Art in the park II

As in Madison Square Park, there's always an art installation at the entrance of Central Park South, on 60th street and 5th avenue. This year, the Public Art Foundation commissioned the italian artist Paola Pivi, who presents "How I roll".

The installation consists of spinning twin-engine plane suspended on steel pillars. Here's a short film to show you the effect.

I really liked the originality of the art work. My kids had mix feelings about it, though. F loved it and P was terrified about it (go figure?!).

Art in the park

Every summer, since 2004, the Madison Square Park presents the free, contemporary art program Mad. Sq. Art. So, every year a different contemporary artist has the opportunity to show his/her work in the middle of this beautiful park. 

This year the American artist Charles Long presents a very interesting interactive installation called Pet sounds. The art work consists of several colorful pipes that converge into sculptures that remind us of animals, even though they don't really have a specific form. And when touched, the sculptures produce different sounds. 

I went today with P and I loved it. I actually didn't know about the musical part of the sculptures, so it was quite a nice surprise. P was a little bit afraid of them and wouldn't touch them, he preferred to hang on the pipes. However, the park was full of kids playing around the sculptures and discovering all the new sounds. 

The exhibit will be shown until September 9th. Also, the park offers a wide variety of activities for both adults and children during the whole summer.

P.S: If you decide to go to Madison Square Park, don't forget to check-out Eataly and Marimekko, which are located just in front of the park, across 5th Avenue. 

Picasso at the Gagosian Gallery

PABLO PICASSO
La femme-fleur (Françoise Gilot), June 1946

The Gagosian Gallery, on the upper east side in New York (980 Madison Ave.), is currently presenting an interesting exhibit showing a parallelism between Pablo Picasso and his lover and muse Françoise Gilot between 1943 and 1953. 

I didn't like everything but there were some incredible paintings. I'm always pleased with Picasso's geniality. I wasn't very familiar with Ms. Gilot's work and wasn't very impressed by it. I really liked, however, the dialogue between Picasso's and Gilot's paintings, portraying scenes of their daily lives. 

The exhibition "Picasso and Françoise Gilot: Paris-Vallauris 1943-1953" goes until June 30. 

Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art upcoming auction - A pleasure for the eyes

Sotheby's employees pose with Norwegian artist Edvard Munch's 1895 pastel on board version of 'The Scream' at Sotheby's auction house in central London Photo: AFP/GETTY (taken from The Telegraph)

We went to visit the Auction House Sotheby's on Saturday. Just for the pleasure of the eyes. And it was such a treat. One of the four famous "The Scream" painting by Edvard Munch is on view for the upcoming auctioning on May 2nd. So we actually went to take a pick at the painting. But there were so many other beautiful things o see. I actually joked with my husband saying that we were fortunate not to have the means to buy anything, because I wouldn't be able to choose the one that I would like to see hanging in my living room. Although I have to confess that if I had to choose I would probably go for the Sleeping Girl Lichtenstein, one of the Chagall and a Picasso. They would all look great at home.

If you are in town, you should definitely find some time to take a look at what's on sale. The auction will take place on May 2nd, at 7pm, at the New York location.

P.S.: Sotheby's has a Free App for the iPad, in which you can download most of their catalogues. They come full of details about the most important pieces being auctioned and there are even some videos with comments from specialists. Very interesting. 

Recent museums' visits

1- Cindy Sherman; 2- Print/Out; 3- Diego Rivera; 4 The Steins Collect; 5- The Ungovernables

I haven't had much time to write here lately and to share my cultural outings. So I've decided to dedicate this post to all the exhibits I have been in the past month, and, if you care, of course, my take outs.

• Cindy Sherman - I love artists retrospectives, because you can see the evolution of the artist throughout the years and understand him/her a little bit better. The first time I saw Cindy Sherman's work, it was many years ago, when I first visited the permanent collection of the MoMA. I was a teenager, so still trying to redo the whole World, contesting everything and thinking that nothing could shock me. The good thing about getting older is that you realize that some things will never change (and you actually don't want them to change) and that some other things have changed and are the way they are because they were part of an evolution. I still don't really like Cindy Sherman's clowns series (this is maybe more personal, because, since I was a child I just hate clowns), but I've became pretty fond of her work. As soon as you realize that for each and every photograph she's been the photographer, the actress, the hairstylist, the make-up artist, the stylist and what not, you just can't ignore her talent. Cindy Sherman's retrospective is being presented at the MoMA and it goes until June 11th. 

• Print/Out - Very interesting exhibit about prints. However, I felt a little bit lost and overwhelmed with the amount of information. There were prints literarily everywhere. It's one of those exhibits that need to be revisited many times and preferably with someone who knows well on the subject. I went with a group of friends and a guide. It was really helpful and I would love to go back with more time. Also showing at the MoMA and it runs until May 14th.

• Diego Rivera: Murals for the Museum of Modern Art - Loved it. I wrote a post about the exhibit. If you are in New York, run for it, because it only goes until May 14th.

• The Steins collect: Matisse, Picasso and the Parisian Avant-Garde - wonderful exhibition at the MET, about the art collection of Gertrude Stein, her brother Leo and Michael and Michael's wife Sarah. The exhibit is rich on details about their story and their relationships with artists like Picasso and Matisse and how they discovered new talents. It's incredible how they knew all the best artists of the 20th century. The exhibit that shows works from Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picabia, Bonnard among others, is on display until June 3rd. 

• The Ungovernables: 2012 New Museum Triennal - not really my thing. The kind of contemporary art that I have a hard time understanding and that I can't usually link to the "message" of the artist. The exhibit reunites about 34 young artists from countries that used to be colonies and it goes until April 22nd.

I still have a lot of exhibition to catch up. But I'm glad I had time to see all the ones above, because they were all really worth the visit (apart from the "The Ungovernables").

If you have the opportunity to see one of the, I really hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did!

Exhibition of Sempé in Paris

Picture credits: © J.-J. Sempé, Sempé à New York, Éditions Denoël / Éditions Martine Gossieaux

If you are one of the lucky ones to be in Paris now, you should definitely consider going to the Hôtel de Ville, to take a look at Jean-Jacques Sempé's exhibition. The "Sempé: a Bit of Paris" exhibit reunites more than 300 drawings, along with texts by the author. It goes until March 31st and it's free.

Making Art while walking

Top picture by Simon Beck; Bottom picture by Andres Amador

In the past couple of weeks I came across the work of two artists that use their feet to make beautiful drawings on the ground. The first one is Simon Beck who uses snow as his medium. And the second one is Andres Amador, who draws on sand.

Both artists are incredibly talented. The resulting art works are amazing. Here are some examples of what they have both achieved.

By Simon Beck

By Andres Amador

MoMA with kids - Tours for Fours

Henri Matisse. The Red Studio. Issy-les-Moulineaux, fall 1911. Oil on canvas, 71 1/4" x 7' 2 1/4" (181 x 219.1 cm). Mrs. Simon Guggenheim Fund

Saturday morning we tried one of the tours offered by the MoMA for young visitors - Tours for Four. They have two Family Programs: one for children aged four and another one for children between 5 and 10.

The tours are for free and they are organized by subject. The one that we went, for example, was about "places". Our guide gave us a small introduction of what we were about to see and then took us to one of the galleries in the museum to observe three different paintings. In front of each painting, she asked the same question to the kids: if we were looking at a place inside or outside. It was really interesting and funny to hear the comments.

The tours take approximately 50 minutes, which, I found, a little bit long for young children (especially for my hyperactive son). Nonetheless, it was well organized, interesting and a nice way to introduce children to art and, more importantly, to teach them how to observe and learn to interpret an art work.

P.S.: I forgot to mention that the entrance to the museum is free when you go to one of the tours and, at the end, you will receive a Family pass to come back to the MoMA with your family on another day, for free. This is pretty sweet, considering that each ticket cost US$20.

The Obliteration Room by Yayoi Kusama

The Obliteration Room,  The Guardian (Photographies by: Mark Sherwood, Stuart Addelsee and Natasha Harth)

The Tate Modern, in London, is currently hosting a major exhibition from Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. If you happen to be in London (which unfortunately is not my case), it seems to be one of those unmissable things to see.

However, the reason I'm really writing about it, is because of The Obliteration Room, which is part of the main exhibit Look Now, See Forever. Yayoi Kusama had this fantastic idea of making a fun interactive project for the kids. It started with a completely immaculate white room (including furniture and objects) and each person who enters the room is given a sheet of colored stickers dots and is asked to stick them wherever they want. How fun is that?

Doug Wheeler - creating absence

Doug Wheeler's exhibition at David Zwirner's gallery

Three words: Don't miss it! (If you are in New York, of course). It goes until February 25th, so you better run. There's a long line, but the wait is totally worth it.

In his new installation, presented at David Zwirner's gallery, the american artist Doug Wheeler plays with lights and space to make us experience an "infinite space". Or like he defines his work, he creates absence.

I can't explain what I saw and felt on Friday. I can describe to you the white wall in which I stood in front for more than 30 minutes. But I can't describe you the sensation of being staring at a white wall for more than 30 minutes and why I stayed all that time in front of it. You would need to try it by yourself.

In the meantime, you can read this good review written by Randy Kennedy for The New York Times, that will definitely give you a better description of Doug Wheeler's work than I would.

Back from the future project - by Sander Koot

Look at this cool project that the Dutch photographer Sander Koot has been working on since 2009. The photographer asks his models to pick a photograph from one of their fondest memories from 50 or 60 years earlier. And then they remake the photo. Loved the idea and should definitely try to remember to do that in a few years from now.

Here are some examples that I personally liked, but you can check more pictures here.

Photos credits: Sander Koot

Happy Valentine's Day!

The American Love, by Robert Indiana

I wish you a sweet day!

Cultural Thursdays: VIP Art Fair - A new way to expose

My cultural Thursdays are not over. Actually, today I've visited many art galleries. I saw photographies, sculptures, installations, paintings, prints. All this, in the comfort of my house.

Have you heard of this event: VIP Art Fair?

During 5 days, starting tomorrow February 3rd (today was only the preview), Art galleries from all around the world will be participating in the second edition of this Online Art Fair. And we are talking about the most important galleries worldwide (the exhibitors list is quite impressive) presenting high quality contemporary Art.

From the point of view of an Art appreciator, like myself - who has no means or intentions to buy anything -, what I experienced today was more and less what I feel when I browse prints from Art.com or any other online "Art retailer" with the huge difference that most of the art works presented by the galleries at the fair are from renowned artists and are originals and important pieces (prices also differ greatly). What I was trying to explain through the comparison is that if you go to galleries or to an Art fair just for your viewing pleasure, then this might not do the trick. It may work, though, for collectors who beforehand already know what to look for and who to talk to.

I personally think, that participating physically to an Art fair gives you more pleasure. There is no online chat that can be compared to an actual conversation with the art dealers and there is certainly no online reproduction that can be compared to an original work. Nonetheless, I found the event interesting, very well organized (there is a zoom feature that let you see the works really closely that is fantastic) and so avant-garde. So since it's there why not enjoy the beautiful art presented, the discussions, the life performances and all the other fun events related to the VIP Art Fair (whenever and wherever we want). 

Movies celebrating Movies

Recently, I saw two movies that, although completely different, have a a lot in common: Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese and The Artist, directed by Michel Hazanavicius. The first one is a 3-D movie, whereas the latter is a black and white silent movie. Nonetheless, both of them take place in the first half of the 20th century (one in Paris and the other in Hollywood) and both are tributes to the cinema as an Art. This is particularly interesting in a time when the film industry seems to be in decadence and there is some uncertainty about its future. The industry can re-create itself, modernize itself, but the essence is always the same. That is, movies are there to tell stories in various ways, independently on how the technology (which is a support) evolves. 

And this is so true in The Artist, in which the main character is trying to fight against the modernisation of the films in the early 20's, when they start to introduce sound to the pictures. He thinks silent movies will prevail and that talking movies will be a fiasco. He was obviously wrong. The public also evolves and likes novelty. The interesting thing is that we are currently living a similar situation, with the introduction of 3-D pictures. A few years ago some people would say that nobody would ever like to watch a movie with those not very comfortable glasses. However, what we are seeing nowadays is that more and more films are beings released in 3-D and even 3-D televisions are already available in the market. 

The technology of film-making can evolve, nonetheless, what really remains is the importance of the story. This is what movies are all about. Movies tell stories. They can either be fantastic or realistic. But, they certainly make people dream, travel, imagine, laugh, cry, be frighten... This is and always has been what differentiate a good movie from a bad one. You can be using the latest technology available, however if the story is not good, there's no 3-D feature or special effect that will support your film. 

Hugo is a magical film. The story is obviously a fantasy. But it is actually based on some real facts. Independently on the story (that I really liked), what moved me the most is how Martin Scorsese tells the story of the cinema. We see in the movie one of the very first film that had been shown in theaters, which was a very short scene of a train arriving to the station - Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat, by the Lumiere Brothers. At the time, people would scream and hide their faces when they saw the train arriving, because they actually thought the train would come out of the screen. In Hugo, we see that same scene, but with the 3-D effect the train actually comes out of the screen. This is just brilliant!

In The Artist, Hazanavicius brings back a whole different way of watching a movie. I think it must have been quite a challenge and it's very audacious to make a silent movie nowadays. The public is now so used to fast scenes, full of action and sound all the time. All the characters have to be clever, fast thinkers, full of witty lines. So, in my opinion, through his film, Hazanavicius also challenges his audience. He's testing our concentration and our senses. As spectators, we end up reacting to the silence of the actors in front of us in a different way than when we are just passively listening to a dialogue. I had already seen some of the old silent movies, but never on a big screen and never with such a good image quality. Overall, I think it was really refreshing.

And just a little parenthesis on education here: watching a silent movie nowadays is actually a good way to teach the audience to remain in silence during the entire session and restraining people from making noises with their food and drinks. Movies still deserve some respect.

As I was browsing the web to find a nice image to illustrate my post, I found this critic of "The Artist" from The New Yorker that I thought was very interesting.  

Diego Rivera Murals at the Moma

Diego Rivera. Agrarian Leader Zapata. 1931. The Museum of Modern Art. 

Yesterday, after assembling a bookcase for the kids' playroom and taking P to his music class, I snuck out of the house while P was finishing lunch. I went to the Moma, where there is currently an exhibit on Diego Rivera's murals that were commissioned by the Museum in 1931, for a retrospective of the Artist's work. The murals are beautiful, strong and impressive. You can't remain indifferent to them. Some of his sketch books (that are amazing) are also exposed, as well as big drawings that were used as drafts before the artist painted the actual mural and there is in addition an explanation of the technique used by the artist to make his portable murals. 

The museum offers walking tours through some of its galleries for free. So I decided to join one that was going to go through Diego Rivera's exhibit. The tour was a little bit too crowded, but our guide was very good. She gave us a lot of insights, was well articulated and prepared. I've already talked about guided tours in galleries or museums here and here. Usually, I prefer just going through an exhibition by myself at my own pace. But I find it also very helpful to understand an artist and his or her work through a guided tour. It is certainly an excellent option if you have time.

Diego Rivera's exhibit goes through May 14th. Don't miss it!

Tempting invitation

As I posted here, I really like the art work of Vahram Muratyan. Paris and New York are most probably my favorite cities in the world. And I just love the simple, smart and funny comparison he makes between the two of them. Therefore, when I saw the invitation on Vahram Muratyan's blog, I was immediately tempted on going.
Anyone wants to join me?

Paris vs. New York

From Paris vs. New York, a tally of two cities

Lately I've been dreaming on going to Paris. Just to stroll around or even better, just to flâner. Is there a better thing to do in Paris? As we are rapidly approaching the end of the year I've realized that the promise we made each other to take the children there once a year, so they would meet their french roots (or was it an excuse for us), has been broken. Oh, Paris, Paris, when will we meet again?

In the meantime, I'm very tempted on buying some of these posters, as well as the book. My two favorite cities, side by side. 

Cultural Monday - William deKooning

My "Cultural Thursdays" are not working out, but I still managed to go to the Moma today to see the deKooning's retrospective. Worth going!

I shouldn't actually comment on this, since I'm cheating. None of my kids were with me today and I was supposed to write about the "cultural" visits WITH the kids. My mother is visiting just for a week, the boys were both at school and, after a weekend full of activities, we were quite happy to be able to go somewhere without pushing a stroller.

Cultural Thursdays - MOMA

Yesterday P. and I went to the Moma. We arrived a few minutes before the Museum opened and it was already full. We headed to the 4th floor, because I wanted to see Cy Twombly's sculptures. There are only a few of them, and I actually prefer his paintings. Then, we went up to the 6th floor to try to take a look at de Kooning's exhibit, the real objective of our visit (it is there until January 9). However, the rooms were packed and I was pushing P.'s patience a little too far, since we ended up spending more time that I would like on the 4th floor. I decided to leave and I'll try to come back at another time. As we were heading towards the exit, I saw that on the 2nd floor there was a special installation of a white fabric hanging from the ceiling. So we went to check it out. It is actually an installation from Brazilian artist Carlito Carvalhosa (there until November 14), consisting of this white, kind of translucent material hanging from the ceiling to the floor in an elliptic way. You have to walk in the middle and it is a very interesting feeling. In a way, the experience is very similar to the Richard Serra's elliptic sculptures, but with a completely different approach of textures and colors. And I have to say that taking a 2 year-old there is a lot of fun. He loved it! He ran around twice, touched the fabric, played with it. It was really cute. I'm sorry that I can't share any pictures with you, but I was myself running after my son. This is something that I actually love about taking my kids to more "serious" places. You end up doing things that you would never ever do if you were by yourself, surrounded only by adults. It's as if you were allowed (at least under my perspective) to be a child again. It was absolutely delightful to run around all those white drapes and hearing him laughing.

We ended our visit by going to the Material lab. We had already been there once and it's a fantastic place to take children of all ages. There you'll find different materials to explore, books about art, construction and wood blocks to play with, art supply and also some computers with a digital painting program that really gives you the feeling of painting with oil on a canvas (you paint on the screen with a digital brush). However, you can't print or send your picture once you're done, which I found a little disappointing. Anyway, if you are planning on going to the Moma with your kids, it is worth spending some time at the Material lab as well. The entrance is on 54th street, right next to the Museum entrance (but it's a different building) and you'll need to show your ticket to get in.