Tag Archives: contemporary art

MUSIC AND MODERN ART – AUG 10

Bush in concert and the Battle of the Burger returns to the city. Plus, the Giglio Di Sant Antonio Feast and Modern Art Auction kicks off.

PREYIN’ ON ADAM LEVINE – MARCH 5

Maroon 5 in concert for two nights, plus Charlie Wilson, an awesome Purim event, and an art show! Thirsty Thursday!

The New Museum – a strong statement about contemporary art

The New Museum is devoted entirely to contemporary art from all over the world. Its exhibitions are often shocking, controversial, and they attract great criticism. But isn’t this what contemporary art is all about? The building of the New Museum, located on Bowery and Prince, is a contemporary art piece in itself. The Japanese architecture firm designed the building as a series of gigantic boxes, the museum’s galleries, placed on top of each other. It is truly a monument of contemporary art. Located in the Lower East side, where most buildings are old and poorly maintained, the building of the New Museum definitely stands and makes a strong statement – contemporary art exist, and it matters. The New Museum seems to reject everything that is bourgeois or old, making space for a new direction in art and culture – modernity.

High Museum

With its renowned collection of classic and contemporary art and award-winning architecture by Richard Meier and Renzo Piano, the High Museum of Art has grown from its origins in a stately home on Peachtree Street to become the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. The High Museum of Art is the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. Located in Midtown Atlanta’s arts and business district, the High has more than 12,000 works of art in its permanent collection. The Museum has an extensive anthology of 19th- and 20th-century American art; significant holdings of European paintings and decorative art; a growing collection of African American art; and burgeoning collections of modern and contemporary art, photography and African art. The High is also dedicated to supporting and collecting works by Southern artists and is distinguished as the only major museum in North America to have a curatorial department specifically devoted to the field of folk and self-taught art. Visit high.org for schedule and information.

Miami Art Museum Draws In Art Lovers

Picture 7Innovative and thought-provoking art is what the Miami Art Museum strives to present to art lovers. With contemporary greats, like photographer Chuck Close, icon Robert Rauschenberg, and artists Wilfredo Lam and Jose Bedia featured, there’s no doubt the envelope is being pushed to the max.

The rule of admiring works of art from afar does not apply here, the installations, paintings, and sculptures beg for the viewer to become engrossed in the work, examine it and in essence become affected by it.

Besides the permanent collection and traveling exhibits that are presented, the MAM offers the monthly happy hour, Jam at MAM, featuring varying jazz performers, nibbles, and cocktails, as well as regular lectures to coincide with the show schedule.

4. Tattoo Artist Dr. Lakra’s ICA Exhibit Begins April 14-30

Screen shot 2010-03-24 at 4.53.50 PMDiscover the playful and provocative works of the artist Jerónimo López Ramírez, also known as Dr. Lakra, who is a renowned tattoo artist that lives and works in Oaxaca, Mexico. Under his pseudonym, loosely translating as “Dr. Delinquent,” he draws over vintage printed materials and found objects rather than skin, manipulating images of pin-up girls, 1940s Mexican businessmen, luchadores, and Japanese sumo wrestlers.

Referencing diverse body art traditions from Chicano, Maori, Thai, and Philippine cultures, Dr. Lakra layers spiders, skulls, crosses, serpents, and devils over these existing images. Playful, naughty, and often intentionally vulgar, his work challenges social norms by blurring cultural identities. This exhibit at the ICA is Dr. Lakra’s first solo exhibition in the U.S., and he will present works from a variety of series as well as a newly commissioned mural.

Biennial and Beyond at The Whitney

Many museums claim to be one of the leading institutions of art, but very rarely can one stake claim as the preeminent museum, but so is the case at the Whitney. Its specialty? Americana, baby. With installations, sculptures, photography, paintings, and film starring Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and up and coming designers, The Whitney is known for its innovative collections and is one of the most beloved museums by in-the-know New Yorkers.

It’s fitting that the highly regarded American art museum has an equally fabulous American heritage. The Whitney was started by none other than American royalty, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney. The sculptor/socialite found it nearly impossible for emerging artists to find an exhibition space, so in 1931, The Whitney Museum of American Art was born.

Its most famous exhibition is the annual Whitney Biennial from February to May; it’s become so popular that it’s now regarded as one of the leading art exhibitions in the entire world. Focused on contemporary art, The Biennial stays true to the Whitney’s foundations and is a grand debut for many emerging artists and an incredible showcase for the more famous ones. The Biennial is in its 75th year and is getting more diverse and innovative with age.

For those wanting a great taste of American art that’s surprising, thought-provoking and beautiful in the same breath, there truly is no better place in the world than The Whitney.

New Museum’s Lisa Phillips Dines at Gemma

As the director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, Lisa Phillips knows a thing or two about the “renaissance,” as she calls it, of Bowery Street. The New Museum, is after all, at the center of that explosion of art on Bowery with its Guggenheim-esque new building that opened on December 1, 2007.

Picture 6When Lisa isn’t at the forefront of all things innovative, she heads up a few blocks on Bowery to the New Museum’s antithesis, Gemma. “This is where I spend most of my time and eat most of my meals,” Lisa told citybuzz of the East Village area.

Gemma’s an Italian restaurant that’s as rustic as you can get in ultra-modern New York City. There’s the classic thatched red wine bottles, wooden table tops and copper covered bar that evoke a feeling that Dorothy is no longer in the East Village anymore. The menu is filled with tried and true favorites like delicious wood-fired pizzas and soft gnocchi with a hearty Bolognese sauce. The easy setting and reliable food leaves diners like Lisa Phillips with the impression that, as the New York Times stated,”Gemma has an unlabored panache that makes an evening go down very easy.”

*** Lisa Phillips has been the Director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art since 1999.

Fall In Love with Art & Jewelry at Velvet da Vinci

Art has most of us seeireneebevan3webng inspiration in its pure form.  At Nob Hill’s favorite art-jewelry gallery, Velvet da Vinci, all you’ll see is too many pieces to fit in your box.  The lofty and warm space introduces San Francisco to the most unique pieces in modern art available, such as last June’s Jane Adam Jewelry exhibition.  With current pieces like Renee Bevan’s Rose Petal Lei, you may find something special just in time for Valentine’s Day or a special anniversary.  And with 10-12 exhibitions a year, you’ll have monthly supply of fresh pieces for your home and heart.

Since 1991, Velvet da Vinci has featured craft artists from the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Japan.  The regular exhibitions of artisanal jewelry, sculpture and metalwork are popular amongst collectors, museum curators and jewelry enthusiasts. With each unique piece up for grabs, this popular jewelry museum is a must-stop for everyday shoppers.  With only the cream of the crop in contemporary art and sculpture, it’s hard for anyone appreciative of beauty to walk out empty handed.

The Nation’s One and Only Fabric Workshop and Museum

To say that The Fabric Workshop and Museum is one-of-a-kind is an understatement – there is no other museum in the nation of its kind! This is not a textile museum, it’s shocking and thought-provoking with pieces like “Entrails Carpet” and “Restless Nights/Atomic Shroud.” The FWM’s main goal is to show “design excellence in everyday objects,” anPicture 5d by transforming everyday textiles and objects, like carpets and beds, into channels for social commentary, it pushes contemporary art to another level.

The list of artists represented in the permanent gallery is lengthy, ensuring that you will see a variety of distinctive and creative pieces. Many of these artists also have items available exclusively in the Museum Shop, like canvas bags, scarves, napkins, ties, pillows, umbrellas, and t-shirts.

With an appointment, you can visit the construction and print studios, where you’ll see exhibitions of contemporary art, video programs, pieces from the FWM permanent collections and works in progress.

2. Worldwide Affair at Miami Int’l Art Fair 1/7 – 1/10/10

It’s a worldwide affair at the Miami International Art Fair as galleries from every continent contribute the best in contemporary art. All mediums of contemporary art will be represented at this four-day evePicture 21nt. The fair also includes a lecture series featuring prominent experts in International Contemporary Art. This year one of the must-see exhibits is “Next Generation” as it draws attention to artists of the future.
The fair will open with an Invitation-Only Collector’s Preview Party on January 6. Passes can be requested at the website, and are limited, so don’t wait.

3. Celebrate Art Week at Art Miami 2009 12/2-12/6/09

Art Basel may be the big art event in town, but Art Miami 2009 has longevity on its side. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Art Miami is the City’s original and longest-running contemporary art fair. As the anchor of Miami Art Week, Art Miami always delivers with a wide variety of outstanding pieces of art from 80 contemporary art galleries and prominent institutions from all across the globe.

5. ICA Thursdays Free Only This Month 12/4-12/31/09

ICABoston’s newest museum, the Institute of Contemporary Art, opens its doors gratis for one evening a week only in December through Target’s sponsorship of Free Thursday Nights.  Home to a vast array of works from emerging and established artists, the ICA offers patrons an assemblage of outstanding works in all media. The waterfront museum, designed by award-winning architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, is, at once, contemplative and dynamic, mirroring the spirit and sense of the installations housed within.

The Art Institute of Chicago: The Modern Wing

Local lovers of art and museum-marveling out-of-towners will go gaga for the Art Institute of Chicago’s new Modern Wing. The 264,000-square-foot addition, designed by Renzo Piano, is a magnificent home for the museum’s much lauded collection of modern European paintings, contemporary art, and photography. The entry hall’s grandeur rivals that of a cathedral, and the staircase, supported by metal rods, makes the Wing a work of art in its own right. Come see what all the fuss is about!

Rubell Family Collection

Picture 182Come see one of the best collections of contemporary art in the world. The Rubell Family Collection was one of the initial galleries to move into the hip and happening Wynwood District in 1993 and calls a  a former Drug Enforcement Agency warehouse home. The 45,000 square foot space showcases work by contemporary giants including Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, Julian Schanbel and Jeff Koons. It’s obvious that Don and Mera Rubell, who started the collection shortly after they were married in 1964, know a little something about art collecting and shared a passion for it from the start. They’ve passed that on to their children Jason and Jennifer who are now collectors themselves and run the place for their parents.

Give Red Square Euro Bistro a Shot—Literally

Picture 24Tucked away in Writer’s Square just off Larimer, Red Square Euro Bistro is like no place else in LoDo. First and foremost is the vodka bar: rounding out a list of nearly 100 from 20 different countries (including El Salvador and Kazakhstan!), all available by the shot or the bottle, is a wild selection of house infusions—dill, horseradish, and honey being especially good choices. (If spirits aren’t your poison, check out the imported Russian and Czech beers instead.) Then there’s the contemporary European food: borscht with eggs, veal dumplings, beef stroganoff, and pavlova with champagne sabayon help absorb all that alcohol. And in warm weather, the courtyard patio beyond the sleek red-walled dining room is a locals’ hangout from happy hour onwards.