ALL...THAT AND MORE : Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim

Hanging out in the Rotunda of the Guggi is ALL that and more....Maurizio Cattelan!!! What a conversation starter for you and the kid. Be ready to talk about taxidermy horses (this is a sore spot with the girls), Grandma in the refrigerator, Hitler on his knees and see if they notice the flower in the bum on top of the refrigerator....oh there is a lot to talk about in this show! Kid approved yes, but be on your game for some very interesting word exchanges.

 

GLAM ROCKS: Jim Hodges at Barbra Gladstone Gallery

Jim Hodges at Barbra Gladstone Gallery through December 23, 2011

I'm metalizing things all the time. I work in product design so this is a common request, but a boulder? Ok, I want one, but it's not going to fit in my one bedroom NYC apartment. Perhaps, I need a virtual gallery? Make sure to see Hodges work at the 515 West 24th street Gallery as well.

"I'll be your mirror",  that's what he said to me....

HIGHER THAN KITES: The End Of Gravity, JACOB HASHIMOTO at Mary Boone Gallery

There are some gallery shows that I go back to over and over and I take friends and family and then I hate to see the shows leave. This one in particular Jacob Hashimoto at Mary Boone Gallery at 745 5th Ave, since it's close to where I work, I can drop in at lunch and as an added incentive, in the lobby of this Art Deco building, there is a pianist from 11 to 1pm everyday (a rotation of 10 pianist share this engagement) it's a nice way to add a bit of glamour to your work day. I've told some of my colleagues about the show and I bet not one of them has gone yet and that's a shame, because we're all designers and I think there would be a common appreciation for Hashimoto's work. I hope they'll see this post and go over tomorrow, as it closes December 17, 2011.

Using traditional kite-making techniques Jacob Hashimoto assembles hundreds of bamboo and paper fragments, hand drawn and painted, strung together and suspended between dowels to form layered masterpieces.

The price list for these pieces is quite spectacular at $ 35,000 to $ 60,000 and last time I visited most of the work had sold. The amount of time and effort to assemble each of these pieces alone is remarkable but also each circle, rectangle and square has been hand drawn and/or painted. Let's just say it's been a love affair and unfortunately the affair ends this weekend.

 

I haven't distinguished if I'm in love with the pieces themselves or the what it took to make them, but most likely it's the combination of the two.

LINE WORTHINESS PERCEPTION: Carsten Höller at The New Museum

 Start here on the 4th floor

Line worthy, interactive and 48" tall child approved. Might I suggest though, going during the week or as soon as the museum opens, as this show is line worthy, with in reason. Waiting 2 hours for the slide is not reasonable, so plan your visit accordingly. Upon entering two recent Sunday mornings when the museum opened at 11am and we still were unable to experience the upside down goggles, but there is so much else to do, experience and look at we don't know yet what goggled fun we're missing.

Carsten Höller's Carousel

Entry to Carsten Höller 102 foot long slide

Marble maze anyone?

The strobe lights might get to you too...

Pill Clock is in the back stairwell next to the water cooler, this made me feel like I 
was at the Willy Wonka factory

Watching the sliders shoot through the tunnel

You may experience your nose growing, birds chirping, fish swimming around your head, you may float on water and maybe, just maybe, you'll pass us upside down on a future visit?

This show is open through January 15, 2012 at the New Museum in NYC.

LESS IS MORE, CONTINUED: THE APPLE FLAGSHIP STORE NYC

The New Glass Cube, Apple Flagship Store 5th Ave NYC

The Flagship Apple store at 767 Fifth Ave.; which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and its giant glass cube entrance is noted as one of the most photographed landmarks in New York City, but for the last several months the store has been under wraps for a redesign. The much anticipated unveiling took place on November 4, 2011. And she's a beauty. This is a clear case of LESS IS MORE.

I sit out on this plaza often for the people watching and a bit of sunbathing during the afternoons. It's interesting to see tourist engage with the building and take pictures in front of it. It's a store after all not a landmark...but it's Apple and it's Steve Jobs' statement on Design and Simplicity. Notice the woman to the left in the picture above holding her hands up as if holding the apple for her friend taking her picture. While I was having lunch the other day I watched two teenagers work on the correct perspective for each of them to be photographed biting the center floating iconic Apple.

The Apple store in July 2011 under wraps

The redesign project involved completely removing the glass cube entrance at the store and reinstalling it, by removing 90 panels and replacing them with only 15 seamless panes of glass. In addition to replacing the cube, Apple removed protective bollards, installed new pavers around the perimeter and removed/reinstalled surrounding water drains. Permits filed with New York's Department of Buildings told that the entire project would cost Apple approx. $6.7 million. 

Per Apple insider, the recently deceased, former Apple CEO, paid for the original glass cube project himself and was the actual owner of the structure. It had been agreed upon that when the 20 year lease was complete the original cube was to be hauled off and replaced with a comparable structure.

Makes me wonder where the original cube is now and who owns this new simplified cube?

The original glass cube was completed May 2006 (Photo via Appleinsider.com)

DOUBLE VISION, THE OAKES TWINS: CUE ART FOUNDATION CHELSEA

 Ryan and Trevor Oakes in front of Cue Art Foundation with their drawing machine, Chelsea, NYC October 2011

In our never-ending quest to see ordinary things in a unique way, we found a new perspective on drawing with The Oakes Twins in Chelsea. 

The Oakes' drawing machine; which was on view two weeks ago on 25th street in Chelsea, is truly captivating. A skull cast, really? It was the Oakes' machine out on the sidewalk revealing the view across the street in perfect perspective on a concave canvas that drew us in to their show at the Cue Art Foundation. Lucky for us, Ryan and Trevor were at the gallery that afternoon so we were able to see their completed pieces as well as the drawing machine and the twins in action.

This show closes October 29, 2011, however below are links for more information on Ryan and Trevor Oakes. 

Below is a catalogue for the show 

Open publication - Free publishing - More art

Below a video by David Battistella INCREDIBLE 3D DRAWING MACHINE featuring Ryan and Trevor Oakes 



INCREDIBLE 3D DRAWING MACHINE from David Battistella on Vimeo.

Lurking in the basement...MOMENT, Kinetic Works at ISE Cultural Foundation, Soho

Artwork image by Arthur Ganson, courtesy of ISE Cultural Foundation

Arthur Ganson

I was rushing down Broadway early one morning recently and this winged machine easily caught my eye and I made a photographic note to get back here to see what it was all about. A group exhibition by kinetic artists, Arthur Ganson, Theo Jansen, Daniel Wapner and Daniel Wurtzel at ISE Cultural Foundation.

If you are any where near 555 Broadway between Prince and Spring you should descend the stairs to the basement and see for yourself. You can touch things down there and turn machines on...which means it's kid approved, but it closes October 28, 2011.

Daniel Wurtzel

Arthur Ganson

Video of Theo Jansen's work, If you don't know this artist do yourself a favor and link here to see more http://www.strandbeest.com/

 

WE SPY: BEAUTIFYING NYC, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY

New York City, she's a canvas and there are times when she must be embellished with new architecture, people, language and with art; which can take many forms. Mostly, the kid and I take note of the stencilers and graffiti artists. We love the rawness of this type street art. Neck Face and Jim Joe being our favorites. It has become a modern family car trip game if you will, I spy Neck Face!

Terry Richardson Stencil

And then there are the more controlled art adornments like The High Line's Landscape in Path, guest curated by Joel Sternfeld and pictured below is the final installment with Darren Almond’s Fullmoon@The North Sea and it's stunning to see in person.

Darren Almond’s Fullmoon@The North Sea (25-by-75 foot billboard next to the High Line at West 18th Street)

On 57th between 1st and 2nd Avenue there's a Whole Foods under construction, opening Summer 2012, a welcome addition to that neighborhood, to be sure. On view along the scaffolding wall is Nowhere in Manhattan an ongoing project by New York City based artist Matthew Jensen.

Perhaps someone trying to take one of Jensen's pieces home?

"The intent of the work is to locate, explore, document, promote and protect the last parcels of nowhere remaining within the borough of Manhattan. The next phase of Nowhere In Manhattan is to turn billboards and construction sites into temporary virtual green and open space. Utilizing donated billboards, empty storefronts and construction sites, the landscapes will appear and disappear throughout the borough in some of the most congested neighborhoods."

I almost don't mind the scaffolding.

Winter 2011 Park Avenue looked beautiful, thanks to Will Ryman’s colorful sculptures. 

We look for adornment in each new city we travel to and make note of commonalities and differences based on their own home-grown artists and cultures. Most recently Austin, TX gave us these pieces... 

and now the Kid and I are working on our own personal stencils and stickers to beautify NYC. The only rules are he can't put any in his school and neither one of us can reveal our identity.