The space program isn't the draw it used to be—just ask President Obama, who deemed it "no longer associated with inspiration." We can't help but think that may have something to do with NASA's lack of audacity, which got a helpful—if imagined—correction by artist Tom Sachs in his 2007 Gagosian installation, Space Program. Sachs crafted his own imagined space station, outfitted in a far more comfortable style: He commissioned Nike and Prada to co-design space suits, created retro consoles (complete with applause signs, above), and kept his onboard liquor cabinet and record library well stocked. To celebrate Rizzoli's recently published accompanying catalog, Sachs joins Bill Powers and Andy Spade for a panel discussion and signing at New York's 192 Books. If you missed the exhibition the first time around, it's well worth a visit. Here's hoping a NASA guy or two drops by for a fact-finding mission, too.
Tom Sachs: Space Program, $65, rizzoliusa.com; signing and panel discussion from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight at 192 Books, 192 Tenth Ave., NYC, (212) 255-4022, 192books.com

The International Center of Photography has been getting a lot of press—and traffic—for three concurrently running shows about fashion photography. And while the images curated for Weird Beauty, This Is Not a Fashion Photograph, and Edward Steichen's Condé Nast work range from the elegant to the provocative and outrageous, let's face it: It's girly stuff. Skip all that for the little show in the downstairs far-back-wall gallery. It's called Munkacsi's Lost Archive, and there's truth in advertising: Hungarian photographer Martin Munkacsi's entire collection of glass negatives went missing after his death in 1963 but were recently found and acquired by ICP. What this small selection of 38 images shows is a photographer shooting sport and play in the joyful and kinetic manner of the hugely influential French lensman Jacques Henri Lartigue. Henri Cartier-Bresson kept a copy of one these images, "Boys Running Into the Surf at Lake Tanganyika," above his desk all his life, and credited Munkacsi's work with inspiring his own. Richard Avedon also viewed him as a major influence. We can't guarantee you'll be quite as moved as dancer Tibor von Halmay, who's apparently trying to dance on the ceiling (pictured), but at least Munkacsi is your ticket out of looking at hundreds of photos of dresses.
Munkacsi's Lost Archive, through May 3 at International Center of Photography, 1133 Avenue of the Americas, NYC, (212) 857-0045, icp.org

Going out in London after the pubs close has always been a challenge: Most of the city's after-hours joints are members-only, and most of those places stick to their door policies with a biblical fervor. But you might be able to weasel your way into two of London's newer clubs, Paramount and Jalouse. Among fashion's cognoscenti, both were popular destinations during fashion week, perhaps because both mark a challenge to the wood-paneled, gastropub clubbiness typical of the town's other members-only bars. Paramount, designed by Tom Dixon and found at the top of the Centre Point Tower on New Oxford Street, has a nouveau-retro jet-set feel—it's like the world's nicest first-class lounge, had it been conceived in 1963 by the same people who brought you The Jetsons. Mayfair's Jalouse, meanwhile, has its own nouveau-retro thing going on, though the tone is more late seventies disco den, and you can surmise what you please from the crystal fixtures embellishing the ceiling (not to mention the fact that Pete Doherty recently played a secret gig there). Jalouse is clubby in the dance party sense—less a place to drink up than to get down. Once you get in, of course.
Paramount, 103 New Oxford St., London, 011-020-7420-2900, paramount.uk.net; Jalouse, 17 Hanover Square, London, 011-020-7629-8871, jalouse.co.uk

Prior to yesterday night, the last time Leonard Cohen played a show in the U.S. was 15 years ago, when, as he put it, "I was 60 years old, just a kid with a crazy dream." A good line (albeit one he's used before), and a sign that Cohen was in high spirits for last night's performance. Another sign: The septuagenarian performed for more than three hours (including an intermission and a whopping six encores), singing his best-known hits ("Bird on the Wire," "Suzanne") and lesser-known stuff ("The Gypsy's Wife," from 1979's Recent Songs) in his trademark raspy baritone. He looked good, too, dancing in place in a slim suit (with Dylan-esque bolo tie) that still looked baggy on his lean frame. He frequently tipped his fedora toward his band mates after particularly spectacular turns. (Targets included Spanish guitar player Javier Mas, singer-songwriter Sharon Robinson, and the lovely Webb Sisters, who even turned cartwheels during the opener, "Dance Me to the End of Love.") After the epic performance, Cohen skipped off stage. He's got a few dozen more shows planned this year, so here's hoping he paces himself. Actually, here's hoping he doesn't.
leonardcohen.com

A collection of snapshots from fashion week's evening obligations

Pictured: Zac Posen at VMan's ice-skating party, held at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers.

Click for more pics >

Our friends at the World's Best Ever point us toward a new exhibition opening tonight at NYC's Fuse Gallery. Dubbed Animalania, it features pet-inspired work by a bunch of our favorite artists (and artist-types), including tattoo expert Scott Campbell, Surface 2 Air's Gordon Hull, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O and Nick Zinner, and Flight of the Conchords' Kristen Schaal (who contributes videos from her Penelope, Princess of Pets series). Some of the stuff is as corny as you'd expect—see a gallery here—but much of it is oddly striking, as with Ryan McGinley's photo of a grinning boar (above), who (like many of the photographer's subjects) was photographed in the buff.
93 Second Ave., NYC, (212) 777-7988, fusegallerynyc.com

Making their stateside debut today: four of BMW's storied Art Cars, a collection of vintage Bimmers decorated by some of the art world's biggest guns, from Warhol (who color-blocked his model) to Lichtenstein (who employed his trademark benday dots for a Pop-mobile). Usually on view at BMW's Munich museum, the vehicles will be displayed for two weeks before coming to New York's Grand Central Station in March. And for the record, these aren't examples of function taking a backseat to form—the Lichtenstein finished first in its class at Le Mans in '77. (Eat dust, Rauschenberg.)
BMW Art Cars come to L.A. County Museum of Art through February 24, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., L.A., (323) 857-6151, lacma.org

Even before his iconic Obama poster popped up everywhere from your liberal sister's apartment window to the cover of Time, Shepard Fairey's work was as recognizable and ubiquitous as any contemporary artist's. So it's hard to believe that, until now, no museum had ever given him a retrospective. That changes tomorrow, when the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston opens Supply & Demand. The show is sponsored by Levi's, and naturally includes a collaborative jean, à la Damien Hirst (see slideshow). You'll also find 20 years' worth of skateboard designs, screen prints, and lesser-known commodities like Fairey's AG Soda cans, conceived as a response to the Obey Giant-like ad campaign for Coke's OK Soda. (The mid-nineties were a strange time.) It's a little overwhelming to see it all in one place—a monolithic wall of his prints is particularly overpowering—but the moment seems long past due.
Through August 16, 100 Northern Ave., Boston, (617) 478-3100, icaboston.org

Click here for a slideshow from the exhibit >