reveals surprising new analysis of two portraits once thought to depict an 18th century Jewish couple. The disputed works are presented alongside a selection of other portraits from the Museum's collection, offering a reflection on questions of truth and representation in portraiture. During a decade of research, the identities of the artist and sitters have been reconsidered through archival investigation, genealogical studies, and recent X-ray analysis. Masterpieces & Curiosities: The Fictional Portrait continues a series of exhibitions focused on individual works in the Jewish Museum's world-renowned collection.

Free with Pay-What-You-Wish Admission; RSVP Recommended


Gallery Talks
Tuesdays, July 12, 19, 26, 2pm
45-minute gallery discussions on specific themes and topics in current exhibitions, led by members of the Education Department.

Tuesday, July 12
Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History
Mizrahi and Kalman: A Collaboration
This talk focuses on fashion designer, artist, and entrepreneur Isaac Mizrahi's collaboration with artist Maira Kalman.
Viktorya Vilk, Assistant Manager of Gallery Programs

Tuesday, July 19
oberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist
The Abstract Landscape
A discussion of Roberto Burle Marx’s observational work from nature, and the relationship between representation and abstraction.
Jenna Weiss, Manager of Public Programs

Tuesday, July 26
Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History
The Supermodel Era
This talk considers the peak supermodel era of the late eighties and early nineties, and its synergy with Mizrahi’s cultural impact.
Chris Gartrell, Senior Coordinator of Adult Programs

The first exhibition focused on Isaac Mizrahi, the influential American fashion designer, artist, and entrepreneur is on view at the Jewish Museum through August 7, 2016.  Through over 250 works, including clothing and costume designs, sketches, photographs, and an immersive video installation, this survey exhibition explores Mizrahi’s unique position at the intersection of high style and popular culture.  While best known for his work in fashion, Mizrahi’s creativity has expanded over a three decade career to embrace acting, directing, set and costume design, writing, and cabaret performance. Beginning with his first collection in 1987 and running through the present day, Isaac Mizrahi: An Unruly History weaves together the many threads of Mizrahi's prolific output, juxtaposing work in fashion, film, television, and the performing arts.

From Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro to Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Beach, the innovative and prolific work of Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994) has made him one of the most prominent landscape architects of the 20th century. Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist, on view through September 18, 2016, is the first U.S. exhibition to showcase the full range of his rich artistic output, with nearly 140 works on view including landscape architecture, painting, sculpture, theater design, tapestries, and jewelry. Roberto Burle Marx: Brazilian Modernist demonstrates the versatility of the artist’s extraordinary talents, from his earliest forays into landscape architecture to designs for synagogues and other Jewish sites he created late in life. His global influence and legacy is also examined through the work of a number of international contemporary artists whom he inspired including Juan Araujo, Paloma Bosquê, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Luisa Lambri, Arto Lindsay, Nick Mauss, and Beatriz Milhazes.

Free with Museum Admission – RSVP Recommended


Support
Public programs are made possible by endowment support from the William Petschek Family, the Trustees of the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Foundation, Barbara and Benjamin Zucker, the late William W. Hallo, the late Susanne Hallo Kalem, the late Ruth Hallo Landman, the Marshall M. Weinberg Fund, with additional support from Marshall M. Weinberg, the Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Foundation, the Saul and Harriet M. Rothkopf Family Foundation, and Ellen Liman.  Additional support is provided by Lorraine and Martin Beitler, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, Genesis Philanthropy Group, and through public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.