Plywood Has Its Moment
A cheap, underappreciated building material finally gets its turn in the sun as the star of MoMA’s new exhibit “Plywood: Material, Process, Form.” What is ordinarily a drab, multipurpose laminate becomes something much different in MoMA’s hands: the inspiration for a showcase of lofty-minded housewares crafted from about 1930 through the fifties, designed by the likes of Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Arne Jacobsen (MoMA, 11 W. 53 St., nr. Sixth Ave., third fl.; 212-708-9400; ongoing).
Requiem for the Mom-and-Pop Shop
The Clic Gallery is staging a sequel to husband-and-wife photographers James and Karla Murray’s popular 2009 “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York” exhibition, which featured vintage mom-and-pop-shop façades that are fading fast from the New York landscape. The new exhibit, “Store Front II,” will include previously unseen photos of neighborhood landmarks: some shuttered, some—like Mars Bar, Concourse Music Center, and Barney Greengrass—still thrumming along (prints from $450 at Clic Gallery, 255 Centre St., nr. Broome St.; 212-966-2766; through 3/27).
Drunk Drawing
The ever-hip Williamsburg design incubator 3rd Ward is throwing a party this Friday, upsizing its weekly booze-enabled figure-drawing sessions into an all-out rager. The second annual Drink-n-Draw Overdrive will feature ten models, costumed and nude; a live band; and an open beer bar. The event is BYOP—bring your own pencils—or, depending on your medium of choice, charcoals, paints, or chalks (195 Morgan Ave., nr. Stagg St., East Williamsburg; 718-715-4961; Friday, 2/4, 8 p.m.–2 a.m.).