THE 15 NEW YORK SHOWS YOU NEED TO SEE THIS SEPTEMBER BY CASEY LESSER AND SCOTT INDRISEK

While summer brought some admirable discoveries among the crop of group shows, September spells the beginning of the fall’s strong solo season. Here, we spotlight 15 of the exhibitions that we’re most excited about, from Kara Walker’s mixed-media paintings to Trevor Paglen’s adventures in artificial-intelligence.

KARA WALKER AT SIKKEMA JENKINS & CO.

SEP. 7–OCT. 14 • 530 WEST 22ND STREET

OPENING: SEP. 7, 6–8 P.M.

Walker has long been known to deftly unravel narratives around gender, race, and sexuality through a fresh, critical lens, be it through her provocative, cut-paper silhouettes, or monumental sculpture (like a 2014 sculpture of a sphinx that alluded to the exploitative history of the sugar trade). This show at Sikkema Jenkins features new paintings, utilizing sumi ink, oil stick, and collage elements, that were made by the artist over the course of this summer. Following the tragic violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Walker released a must-read artist’s statement to accompany the show’s press release, reflecting on the racism that is still endemic to the United States. —Casey Lesser

SOJOURNER TRUTH PARSONS AT DOWNS & ROSS

SEP. 13–OCT. 22 • 106 ELDRIDGE STREET

Taking its title from the 1970 song “Dolphin” by folk singer Linda Perhacs, the Los Angeles-based artist’s new show at Downs & Ross, “Dolphin, take me with you,” reflects on escapist, paradisiacal visions of California. In lush new paintings that are meant to evoke the aesthetics of a garden, Parsons presents dancing black silhouettes, butterflies, and flowers, inspired by her own mixed-race identity as a Black-Mi’kmaq-Caucasian Canadian—and reacting against the staid motifs of male-dominated modernist art. —CL

POLLY APFELBAUM AT ALEXANDER GRAY ASSOCIATES

SEP. 7–OCT. 21 • 510 WEST 26TH STREET

OPENING: SEP. 7, 6–8 P.M.

Apfelbaum’s new show, “The Potential of Women,” was fueled in part by the messaging found in a 1963 book of the same name, which swiftly disparaged women’s contributions to society. The artist presents a group of works that, in stark contrast, exults a feminist, inclusive ideology. The show includes gouaches that riff on the book’s original cover design—a graphic of a streamlined female figure—and a spirited, immersive environment of rugs, painted walls, and ceramic sculptures. —CL………………………………………

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-15-new-york-september