The Arts in New York City

In search of alluring or thought-provoking artworks to delight in? Look no further than the transit system from which you use to traverse to museums in order to find such creativity and ingenuity. One station in particular houses its own remarkable collection, the 8th Avenue station where the L and the A/C/E trains meet. The artisan behind the life of each inanimate being goes by the name of Tom Otterness. He effectively colors the routine momentum of our lives between lives as we venture from one place to the next. (more…)

What could be more enjoyable than some Beatles music, crazy 1960’s artwork, and a love story all fused together into a film? After seeing “Across the Universe” at the movies, I’m personally having a hard time thinking of a better way to spend ten dollars. This film is unlike any other movie I have seen before and it can be considered a work of art in many different ways. “Across the Universe” was released in mid-September and by the looks of the full theater on a Saturday afternoon, it will probably stay in theaters for as long as possible. The movie revolves around a fictional love story between two teenagers who come from completely opposite lifestyles. Jude is a young man from Liverpool, England who comes to Princeton University not for an education, but in search of his father. At the university he befriends a group of “badasses” who quickly become his close friends and encourage him to stay in America without a visa. Jude soon meets Lucy, who is the sister of his close friend, Max. Jude and Lucy quickly develop a powerful romance, however each of the three main characters experiences their own ups and downs due to the Vietnam War’s effects on their lives. (more…)

My trip to the Mythic Creatures exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History was quite an experience. There was great anticipation due to the mass advertising for the exhibit via the MTA and other sources. It was amazing to see the videos in particular because most exhibits are nothing but statues and lack an interactive component. Creating a dragon was definitely one of the highlights of my day. Choosing the wings and tail and watching my creation come to life was something I had never experienced at a museum before. Furthermore, they explored the cultural aspect of the various creatures creating a historical background (hence the name of the museum I would assume).

I was walking out of the Long Island Railroad station at 34 street after listening to an underground musician playing his windpipes and I started to wonder. Why are people from all over the world attracted to the city of New York? Is it because of the tall buildings or because of the shiny lights. Maybe it’s the shopping and the landmarks. Or perhaps the reason lies within the infatuation people have with museums. Museums appeal to a persons ambitions as well as his/her curiosities. As a result, people from all over the globe visit NYC, since it’s the biggest museum in the world. Whether it be the famous sites like the Empire State building and the MET or the art found in everyday places like Madison Square Park (with it’s metal trees) and the subway (with the break dancers). NYC is in itself a museum. Next time out, don’t just take public transportation rather, walk around and discover the street performer in Penn station or the unique displays in SOHO or Chinatown. Even check out the local scene in Grand Central or 42nd street for talented street performers, because talent isn’t only present in famous people. So enjoy the world’s art show before you start having to pay for it.

QUEENS CENTRAL LIBRARY- The exhibit titled “Preserving Our Cultural Heritage: Newly Conserved Work from the Queens Library’s Holdings in the Index of American Design” featured watercolor depictions of dresses and house ware from the American colonial period to the 19th c. The watercolor paintings featured in the exhibit were part of the Federal Art Project (FAP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression. The project employed 1000 artists over a span of 6 years who created over 18,000 watercolor paintings. The project was started to create much needed jobs and also to serve the growing public need for information on American design at the time. The exhibit displayed watercolor paintings of rather mundane and ordinary objects of pre-19th century life- quilt spreads, napkins, dresses, and chairs. Expecting an artistic experience, coming to this exhibit was a waste of time. If the government was really concerned about preserving the ways of American pre-19th c. life, they should have preserved the actual quilt spreads, napkins, dresses, and chairs of the time, not produce watercolor paintings of them. I don’t have a problem with the government trying to boost the economy with jobs through the FAP but I don’t think ordinary watercolor paintings like these can be considered art. These paintings cannot be appreciated for their aesthetics (almost anyone could have painted these). Rather, these paintings can only be appreciated for their historical significance.

One day when I was taking a brisk walk under the blaring sun along the streets of Union Square when my eyes caught sight upon a large crowd surrounding a street performance. With my inquisitive mind, I decided to go and take a gander at what was happening. I saw a small circus tent on stage with a banner across it saying, “Circus Amok” and was bedazzled. Ironically, the show was called “Bee-Dazzled”. Just a small pun I don’t think anybody other than myself will find funny. Anyway, I didn’t understand much of what was going on since I started watching it mid-way. I saw a man in drag come out in a queen bee costume. Soon after, other people came out in worker bee costumes and danced around the drag queen. There were crazy acrobats cart-wheeling around the stage and enormous stilt-walkers. After watching the rest of it, I didn’t really understand the message that was trying to be sent. I just knew that it was about the disappearance of honeybees. To find out more, when I got home I looked up more about this particular performance and discovered that the disappearance of honeybees is supposed to resemble the war in Iraq. Circus Amok is a circus-theater company whose performances usually address issues about social justice. After learning more about the company, I only wished to have arrived at Union Square a little bit earlier to catch the entire performance and fully grasp the performance’s significance. Overall, it was a pretty weird show but at the same time captivating to the audience.

The critically acclaimed “The Frick Collection” located on the Upper East Side, is a beautifully preserved site and a magnificent building, filled with many impressive pieces of art. Henry Clay Frick, the former owner and resident of the estate, and his family had an undying passion for fine art and therefore laid the foundation for a sumptous collection in their home that would later be modified into a museum in the years of 1913 to 1914. Among these awe-inspiring paintings and sculptures were Joseph Mallord William Turner’s “The Harbor of Dieppe” and “Cologne: The Arrival of Packet Boat: Evening” hung on opposite sides of the West Gallery, because of their tremendous detail and endowment to inspire the observer to see and feel the movement in these paintings themselves. Jeans Barbet’s sculpture “Angel”, held entirely in black and located in the garden, which is an artistic, spiritual site in itself, caught my attention the most because of the defined features and striking pose of the angel. Though, the artistic value and beauty of all the pieces displayed in “The Frick Collection” is undeniable, I got the impression that most of the pieces didn’t seem to get the full appreciation they deserved. While the building has all potential to be an enjoyable, sophisticated museum, many of the galleries felt crammed and the arrangement of the pieces was rather imperfect. Even though I took advantage of the Art Phone Audio Guide, provided for no extra fee, I was not fully able to immerse in the depth and focus these pieces required of me as the observer. “The Frick Collection” is a museum that requires one to have preparation, maybe even do research, before hand, I believe, to fully appreciate every piece of art and in order for one to know what to look for in the numerous galleries.

I am sure everyone here has been to the MET sometime in the passed years. I remember going to the MET almost every year for my school trips. Since I have been there so many times and basically seen the same exact exhibits over and over, I thought my visit to the MET would be another boring one. But there was an unexpected turnout. I went to the Robert Lehman Collection tour last Friday. I had never been on a tour before inside the MET. It was a new experience for me. The tour guide Carmeta Barone, was very informative. But since there was a time limit on the tour, she had to get through a lot of painting in a short amount of time. I would rather have her spend more time on a few specific paintings. The tour consisted of paintings from Renaissance to Impressionism. That is a lot to cover in an one hour tour. It would have been better if the tour focused on only the Renaissance paintings. I knew some of the Renaissance paintings from before but the information about the other paintings were hard to follow. I think this tour is mainly for people who are already familiar with the paintings in the Robert Lehman Collection.

Due to renovations, the Robert Lehman Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was moved to an underground gallery next to the cafeteria. After finishing the tedious tour, nothing beats sitting down and grabbing a bite right outside the gallery. Only a small portion of the artworks was brought down, according to Carmeta Barone, the tour guide. The tour, lasting an hour long consisted of only several artworks ranging from Early Renaissance to Post-Impressionism. Probably one of the most famous artworks displayed was “A Goldsmith in His Shop” by Petrus Christus. Upon seeing this painting in a concave section of the wall, I was surprised to learn that this painting existed within the Metropolitan. Previously I have had the luxury of seeing this painting in a textbook. Ms. Barone gave a lecture about this painting, which was quite dull to the ears because she was lecturing uninteresting facts. Personally, I was glad to have learned about this painting because it allowed me to look for specific aspects of the painting that Ms. Barone does not mention. The impression that I got from this tour was that Ms. Barone was rushing to get to as many of the paintings as possible within the hour. Currently I would not recommend the tour of the Robert Lehman Collection to anyone whom has no prior knowledge of the artworks. Without any prior knowledge, it would be hard to grasp the true intentions of the painters as well as appreciate the artwork within the four minutes allotted to each.

The Paley Center for media is an exhibit in Manhattan that lets its visitors watch old clips from TV and radio shows that they consider to be classics. Indeed some of the more modern clips that they showed, like Mr. Bean and The Simpson’s I did find rather interesting. However since I am not an avid television and radio show viewer most of the shows seemed unnecessary to me. I felt that I could have seen the same thing if I turned on the history channel or watched old reruns late night on TV. I would recommend this museum to anyone who enjoys watching old shows or who just wants to reconnect with a time that now survives through these very shows and people’s memories.