Arts

There are some who may only know Denise Gale from her five-year stint as host of “Drinks With Denise” on LTV, where she mixed it up with local chefs and personalities over cocktails and wine. They might not realize that lurking under the tipsy banter and awkward conversational transitions was a serious abstract painter, who pursued her metier first under the tutelage of Peter Plagens in California, and then in New York City before settling in Springs in 2001. Mr. Plagens, well known for his criticism in The Wall Street Journal and other publications, is also a painter, and an admirer of Ms. Gale, who appeared on a short list of painters he respects in ARTPULSE magazine.

An examination of the work of Connie Fox and William King will lead a slate of new exhibitions opening at Guild Hall on Sunday with a special reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Serving as guest curator for “Connie Fox and William King: An Artist Couple” is Gail Levin, a professor of art history at the City University of New York, author of many books and monographs on artists, and a contributor to The East Hampton Star. She is also the author of the exhibition catalog essay and will interview Ms. Fox preceding the reception at 2 p.m.

A presidential campaign that only grows more nauseating as its climactic moment nears, violence in America’s streets and around the world, and the economic struggles common to so many — given the state of things, the timing is right for soothing sounds evoking simpler times.

The three-person show at Amagansett’s Ille Arts Gallery has a unifying theme in landscape painting, but the path each artist follows in addressing it diverges wildly.

After traveling the film festival circuit for the last several months, the documentary “Legs: A Big Issue in a Small Town” arrived on Oct. 10 exactly where it began: in Sag Harbor Village, where Larry Rivers’s 16-foot-tall “Legs” still stands — as either an illegal structure or an artistic sculpture, depending on one’s viewpoint — attached to a house at the corner of Madison and Henry Streets, even as it awaits a State Supreme Court decision on its fate.

The Parrish Art Museum’s Salon Series of classical music concerts will present a performance by Sybarite5, a string quartet whose eclectic repertory ranges from Mozart to Radiohead, tomorrow at 6 p.m.

“Land/Sea,” an exhibition of work by John Todaro, Phyllis Chillingworth, and Annie Sessler and Jim Goldberg, will be on view at Ashawagh Hall in Springs on Saturday and Sunday, with a reception set for Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. “Ned Smyth: Moments of Water,” an exhibition of large sculptures, photographs, and smaller installations, will open on Sunday at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, N.J., where it will be on view through April 2.

A simulcast of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” part of the Met: Live in HD series, will be shown on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Guild Hall. A pre-opera lecture by the renowned composer and conductor Victoria Bond will take place at noon.

Claes Brondal, who organizes and hosts the weekly jam session at Bay Burger in Sag Harbor, is expanding his musical reach with a new series that will launch on Saturday at the Southampton Arts Center.

The Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island will present an alumni recital on Saturday at 5 p.m. by the cellist Yves Dharamraj, who has appeared with orchestras in Texas, Wisconsin, Florida, and the Dominican Republic, as well as Juilliard in New York City. Tickets are $25, free for children.

The conversation at the East Hampton Middle School between the actor Edward Norton, the recipient of the 2016 Hamptons International Film Festival’s Career Achievement Award, and David Edelstein, the chief film critic for New York magazine, began auspiciously. Mr. Edelstein, referring to Mr. Norton’s inspiration for Mike Shiner, his self-involved character in the Academy Award-winning “Birdman,” asked, “Where do you go to find the ultimate narcissistic actor?”

One of the many surprises in “Wig Shop,” Kat Coiro’s compelling 15-minute contribution to the Hamptons International Film Festival’s program of shorts by female filmmakers, was Emily Mortimer’s performance as an Orthodox Jewish woman.

“Unlocking the Cage,” which won this year’s Zelda Penzel Giving Voice to the Voiceless award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, is a film about a lawyer’s quest to give certain human rights to animals.

The Mandala Yoga Center in Amagansett will present a concert of Merasi Indian music on Sunday evening at 6.

Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor will present a new All Star Comedy show, hosted by Joseph Vecsey, tomorrow at 8 p.m. Mr. Vecsey, a stand-up veteran, continues to turn up on television and YouTube as one of the UnMovers in new spots for Optimum Cable TV. He also hosts “The Call Back,” a podcast that features interviews with noted comedians.

With impeccable timing, the Hampton Theatre Company in Quogue will open its 2016-2017 season with “November,” David Mamet’s scathing satire on American presidential politics, next Thursday evening at 7. The play will run through Nov. 6.

The Met: Live in HD will kick off its season with an encore screening of a new production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” which will be shown on Saturday at noon at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The production will feature an outstanding cast of Wagnerians: Nina Stemme as Isolde, Stuart Skelton as Tristan, Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangane, and René Pape as King Marke.

Paintings by Peter Lipman-Wulf, currently on view at the Romany Kramoris Gallery in Sag Harbor, beckon from the sidewalk in a pleasant way. Two of his watercolors on paper, casually tacked on boards, have been placed on easels in the storefront windows. The presentation is charmingly reminiscent of street art vendors in Paris along the Seine.

Josh Dayton will show recent work at Ashawagh Hall in Springs tomorrow through Sunday, with a reception set for Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. The show was organized by Arlene Bujese. “Bateau Promenade,” an exhibition of work by the Israeli painter Guy Yanai, will open at Harper’s Books in East Hampton with a reception Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. and remain on view through mid-December.

It isn’t officially part of the Hamptons International Film Festival, but a short film with local ties will be screened at the Sag Harbor Cinema on Saturday.

It is no coincidence that “The Castle of Perseverance,” the second exhibition at Crush Curatorial in Amagansett, will open on Saturday in conjunction with the Hamptons International Film Festival. Organized by Molly Surno, an installation artist who works in film, video, and performance, the show, which includes work by 15 artists, is an exploration of the function of symbols as props in visual art.

From anarchy to bombings, illness, and death, a random sampling of documentary films from this year’s Hamptons International Film Festival seems, on the surface at least, to be a grim affair. Yet, there are tales of hope and triumph as well. Following are some glimpses of what will be screened and what cannot be missed.

Given everywhere that Aaron Eckhart has lived, it is surprising his visit this week to the Hamptons International Film Festival will be the first time he has been on the South Fork.

The Salon Series, the classical music program of the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, will open its fall series tomorrow at 6 p.m. with a concert by William McNally, a pianist whose repertory ranges from classical to ragtime.

The Drawing Room in East Hampton will present “Autumn Salon,” featuring works by 11 artists, from tomorrow through Nov. 28. The exhibition will include painting, sculpture, prints, works on paper, and photography. The Monika Olko Gallery in Sag Harbor will be the site of an Art and Music Lounge from today through Monday, from noon to 10 p.m. daily, in celebration of the Hamptons International Film Festival.

The Southampton Cultural Center’s Center Stage will present Christopher Hampton’s translation of Yasmina Reza’s “God of Carnage” from next Thursday through Oct. 30. The Tony Award-winning play, which is subtitled “A Comedy — Without the Manners,” involves two sets of parents who meet to discuss an altercation between their sons. As it progresses, the evening dissolves into chaos as the parents become increasingly childish and brutally truthful.

The Montauk Library will present “Gershwin: The Double Life of an American Icon,” a free concert by the classical-jazz pianist Alexander Wu, on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Jim Gingerich was born in Texas and raised there and in Oregon, but, despite his love of the region, he moved to New York City 40 years ago and has spent much of his time since then painting the landscape of the South Fork.

The Choral Society of the Hamptons will hold auditions for its Christmas concert by appointment on Monday at the Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church.

A hypercritical mother, Mack the Knife, and Emma Goldman will appear in various incarnations at Guild Hall this week, starting tomorrow evening at 8 with a personal documentary by the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum, “Look at Us Now, Mother!”