This week we bring you a new arts feature, “Three to See” where we’ll highlight three exhibitions that stand out as worthwhile visits. In many if not most cases, seeing art IRL is essential for apprehending it fully. We’ll focus on shows that have a substantial payoff in that respect.
Nick Cave: Amalgams and Graphts
Nick Cave, best known for his colorful sound suits, which he developed in response to the 1991 beating of Rodney King by the police that led to the L.A. Riots, has an ambitious large-scale new show in the massive new Tribeca location of Jack Shainman Gallery.

Cave’s monumental sculptures feel at once like hybrid plant-human deities that tap into race, class and power dynamics. At 26 feet in height, the scale of the central figure is awe inspiring.
46 Lafayette St., New York, NY
January 10 – March 15

Barry McGee: Cherry Picking
McGee’s drawn iconic faces and figures may be recognizable to many, both within the hallowed halls of museums and galleries, as well as street walls and trains of urban landscapes across the globe.

He’s a pioneer in bridging the space between graffiti and the art world. In this presentation in the basement of The Hole (literally underground) viewers are completely immersed in a salon style arrangement of McGee’s work alongside the work of other like-minded artists in his orbit. Hurry, this one ends soon!
86 Walker St., New York, NY
January 14 – January 29
Free, Fearless, and Fantastical

This group exhibition features several artists Epicenter is close to, including Pyaari Azaadi (an artist formerly known as Jaishri Abichandani), Shazia Sikander, and Sharmistha Ray. It opens this week.

“The exhibition, which prominently features both art and poetry by a notable group of international artists and writers, evokes an exhilarating sense of liberation as a call out to the collective morphology of humans, women and the gender-marginalized, who have been silenced and constrained by patriarchal norms for centuries”, says curator Bina Sarkar Ellias.
29 East 22nd St., New York
January 23 – March 22
Epicenter welcomes submissions from institutions and artists looking to amplify awareness of their exhibitions, and of course will continue our featured artist micro-grant program.
See more of our Artist of the Week features here.