Art in the parks (part 1)

This summer, you will find some really incredible sculpture installations in NYC parks. Here are some of the ones I've visited so far...

Madison Square Park

Teresita Fernandez's Fata Morgana, on display until "winter 2015-16", doesn't look like much from a distance...

but once you're walking under it, it's magical. 

City Hall Park

If you're in town for a visit and headed to Ground Zero and the 9/11 Museum, wander a few blocks east to City Hall Park. Public Art has an installation called Image Objects on display through November 20th, 2015. From their website:

"With new works produced specifically for this exhibition, each artist has drawn from source images and used digital means to create new sculptural forms. Alice Channer’s R O C K F A L L (2015) and Jon Rafman’s New Age Demanded (2015) employ advanced digital fabrication tools to transform images into three-dimensional objects. Other artists – like Amanda Ross-Ho and Artie Vierkant – have created works that directly address the photographic life of a sculpture when it is documented and shared online. As images are rendered into objects and objects are circulated as images, the boundaries between the physical and the virtual are blurred, challenging us to rethink how we see the world around us."

I thought it was appropriate for this photo to be a selfie (I'm terrible at them...), since the artist is referencing the "online afterlife of art in the public realm".

Brooklyn Bridge Park

On Friday, I visited BBP to help with their Park Count Marathon. It's a wonderful park with a carousel, sand volleyball and basketball courts, places to kayak and wade, a pop up swimming pool, and lots and lots of summer programming. SyFy movie nights, Shakespeare at Sunset, concerts, fitness classes...there's something for everyone. Oh, and don't forget Smorgasburg on Sundays at Pier 5!! (Visit brooklynbridgepark.org for a full calendar.) 

While I was there, I wandered around in search of Jeppe Hein's installation Please Touch the Art. It's a great addition to the park - neon orange benches where you can read or eat Ample Hills ice cream, a mirror labyrinth to explore, and a jetting fountain, perfect on a hot summer day.

While you're at the park, be on the lookout for Tom Fruin's gorgeous stained glass water tank on the roof of the BBP offices at Furman and Joralemon Streets. (The second photo is from when one was in a local gallery, not onsite.) 

P.S. Mr. Fruin is holding an artist talk at the park on Sept. 10th at 7pm.

Many other local parks (Riverside Park, Central Park...) also have art on display. But those are for another post.

The Whitney comes to the Meatpacking District

The Whitney Museum of American Art

I've recently become an ambassador (a fancy term for someone who smiles, welcomes, holds elevator doors, and offers directions) for The Whitney, which moved into its new digs in the Meatpacking District this spring, opening to the public on May 1, 2015. It has been hugely popular, with lines backed up to get in. (If you want to visit, I'd highly recommend getting your ticket in advance!) The Renzo Piano-designed building sits at the southern terminal of the High Line Park, and the public patio has become a very popular hangout spot.

The museum was founded by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney in 1931. She had been supporting living American artists from early in the twentieth century, providing material support as well as showing the artist that "someone wants what he has made". When the Met turned down her offer to donate her collection ("What will we do with them, my dear lady? We have a cellar full of those things."), she decided to found her own institution. The original location was on 8th Street in Greenwich Village. In 1955, the museum moved to 54th Street, relocating to the Breuer Building in 1966.

The new building is a light-filled open space which gives future artists incredible flexibility to exhibit their art. The floors are wood which allows them to be pulled up if need be. (Plus, they're easier on my back than your usual concrete and marble!) All the walls are movable (and removable!), which allows the space to be configured in a multitude of ways. The eighth floor, the smallest, is lit by indirect natural light. The floors get larger as you go down; art is exhibited on floors 5-8.

The current exhibition is America is Hard to See. I'll let them tell you about it:

"Drawn entirely from the Whitney Museum of American Art’s collection, America Is Hard to See takes the inauguration of the Museum’s new building as an opportunity to reexamine the history of art in the United States from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present. Comprising more than six hundred works, the exhibition elaborates the themes, ideas, beliefs, and passions that have galvanized American artists in their struggle to work within and against established conventions, often directly engaging their political and social contexts. Numerous pieces that have rarely, if ever, been shown appear alongside beloved icons in a conscious effort to unsettle assumptions about the American art canon."  - Whitney website

As I've mentioned before, I am a bit of a philistine when it comes to contemporary art - I don't get it. Projectors plugged into tennis shoes, for example, which I saw this spring at the Guggenheim. I'm sure it's "brilliant", but I just can't appreciate it at all. America is Hard to See, however, is a greatest-hits collection of 20th century American art. Edward Hopper, Thomas Hart Benton, Georgia O'Keeffe, George Bellows...And that's just for starters. 

If you like older art, like I do, plan to spend your time on floors 7 and 8. Floors 5 and 6 are the more contemporary stuff--there's even a piece from 2014 in the exhibition. 

The elevators are works of art (the last work Richard Artschwager did before he died), but they can be crowded and slow, so be prepared to wait a bit.

Be sure to explore the outdoor spaces while you're there. 

Out on the terraces, you can take a staircase from 8 to 7 to 6. The interior stairs allow you to access all four floors, 5-8. A second staircase takes you from the lobby to 5 and includes a light installation by Felix Gonzales-Torres. 

Enjoy your visit. And maybe have a glass of wine in the Studio Cafe--they'll take your name if there's  a wait and text you when your table is ready. 

I like the Isle of Manhattan...

In the five years we've lived here, we've done some really fun things on the water, so I thought I'd share my top 5 so far.

1. That first summer, when we were extended visitors rather than residents, we took a trip on the Clipper City Schooner. It's a lovely way to see the city from a different perspective, and you get to have a drink and hoist the sails if you like. :)

2. Our friends Rafe and Robin introduced us to the William Wall over this past Memorial Day weekend. The Manhattan Yacht Club's floating clubhouse could be the best place to watch the sunset in the city. Anchored just off Ellis Island and sporting a full bar (you can bring your own picnic), you can have a drink and, on Tuesday-Thursday evenings, watch a sailboat race as the setting sun reflects off of downtown. We had to take the launch ($20/person) from Jersey City, but they've recently added shuttle service from Pier 25 in Manhattan.

3. City Sights and City Sightseeing tours are a great way to see the city, whether you're on one of their double-decker buses or one of their cruise ships. We took the City Sightseeing cruise. The tour guides are informative and funny, and the boat went down the Hudson and up the East River and back again, giving us an almost-full view of the island. (You can tell this is from awhile back - One World Trade aka Freedom Tower is still under construction.)

4. The three-story floating lobster shack known as the North River Lobster Company, is one of my favorite summertime venues. It docks at Pier 81 (about a mile from our apartment) and takes periodic 45-minute trips up the Hudson River. There's no cover charge, and the shrimp po'boy is excellent. It can get crowded in the evenings, though, so get there early if you want a spot on the top deck.

5. And finally, if you want to be on the water, but you don't want to go for a sail, visit the Frying Pan. Housed in a former lightship (floating lighthouse), and located at Pier 66 (26th Street), this is the place to be on a warm summer day. On weekends, the line can go down the block, so consider yourself warned. Be sure to go below decks to check out the barnacle-encrusted walls leftover from the three sunken years before her salvage and restoration.