For example:
Boggle and Bordeaux
Mass Mailings and Mimosas (that's the arts administrator talking)
Scrabble and Stir-fry (which my new roommate reality-checked as: Scrabble and Syrah)
Right now, I am Munching at the MoMA.
I am sitting in Café 2, with long, empty tables (it's 5pm) and delicious antipasti selections. For $8 you can pick three small plates - I chose the poached asparagus with mushrooms, chick pea salad with cherry tomatoes and rock shrimp and a cold salad of roasted carrots, parsnips and onions. A perfect snack after an afternoon traipsing around the galleries!
As I am in the habit of doing in most museums, I started at the top and worked my way down. The MoMA hosts most of its special exhibitions on the top floor, and its a wonderful way to begin before descending to your old favorites on the floors below.
There was a piece in Martin Kippenberger's show on the top floor that gave me a good chuckle. Obviously commenting upon and making fun of Andy Warhol's repetition and variation paintings (think: Marilyn, Campbell's soup), this painting featured two nearly identical frogs, one saying "I hate you" to the other, and repeated in sloppily drawn squares (the bottom right square was simply missing). There was sludge smeared all over it. I never see anyone laughing in museums. People walk around so austere, as if the art could hear you; your comments and observations have to be "correct". What ever happened to free association? What has happened to the enjoyment of seeing art? Anyhow, Kippenberger's work was equally rebellious and intelligent - he seemed to me a cynic's cynic, and certainly a master, or at least a courageous experimenter, with so many forms and materials.
Visiting the two floors of painting and sculpture, I was a little thrown off guard. I haven't been to the MoMA in a while (these days, places that aren't "suggested donation" aren't on my radar so much), but was craving its treasures. Thing is, all the treasures have been moved around and some of them replaced by others! I walked up to the big black, white and gray Jackson Pollock hanging at the far wall of a gallery, and twirled around, as I usually do, to slyly note the Lee Krasner that sits on a small wall opposite it, as if she was watching and winking at him... but it wasn't there! I always thought the Pollock/Krasner placement was so brilliant, and frankly, this change disappointed me. They replaced the Magritte eye with the Magritte dark town/bright sky (not complaining); they moved the Jasper Johns map of the USA from the wall on the right to the wall on the left (the point?); they replaced my favorite de Chirico with a less favorite de Chirico. Blah blah art - WATCH OUT, change is in the air.
I made sure to visit my favorite lady (sitting on the wall opposite where it used to be), Woman I. Willem de Kooning was my favorite painter in the 4th grade - we were taken on a class trip to see a big show of his at the Metropolitan Museum and I appreciated the way he represented women. I've since moved on to John Singer Sargent, but de Kooning remains up there.
I could sit here all day and gush about these things, but I've decided to provide something a bit more practical:
Captain Kitchen's Guide to Seeing Good Art in New York on the Cheap
Before we begin, let me say this: do not throw out your student ID even if you are no longer a student. I plan on using mine for eternity.
Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
53rd Street btwn. 5th and 6th Avenues
Today's adventure. $12 student price, $2o regular price. It's a lot of bang for a lot of buck. It's free after 6pm on Fridays, but the crowd is awful. The MoMA Design Store is a good place to get gifts for people.
The Metropolitan Museum
5th Avenue at 83rd Street
Says its $20, but it's actually a "suggested donation". I usually pay $1. Open late on Fridays and Saturdays. One of the most enchanting places to wander. If you get a martini on the balcony, be advised that your bill will come with an extra charge of $2 because your martini was "straight up" - when is it not??? This is my only contention with the Met. Oh yeah, and their lazily curated Costume Institute show last year.
The Whitney Museum of American Art
Madison Avenue at 75th Street
Hands down, my favorite museum in the City. It's small enough that you can take a couple hours and really take in the whole thing. Student price is only $8, and worth every penny. New York City public high school students get in for free, but I decided a couple years ago that I could no longer pass as my 14-year-old self from my high school ID. Their permanent collection is top notch. The Whitney is free from 6-9 (well, it's "pay what you wish") on Fridays.
The Museum of Natural History
Central Park West at 79th Street
Dinosaurs! Suggested donation! Note: the special exhibitions are not a suggested donation, but you can sneak in the "exit" door pretty easily...
PS1
Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue, LIC (7 train to 45th Road, G train to 21st/Van Alst)
MoMA's super-contemporary outpost in Long Island City. Another suggested donation price. Last time I went, I really felt the economic crisis had taken hold - a lot of the smaller galleries were empty, and the few larger shows they had were all individual artists, and not smartly curated group shows, as is their norm. If anything, go for the intoxicating smell of donuts that permeates the neighborhood, and for your proximity to The Chocolate Factory.
Chelsea Galleries
21st Street thru 28th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues
If I don't have any other plans on a Thursday evening, you can probably find me in Chelsea. Here's why: Thursday evenings from 6 - 8pm are when galleries in Chelsea host their openings. It's chock full of people-watching and free wine. Go to www.chelseaartgalleries.com, where they assemble an "itinerary" of openings for you, so you can have some clue of what's there and where to go. An alternative is to show up on 25th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues and follow the well-dressed drunk people.
These are my old faithfuls, but be sure to pop in to any gallery during the day for a free peek. Don't forget to hit up your artist friends to see what THEY'RE working on. And it sounds silly, but check myopenbar.com for random gallery opening listings.
That is all.
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