SPIRITUAL REFRESHMENT

Summer Night at the Frick Collection, 1 East 70th St., July 22, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m., free, http://www.frick.org/

It's hot in New York this week and getting hotter, and what better way to cool off than to stop by the Frick Collection's free after-hours viewing this Friday and linger by its bubbling interior pool, take in the fragrant breezes of Watteau and Fraggonard's pleasure gardens, and refresh yourself in the blue of the "Comtesse d'Haussonville"'s eyes. Also, with Bellini's "St. Francis in the Desert" now the center of a gem-like multimedia exhibition, you'll be able to forget New York's secular heat for a moment in the face of that spiritual scorcher.

GALLERY SHOWS

"POWHIDA," at Marlborough Chelsea, 545 West 25th St., opening July 27, through August 12, http://marlboroughgallery.com/

Could Brooklyn-based art world provocateur William Powhida, an artist who has terrorized victims with his satirical drawings, be going mainstream? In this subversive exhibition meant to undermine a corporate gallery (but also part of a re-branding of the same), Powhida will take over Marlborough with an "installation of non-traditional art objects" throughout the space. The show will be one to watch as Powhida's art-world reality continues to move toward the fictional world of his celebrity alter ego of the same name. 

"Cabin Fever" at Mixed Greens Gallery, 531 West 26 St., through August 19, http://mixedgreens.com

"Cabin Fever" is the perfect summer group show: approachable, a little sloppy, and tons of fun. The lost-in-the-woods theme shines through best in Abraham Storer's landscape paintings. 

"Can I Get a Witness?" at Art Blog Art Blog, 508 West 26 St., through July 30, http://artblogartblog.com/

New York's art youth are all flocking to this indie Chelsea pop-up gallery that has played host to a series of ambitious exhibitions taking a pinpoint look at the bleeding edge of contemporary art. 

MUSEUM SHOWS

"Talk to Me," an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rdSt., from July 24, http://www.moma.org/

Opening to the public July 24, the Paola Antonelli-curated "Talk to Me" takes broad aim at social technology, examining how we relate to machines and how we use machines to relate to one another.

BOOKS & READINGS

"The Chairs Are Where The People Go," by Misha Glouberman with Sheila Heti, recently published by Faber and Faber, http://amazon.com

Modern Painters' senior editor Scott Indrisek recommends this slim volume, billed as a "self-help help book for people who don’t feel they need help," which provides a peek into the mind of Toronto's Misha Glouberman—a contemplative, Charades-teaching guru of the ordinary.

"Worlds for Koo Jeong A," a reading by Matvei Yankelevich, a the Dan Flavin Art Institute, Corwith Avenue, Bridgehampton, July 21, doors openat 6:30 p.m., http://www.diacenter.org/

Last November the Korean-born artist Koo Jeong A created an expansive three-part exhibition "Constellation Congress" at Dia:Beacon, Dia's Hispanic Society outpost, and the Dan Flavin Art Institute in Bridgehampton. Now, as a kind of belated coda to the show, the Dia Art Foundation will host a poetry reading at the Flavin Institute this Thursday. It is the first public program that the organization will hostat the satellite site in over a decade – and Yankelvich, a poet and translator, will read new verse in a gallery filled with the artist's works on paper.

NOURISHMENT

Serious Eats All-Star Sandwich Festival, Governer's Island, Saturday, July 23, 2011 from 12 - 4 pm, http://seriouseatssandwichfest.eventbrite.com/

Market reporter Shane Ferro says, “There are few words that sound better together than ‘sandwich’ and ‘festival.’ The $65 price tag might seem steep, but sandwiches from the likes of Locanda Verde and Gramercy Tavern are included, along with beer, dessert, and an afternoon on Governor’s Island. You also might run into Ed Levine.”