Columbus statue - up, close and personal

Commissioned by the Public Art Fund, Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi had the brilliant idea of bringing Columbus Statue, situated on top of a 75 feet high pillar in the middle of Columbus Circle, closer to the public, through his new installation "Discovering Columbus".

How did he do that? Well, he imagined how it would feel to have the statue in the middle of a modern living room with one of Manhattan's most privileged views. So, after climbing 6 flights of stairs, you find yourself in a nice penthouse feeling living room, all build up around the statue, which is standing in the middle of a coffee table.

Not to be missed! And pay attention to each details in the living room. Even the books were strategically chosen. You may find funny titles as "The silent body" or "Look up". The wallpaper is also full of details and irony, depicting all the symbols that represent modern America.

The question that I kept arising in my head when I was up there was: who's discovering who? Did Columbus discover America or are we discovering Columbus (as the title of the exhibit suggests)?

***

Other controversial exhibits worth seeing nearby:
Andrés Serrano's "Body and Spirit" at Edward Tyler Gallery
Sally Mann's "Upon reflections" at Edwynn Houk Gallery

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. 

Park Here - the indoor pop-up park

Today, while we were waiting to pick-up F from a play date, P and I went to this indoor "pop-up" park in  Openhouse Gallery, located in the heart of Nolita. 

Isn't the idea fantastic for a long and cold winter like we usually get in New York?

There were kids playing around, people reading, others using their computers, others just chatting - just like a real park, except that we were in an indoor space. Unfortunately, the park will close on Wednesday and tomorrow (02/14) is the last day opened for the public. 

Given that we were in a gallery, space and infrastructure were not great for an indoor park. Nonetheless, wouldn't this be a great idea for any big city to have an real indoor park?

While I was hanging there, sitting on one of the benches watching P playing, I did a small list of things that I thought worked here and others that I would have liked to see or to be different.

Let's start with the pros:

• Great great great idea for the winter;
• The park was quite big (for Manhattan of course);
• Free for everybody;
• Free Wi-fi;
• There were some picnic blankets, bean bags, benches, tables, hammocks;
• Many events during the two months it was opened (movie nights, activities for mothers with their kids, games, afternoon tea, and more);
• It became a place to hang out with friends or just to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading a book, just like a real park

Now the not-so-good things I found about it:

• No windows, no natural light - felt a little bit too indoors;
• The illumination wasn't good, so it was a little bit dark;
• Since it's an indoor space and people come to eat, there was a strong smell of food when we entered the space;
• All the flowers and plants were fake. They looked very nice, but it would have been better if they were real;
• The ventilation system was making too much noise;
• I said that the park was quite big, considering that we are in Manhattan, however, the bigger the better.

Anyway, those are just ideas in case someone decides to build a real indoor park. In the meantime this was a really nice initiative from Openhouse Gallery. 

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). 

Cultural day - Galleries in Chelsea

1- Jim Hodges; 2- Andreas Gursky; 3- Nan Goldin; 4- Neo Rauch; 5- Uta Barth; 6- Youssef Nabil (exhibition curated by Shirin Neshat); 7-Joan Mitchell

Do you know why moms usually sound futile, uninteresting and seem to be talking only about their children? Mainly because it is extremely difficult to read anything with kids around you - at least this is true for me. However, I always try to take a glance at the headlines on the newspaper and, on my lucky days, I even get to read the editorial and one or two articles.

The headlines on the FT this morning were quite catastrophic. It really felt like it was the end of the Euro, the end of the airlines industry, the end of the banking industry - basically, the end of the World as we know it. But, like I said once to my dear mother when I stopped working in the middle of the financial crisis in 2009: "there is no crisis in baby world".

Therefore, I left the news behind me and headed to Chelsea for a great gallery tour. Very futile of my part? Maybe. Probably. Most certainly. But staying at home wouldn't solve the World's problems either. So let's enjoy life while we can!

Our tour included:

• Neo Rauch - David Swirner Gallery
• Uta Barth - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
• Andreas Gursky - Gagosian Gallery
• Jim Hodges - Gladstone Gallery 
• Nan Goldin - Matthew Marks Gallery 
• Hiroshi Sugimoto - The Pace Gallery
• Joan Mitchell - Cheim & Read Gallery
• Shirin Neshat - Leila Heller Gallery 

There are tens of other galleries in town and you can go whenever you want. As I said in another post, galleries are for free, so take advantage on that. But, let me tell you something, it makes such a difference to go with someone that can explain to you what you are looking at, talk about that particular artist, his work and his surroundings. At least for me, today, it was essencial. I wouldn't have understood half of what I saw today if I'd had gone by myself. I think that the understanding of art in general takes time, studying, lots of readings and lots of visits to different exhibitions (especially contemporary art). But, when you don't really have time for all of this, calling a specialist might be a good idea. Besides, isn't it great to go with a group of friends with whom you can discuss what you are all experiencing?

I didn't like everything that I saw today, but I certainly appreciated everything. By that I mean that knowing what the artists intentions were or knowing about their backgrounds makes a big difference. It puts the art in a certain context and it educates your eyes and your senses so you can appreciate what you are looking at under a whole new perspective. For instance, a month ago I entered the Pace Gallery, took a look at Hiroshi Sugimoto's work and 5 minutes later I was out the door. I just didn't get it. Today, I walked in the same gallery, to see the same exhibition and I liked what I saw.

If you are interested in organizing your own tour, do not hesitate to contact our guides Gisela Gueiros (giselagueiros@gmail.com) and Ana Strumpf (anastrumpf@gmail.com). The tour was well organized, Gisela was really prepared and her presentations before entering each gallery were simple (no fancy words), short (no big lectures in front of each piece of art) but full of useful details and information. What I liked the most was how she would give us some heads-up on what we were about to see without giving too much information at the beginning so we would still have a surprise when entering the exhibits. And what a surprise it was!

Last days of Richard Serra at the Gagosian

Yesterday I went to the Gagosian Gallery, in Chelsea, where they are currently showing two new sculptures by Richard Serra and one of his paintings.

The sculptures, named Junction and Cycle are amazing. Richard Serra is one of my favorite living artists. I've seen a lot of his sculptures and I'm always struck by the genius of this guy. Most of the sculptures look alike and yet they feel completely different. Walking around them or "inside" them is like walking in a labyrinth. They are mysterious, peaceful, grandiose yet so simple.

Richard Serra has become more known for his huge elliptical sculptures, however, he is also a great painter. And the canvas shown in the gallery is splendid (see picture above). 

The exhibit will end next Saturday (11/26). So, if you have the opportunity, run to see it.