Autumn in New York (2015)

I love New York City, but I really love it in the fall. The temperatures drop at night, the humidity disappears, it's bright and sunny during the day, and crisp and snuggly at night. Heaven. It's also great for exploring the city, as it's a bit quieter. So I've been really busy lately!!

One of the things I love about September is that the galleries reopen. Living in Chelsea, I'm surrounded by them. Today, I stopped by a couple to see some exhibitions that I'd read about. Taglialatelle Gallery has a Banksy exhibit on right now, and my friend Rafe is a huge fan. So I wandered in to see what they had for sale. Call me crazy, but I'm never going to pay $67,000 for street art...

But while I was there, I saw this Damien Hirst piece. I've seen his dot pieces, but I've never seen anything like this. And I fell in love.

It's a pattern made out of butterflies!

I was afraid to ask how much it cost...

After stopping by Taglialatelle, I made my way to the Yossi Milo gallery. New York magazine mentioned an photography exhibit they had that sounded interesting. And I loved it. Markus Brunetti's FACADES (on view till 10/17) consists of a series of large-scale archival pigment prints of cathedrals from all over the world. They're gorgeous, and enormous (some are 10 feet tall), and you can get an up-close view of the exteriors of the facades. The one below is from Dresden.

Chamber is a new gallery on my block. I hadn't stopped in until today, and I'm not sure I get what they're trying to do. (It's like a giant Carol Bove installation.) But I thought this was a cool collection (and not a bad photo)...

There was a Mike Kelley exhibit at Hauser and Wirth on 18th Street that had gotten some write-ups as well, so I wandered by there. If you're faint of heart, don't go into the last room which is showing an S&M video that was apparently filmed on-site, but some of the other pieces, I thought, were pretty cool. You enter through this...

And then proceed through a bunch of dark rooms with glowing cities...

Into the room where the video was filmed and is being shown...

So come to Chelsea and explore!!


Last week, I went to the New York Historical Society to check out the Magna Carta, which was in NYC for a one-week visit. I have no idea how it was possible for them to write such tiny characters! It was kind of overwhelming to be in the presence of an 800-year-old document that had such a formative impact on the world. (The one in the photo is actually from 1217, not 1215.)

I hadn't been to the museum for awhile, but I only had about 45 minutes to explore this time. The next time our Spain-loving niece, Mary Elizabeth, comes for a visit, however, I'm definitely taking her back as they have a Goya, an El Greco and a Velasquez.

And of course, there's the Picasso...

If you are in NY and you have kids, visit the Sea Glass Carousel. I hadn't heard anything about it, but I wandered by one night when they were testing it, thought it was beautiful, and swore I'd ride it at some point.

So this week, I did. It's pretty cool, though I'd recommend riding it at or after dusk. (Sorry the pictures are kind of weird...)

I have a lot of plays on my to-do list, so today, I braved Times Square to hit up TKTS for a Broadway show. I saw Something Rotten!, which I'd considered dragging Ed to at one point since, though he's not a musical fan, he does love Shakespeare. Thank goodness I didn't. While Will is a (very flamboyant, egomaniacal, rockstar of a) character in the play, this show is custom made for people who love musicals. I couldn't believe how many homages there were in this show!! I caught a lot of the references, but I bet I missed as many as I caught. Brian D'Arcy James was terrific, but I was sad to have missed Christian Borle in the role of Shakespeare.

Later this week, the Neue Gallerie (Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer, aka, The Woman in Gold) and the Pixar and Thomas Heatherwick exhibits at the Cooper Hewitt...Stay tuned!

China Through the Looking Glass

If you find yourself in New York before September 7, run, do not walk, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Their current installation, China Through the Looking Glass, is beyond my ability to describe. It includes 'eastern influence on western fashion', as well as Chinese religion, art, film (including one with Fred Astaire!), music...I was completely overwhelmed by what I saw. My photos aren't going to do it justice, but here's a small sample of what you'll see...

Plan to spend a couple of hours. Enjoy.

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.