The active and influential art space X-Initiative closes its doors on Saturday, February 6, and it’s going out with a bang. Yesterday and today’s Bring Your Own Art (BYOA) allowed anyone with a piece of artwork and their own supplies to exhibit in X-Initiative’s gallery space. It was a 24-hour, shape-shifting exhibition, cohosted with the Fine Art Adoption Network, an organization that pairs collectors with artists. While the concept of BYOA is reminiscent of a student show, many of the pieces were brilliant and fully realized, ranging from sculpture, photography and painting to more immersive works, like a large orange partition that allowed strangers to insert their arms and blindly hug one another.

All in all, it felt personal and enlivening, with the bonus of Marina Abramovic’s documentary crew, which was slated to record her performance last night, and Jerry Saltz individually critiquing the artists’ work (naturally, he was never without a crowd of eager listeners). Let’s hope there are more events like this in Chelsea.—Sarah Lerner

The Whitney Museum of American Art recently relaunched its website, and to amp it up further, it’s releasing videos in conjunction with the upcoming 2010 Biennial. Log on to watch exclusive clips featuring “the artists, curators, events, performances and production” of the upcoming art survey, including footage of the installation and artistic process. Yesterday saw the debut of three new videos: Donuts, a coffeeshop discussion with performance artist Aki Sasamoto; Jameel, Jasmine, and Aaliyah, an improvisational dance video by Biennial artist Rashaad Newsome; and FIFA 10, which features a video-game session between artist Ari Marcopoulos and curator Gary Carrion-Murayari. Keep checking back for upcoming releases and more of a behind-the-scenes glimpse at this seminal art show. —Sarah Lerner

Thursday, January 28
Gelitin, Blind Sculpture at Greene Naftali, 6–8pm
“The Visible Vagina” at David Nolan Gallery, 6–8pm
Richard Baker ,“Paintings,” and Louisa Matthiasdottir, “Small Paintings”
at Tibor De Nagy Gallery, 5–7pm
Ben Snead at Feature, Inc., 6–8pm

Friday, January 29
Amy Granat, “The Sheltering Sky,” at The Kitchen, 6–8pm
Alejandro Cardenas, “Narcomedusa,” at James Fuentes, LLC, 6–8pm
“A Testbed of Futurity” at Southfirst, 6–8pm

Saturday, January 30
Leonardo Drew at Sikkema Jenkins & Co., 6–8pm
Damien Hirst, “End of an Era,” at Gagosian, 6–8pm

Sunday, January 31
Tom Holmes, “Silly Rabbit” at Dispatch, 5–7pm

You’re invited to an existential birthday party as part of Sophy
Naess’s participatory art project and course, The Artist at Work,
currently being held every Wednesday night at Recess from 6 to 9pm.
Based on an Albert Camus’s short story of the same name, in which an
artist becomes plagued by his own audience, Naess’s latest piece is a
video adaptation whose props, costumes, paintings and characters are
all created by those who show up to help. Drop by this week at 6pm
to be a part of the film shoot and celebration, where “birthday wishes
are sung, cake is served, champagne uncorked, and gossip gushed by
eager critics and art world enthusiasts.” The course is free and open
to the public.—Sarah Lerner

Audio Visual Arts (AVA) is highlighting its audio roots with its current exhibition of the sound magazine Forté. In order to offer more insight into this magazine without visuals or written words, AVA will be hosting panel discussions with the editors at the gallery space at 34 East 1st Street, this Saturday from 4 to 5pm, and on the 24th at the same time. Exploring a different format from the traditional magazine, Forté incorporates reviews, interviews and more, and is available as an MP3 download on its website. The exhibition features the magazine’s second issue. —Emily Bauman

The exhibition will be on view at AVA through January 24.

Friday, January 15, 6:30pm: X-Initiative is getting five of the most popular NYC bloggers together in one room. Sadly, the 125 seats for this event are already taken, but there will likely be a follow-up online, for you blog enthusiasts. Presented by ArtTable, “Blog This! Blogging the Contemporary Arts” will included Barry Hoggard of Bloggy, ArtCat and Culture Pundits; Paddy Johnson of Art Fag City; artist William Powhida; Kelly Shindler of Art21; and gallery owner Edward Winkleman.

Saturday, January 16, 7pm: In lieu of bloggers, you can check out the panel discussion organized by artist Spencer Finch. “Landscape Talks Back” will explore how the environments of Iceland and the American Southwest have exerted influence on the works or Roni Horn and Georgia O’Keeffe, respectively. Looking at how traditions, folklore, narrative and nature play roles in these artists’ works, professors Terry Gunnell and Elizabeth Hutchinson will engage with Cabinet magazine’s editor Sina Najafi on the subject of animated landscapes.—Emily Bauman

The MP3 might being killing the record store, and video, I’ve heard, killed the radio star, but No Longer Empty (NLE) is taking back Tower Records, with a multimedia installation that includes all the technology that made the former resident obsolete.

Taking advantage of all of the unoccupied commercial real estate that the recession has left in its wake, NLE has been throwing up art exhibitions in closed storefronts for the past six months. So far, exhibitions have appeared in a number of locations, including the Caledonia and a former bait-and-tackle shop next to the Chelsea Hotel. The next exhibition, “Never Can Say Goodbye,” will open in the old Tower Records location on Broadway and East 4th Street this Friday (7–9pm).

Among its many highlights, this exhibition will feature the work of Kaz Oshiro, Ryan Brennan and Meredyth Sparks; performances by Broken Mirrors with John Miller, The Metropolis Ensemble and Disco Monkeys; and a panel including music industry representatives. Like the previous exhibitions, the works in this show are created to respond to either the theme of the financial crisis or to the history of the space. In this case, expect a trip back to the garish yellow and red signage of the old retail giant, musical performances, video and audio galore, and a whole lot of rock & roll–related art! —Emily Bauman

Click here for a full list of events and to purchase tickets to performances.

Thursday, January 14:
“Nobody Gets to See the Wizard. Not Nobody, Not Nohow.” at Anna Kustera, 6–8pm
Christian Hellmich, “The Array/Transfer-Domino,” at Lehmann Maupin, 6–8pm
Markus Schinwald at Yvon Lambert, 6–8pm
Justin Samson and Haejin Yoon at John Connelly Presents, 6–8pm

Friday, January 15:
Todd James, “Make My Burden Lighter,” at Gering and López Gallery, 6–8pm
Brian Alfred, “It’s Already the End of the World,” at Haunch of Venison, 6–9pm
Jack Tworkov, “True and False,” at Mitchell-Innes & Nash (Chelsea), 6–8pm
Mitzi Pederson, “You’ll Know,” and Jay DeFeo at Nicole Klagsbrun, 6–8pm
Michael Dean, “Tolerance,” at Scaramouche c/o Fruit and Flower Deli, 6–8pm
“Ecstatic Peace Poetry”; Doug Biggert, “Hitch Hikers”; Margaret Lee; “Scenes from the New York Art World, c. 1979 (photos by Jerard Ordover)”; and Grace Schwindt at White Columns, 6–8pm, with an opening performance by Northampton Wools (Thurston Moore, Chris Corsano, Bill Nace)
“The New Old: Yorgo Alexopoulos, Stephen Gill and Burton Machen” at Invisible-Exports, 6–8pm

Saturday, January 16:
“Rip It Up And Start Again” at Artists Space, 6–9pm
Philip Taaffe, “Works on Paper,” at Gagosian (W. 24 St.), 5–7pm

Tuesday, January 19:
Ida Applebroog, “Monalisa,” at Hauser & Wirth, 6–8pm
Steve McQueen at Marian Goodman Gallery, 6–8pm

We know that all of those oversize art books are taking up too much room in your tiny apartment (and probably also leaving too much room in your wallet). But you just can’t help it; you want more, right? Well, Regency Arts Press Ltd. and the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) feel your pain! They are teaming up to organize an Art Book Swap, hosted by the Museum of Modern Art, on Saturday, February 6 (12–5pm). It won’t cost you a thing—just don’t forget to bring your own wares to trade in.—Emily Bauman

Thursday, January 7:
“New Art from Pakistan” at Thomas Erben Gallery, 6–8:30pm
Stanley Whitney at Team Gallery, 6–8pm
Marlo Pascual at Casey Kaplan, 6–8pm
Diane Arbus, “In The Absence of Others,” and William Eggleston, “21st Century,” at Cheim & Read, 6–8pm
Keith Sonnier at Mary Boone Gallery (Uptown), 5–7pm

Friday, January 8
Ulrich Gebert, “This Much Is Certain,” at Winkleman Gallery, 6–8pm
Les Rogers, “Last House,” at Leo Koenig Inc., 6–8pm
“Bertozzi & Casoni: Intervallo” and Martin Wilner, “A Life in Days,” at Sperone Westwater, 6–8pm
“Point to one end, which is always present” at Small A Projects, 6–8pm
“Primary Atmospheres: California Minimalism 1960–1970” at David Zwirner, 6–8pm
William Daniels “Paintings” at Luhring Augustine, 6–8pm
“million charge” at La MaMa La Galleria, 6–9pm

Saturday, January 9:
“New Mirrors: Painting in a Transparent World” at Exit Art, 7-10pm
Miguel Angelo Rocha at ATM Gallery, 6–8pm
Federico Solmi, “From the Uterus to the Grave: No Happy Ending,” at LMAK projects, 6–9pm
Jacob Lawrence and Jack Levine at DC Moore Gallery, 4–6pm
Skyler Brickley, “Wall-to-Wall” at Marvelli Gallery, 6–8pm
“Reel Subjects” at Andrew Kreps Gallery, 6–8pm
“Connecticut Group Exhibition” and Cornelia Parker (front room) at D’Amelio Terras, 6–8pm
Virgil Marti at Elizabeth Dee Gallery, 6–8pm
Joseph Beuys at Mary Boone Gallery (Chelsea), 4–6pm
Omer Fast at Postmasters, 6–8pm
Philip Haas at Sonnabend, 5–7pm

Sunday, January 10:
Sam Moyer, “Shape Shifters,” at Rachel Uffner Gallery, 6–8pm
“Babin, Cave, Medvedz, Kupferschmidt” at Eleven Rivington, 5–7pm
“ALPHA &” at On Stellar Rays, 6–8pm

Wednesday, January 13:
David Reed at Peter Blum Soho, 6–8pm

Dont’ be afraid of a long train ride. Light Industry continues to provide a forum for rarely seen works. Last night’s screening of a selection of shorts by structuralist filmmaker Joyce Wieland brought an impressive turnout. A testament to Light Industry’s philosophy is its dedication to showing under-recognized artists; Wieland, as a woman in the filmmaking world of the ’60s and ’70s, was a rare bird. In the last work shown at the screening, A and B in Ontario, which Wieland made with Hollis Frampton in 1984, Wieland and Frampton cavort around Toronto, “shooting” each other à la Wild West gunslingers with their film cameras; four different points of view provide a dizzying experience. With Avatar on the screens and the brave-new-world prospect of a 3-D television station in the works, it’s fascinating and essential to revisit these roots of filmmaking, when artists were taking a 360-degree view of film’s potential.—T.J. Carlin

The Museum of Modern Art has just announced that, starting January 7th, it will be keeping its doors open until 8:45pm on the first Thursday of every month through June 2010. In addition to gallery tours and regularly scheduled film screenings, there will be DJs and a cash bar featuring a specialty cocktail. Regular admission will still be charged, and the museum recommends that timed tickets be purchased online in advance for Tim Burton.—Emily Bauman

Jason Loebs’s five digital C-prints on clear plastic bags and stainless steel sculpture are arranged so that the reflective nature of their materials interact with the wintry light that comes through the window of Audio Visual Arts’ small storefront gallery space. His first solo show in New York, “Ned Ludd said sorry,” takes a look at how images produced by hand, by machine and through words create meaning, and how industrialization has impacted their reading. The show is up through Wednesday, December 27. Click here to read a review of the exhibition in ArtForum.—Emily Bauman

Self-described as “a sort of anti–art-fair,” The Degenerate Craft Fair is making its third and final 2009 appearance this weekend at BravinLee programs (526 W 26th St between Tenth and Eleventh Aves, suite 211). The event was originally created by artists Amy Wilson and Shannon Broder to help themselves and their friends weather the recession by selling inexpensive versions of their artworks (zines, prints, multiples, etc.) around the holidays. The fair has since developed into a multivenue mixture of booths, performances and parties. There is plenty of time to check out the wares—which generally ring in under $50—on Friday between noon and 9pm or on Saturday from noon to 6pm, but you might not want to miss the spiked hot chocolate that will be offered during the reception on Friday (7–9pm).—Emily Bauman

At a time when many galleries are closing up shop, Feature Inc. is opening a new space. Leaving Chelsea behind, the gallery will be kicking off its residency on the LES with a group exhibition entitled “skulture.” Check out its new digs when the show opens at 131 Allen Street this Sunday, December 13, from 1 to 6pm.

179 Canal is an artist-run alternative space in Chinatown that has been bringing some of NYCs best arts programming to the fore and it needs your help. After occupying a rent-free spot for six months, it now needs to come up with $10,000 in the next few weeks in order to survive. This space was recently a hub for Performa 09, and was home base for the creation of the recently produced television show Circular File Channel (Performa 09 TV), which aired last month for three episodes on a Manhattan public-access cable. Numerous other shows and performances have occurred over the last several months; the space is run by and for artists. Spots like these are what make the New York art community move into the future. No amount is too great or too small. Donate here in order to help 179 Canal survive in 2010.  For more information on the space, visit 179canal.com.—The Art Section

Don’t miss Wednesday night when writer Kevin McGarry takes on the enigmatic performance artist Ryan Trecartin. X Initiative (548 W 22nd St between Tenth and Eleventh Aves, 917-697-4886) will be hosting the conversation starting at 6:30pm. What could the author of Gay & Lesbian Parenting Choices have to say to the creator of some not-exactly kid-friendly gender-bending videos? It’s not clear…but it’s worth a bet that it’ll be good!—Emily Bauman

R.S.V.P. to info@x-initiative.org

Looks like it’s going to be a busy Thursday in the New York art world this week! Here are some of this week’s gallery openings for you to check out:

Thursday, December 10:
Joanna Malinowska, “Time of Guerilla Metaphysics,” at Canada, 6:30–8:30pm
Francis Picabia, “Funny Guy,” and Fairfield Porter, “Paintings,” at Tibor de Nagy Gallery, 5–7pm
Zhang Huan, “Neither Coming Nor Going,” at PaceWildenstein, 6–8pm
Jon Pylypchuk at Friedrich Petzel Gallery (537 West 22nd Street), 6–8pm
Richard Hawkins at Greene Naftali, 6–8pm
Iván Navarro, “Die,” at Paul Kasmin Gallery, 6–8pm
“Out of Order,” curated by Scott Hug, at Andrew Edlin Gallery, 6–8pm
Steve DiBenedetto, Alexander Ross and James Siena, “Morphological Mutiny,” at David Nolan Gallery, 6–8pm
Anthony McCall, “Leaving (with Two-Minute Silence),” at Sean Kelly, 6–8pm
Christian Holstad, “The World’s Gone Beautiful,” at Daniel Reich Gallery, 6–8pm
Brian Calvin, “Head,” and Saul Fletcher at Anton Kern Gallery, 6–8pm
“In Numbers: Serial Publications by Artists” at X Initiative, 6–9pm
Sharon Lockhart at Gladstone Gallery, 6–8pm
Alex Katz, “Painting from the ’50s–’80s,” at Adam Baumgold Gallery, 6–8pm

Friday, December 11:
“Don’t Flee the Art Market!” with DJ Ivan Sunshine at Postmasters, 6–10pm
“Jr. and Son’s,” curated by Joe Bradley, at Zach Feuer Gallery, 6–8pm
“Moving Shapes and Colors” at 179 Canal, 7–9pm

It’s the first week of December, which means our computers are, like, this close to exploding, thanks to all of the craft fairs, holiday markets, one-time shopping extravaganzas, etc., flooding our inboxes. We sifted through the madness and slapped together this must-hit list for the weekend, plus a slide-show sampling of what’s in store.

HOLIDAY HANDMADE CAVALCADE
Where: Openhouse Gallery, 201 Mulberry St between Kenmare and Spring Sts (handmadecavalcade.com)
When: Saturday, December 5, 11am–8pm, free
Why go: Because it’s easier than surfing Etsy and its 2 trillion pages. More than 50 of the megasite’s vendors will be selling their handmade wares here, which include jewelry, handbags, home goods, bath and body products, and felt toys.
What to buy: Better Than Jam’s crazy-flattering frocks ($30–$170), kitty-themed houndtsooth napkins by Cakehouse ($20) and Hand of Fatima’s creepy-lovely unisex necklaces, like the Dr. Blume’s Jar version, strung with real mink vertebrae ($37).
Don’t miss: The raffle drawing. You get one free ticket with every purchase, so the more you shop, the more likely you are to walk away with a hand-designed tote crammed with indie-artisan goodies. Read more »

Do you want to be the person in your Secret Santa circle to give the most unique present this year? Merch might just be your shot. Hosted this Sunday, December 6 (450 W 147th St at Convent Ave, No. 52; 1–6pm), this one-day shopping event will feature customized American Apparel T-shirts by Marianna Ellenberg “that give STDs a cool retro style.” Also available will be Guantanamo baby onesies by artist Paul Chan, designer Hip-Hop Snowman Christmas sweaters by Angie Waller, and more bizarre trinkets and tidbits by Blanka Amezkua, Ben Coonley, Susan Havens and Matthew Mottel. If you want something picture-perfect for your lover/friend/neighbor/colleague, bring a photo and get Arthur Jones to draw one of his imaginative caricatures.—Emily Bauman