Category Archives: nyc

Check out: Outsiders NY, corner of Bowery and Houston

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OUTSIDERS-NEW YORK

at 282-284 Bowery is open to the public until October 26 and then it will “disappear, like it was never here,” according to Lazarides, the ‘gallery’ putting the show on. Lazarides has worked outside the mainstream art scene, primarily with street and outsider art (for example, the infamous incognito graffiti artist Banksy whose currently banking tons). However, you can see from the photos that they present a much wider spectrum of art than that. This excellent and varied grouping was one of the most interesting shows I’ve seen, and included works by:

FAILE DAVID CHOE PAUL INSECT SPACE INVADER POLLY MORGAN ANTONY MICALLEF REAS BAST MARK JENKINS MIRANDA DONOVAN



Do I know who all these people are? Nope. Now, I want to.

Two things of special note: that super cool golden donkey in sneakers, which make Gilbert and George look like asses for not having done it themselves–

and David Choe. The pieces in the gallery I consistenly liked, and evn my not-so-arty boyfriend liked, were by Choe. It had a subltey that many of the more pop-influenced works did not, but was truly strong and stunning as well. My pics didn’t come out so well, so I snagged the one below that he took of the mural he did for the show on the building. Check him out at his website and blog.


Lazarides also notes on their website that Banksy has “on an unassuming corner of Manhattan, Banksy’s latest offering sees a fully kitted out Pet Shop and Charcoal Grill open to the public. Fur coats with twitching tails, hot dogs frolicking under heat lamps and chimps touching themselves in front of National Geographic.” Sweet–will be finding that next.

Now, how cool is it to live in NYC and run across this stuff all over town?

A gallery night in the LES and Williamsburg

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“Yo, there’s some kind of photo shoot going on up on Essex” my roommate said.

My boyfriend and I look at each other. Where? Just a couple block up?

“Yeah, there’s tinfoil lights and everything. Some wierd people too.”

Actually, it wasn’t a photo shoot. The light and mirrored walls were fromHeist Gallery Gallery, where Shimon Okshteyn was having an opening this past Friday. My boyfriend and I had popped in earlier to check it out. It make me feel pretty cool to have a place like that, with a draw of such great, “weird” people in my neighborhood. (Apparently the owner is a very cool, very sweet 21 year old(!). 21, really?)
The gallery was even cooler than when Miranda from the Sex and the City movie moves to my block, although that was pretty cool. The tiny mirrored space was so full of young people that I can’t actually review the artwork, which supposedly looks like this:

Shimon Okshteyn: Reflection of Reality

Between not knowing the super-trendy kids and not being able to see the work well, we left quickly. It looks pretty cool though, and I love the idea of painting on mirrors.

Then we were off to Williamsburg, walking up Bedford to check out a group show that my boyfriend’s friend was in. What a difference: low-key hipsters walking between that gallery and the one next door, where a band played piano man. Both these scenes had such a different atmosphere than Chelsea–it was really exciting to get out of that box and see new spaces and tastes.

Then last night as I was walking down Houston, I stumbled upon a really cool advertising board on Bowery and Houston, where a projector shows a changing reel and targeted sound as you walk by supports the advertising. When I was stopping to check it out, I turned around and saw another gallery through a window. Very cool: but that will have to be another blog entry.

ADDENDUM: I walked back by Reflections of Reality, and it looks the composition of pieces of mirror with such precise painted patterns on it looks great, and much more interesting than it does in the image above when you get a better sense of texture and changing light.

Cum Laude: New York arts scene

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To state the obvious, New York City has an art scene that just doesn’t compare to Little Town, Bumblefuck, USA, or Petite Village, Bumblefuck, Anywhere. Prior to a play I saw at the Roundabout Theatre Wednesday, I was invited to a lovely radio interview where the director spoke about the play and the process of putting it on. On going to see the Museum of Art and Design (MAD) in its new building at Columbus Circle on Thursday night, I stumbled upon “Gallery Night with the Artists,” and very informally heard 3 (rather young) artists as they discussed their work on view currently. In addition, at the former I was given free food and wine (the way to my heart) and the latter, free admission to the museum. What could be better?

Live action contemporary arts programs like these enlivens the easy misconception that culture is artifiacts, things long done. Art that isn’t merely for museums and words that don’t merely live in books makes me so aware of culture as an ebb and flow of ideas and people and means of expression. Not to mention, art seems to have a proper set of values, always including free wine and food. Must have been all those childhoods of being starving artists. For a long time, one of my favorite fall activities has been gallery hopping on Thursday nights in Chelsea. (Again, we touch on themes of free art and wine.)

Note: The MAD is quite fun, and as its name suggests, you won’t find orderly rows of chairs inside. The exhibitions were designed with a great deal of creativity and a touch of whimsy. Try to find the little details in the windows of the stairwell. It’s rare to find a museum of that calibre in which the Artist’s Talk involves 3 young women in their 30s. But then, perhaps that says as much about the female-dominated field of crafts. What male going to come along to break the glass ceiling of this matriarchal form? I suppose, a bit uninspiringly, the prize would have to go to Dale Chihuly.

So applause to the MAD and the Roundabout Theatre, and hooray for living in a city with a thriving arts scene.