Day 02 (Saturday): SOHO / CHELSEA / (Guggenheim)
The day begins with a visit to the Cathedral of St. Patrick for hours of Mass the following day. Gothic A good level and better size. Formal work and recharged in the vaults gives it a late, with a not very successful addition of a "wall" flower motif between the ribs. The exterior is covered by restoration, but also perceived air of strangeness that acquires its presence among the modern towers.
For practical reasons we Times Square before boarding the schedule for the day. There there complete information office where we provide good maps, tourist irreplaceable colleagues. There are also Internet access for 10 ', which we use. One of the things to consider is the total absence of shops and very difficult to make Internet access in this city for the man walking, where it is assumed that the "laptop" is widespread. They also tell us that access is possible in public libraries and from and at universities, but do not know what requirements must be met to achieve.
Times Square, which will return in more than one occasion, it seems a truly unwelcoming. A kind of Corrientes Avenue with a lot of technology, which is evident especially in the giant screens that take on the role of the old neon signs, which in some sense are more suggestive, in that it denotes a retro aesthetic. It is seen that there have been interventions in an attempt to tame this space, but none of them seem to work. There is a building whose roof is formed with a species of bleachers to watch the "show" and under sold tickets for Broadway theaters. The result is decidedly unhappy. So are some measures that try to pedestrianise the place.
We took a bus to the SoHo , moving as all public transport in general, in a straight line, in this case by the 7th Ave This peculiarity is without doubt a great convenience, since in a city that in itself is very easy to locate, the straight-line motion facilitates matters further. The distinction between streets and avenues, with the adoption of the strongly rectangular grid blocks, was undoubtedly one of the greatest successes of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 that shaped the city. The constant possibility of differentiation of space makes it possible that one is always located, which also joins the island situation and the presence axial Central Park to which we now refer. In
way we passed the Madison Square Garden and distracted us from our destination we passed, so we got almost Tribeca. Backed off a bit and then recognized the SoHo because it appears the distinctive architecture of the place that was fashionable in the '80s. This is typical spacious buildings and generous floor heights that accompanied the building boom of lofts and type of life that this proposal offered. High and undivided environments in search of an assessment of space, even at the expense of comfort that always gives privacy.
Living in a loft was during those years a symbol of a way of understanding life freer shedding of old structures and the rigors that intimacy requires. Like all fashion, was passing, did much to enhance certain properties taking its toll on the clouds, but also brought a new kind of taste for the quality of space and aesthetics stripped, which still exists but under other assumptions.
Beyond these considerations, the building stands as the great classic elements that are repeated on each floor. These elements act as a species of "umbrellas classics, giving the facades a very definite character and a remarkable depth. Some buildings are really very characteristic and its language is an excellent level. We note that there are many signs for rent or sale, which indicates that the last crisis severely hit the market this band surely depleting its source of funding. We
accompanied by a persistent drizzle, anyway not prevent the large crowd that takes advantage of Saturday morning to finalize purchases. There are some spaces on the decor, but overall the level of business seems to have no defined style too. Art galleries, which were a little salt instead, have long since migrated to Chelsea, looking for more space and cheaper rents.
Soho actually corresponds to a few blocks, crossing Broadway we head to Nolita , north of Little Italy, a neighborhood that lost surface at the expense of the unstoppable growth of China Town. On Broadway is an important commercial sector between Houston and Canal St. for which he had passed yesterday, but now we do further south. We walked through an area full of restaurants and boys crowded, busy, dominated the mix of races and styles. We finally arrive at our destination recommended "Bread" at 20 Spring St. A place with a menu of sandwiches and salads, very accessible and a good example of what is noted above: waiters and diners of all nationalities and a great atmosphere . We eat at the bar and chatted amiably with the bartender, a native of Pisa, which I remind my origins livornese.
On leaving the rain got stronger so we stopped at "Forever 21" on Broadway to take refuge. I enjoy watching the different behaviors of the buyers, where Asians excel in attitude and, by way of being dressed, are similar to our teenagers. Many look, but few are buying, as elsewhere. No women is full of bags and I suppose that is the crisis.
After another short walk through Soho, and when the rain subsides a bit, we took the Metro to go to Chelsea , to visit some galleries llevaba anotadas. Para llegar vamos por la 10th St. por una zona de monoblocks de ladrillo de vivienda popular, pero de buena inserción urbana, con parques muy cuidados entre los edificios. Más adelante hay cuadras de edificios de ladrillo de muy buena factura y otras con casas de dos y tres pisos, más del estilo del Greenwich Village. En fin, es un barrio que cambia mucho de una cuadra a la siguiente, sin un estilo muy definido, pero no por eso desprovisto de interés.
Cruzando la W 23rd St. se entra en el Gallery District , donde una vez más cambia el aspecto de las construcciones. Ahora el área esta ocupada por antiguos galpones cuidadosamente refaccionados de dos pisos de altura, en donde se encuentran las galerías, next to each other. Everything takes place in a few apples and a matter of opening the door and enter, rarely works out in the windows. We started timidly walked up to realize that the entry is completely free and we were cheering for a bit.
is difficult to make a lengthy journey, as the succession of visits and the number of artists, famous and unknown, was too much to let the memories be sorted. In this case I prefer to try more of the overall vision to salvage something from the environment. Starting
the continent, ie the space of the galleries themselves. All retain a similar tone, beginning with the logical predominantly white, following the amplitude of the different rooms of double or triple height and generously lit, and ending with the care and taste in the details of that rescue, pointing to the recent industrial past of the buildings. The air of "factory" kept me as a message that although this is not where art is "done", is at least where "build" their value. And this beyond the obvious references to Warhol.
Another element to note, in addition to the exhibition venues, is the office, carefully in the light, and most provided perfect design furniture and library crammed with books. Another clear message: the value of art is not the result of chance or caprice, is backed by a "know." Libraries are always clear signal merit. Even women who take cover behind high reception desks seem chosen with a definite purpose. Never under 30, dressed in minimalist elegance, absolutely immaculate and beautiful but not too spectacular. The art does not use certain advertising strategies, but is a product of the market, we like to show different.
Galleries are happening and we are plunging alternating moods ranging from admiration and utter bewilderment.
In Mike Weiss Gallery surprising sample Ozuri Yigal, a young Israeli artist. We look at the works of regular size and square format, more or less than one square meter. Not concern us too much until after a while we realize that these are paintings, not photographs. One of the bases of hyper-realism is to provoke disbelief of the viewer, but the peculiarity in this case is given because it is not small, inanimate objects, but bare in motion and in a natural grassland and trees. Another case
Nicolai Howalt to that found in the Bruce Silverstein Gallery . There are photos in giant piece of car crash, which is the name of the show "Car Crash Studies. The result is monochromatic abstract paintings made by the fatal impact of cars. The picture is in this case which mimics the abstract painting in his side. The artist chooses a piece of what has been produced by chance and violence and create a diagram with amazing "touches" and flat color. Photography, art painting he stole his power as to duplicate reality, now mimics the way that she was forced to take part, the abstract art.
Later in Kraeutler Hasted Hunt, this time we ran into each other with pictures that do not try to hide what they are. They usually develop themes and issues that are related to industrial processes, high-impact in nature. In this case, the theme chosen is the one that bears the name of the sample and the subsequent book, "Oil", and refers, of course, oil. There are other relating to mining. This panoramic landscape in some cases tend to abstraction. A claim of environmental damage caused by such activities, but expressed from the beauty of the images, which is a disturbing paradox. It is the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky .
The Gagosian Gallery is considered by many the world's largest, but its appearance does not seem to take into account this consideration, because in little difference from its neighbors. Here we have a chance to see a hipercotizado work of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami , of \u200b\u200benormous size and often their works and a cold and somewhat menacing appearance. Condition is even more strange if we think that Murakami's paintings are based on the Japanese cartoon. Also in this place we are interested in the work of Anselm Reyle , German artist. Above all the tables formed by debris of all kinds and bathed in a uniform layer of a thick monochromatic gloss enamel. A kind of metal and soft blanket under which all sorts guess objects and textures. The
Stricoff Fine Art have a new encounter with the always amazing hyper-realistic art, this time from the hand of Paul Beliveau and perfect imitations of pieces of library, where volumes drawn with infinite precision, I guess I imagined editions, but guess who is left containing lush images. The chosen books generally refer to famous artists and architects, and are drawn extreme detail. The library thus becomes a sort of intellectual landscape suggest the books through their backs. Also in this gallery we see the very evocative cityscapes Catherine Mackey, we agree enough to make the artist Karin Godnic Argentina. Of note were Tony's journey, consisting of a series of images in a format of successive square.
Finally, we also very famous in the Pace Wildenstein Gallery , where we saw the example of the holograms James Turrell. No doubt the proposal to make art with something as intangible as the light is not without interest at least from the conceptual, but I confess that the works can not attract. I may be more materialistic than I'm willing to admit. Anyway, thinking about materiality in art is always interesting and the proposed light as a materiality that could be called ground zero has its appeal.
went into some other galleries, including the Luhring Augustine Gallery (film installation with a giant eye to music) and Andrea Rosen Gallery (color studies on images of skyscrapers of Mies) and some others which do not I left a written record. The memory becomes less effective at the number of works seen. We were eager more and with intent to make a return visit, which in the end we could not achieve. Anyway, I think we had a good example of the potential of contemporary art and the chance to see a bit of where is its debut.
The time is over and we had to get to the opening of the Guggenheim Museum to take advantage of visiting hours "pay us you wish" (ie, pay what you want). We took the Metro one of the lines of West Side and got off at the height of the museum with the idea of \u200b\u200bcrossing the park. With the last light of day and the vapors of the recent rain we had our first meeting with Central Park, bathed in a light and a very particular melancholy. A walk with many stops for photos and also some loss of orientation that delayed us and made us a bit late arriving at our destination, another emblematic points of the trip.
so often seen in pictures and studied with care, vision can not but produce a chilling impact. Primarily by their relationship with the context which remains overwhelming. Impossible to imagine the impression it will have caused the fall of this "meteorite" produced in 1959, the year of its inauguration. Then there is the kinetic effect occurs and the building from outside, and in some way is the prelude to what will happen inside when we see people moving through the spiral.
But perhaps what most called my attention is the decision by the rigorous use of a single material and is held with an admirable stubbornness. This confidence in the way clear reflection of the role and the belief that only this way will be the bearer of meaning of the building is what moves me. What ultimately faith is always excited.
This choice recognizes no distinctions or categories is carried to its instances both outside and inside the building. No hay barandas, ni marquesinas, ni siquiera soleas, no hay nada, nada más que un solo elemento que se despliega siempre tomando la forma necesaria y sin ceder jamás al capricho. El material elegido para realizar esta proeza es el más pobre de todos, el humilde revoque blanco, decisión que lo acerca a las obras de Brunelleschi. Pero se sabe que no basta, para ser un arquitecto, tomar decisiones coherentes, por más acertadas y geniales que puedan ser, lo que realmente importa es lo que a partir de ellas se construye.
La maestría de Frank Lloyd Wright se destaca sobre todo en la resolución del acceso, en el que desprende una de las cintas del cilindro to conform. A natural and extremely effective solution that requires no preparation or previous interruption of any item or accessory. Is the same element that becomes something else, its relative position in the building, but without ever ceasing to be the same. Above it are stamped letters sober and demure name him without solemnity.
Anyone who thinks that this book emerges from the automatic application of modern principle which states that "form follows function" is at least naive. In this building there is so much formal resolution in the more complex, moreover, is that very simplicity which he denounces the effort needed to carry it out successfully.
Anyway, there are some things in the project which seemed not entirely resolved, such as the relationship between the roundabout and the small square volume of the left that does not seem entirely happy in a building almost perfect. Neither is, in my view, the way the connecting element that comes into contact with the roundabout. But it is very satisfactory and small modern building of the museum expansion, which comes naturally in connection with this, serving as background, isolating it from the context and accentuating her figure.
Inside, note the bitter struggle waged the structure of the building, which at some point fails to not allow the continued movement of the ramp in its entirety. This is disrupted, coinciding with the vertical cylinders (containing the few bathrooms), a reversed bracket that holds the parapet beam inside the spiral.
circular ramp, far from being a mechanical and repetitive pulses with an asymmetric onset of an interruption convex sides of the same curve. The circle loses its status as infinite and the break allows for a reference in it. In this game asymmetries, allowing the building away from the monotony, add the resolution Ground floor with small elliptical source and articulated wooden desk in entry (do not know if it meets the original project).
The rotunda is shown in all its glory, with people flowing in one continuous motion. The effect produces some surprise since from the ground floor is impossible to see the pictures, too "deep" in the depth of the wall. With all that movement which appears meaningless. The elevator, another technical problem is not resolved, does not reach the highest level, which the supposed idea of \u200b\u200bWright tour, climb to the top level and down to see the paintings, is somewhat weakened. Anyway, the way in which the show works is unbeatable by illumination, and also by the space and it allows one to stop and "get" the flow of traffic passing from behind, so that one can detach and enter into an intimate contact with the work.
correspondence is such that the building closed down between the exterior and interior of alleged defects identified from the outside is repeated inside. That is, the relationship between the sample on display in the rotunda with some difficulty communicating with the works exhibited in the surrounding areas. In this case, the central space is entirely devoted to a monumental retrospective of Kandinsky, while the permanent collection and some small presents disordered in the other places visited in a mess a little uncomfortable, because communication between one space and another is through the spiral.
not have much time to view the contents of the museum, just 45 ', which we traveled and promised a quick return to calmer next Saturday. Then leave for that time my appreciation of what there seen, both reduced the permanent collection of comprehensive retrospective of the father of abstraction.
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