Celebrity Alert: Glenn Close!

 

Glenn Close was waiting to get on her plane at LaGuardia airport the same time we were waiting to get on ours heading to Cincinnati!

Rising Currents Exhibition at MOMA

 

I met these two designer/architects during a visit (my fourth) to MoMA PS1, the Museum of Modern Art's Long Island City branch. These two were creating an exhibit designed to rethink housing in an age where disastrous weather threatens our coastlines. I would write more, but I can't for the life of me find anything on the internet. MoMA's site has nothing that I can find, and googlling all sorts of phrases leads me nowhere. Can anyone help out?

Activism in New York

 

Relating to the Activism in New York exhibit I saw at the Museum of the City of New York, here is a large window display at Bloomingdale's outlining milestones in the LGBT movement.

Yarn Bombed Van in Williamsburg

What a spectacle! My husband and I spent an afternoon in Williamsburg in Brooklyn Saturday. The place was buzzing--the sidewalks were animated with 20-30 year olds looking like ads for Abercombie and Fitch. 

One thing about New York is that you cannot keep up with all the artistic activities going on, so you never know when you're going to stumble onto some big event. The crazy crochet-coverd van is part of an Absolute Vodka art-space-transformation. The artist's name is Olek. You may enjoy her website.

 

An Early December Noon in the Grand Concourse: A Painting by Stone Roberts

Do you think this is photograph? It's a painting! Its part of the larger painting below called An Early December Noon in the Grand Concourse. The painting is huge (next picture), and yet the tiniest of details are visible. Look at the woman's cell phone in her hands and the label on the trash can behind her. 

This stunning painting is on the 3rd floor of the Museum of the City of New York--a truly engaging museum that I highly recommend you visit. You can see the whole museum in three hours or less, and chances are you'll have the place to yourself. Be sure to have lunch there, and do take the docent tour.

 The young boy in the picture below moved out of the way when he saw I had my camera out, but I asked him to stay to help show the scale of the painting. He was fine with that and giggled with his mother about it afterwords.

Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York is located at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue. The neighborhood a little troubling this far north. That is to say the sidewalks have a little more trash; the parks a few more weeds, and rusty shopping carts dot the alleyways. But once inside the museum, you're glad you ventured out. 

The stunning entrance was all white marble, lacy black wrought iron and bright tiny lights. I couldn't get enough of this mesmerizing light matrix. As I walked up the stairway, every angle begged to be noticed and photographed.

The exhibit I went specifically to see was well done and interesting: Activist New York. There was a lovely cafe on the second floor where I had soup for lunch before meeting a docent tour in the lobby. I love the unusual and artsy chairs at the cafe.

The docent was energetic, likable and knowledgeable. She gave us a choice of exploring one or two exhibits in detail or grazing over the entire three floors. The group wanted to graze. Here she talks about the exhibit: Making Room. There was a fully-funished micro apartment to experience here.

The most colorful exhibit was Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced where I learned that this designer did the most in the late 70s to move fashion in the direction of bright colors and slinky silhouettes. It was sponsored by Target. Do you think there might be a collaboration coming up?

  

I'd have to say this was one of the better museum experiences I've had since moving to New York. Unlike so many museums, the place was not crowded. The exhibits were brilliantly executed. Touring the entire place was manageable. The cafe menu items were interesting and filling. And the overall feel of the place was welcoming, yet seriously professional. Admission is a suggested $10 donation. Well worth it.

5 POINTZ

I'm getting lazy. I'm going to use the copy from the 5 Pointz website to explain this outdoor art space. I live eight blocks from here and frequently pass it to get on the M train.

From 5POINTZ website: "5Pointz Aerosol Art Center, Inc. is an outdoor art exhibit space in Long Island City, New York, considered to be the world’s premiere “graffiti Mecca,” where aerosol artists from around the globe paint colorful pieces on the walls of a 200,000-square-foot factory building.

Legendary writers from Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Japan, Brazil, and all over the United States have painted on the building walls, including Stay High 149, Tracy 168, Cope2, Part, and Tats Cru.

On any given day, 5Pointz visitors can expect to find prominent artists, musicians, deejays, Emcees (rappers), and B-boys (break dancers) on site, in addition to filmmakers, photographers, and entire tour buses full of admirers soaking in the more than 350 Technicolor murals."