September 2010
16 posts
9 tags
Fun Gallery Site
This is the first site of the eponymous graffiti gallery. I love this story from founder Patti Astor “I was meeting all the graffiti artists while we were getting the Wild Style movie together and I asked Futura 2000 to paint a mural in my East Third Street apartment. I celebrated the event with an Art Opening Barbeque. Futura was spraying this gorgeous mural and Kenny [Scharf] (calling...
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Athelstan Spilhaus' Sun dial
Not all sculptures are by artists- South African-American geophysicist and oceanographer Athelstan Spilhaus created the piece located at Rockefeller’s McGraw-Hill Building. Located in the sunken courtyard, the triangle sculpture is arranged so the Sun aligns with its sides at solstices and equinoxes. This is also the building where, in 1999, an employee was trapped in the elevator for 3 days.
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Picasso's Mercure Tapestry
Believe it or not, Picasso never set foot in New York in his 91 years. And this tapestry isn’t exactly authentic- it is an artist-authorized replica of the curtain Pablo Picasso created for the ballet Mercure, the original of which hangs in the Musée National d’Art Moderne in Paris, France. It was commissioned specifically for the Exxon Building and was woven in Provence, as per the...
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Jeff Koon's Balloon Dog (orange)
The Seagram Building on Park Avenue is now host to Jeff Koon’s orange Balloon Dog sculpture. The sculpture’s owner, Peter Brant, moved the piece for the public to enjoy from Greenwich, Connecticut. It sits behind velvet ropes in the Phillip Johnson designed lobby.
Jeff Koons’ balloon dog remains one of his most popular icons, having displayed them on the roof of the Met as...
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Gracie Mansion Gallery site
The artistic spirit of the East Village of the 1980s was one I dream about, and live through movies like “Downtown 81”, “Slaves of New York” and modern period movies such as “Basquiat” and “I Shot Andy Warhol.” It was a the epicenter of self expression in art, a bohemian enclave of artists and art galleries with the attitude of reinvention, innovation and anything goes….
One such seminal art...
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Jean Dubuffet's Trees
Many public works are located in the historic Financial District, with all the promenades surrounding the corporate offices; it is a perfect place for public sculpture and what not. You’ll notice many Minimalist pieces in this area, usually geometric sculptures of iron and steel, which is welcomed but not necessarily inspirational.
In 1969, David Rockefeller commissioned Jean Dubuffet to create...
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George Segal- Gay Liberation Monument
Across from the famed Stonewall Inn, in a gated park area in Christopher Square two cast white male statues stand in a frozen intimate chat, while two women statues sit with each other on a nearby bench. The sculptures, the signature cast style of George Segal, were commissioned in 1979 by arts patron Peter Putnam. The statues pay tribute the Stonewall Riots which happened a decade before, when...
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Vito Acconci's Schoolyard
Famed Masturbator and Bronx native- artist Vito Acconci strayed from jerking off under the floors of galleries and into the world of architecture and design. Acconci was asked to redesign the PS3 school’s courtyard. The resulting project – a tame grid of blue stripes and windows-reflects the architectural elements of the building, “the walls that enclose the children inside become...
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7,1000 lb Street Art
Street art schmeet art. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, but I’m used to it being everywhere, from tags to wheat paste, its so common nowadays that it almost blends into the background. It really takes a piece out of the ordinary to grab my always-occupied attention.
That said, what about a 7000lb bronze bull? Uh, yea, that would definitely stand out! What most people don’t realize, is that the...
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UBS Lobby and Art Gallery
The glass lobby of the UBS building, with its rich wood interiors, is actually a public gallery. The financial company is dedicated to supporting arts and culture, and through this the UBS Art Gallery was founded. The space hosts four exhibitions a year, mostly classic photography such as Walker Evans. The space is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm.
What: UBS Lobby and Art...
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7000 Oaks by Joseph Beuys
Possibly the most important German artist of the post World War II 20th Century, Joseph Beuys was a sculptor, performance artist, installation artist, graphic artist and art theorist. When I think of Beuys, I immediately conjure bolts of awkward grey felt, or “I Like America and America Likes Me,” his performance in which he shared a gallery space with a coyote for three days. But, Beuys brought...
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Walter De Maria's Earth Room and Broken Kilometer
There are a few things I am slightly obsessed with. At least to the point that I force friends to at least attempt mutual appreciation- Edward James. Niagara Falls (especially the Maid of the Mist boat ride). Horseradish Vodka. And Earth Room.
Earth Room is a room full of dirt on the second floor of a loft on Wooster Street in Soho. 250 cubic yards of earth to be exact. That is pretty much it....
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