(L) “Barack Obama” by Kehinde Wiley, oil on canvas, 2019. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; (R) “Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama” by Amy Sherald, oil on linen, 2018. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

The famous portraits of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama are coming to the Brooklyn Museum in Prospect Heights this month. At the beginning of 2020, the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announced a five-city tour for the two popular paintings, which kicked off in June in the Obamas’ hometown of Chicago. Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald are the first African American artists selected by the Portrait Gallery for the museum’s official portraits of a president or first lady.

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Photo by Liz Ligon

A huge nature-themed street mural was installed along the 14th Street Busway in Union Square this week. Titled “Collective Vision,” the mural was painted on the pedestrian areas of the busway between Broadway and Union Square West. Brooklyn-based street artists GERALUZ and WERC designed the piece to highlight the strength of nature and unity, with a ruby-throated hummingbird at the center representing the “power of resilience in standing together against injustice and extinction.” Over the last five days, community volunteers have helped the artists fill in the vibrant colors of the mural.

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All photos by Max Touhey

For the seventh year running, Roosevelt Island‘s waterfront rental building Manhattan Park has hired a local artist to transform its pool deck into a colorful art installation and “Pop-Up Pool Party.” This year’s mural comes from Brooklyn-based Melissa Dadourian, who created a technicolor geometric pattern over four-and-a-half days, using 36 gallons of paint. Though the pool is primarily for building residents, a number of seasonal memberships and day passes are available.

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The immersive art installation that throws visitors into the depths of the world’s climate disaster reopened this month after being closed throughout the pandemic. “Arcadia Earth” debuted in Noho in 2019 and made headlines for its impressive innovative exhibition that uses augmented reality and virtual reality to highlight the environmental dangers impacting the planet. Tickets to the Arcadia Earth experience, open Thursday through Sunday, start at $33.

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Photos © Sachyn Mital, courtesy of Lincoln Center

The Lincoln Center’s famed Josie Robertson Plaza has been transformed into a huge green space for the public. Designed by set designer Mimi Lien, the public installation, called “The Green” officially opened on Monday as a place for New Yorkers to lounge, borrow a book from the New York Public Library, and even enjoy pop-up performances hosted by the institution. The Green is the centerpiece of Lincoln Center’s “Restart Stages” initiative, which converted the 16-acre campus into 10 new outdoor performance venues last month.

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All images courtesy of Guernsey’s.

On Wednesday, May 12, Guernsey’s will open its “Urban Gems” auction, which features a graffiti-tagged refrigerator door from Keith Haring’s Soho apartment, Andy Warhol’s taxidermized mounted moose head, and mixed media works of art depicting Christo’s The Gates.

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Photo by Andy Lin

The pandemic has taken a toll on everyone, but especially so on parents who have had to help their children deal with this time of uncertainty and stress. A new photo exhibition launched in Brooklyn this week that pays tribute to the many “at-home heroes” of New York. The Dumbo Improvement District, in partnership with Photoville, is projecting photos of COVID-caregiving in action onto the Manhattan Bridge every night between Mother’s Day this Sunday and Father’s Day on June 20.

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All photos courtesy of Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer

A massive bronze sculpture has been installed at Rockefeller Center as part of a new multi-part public art exhibition. Designed by Sanford Biggers, Oracle stands 25 feet tall at the foot of the Channel Gardens and is a continuation of the artist’s recent Chimera sculpture series. As the first campus-wide takeover by a solo artist at Rockefeller Center, the exhibition also includes a flag installation at the iconic flagpoles, small-scale sculptures, a virtual experience, and murals, in addition to the sculpture that weighs over 15,000 pounds.

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Yayoi Kusama, 2020 Photo by Yusuke Miyazaki © YAYOI KUSAA Courtesy Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, David Zwirner

Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s popular polka-dot pumpkins and grand floral sculptures have taken over the New York Botanical Garden this month as part of a new six-month installation. This summer, an exhibition featuring new paintings by the celebrated artist will open in Chelsea, providing New Yorkers another opportunity to enjoy Kusama’s iconic work. Starting June 17, David Zwirner will display the latest art from her ongoing My Eternal Soul series, which first began in 2009.

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Installation view, The Roof Garden Commission, Alex Da Corte “As Long as the Sun Lasts,” 2021. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, photo by Anna Marie Kellen

A 26-foot-tall moving sculpture featuring the Sesame Street character Big Bird has been installed atop the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the museum’s annual Roof Garden Commission series. Created by Philadelphia-based artist Alex Da Corte, As Long as the Sun Lasts exhibition includes a blue-feathered Big Bird sitting on a floating crescent moon and holding a ladder, gazing out at Central Park and the massive towers that dot the skyline. The exhibition will open at the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden on April 16 and be on view through October 31.

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