Gotham Gal

day 2 of our staycation

Since we had decided to stay in NYC, I told Josh he had to spend one day with us doing something cultural.  He was in.  

We started out at the Pace Gallery that had a Fred Wilson exhibit.  The exhibit is beautiful.  The exhibit was originally shown in Venice.  The pieces above reference the Sala Longhi room in the Palazzo ca’ Rezzonico.  Supposedly at the actual installation in Venice each hole sits directly over a face on 26 different paintings and so the face just shows and nothing else. 

Fred Wilson, the artist, happened to be there when we were there which made looking at the work even more special.  He happens to be a super nice guy and we have met him before.  The first time Fred met him was when he was walking down the street and they both stopped and looking each other and said, "you are Fred Wilson".  Kind of funny.  This is a large chandelier made from Murano glass.

This is the smaller chandelier.

These teardrop drips are very cool too. 

I like the funkiness of this piece.  The white and the black manipulated with glass.

This is one of my favorite pieces, the black mirror.  I just love it.  Much more beautiful in person.

Across the street was a Tesla showroom.  Essentially battery operated cars.  Beyond cool.

Here is what you would put in your garage to "fuel" up.  Hopefully these cars will go down in price and everyone will have one. 

This is the inners of a sedan.

Afterward we went up to the MOMA for lunch and to see the Cindy Sherman exhibit.  The food at the Modern is always good.  I prefer the bar area.  I happen to love the small plates that pack a big punch.  We split everything.  Chopped Scottish salmon with small pieces of chiles, mango and citrus. 

Two kinds of Jambon.  Both delicious.

Country sausage with sauerkraut and mustard.  Great flavors and amazing presentation.

Beer braised pork belly over rice.  This is amazing.  Cuts like butter.

One of my favorites.  Sliced duck breast with peppercorn pistachio crusted apple slices and a truffle mustard dipping sauce.

After lunch we went to see the exhibit. 

I have certainly followed Cindy Shermans career for a long time.  I totally appreciate her work and believe she has certainly made a major impact in the photography world but aesthetically her work doesn't connect with me.  This happened to be my favorite piece in the show although it was just done in 2011 and it isn't typical of the work she has done over the years.

We did some shopping for Josh afterwards.  Went home and rested a bit before dinner.

 

Whitney Biennial 2012

We are lucky that there are places like the Whitney collecting and displaying art that is thought provoking, conversational and conversational.  The Biennial is about artists.  Artists who are using their imagination to create works that represent something that have come from within them. 

Did I enjoy the Biennial?  Not really.  Do I get it?  Sure.  The show was curated to be not contemporary or modern but a statement of work that represents all the different mediums from video to collage to sculpture to performances etc that are not for the every day consumer of art. 

Personally art speaks to me aesthetically which is why I enjoy collecting.  I live among the works and I appreciate what each artist has created.  Many times, if I am lucky, I get to meet the artist and have even a stronger connection to the body of work that they have created.

After the Armory Show last week, we went to see the Hort Collection.  A private family collection that has been assembled of emerging artists for over the past twenty years.  Many of the pieces in their home were not something that I could necessarily live with like the Whitney show.  What I loved is that they opened their home to the world.  It was like walking through a museum which my guess is something that they have thought about opening one day. 

It is people like the Horts and the many boards of the Whitney who have collected art that might not be beautiful, per se, but work that forces everyone who sees it to think, ponder and wonder.  That is exatcly what Biennial is about.  Didn't visually enjoy it but am very glad I went. 

 

The Independent Art Fair

When the Armory Show is in town a variety of other shows around town pop-up too.  I would have liked to get to all of them but the only other one I made it to was the Independent.  Many of the galleries at this show carry emerging contemporary artists.  The show was in the Dia space on 22nd Street. 

This was a hanging piece which I thought was quite cool.  Pae White is the artist. 

Another hanging piece called Canopy Camping by Andrea Bowers at the Andrew Krepps Gallery. 

Fred saw this piece and loved it.  It was great to have him walk the show with me and find something he really liked.  The artist is Michael Portnoy, he is American but his gallery is in Rotterdam.  Portnoy is a performance artist who is just starting to work in paint.  This piece is almost 10" across but 80" tall which makes for a really unique piece too. 

Interesting sculptures at Herald Street.

A dining room installation at GB Agency. 

A much more manageable show than the pier, small and more intimate.  Glad we got to it.  Loving our rabbi. 

Still recovering from the Armory Show

I had been on an art hiatus until I went to Mexico City this past January...and now I have totally engaged again.  The Armory Show was last week and I spent five hours there.  By the time I left I could barely see straight.  It took me a few days to clear my head.   I really enjoyed the show this year and ended up buying a few things.  Here is what I saw.

I do love neon art.  This is by Tim Noble and Sue Webster being shown at BlainSouthern.

I absolutely loved this piece.  A floating dress wrapped up in threads and metal.  A very cool sculpture.  Chicaru Shiota at Galerie Daniel Templon in Paris. 

These eyeballs just caught my eye (no pun intended).  Would be fun to have them sitting in a main entrance of a house.  Artist is Tony Oursler.

We bought a Donald Sultan piece back in 1999.  Really love what he is doing now.  This piece is enamel, tar and spackle on wood and then hanging on another piece of wood.  Very cool.  Galerie Forsblum

Really liked these.  The artist is Matts Leiderstam who is an art historian.  He takes photos of his books and then highlights small pieces inside the photo with a magnifying glass.  Stockholm Gallery, Andrehn - Schiptjenko.  I bought this one and the one below. 

Felt like two told a better story.

Am a fan of Angel Orteros work.  This piece was huge but I'd really like to find something I like in a smaller version.  Gallery Kavi Gupta in Berlin and Chicago.

This is multiple photos put together.  Very clever.  I liked this gallery and alot of the work they had.  This artist is Sangbin IM at the Mary Ryan Gallery.

Loved this from Mary Ryan Gallery too.  Little pieces of photos cut up into the original photo.  Super cool.  Bradley Castellanos. 

And a piece of sculpture on the wall by Katy Stone. 

I saw these online and put them on hold prior to the show by Gideon Rubin.  They are small and timely and they made me laugh.  Rokeby Gallery in London.  All his work is faceless and most of it is reminiscent of a different era of painting.

Polly Apfelbaum from Durham Press Gallery.  This gallery takes really great artists and does prints with them.  These are fun and happy. 

Two artists from Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery.  Niko Luoma.  Seeing a lot of enamel pieces.

Jorma Puranen with cameo like photographs finished off with enamel.

Loved the bear.  What is funny is that I saw this artist about a month ago with completely different work that I loved too.  Guess I enjoy his sensibility.  Peter Liversidge is the artist.

I always find that when I like a particular gallery that I tend to like many of the artists that they represent.  I have now bought three pieces from Yossi Millo Gallery.  This is the third.  Matthew Brandt is the artist.  These are singular photos that he has taken the lake water on the photo and then painted it on top.  My photo does not do is justice.

These are very cool.  Small circular paintings that capture different areas of Versailles.  My friend brought a few of them. Artist is Phillip Cognee.  Same gallery as the Japanese dress sculpture above.

All and all quite a day.  Really excited to get the pieces I bought home and hung. 

 

 

 

A day of art

I really enjoy getting out and seeing art especially some of the up and coming artists.  If I spend too much time at galleries and studios it can be dangerous so the good news is my schedule doesn't permit it.  I had a whirlwind day this past week starting out in Brooklyn at David Benjamin Sherrys studio.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures of his work because nobody has seen it yet.  The piece above is from his last body of work.  He medium is photography and he uses color in the most extraordinary way.  The pieces I saw at his studio are shots of nature from places like Bryce Canyon in Utah.  He then takes those shots and drills down making them very tight and uses his own mixes of color to highlight the shot.  They are amazing.  He is also such a charming young man.  He is going to have a big show soon at Salon 94. 

We went to look at other work of Davids by someone who works with him.  I really liked this work from Dustin Yellin who I actually met at a party awhile back.  He is in the midst of building an art gallery that is like a PS 1 in Red Hook.  I like the idea of sculpture with different work inside. 

Down on the LES galleries continue to make their stake.  The Untitled Gallery.  We went down in the basement to see all the artists that they represent. The piece above is by Henry Taylor.

This is by Ian Tweedy.  I really love this piece.  There is something romantic and secretive about this piece.  The warmth of the painting framed with wood that looks like it came from a garage sale.  Unfortunately for me it had already been sold. 

We stopped by Mariann Goodman Gallery, uptown, to see some work of William Kentridge.  Have always been a fan of his work.  I didn't realize he was only in his 50's for some reason I thought he was much older.  I saw a couple of metal sculptures that definitely looked like his work.  The only other work I had really seen of his were etchings but you knew these sculptures were his the minute I saw them.  Only had pictures. 

Our last stop was the Hole NYC.  I plan on watching this gallery.  A real interesting mix of young artists that are seriously talented.  Theo Rosenblum and Chelsea Seltzer is the show up right now.  I went crazy for this donut.  I got a glimpse of all of their artists in the back room.  Impressive.

What a day...my head was spinning by the time I got home, in a good way. 

Mexico City, Day Four

We started the day walking over to the National Museum of Anthropology which is located right on Chapultepec Park.  The museum is huge.  This picture is taken inside the museum where there is a very large courtyard.  The wooden carving holding up the ceiling defines the museum.  Large tombs, statues and pyramids dating back to B.C.  Each area of the museum is on the ground floor and you enter through a door so you can really pick and choose which area you want to see or if you want to see each one.  We made a quick loop and although I am well aware how amazing everything is in there it just isn't my thing.  

Chapultepec is their Central Park.  We sat outside and grabbed a few rays.  These guys were dressed up in Mexican costume and did a dance around a pole.  Then they proceeded to climb to the top, tie their feet with ropes and twirl around in the circle slowly descending to the ground as they moved.  Bold.

We were starving and headed over to Cafe La Blanca for lunch.  Serious history in this place.  Located downtown and they have pretty much not touched the place since 1915 when they opened.  Even the outfits that the staff wears are the same.  We sat ourselves down at the counter and ordered. 

You must have the cafe con leche.  A large glass of steamed warm milk and a big cup of espresso that they pour in.  Best coffee we have had here so far.

We both got eggs which seemed the thing to do at this hour.  I had scrambled eggs with chorizo.

Their bread basket is overwhelming.  Pretty good.  I particularly loved the croissant hidden underneath.  Total meal $12 for both of us.

We opted against the desserts but this woman and the plate - lemon meringue pie there on the right - defines the place.  A step back in time.

This building is across the street.  Old and quite beautiful.

The oldest church in Mexico City is on this street.  As we walked in there was this food stand.  A variety of chips. 

They put the chips in a large white cup and then pour a bunch of sauces over it including lemon soda.  I have never seen anything like it.  We asked a woman about it later and she said it is one of the best street foods available.  Hmmm.

Here is a picture standing inside the church looking outside.  Ruins basically.

This is inside the church.

I like this picture because it defines Mexico City.  Old, new and crumbling.

Down this street is the Palacio de Belles Artes.  An amazing building outside.  Inside it is a little bit institutional but the key is to go all the way to the top to see the murals.

Wow .Murals outline the entire circumference of this floor.  Diego Riveras are jaw dropping. A must to see.

The rest of the day we devoted to art galleries.  This has been a serious art trip.  First stop this afternoon was Yautepec Gallery.  Contemporary young artists.  This installation was from the artist Txema Novela devoted to music.  This is an ode to David Bowie's "let's dance".

Next was Galeria Hilario Galguera.  We loved this gallery.  A family owned business.  Uncle and nephew.  The nephew runs the gallery and he was an absolute delight.  The space is large, open and airy upstairs with a variety of rooms downstairs for an office.  Downstairs they have a lot of different art hanging of all the different artists they represent.  The show that was up was from the artist Guillermo Lorca.  Gorgeous paintings that almost felt like one of the Masters had painted them.  Young guy too, 27. 

We spent some time looking through the back rooms.  On one of the walls was a piece from Benjamin Torres who happened to be in the gallery.  He had taken pieces of confetti and separated them by color, then made these small little pieces and glued them into a grid by color way counting how many of each.  There is something very methodical and beautiful about this piece.  I bought it!

Next stop was Arroniz-Arte.  The mother had started this gallery years ago helping young artists move up in their careers, then her son realized how much he loved the business and joined her garnering his own group of artists. So they have really two sets of artists, more seasoned and slowly emerging.  They were lovely people.  They were in a middle of an installation but we called in advance and they took out a bucnh of work for us to see.  This was a piece they rarely show of the artist Jan Hendrix.  I bought a piece of his earlier in the week.  Every time I turned around I loved this piece more and more.  Now we are figuring out how to shp it back.  The piece is made of enamel baked on like car paint.  The picture does not do it justice.

I liked this work too.  The artist is Moris.  He takes old flea market paintings and cuts out everything but the sky. We did stop by one more gallery but they were in the midst of an installation, literally.  It was the TalCual gallery.  The artist was there and so we did get to hear about his major piece which is always the best.  We can return next time.

It was time to finally try Mezcal.  Stopped in a store to pick up something near our hotel and then went into the bar next door.  Mezcal tastes a bit like Scotch.  Layered and smoky.  They serve it with sliced oranges covered with a chili salty pepper.  Quite good.

This bar is awesome looking.  The mixture of suitcases under the bar reminded me of an installation we saw at the Maxxi Museum in Rome which I still have in my head.  

Next stop, rest and relaxation before dinner. 

 

Mexico City, Day Three

We had a serious day.  We ordered up coffee and a fruit plate for the room before starting off on the day. It is truly fantastic when you call for the coffee and they say "uno momento" and it literally is. 

We are going decadent and had a drive take us over to Merced Market.  The first thing the driver says to us when we get in the car and I tell him where we are going he says "oh no, that is very dangerous for you."  My friend was not thrilled with that one. I told the driver, that is where we are going and it is fine....and it was.  Just driving there was amazing.  This huge street filled with tons of vendors selling goods galore.  We finally got to the market place and found out way through the Market Flore.  Flowers everywhere.  These ones are fake but bright.

We went in deep finally finding the vegetables and fruits.  Wow.  Just wall to wall vegetable and fruit stands.  Not sure what this fruit is but it is certainly beautiful.

Check out these chilis.  I bought some dried chilis and a dried mixture of verde mole.  Smells amazing.

Luscious herbs.

They were so nice at this stand.  One of the guys spoke English and was happy to help.  He had me taste the black mole paste.  It was sweet, spicy and just amazing.  I wish I could figure how to get that home.  Unbelievable.

Potatoes?

I loved pinatas when I was a kid and definitely had them at our kids bday parties when they were young.  Loved how HUGE these were.

Then we stumbled upon the cooked food area.  This big soup was everywhere. 

Every stall had an oversized grill.  They were making us a squash blossom quesadilla with salsa verde for us.  Delicious.

All the tables are set with a table cloth and fixings.  Communal dining going on everywhere.  It almost feels like a long tailgate party.

I saw a lot of these round stuffed savory pastries.  I had this one.  They split it in half and then fill it with fillings.  I went for mushrooms.  Really good.

Then we stumbled into the candy area.  It makes Economy Candy in NYC look like a lightweight.  All the fillings for the pinatas!

There were plastics bags filled with cheetos, chips and even fruit loops that were almost 5 feet tall.  Blows Cosco away.

This isn't a great pic but to give you an idea of the stalls.  This random food stall where they were making food had the table stuck in the middle and people were just hanging out eating.  You can get lost in this place.

Next stop was Frido Kahlo museum.  Such a gorgeous spot.  The blue walls.  Inside there are a bunch of pieces by Kahlo and family pics and of course her history.  A must go.

These little statues were hanging out in a corner.

We went around the neighborhood over to the Leon Trotsky house which is still in its original state.  Trotsky came to Mexico City after being pursued by Stalins crew.  He hung out with Kahlo and Rivera.  This was his kitchen.  He grew catcus and raised chickens on the premises too. 

In the Trotsky museum there was a small gallery.  I really liked these statues. 

This is the main area of the Coyoacan neighborhood where the Kahlo and Trotsky museums are located.  We poked our head in the church where a sermon was going on.

The squares in this area are just beautiful.  We strolled around.

This corner restaurant just looked good.  Lots of locals eating here.  We took a look and took a seat.  It appeared to be a family restaurant.  Also felt like something back in time.  Some people brought tupperware to fill up on the days wares to bring home for the family. 

We had cheese stuffed tamale baked in a light crust and then served in red black bean sauce.  Beautifully prepared.  Really good.

This dish was meatballs with a red sauce and a chopped kale salad.  Like home cooking.  Total cost $5 for both.  We loved this place.

Made our way over to the OMR gallery.  They took us in the back to look at all of the Mexican artists that they represented.  Nothing really grabbed us but this is a gallery worth seeing.  Most of their artists are well along in their careers.

We checked out the Garash Galeria.  The show was the artist Xavier Rodriguez.  He is young and funny.  I thought this was hilarious just didn't know where I'd put it.

This was another piece.  I did think about bringing this home too.  Lots of golf references in this show.

Downstairs from the gallery is a store called Chic by Accident.  Gotta love the name.  A mixture of everything for the home from fabrics to vases to chairs to lighting.  A real eclectic store.  These were from 1960.  Not sure how I would get them home.

Came back to our neighborhood and stopped in Tane out of sheer curiosity.  They make silver objects and jewelry. Wandered a little bit around and stopped in a leather store and a tart store.  Beautiful tarte tartin.  Stopped in the grocery store to see if we could find the tequila that I drank last night.  Instead we picked up a huge papaya split in half for a snack.  $1.

Back to the hotel for a little rest before dins.  This was in our room when we got there.  Nice touch.

 

 

Michelle Vaughan, 100 Tweets at Dumbo Arts Center

My favorite part about Dumbo is this view.  Majestic, grand, beautiful and it makes me smile. 

We went to see Michelle Vaughans exhibit called 100 Tweets at the Dumbo Arts Center.  Super clever.  Michelle follows 450 people on twitter and over the course of the year found a hundred tweets that were just gems.  She letter-pressed them for the exhibit.  Some of them are just funny while others document history.  It is pretty damn amazing what you can say in 140 characters.

We bought four of them.  This one just made me laugh so we got this.

This one says something about twitter.  It is a hard angle to read.  It says Twitter is for confident motherfuckers.  No liking on this web site bitches. #hard  artbystandard, Mon 14 Feb 20:09 via web

I was too short to take a good picture of the other two we bought but here is what they said.  I did it! I'm the mayor of Home Depot!  Bow to me my orange-aproned subjects!  This tweet was by Elly Trickett on Thursday, March 31, 12:50 via Twitter for BlackBerry

The last one we bought is by Jen Bekman.  Being in a nighttime taxi ride down Fifth Ave is one of those things that kicks the "I really really really love NY" into gear.  Monday, March 7th 19:20 via Twitter for iPhone.

What is not so surprising is that many of the pieces Michelle ran with are from some of the people I follow too.  Nice job Michelle...congratulations on a really great artistic idea.  There are still some for sale.  Click here.

stayinghomeandvacationing

I am basically letting my desk and email box just pile up for the next few days.  Fred and I have taken in three movies in two days, two delicious meals and one museum.  Today is another day.

We saw Hugo and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close on day one.  Hugo is amazing.  I read the book Extremely Loud and absolutely loved it.  They did a great job with the movie.  Both movies revolve around a key and hope for a message from each young boys lost parent although completely different films.  The young boys, Thomas Horn (ELIC) and Asa Butterfield (Hugo) were amazing.

We stopped into Gotham Bar and Grill for dinner and sat at the bar.  I love that the bartender has been there for fifteen years.  The decor could use a bit of a makeover but the food is always good.  I think of Gotham as one of those restaurants, like Union Square Cafe, that changed the way we eat food at restaurants.  The seafood salad is a classic and it is still piled high.

I also had the miso marinated cod which was delicious.  BTW, after all these years the restaurant was packed.

Day two began looking for a car.  We tried that on day one too with little success.  Day two was successful and by the time all our kids are driving we will need a serious parking lot.  After car shopping we had lunch at Via Quadronno.  I love this place for lunch.  Located on E 73rd between Madison and Fifth.  It is like going to Italy for a quick bite.  Always packed with locals.

We had made the "journey" uptown to see the Maurizio Cattelan exhibit.  A must.  The installation is brilliant and the Guggenheim was the perfect spot to show his work.  Amazing.

It was really nice out so we walked down to the Paris movie theater.  Have not been to the Paris in years but another classic institution on the UES.  We saw the Artist.  Very clever, another theme among the movies we have seen.  Washed up artist (Hugo and the Artist).  The entire movie is shot in black and white with no sound.  It is like watching an old film of the past.  Not so sure how much I loved it but certainly appreciated how clever it was. 

Last stop was Marea.  Yes, quite a journey being uptown and even eating up there too!  Marea is a gem.  Incredible customer service, beautiful decor, a feeling of elegance and everyone is dressed up.  We weren't but Marea is definitely a place to go and treat yourself. This is my second time back and certainly will not be my last. We began with a flight of crudo.

But the best thing, and the signature dish is the fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow.  It is insanely decadent and divine.  Still dreaming about this pasta this morning. We also split a whole branzino roasted in sea salt.  Perfect.  A worthy journey uptown.

Next couple days should we filled with more movies and an eventual clean up my desk before the new year begins. 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

How come right before every vacation I think to myself, I really need to go on this vacation now.  After this summer, I really did a great job of getting my head into the right place for September and onward.  Now it is December and in many ways I am right back to pre-summer yet in many ways I am not. 

Last summer really did set me in motion to take time to smell the roses and I have much much more.  The flood in our apartment totally put me over the edge.  Alas.  We are leaving today to go skiing for two weeks.  I am totally looking forward to it. 


Before leaving I spent a day in Chelsea looking at some art.  The piece above is by Walton Ford.  A gigantic watercolor that kind of sums up how I feel.  I absolutely love the piece.  If you get a chance drop by the Paul Kasmin Gallery.  Seeing it in person is a completely different experience. 

I didn't buy the original but bought a limited lithograph that he did to prepare for the making of that piece which is at the top of this page.  I saw Fords first exhibit back in 2000 and I fell in love with his work.  Fred not so much so we did not buy this particular elephant.  It was and is magnificent.  A watercolor broken down into heavy metal frames.  The piece is probably 15 feet across and 10 feet high.  Huge.  The price was minimal compared to what it is worth today.  I believe they wanted $150K for this piece and it is now worth somewhere in the $8 million dollar category.  This goes under the category of trust your gut.  I still dream about this piece. 

Anyway, off to Utah to ski.  Should be much more relaxed by tomorrow.