World Trade Center Mural

WTC Mural, photo by Matthew Hobbs (© 2003 some rights reserved)

This mural known as "Forever Tall" was painted on the side of a restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the days following September 11, 2001. Upon seeing it, the twinkling flowers in the outline of the Twin Towers amidst the other city lights evoked an emotional response in me. I felt the vibrancy of the souls lost as something separate from all of that sameness. This work of art was my favorite out of all the memorials and dedications from that period around Manhattan. I'm relieved to have found it documented as I missed getting to the area with my own camera. Thirteen years later, yes, we remember.

Culture-Hunting in Vegas

I recently went to Las Vegas for the first time for a brief escape from reality. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I heard from many sources that it's a crazy, over-the-top sort of place. When I arrived, I saw many countries simultaneously in linear fashion. It wasn't fathomable to see Siam, Egypt, and New York all nestled on the famous Strip practically side by side. And yet, in Vegas, I suppose anything is possible. It's a place for bachelorettes, spring-breakers, gawkers, big-spenders, heavy drinkers, those who are down and out, those who are holding onto big hopes, and those who are holding onto wild dreams as well. Sure. But art and culture? 

Then I remembered there was a fairly large Dale Chihuly piece in the main lobby at one of them. Oh yes, that would be the Bellagio. It was a must-see for any art lover. And it was fantastic! Colored pools of glass swirl above your head like thousands of jellyfish. It was larger than life; practically the size of a 2 lane regulation-size swimming pool. Impressive. 

Later that evening, I enjoyed a glass of wine under the watchful eyes of about fifteen Picassos as I overlooked the choreographed fountain show on the main drag. What a combination. And what a spectacle! I was lured even further into the Wynn art collection by a video ad for a recent acquisition at his other property, the elegantly styled Wynn Hotel. It was a Jeff Koons piece entitled simply, "Tulips". I asked a couple of staff members who were strolling through the endless aisles of slot machines about where this piece was located. They chuckled a little, telling me that those tulips cost millions of dollars, I better go see them and make sure I enjoy them! In New York Magazine, I recently read that this work of art cost $33.7M to be exact. Vegas is a crazy place indeed.

Message In A Sculpture - Valentine Love Notes

 

If you've ever spent any time in the New York subway system, you've probably seen these little sculptures by Tom Otterness at the 8th Avenue/14th Street Station where the L train connects to the A, C, E line. These little works of art are not concentrated to one particular area, but spread throughout the station. It's one of my favorite places to wait for a train because I like to look at all of these little guys. On my way home from this part of town one night, I was feeling a little blue. Absently studying the sculptures for the umpteenth time in my commuter haze, my first thought was that someone strategically shoved a wad of garbage into the figure. When I saw the bright red shape, I realized it was a little scroll tucked into this special spot; a clever disguise hidden in plain view. I looked around to see if anyone was watching, and pulled out the scroll. 

It was a little secret - like finding a message in a bottle from across the sea, or experiencing that moment of anticipation when you crack open a fortune cookie. The mini scroll was attached to a brilliant red heart made from a simple paperclip. The message felt like it was put there just for me. The arbitrary words were lilting, some lyrics from a song I knew. "I want to hold your hand - the Beatles". The memory of the song and its intent immediately brought a little smile to my face. I walked around the platform, and noticed another bronze figure bearing another note as if it were some clue to a treasure hunt. Another heart, more lyrics. And another smile. In the distance, I heard a train coming. I circled the platform quickly hoping there might be more mysteries to unravel. I found a total of five little "love notes" before my gritty steel chariot arrived. Somewhere in a recessed chamber of my brain, I wondered if the undercover emissary behind the simple goodwill gesture was watching. I hope they saw the big grin on my face for the long ride home.

My favorite one- in some small way, this little reminder is so hard to remember but so true.

Manhattan's Hidden Picasso

Just off busy Houston Street and tucked away inside a sleepy central courtyard of apartment buildings in lower Manhattan sits a massive Picasso sculpture. I discovered the Bust of Sylvette (1967) one day when I was wandering around New York with no particular place to go after checking out the annual Armory Show. She is about 6 stories high and is made of a granular concrete with dark sandblasted lines. Picasso's famous Cubist method is rendered by three-dimensional folds allowing the viewer to have different points of perspective into one complete essence of the piece. These bends in the concrete allow shards of sunlight to play on and around the sculpture. I recently saw two small painted metallic mock-ups at the Black and White Picasso show at the Guggenheim. Here, those comparatively tiny models (just twenty-six inches high) have come to life. The giant reinterpretation was executed by the world-famous Spaniard in coordination with Norwegian artist, Carl Nesjar.

The two sides of Sylvette

The model for the piece, a young nineteen year old Sylvette David, appears in the work of Picasso's later years as the "girl with the blonde ponytail". After achieving fame across Europe for being Picasso's muse and for her striking good looks, she later changed her name to Lydia to validate her own art career.

The Brutalist style buildings surrounding the Sylvette sculpture in lower Manhattan are designed by I.M. Pei are part of the NYU Campus. The sculpture itself was a gift to NYU by Mr. and Mrs. Allan D. Emil (philanthropist, patron of the arts, and notable lawyer) in 1968. A similar public sculpture was purchased by the city of Rotterdam. Picasso himself never visited the United States, but this giant artwork certainly makes his presence felt.

Buckyball at Madison Square Park

As another ball drops in Times Square later tonight, its artistic twin (of sorts) sits in Madison Square Park. Mesmerizing and delighting viewers, the thirty-foot tall illuminated Buckyball sculpture changes color moment to moment in an open space just within view of the Empire State and Flatiron Buildings. Lounge chairs surround the artwork allowing visitors to sit and interact with the ever-changing light show. Buckyball is made from a larger (twenty foot diameter) three-dimensional molecule form comprised of hexagons and attached to other hexagons of the same size by a common side. Inside, lies a smaller (ten foot diameter) identical and self-similar version of the shape based on geodesic figures and domes made famous by Buckminster "Bucky" Fuller. More about the artist, Leo Villareal, the mathematics, and scientific concepts behind the artwork can be found at the Park's website.

Enjoy the many colorful iterations of this sculpture below and in Madison Square Park through February 1, 2013.

Subway Art - 116th Street

When I first moved to the Bronx, I immediately noticed the striking wall mosaics at 116th Street stop off of the Lexington Avenue Line that runs along the east side of Manhattan. As someone who loves vibrant color and favors circular forms, I was intrigued. As the subway car came to a screeching halt, and the doors opened, I was immediately transported to an art museum. 

I promised myself that one day when I had some time, I would leap out and check out the entire station. The work didn't disappoint. Seeming more like paintings and torn pieces of paper, the work was modern and painterly not quite fitting the hard glass and smalti medium. The bold shapes and solid circles, again unusual for the medium, caught my eye unlike any other through the transit system. I learned that the work was by Robert Blackburn, a master printmaker (makes sense) and that this was his last contribution to the art world. It is part of the ever-growing Arts for Transit public art program funded by the MTA.

116th Street

ROBERT BLACKBURN

In Everything There Is A Season, 2005

Glass mosaic on platform walls

Robert Blackburn's dynamic abstract patterns rendered in mosaic suggests the color and movement of the streets above that the artist shapes into beautiful artwork for the subway station. A master printmaker, Blackburn was a founding member of the Printmaking Workshop in Harlem. In 2001 MTA Arts for Transit commissioned Blackburn to create a work for the 116th Street subway station in Harlem. In failing health, he chose artist Mei-Tei-Sing Smith, a Bearden Fellow at the Printmaking Workshop, to assist him on what would prove to be his last major project. Once completed, his maquettes were enlarged and manufactured into ceramic and glass mosaics. Blackburn died in April 2003.

The description above is from the MTA website. You can see this beautiful artwork off of thetrain.

The Glass Art of Dale Chihuly - Film Review and Exhibit

Here is a bright dash of bold color for these hot summer days after combating those long winter blahs.....the film about Chihuly's exhibit at the V&A is a treat for the eyes- as is all of Chihuly's work. There are several movies about Chihuly's work, and as I suspected, they are all fairly similar. Each one offers site-specific installations from far-flung locales like Venice and Jerusalem. This particular movie follows the preparations for his exhibition at a famous London institution. With this show, held back in  2001, the museum broke its normal rules having a one-person show for a living, contemporary artist.

The artist is consumed with organic forms and surprises that take shape in the glass. He rarely uses tools and molds relying more on gravity and centrifugal force to create his glasswork- the more organic and unusual, the better. His work is based on the "happy accident" yielding even stranger, more embraceable biology. For this exhibit, he also broke with tradition, using molds and then later seeing where physics would take the resulting form. These creations are modern sculptures amidst the arms and armor in the medieval art section of the museum. Both Chihuly's work and medieval art are colorful and exhuberant. He views his work as a collection that is ongoing. He enjoys playing with natural light and water. As the forms are placed, Chihuly likes the viewer to wonder if the work is manmade or is it natural? He doesn't want it to be overly designed with predictible placement but rather looking like it grew there naturally. When it comes to production, he stresses experimentation and teamwork.

Back in 2006, I was overjoyed when Chihuly's colorful work was featured in a similar exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. I went at night and again during the day to experience the exhibit in two different lights. As intended by the artist, I noticed the placement was natural. But somehow the organic forms were strange. They seemed to fit, yet were like nothing I had ever seen. Were they natural and real or some sort of alien life form that was placed in these gardens by an unknown hand?

The Flatiron Runneth Over ...With Cups

Earlier this week, I was running through the Flatiron area trying to duck the cold when I was struck by an odd sight: a thousand (probably more) coffee cups embellished by the hand of Gwyenth Leech. They are strung in a small gallery space aptly called "The Prow" at the pointed end of the landmark Flatiron Building in Manhattan. A few of us gathered mesmerized, trying to take in the spectacle in the dwindling daylight. And this is why I have my camera sitting at the bottom of my purse at all times!

After looking for a few minutes, I quickly found a favorite with a red seaweed pattern.

The exhibit, called "Hypergraphia" runs from September 19, 2011 through February 18, 2012. The artist sits in the space in a type of performance Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. More information [like how did this all get started?] and Gwyneth's progress can be found on her blog about the project: www.gwynethsfullbrew.com

The artist's humble public work space.