Tag: Art

The Met Fifth Avenue Roof Top Garden: The Theatre of Disappearance by Adrian Villar Rojas, April 14 – October 29, 2017

arts-NY

Adrián Villar Rojas: The Theatre of Disappearance at The Met Fifth Avenue Roof Top Garden

On view April 14 – October 29, 2017

The Roof Top Garden of the Met Fifth Avenue Museum is hosting a fascinating exhibition titled “The Theater of Disappearance” by Argentinean artist Adrian Villar Rojas. The exhibition, which includes 16 large sculptures by Villar Rojas, is intertwined with multiple other events under the same umbrella title this year including film series at Berlin Film Festival and visual art shows in Greece, Austria and Los Angeles. This overarching theme seems timely today as our accelerated pace of life with at times endless pileup of stuff leads to its opposite, a void or disappearance.

Villar Rojas came to fame when at the age 32 he was selected to represent Argentina at the 2011 Venice Biennial. His next big engagement on the international art scene was at the Documenta 2013 and Istanbul Biennial 2015. Villa Rojas is known for making life-size sculptures from large animals caring heavy loads as at the Istanbul Biennial to the ruins of tumbled staircase at MoMA PS1 “LA INOCENCIA DE LOS ANIMALES” in 2013.

For current installation at the Met the artist used spectrometry and 3D scans of the artifacts from the Met collection mixing up the time periods, places, ideas and facts. Ideally the viewers have to visit this installation after seeing the originals on the floors below. The FT review notes that at times it seems that the artists is “undoing all of art history”. The ArtNews reports about Rojas’s laborious study of the Met Museum collection encompassing its all 17 departments as well as interviews with the staff as part of the creation process.  

The photos from Art Summary blog lets you get a taste of the exhibition:

The Met Fifth Avenue Roof Top Garden: The Theatre of Disappearance by Adrian Villar Rojas, April 14 – October 29, 2017

Photographs by Corrado Serra. Artist’s Statement The Met’s history as an institution is a testimony to America’s path as a nation. Its doors opened in 1870 with a large collection of plaster casts of sculptural masterpieces. By the mid-twentieth century, genuine artifacts had displaced the copies. Departments quickly emerged, dividing the cultural endowment into regions […]

via The Roof Garden Commission: Adrián Villar Rojas, The Theatre of Disappearance at The Met Fifth Avenue, April 14 – October 29, 2017 — Arts Summary

The Roof Top floors had to be redone with the tiles created by the artists for this installation . The particularly designed greenery were added as well as the bar. The effect of the spectacular Manhattan skyline in the background accentuates the bacchanal in the garden. Come and see it yourself.


New York City Pass

For museum hours and more click here.

Enjoy your free visit to the Met museum with NewYorkPass! 

 

 

Venue: The Met Museum on Fifth Avenue        Time: till October 29, 2017

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Gallery

arts-NY

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Gallery

French Bashing: First New York exhibition of photographs, photomontages and more by French writer Michel Houellebecq

Michel Houellebecq
France #014, 2016; courtesy VENUS New York

Michel Houellebecq is undoubtedly the most talked about french writer. However his artistic oeuvre is not limited to a written word. He is also well known for his photography and film making. The exhibition of the photographs and photomontages at VENUS Manhattan gallery is the first such show for Houellebecq in the US.

The installation at VENUS under a title “French Bashing” is heavily influenced by the writer’s world view depicted in his novels. For VENUS the works were selected from the last year expose “Rester Vivant” at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Le Figaro review notes that “French Bashing” makes it a logical follow-up to “Rester Vivant”.

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Galle
Michel Houellebecq
France #035, 2016; courtesy VENUS New York

The exhibition has 2 very distinct parts united by author’s sense of inescapable decline of european way of life and a drift towards banality and mass-commercialization. The expensive urban developments viewed via a prism of neglect and decay make moody and depressive impression. The most characteristic work is a picture of the EUROPE sign near Calais. The letters made in concrete have crumbled from the accelerated speed of changes. This could be the suggested theme for the first part of the exhibition. To compete an eerie impression it is installed in a dark-walled room with a soundtrack composed for the show in collaboration with Raphael Sohier.

The second room is too bright and too loud with kitschy images of the standard tourist attractions made for the unattached crowds. The lighting and the soundtrack are all coordinated to bring in a typical glitz of mass-entertainment.

Art in NYC: Photography by Michel Houellebecq at VENUS Over Manhattan Gallery
Michel Houellebecq
Espagne #008, 2016; courtesy VENUS New York

Overall the exhibition is very much in line with Houellebecq’s novels. In fact the author is known to look at his photographs when constructing the characters for his books. In an interview with L.Collins for The New Yorker, Houellebecq explains that he doesn’t “take pictures of human beings” preferring “literature for describing a human being”. And he doesn’t “do much description of the landscape” in his books, because he “finds that a photo is better.”

Now the public has a chance to see what the writer sees when working on his novels and make a better connection to his work.

 

 

Venue: 980 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10075                             Dates: June 2 – August 4, 2017

Art in NYC: Cindy Sherman at Mnuchin Gallery till June 10, 2017

arts-NY 1 Comment

Art in NYC: Cindy Sherman at Mnuchin Gallery till June 10, 2017

Cindy Sherman: Once Upon a Time, 1981 – 2011

Art event in NYC: Cindy Sherman at Mnuchin Gallery till June 10, 2017
From Centerfolds series

As the title of this exhibition suggests, there is a tale behind each picture. The collection the photographs by the greatest portrait artist of our time on view at Mnuchin Gallery presents the works from three distinct periods in chronological order. In each of her works Sherman as always plays a dual role of the sole subject and the artist. In the words of R. Smith from the New York Times review of Cindy Sherman’s retrospective at MoMA in 2012, the artist can be seen as “consummate manipulator of space, scale, color and pattern textiles”.

The earliest images on view this time at Mnuchin Gallery are from Centerfolds series that had brought Sherman to fame in 1981. The theme of these pictures is in capturing pensive moments positioning the image of young woman as an erotic close up similar to what can be found in mens’ magazines.

Art in NYC: Cindy Sherman at Mnuchin Gallery till June 10, 2017
From Historical Portraits series

The History Portraits series , created from 1988 to 1990,  are staged images from the past. From afar they can be taken for the paintings belonging to the Renaissance or Neoclassical  periods hang at a provincial museum.  Sherman transforms herself into historical sitters, females and males, using elaborate props, costumes and framing.

The last period in the exhibition is from the Society Portraits series made from 2008. It tells the sorry tale of a desperate search of eternal youth so celebrated by today’s popular culture yet hard to shake off. Posed as society dames of our time, Sherman portraits mix the glamour with the excess of effort set against the backdrop of grand sites of  New York City. The New Yorker points to the fact that this exhibition at Mnuchin Gallery is spot on in terms of its location where the subjects of the Society Portraits “look right at home on the Upper East Side, amid the ladies who lunch”.

Art in NYC: Cindy Sherman at Mnuchin Gallery till June 10, 2017
From Society Portraits series

 

 

Venue: Mnuhcin Gallery, 45 East 78 Street, NY               

Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 10am – 6pm 

Dates: till June 10, 2017

 

July 14, 2017 Jazz & CHIHULY concert at New York Botanical Garden

arts-NY 1 Comment

July 14, 2017 Jazz & CHIHULY concert at New York Botanical Garden

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF JAZZ

July 14, 2017 Jazz & CHIHULY concert at New York Botanical Garden
Chris Washburne

The collaboration between  New York Botanical Garden and Catskilll Jazz Factory brings the summer concert program Jazz & CHIHULY  to the scenic Conservatory lawn of the garden. The second concert in the series is a celebration of 100 years of American Jazz from it’s folk roots to such american classics like Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. The program brings together bandleader Chris Washburne on trombone, Brazilian pianist Andre Mehmari , vocalist Brianna Thomas and friends.

July 14, 2017 Jazz & CHIHULY concert at New York Botanical Garden
Andre Mehmeri by Maristela Martins

The concert series are part of elaborate program around the CHIHULY glass sculpture exhibition on the grounds of New York Botanical Garden. 20 works are spread-out on over 250 acres, including artist’s early drawings and more recent creations. This is the second collaboration between Dale Chihuly and NYBG as his art naturally blends in with the nature and seems to be destined to be exhibited at NYBG. The first exhibition was held in 2006 attracting 350,000 visitors.

July 14, 2017 Jazz & CHIHULY concert at New York Botanical Garden
Brianna Thomas

Chihuly stresses the uniqueness of glass as the only material that lets the light through. In his works he capitalizes on this property of the material. With that in mind, garden environment is an ideal showroom for seeing Chihuly’s works as it gives viewers a chance to see the changes in light and its reflection in the ponds depending on time of day. Playing on this notion, the nighttime illumination adds some magic to the works. The garden will be open late for the visitors to experience it.

The concertgoers will have a chance to view CHIHULY exhibition in daylight and with the nighttime illumination after the performance.

Venue: New York Botanical Garden, NY                                               Time: Friday, July 14, 2017 at 6pm