May (so far) - Chelsea Gallery Hopping, Flat Lulu, Wave Hill, Rei Kawakubo at the Met, GT, Belmont

One of the things I love about Chelsea is that you get to see museum-quality art for free in the galleries here. The Chelsea Gallery Map (you can get the app on your iPhone) is wonderful. You can search by artist or by location. Or you can just scroll through and see what catches your fancy. I spent a little time this morning scrolling and found myself a walking tour.

I started out at the Henry Moore show at Maxwell Davidson Gallery on 26th Street. (NB: You have to go to the 9th floor for this one. I walked right past the building, thinking it'd be at street level.) Henry Moore is one of the sculptors I've been familiar with for ages, because I've been driving past his massive works outside the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery in Kansas City for decades. The views from this gallery are worth it, even if they're not showing anything you're interested in. 

If you zoom in, you can see the Chrysler Building as well as the Empire State.

Next stop was the Pace Gallery, which is showing Robert Mangold until June 17th. I don't know much about him, or about his art. I just kept trying to figure out what photos I have that I'd stick in the holes in these frames. (His title as well as mine. By the way, that thing is the length of my couch.) 

Next stop: Taglialatella Galleries on Tenth Avenue. If you're into street art, you have to stop by when you're in the neighborhood. They show Banksy, Mr. Brainwash (if you haven't seen Exit Through The Gift Shop, stop reading this and watch it immediately), Kaws, Damien Hirst...Right now, there's an Invader show. Some of the works require a camera for you to be able to see what he's doing. Like this Rubikscubism one: 

The little space invader is invisible until you look through your camera.

That said, I'm still not sure what this one is supposed to be. Ed sees someone hugging himself. I think it looks a bit like a hand on a video game button or ball. If you have other ideas (or if it's completely obvious to you what I'm missing), let me know.

Head upstairs, to see Mr. Brainwash's Mickey, as well as some Banksy prints.

On my way down 22nd Street, I happened past the Danese Corey Gallery, which is showing an artist I've never heard of: Deborah Butterfield. These photos don't do her justice. The horses are larger-than-life sized. They look like driftwood or charred wood sculptures, but they're cast bronze and weigh about a ton each. They're amazing, not that I could imagine having one in my home...

My original destination on 22nd Street was the Ellsworth Kelly show at Matthew Marks. They were just big blocks of color, so I didn't bother taking any pictures. Next stop, David Zwirner on 20th Street.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres is an artist I'd never heard of until I started volunteering at the Whitney two years ago. They installed one of his pieces in a six-story stairwell. It was removed recently to be replaced by a (very bizarre) piece for the Biennial, but it was a bit similar to the stairwell installation at David Zwirner:

The fun thing about this show is how much of it is meant to be touched or taken. You walk through this beaded screen to get from one room to another...

 And you're welcome to take a piece of candy from this giant pile...

There's a stack of papers that say "Nowhere is better than here" next to a stack of papers that say, "Somewhere is better than here." Feel free to take one of either or each. 

On Monday, I had to return Flat Stanley to Virginia. He'd been visiting me for about ten days, courtesy of my six-year-old niece, Lulu. Here's Stanley/Lulu and me:

You can't see her uniform in that shot, but you'll see it soon.

Flat Lulu and I didn't do a whole lot that I hadn't done before. She had to visit the High Line, the Met, the Natural History Museum, the New York Public Library (and Winnie-the-Pooh)...But she and I did explore Wave Hill together. It had been on my list for a couple of years, and I'd never gotten there. I have to say, I was a bit underwhelmed. It's a beautiful property, and the gardens and the views are gorgeous. But I prefer the NY Botanical Garden and the High Line, personally.

View of the Hudson

Flat Lulu in the flower bed (don't tell anyone!)

Flat Lulu with the Devil's Tongue which is an Amorphophallus, just like the Corpse Flower, and stinky like it, too.

They do art at Wave Hill, too. So if you were wondering what to do with all of that caution tape...

Even though I've been to the Met a million times, I hadn't see the Rei Kawakubo show that's there now. I am now convinced that I will never understand high fashion. Ever.

I mean, what the hell is that? A dress with what look like tighty-whiteys attached to it?

Flat Lulu in her plaid uniform with some other plaid dresses...

How is this in any way flattering? You couldn't pay me to wear it.

Bows

The other thing we saw at the Met that I'd never seen before is the Chinese Art of the Qin and Han Dynasties exhibit that's there through July 16th. I don't have a great appreciation for Asian art, but it was very cool to see the terracotta warriors.

My cousin, GT, and his lovely wife, Susan, came to the city for her brother's graduation from NYU. They brought along their youngest, Thomas. We had a nice day doing some exploring in the unseasonably hot (90+) May weather. Of course, I had to take them to St. Patrick's Cathedral...

And finally, last weekend, Ed and I headed out to Belmont Park for the first time. We were going to watch the Preakness, but it wasn't the loveliest day, so we headed home early. I made a friend while we were there. I just wish there hadn't been a wall of glass between us...

It's Memorial Day weekend this weekend...More to come soon, I hope!