Editors’ Picks: 19 Events for Your Art Calendar This Week, From Pace’s Star-Studded Fall Lineup to a Virtual Block Party at the Rubin

2. “Amir Nikravan: Passing” at Nathalie Karg Gallery, New York

Amir Nikravan’s polished-looking sculptures seem at first glance to be made of steel or bronze, but there’s no metal involved—hence the show’s title, “Passing.” In a commentary on the economic restraints that limit what artists are able to create, he’s described his acrylic painted wood veneer forms as “low-tech approximations of objects that would cost tens of thousands of dollars to fabricate,” pretending to be part of the great tradition of monumental metal sculpture. “Art is a scam,” writes Maura Brewer in an essay that accompanies the exhibitions. “Amir’s sculptures both reveal and enact that scam, luring us in, and then, at the threshold, letting the mask slip.”