Since February is the shortest month it’s important to pack in as much as possible, and this week is especially busy at MoMA, with a final-weekend Matisse blitz, a critical discussion on art and free speech, films that celebrate women in cinema, and so much more. You won’t want to miss these programs:
Desperately Seeking Susan. 1985. USA. Directed by Susan Seidelman. Courtesy Orion Pictures Corp./Photofest
• To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Film Preservation Fund (WFPF), MoMA presents a Carte Blanche series of films selected by the WFPF programming committee that reflect the essential role of women in cinema. The program begins tonight with a screening of Susan Seidelman’s Desperately Seeking Susan, introduced by the director.
• On Tuesday, MoMA presents Charlie Hebdo, Zero Tolerance, and Freedom of Speech, a panel discussion produced in collaboration with Creative Time, MoMA PS1, and Thomson Reuters. Moderated by Sir Harold Evans, and featuring artists Kader Attia and Sharon Hayes; actor, comedian, and producer Aasif Mandvi; Vice News editor-in-chief Jason Mojica; author and historian Simon Schama; commentator, satirist, and architect Karl Sharro; and actor, playwright, and professor Anna Deavere Smith. The event is sold out, but a limited number of standyby tickets may be available on site, and this event will be live streamed via YouTube.
Top Hat. 1935. USA. Directed by Mark Sandrich
• The next installment of the Department of Film’s Acteurism series presents an eight-week survey of Ginger Rogers’s dazzling career, from chorus girl to career woman. Drawn from MoMA’s archives, the program kicks off on Wednesday with Top Hat (1935), which includes the classic Astaire-Rogers duet “Cheek to Cheek.”
• On Thursday, join painter Richard Aldrich and MoMA PS1 curator Peter Eleey for the first edition of Close Conversations, a series of intimate talks in the galleries exploring the work of artists featured in The Forever Now: Contemporary Painting in an Atemporal World. Seating is limited, so get your ticket today.
Installation view of Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (October 12, 2014–February 10, 2015). Photo: Carly Gaebe / Steadfast Studio. © 2015 The Museum of Modern Art. All works by Henri Matisse. © 2015 Succession H. Matisse/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
• As the final days of Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs approach, MoMA will stay open all day and all night for the exhibition’s final weekend (Friday, 10:30 a.m.–Sunday, 5:30 p.m.). Come any time that suits your schedule and share a special after-hours adventure with your friends and family. Get your timed ticket today.
• For Sunday Sessions at MoMA PS1, Leigha Mason presents BANQUET FOR PANTAGRUEL, that stages a banquet-table vanitas with video projected above onto a piñata, awaiting the performance’s climax.
