New York Moments

Okay, yesterday was a wonderful example of that special something that can only happen in New York.  The New Yorkiness of those moments are what balances the competitive-kill-or-be-killed-challenge-to-your-psyche cache,  that also explains the city's center-of-the-universe status.  Below is a bullet-ed play by play...

• Performed at EYEBEAM (Universal Access is a concept I developed in collaboration with Rashaad Newsome as a performance work.  We had very little time to prepare, but the idea has legs.  It looks likely that we continue experimenting together.)
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Two of my friends/colleagues came through to see the performance and unwittingly, but willingly became a part of the piece.  Ethany, Jorge and I decided to feed inspiration by stopping by five exhibits.

• EYEBEAM is down the street from Gagosian Gallery, so our first stop was Richard Serra's Blind Spot/ Open Ended. I'd seen these megalotihic pieces on flat bed truck during the installation process, but had never heard of or seen Mr. Serra's work. Basically, it's the shit.  These steel structures are fantastically large and the interior shapes produce amazing echoes.  I've decided that these winding plates are habitats for The Platinum Eaters.  In fact, I am sending him the poem.  All I can think of is what an amazing sonic piece and video installation this would be if I could incorporate his work into the concept.  I am hopeful that he will respond.
  
  
  
  
  

• Then we stopped by Loren Holland's The Virtues of Vice at Anna Kustera.  The paintings, which depict lascivious females, are brightly colored illustrations of a ghettoized fairy tale.  I would love to see these large scale paintings as a huge book (like the animated fractured fairytale segment of the Rocky and Bullwinkle show), but that's just me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Next up- William Cordova at Sikkema Jenkins & Company.  I absolutely loved this show.  It was a pleasure to see it together after working on the chain suspension bridges and seeing the seams of the installation, if you will.  It's inspired me to be prolific and move forward on all the ideas I have.  Some will be successful, others less so, but I'll have a fuller palette to choose from.  I highly recommend checking it out...
  
  
  
  
  
  

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  Team Gallery in SoHo was a treat as well, although it was Slater Bradley's video work that was most intriguing.  The video pieces were installed at ankle level which mirrored the moving images quite nicely.  The videos themselves featured ocean waves rolling in, with an almost comical amount of foam that skimmed across the wet sand like mercury on a tabletop.
  
  
  

• Finally our journey lead to the New Museum's  presentation of Urs Fischer's work.  There were a few favorites but it was the paint job on the wall's of the 5th floor that captured my attention.  Somehow it maintained a matte iridescence and the shifting of colors ranged from a dusky lavender to beetle green.  I don't think it's an installation, mind you, just the color of the walls- but it could easily translate into something intentional, if an artist were to go that route...

• Afterwards Ethany and I went in search of food and stumbled upon a shopping party sponsored by Manhattan Portage / Token Store. After a cocktail (Maker's Mark) and grazing on the colorful veggie platter, we were treated to a surprisingly decent rendition of "Proud Mary" by the staff band.  It was spontaneous and random, which describes my relationship with the city.  Literally anything can happen and if you're open enough, you can find joy in the concrete jungle -sometimes  it's in the form of Japanese immigrants playing "Proud Mary".
  
  
  
  
  

• For dinner we enjoyed the "international comfort food" of Delicatessen.  Strangely enough, I had the best cornbread I've ever had in NYC during that experience, and as a 'Southern Gurl' I appreciate the nuance of a good batch.  Served in a cast iron skillet and topped with jalapeno lime butter, it was the realness.  None of that unmixed cornmeal crunch, just delectable wedges of heaven.

Tonight's activities include: an opening at Concept V, Visiting with my Soror's parent's at Tillman's, and dancing my ass off at the Museum of Natural History.