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5/31/2011 New ONLY IN NEW YORK


 
1. PERCHED PIGEONS ON GRECIAN FIGURE
2. INSIDE MOMA, AERIAL VIEW
3. UP IN ARMS

5/20/2011 Tipoff: Ryoji Ikeda's the transfinite

Occasionally I hear about something happening in the city that has me wishing I were cool enough to appreciate it--Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda's the transfinite is probably the perfect example. A visual and sound installation opening at the Park Avenue Armory, the transfinite is math-inspired, massive, and mostly just incredibly cool. It opens today at the 55,000 square foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall (643 Park between 66th and 67th) and will be up through June 11th.  For a cool $10 you too can stand in front of/on these enormous screens and contemplate the place of the digital in the modern world, or just stare mesmerized at some strobes. I mean, making the intellectual beautiful sounds like it's right in line for a great Art History comparison (Rivera's Man at the Crossroads? de Chirico's Song of Love? Just me?) but mostly the idea of a glowing data wall inside some huge steampunk aircraft hangar is just really kick-ass. Any hipsters out there feel like taking me up on this?


5/19/2011 ONLY IN NEW YORK



1. LADY GAGA "S" TRAIN
2. TRAILER PARK LOUNGE AND GRILL, 271 W. 23RD ST.
3. NOH SANG-KYOON, FOR THE WORSHIPPERS (2008)
(giant buddha made from sequins)

4/22/2011 WORD TO THE WISE: GIUSEPPE ARCIMBOLDO

In the sweltering month of August, as I spent hundreds of dollars of my parents' money on textbooks, I made one very important promise to them: that I would not become a pretentious academic. If I was going to spend eighty dollars on my intro Anthropology textbook, that was fine, but they didn't want me to start throwing around words like "performative" over Thanksgiving dinner. Somethings, however, are too good to pass up and what, pray tell, is better than paintings of heads made out of fruit? A little ironic, a little psychedelic, certainly not overly academic! So here are the works of Giuseppe Arcimboldo, the sixteenth-century Italian composite painter for your enjoyment:

 
Spring

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4/22/2011 Word to the Wise: A Love Letter For You

I doubt I’d ever choose Philadelphia over New York, except maybe when it comes to cream cheese or giant bells. (Once, a road trip wrong turn almost landed me and a friend lost in North Philly, in the middle of the night, not winning the city any points in my book). But if there’s one area where the City of Brotherly Love has us entirely snowed, it’s in incredibly charming public art installments. It’s been a city known for street art and murals since the 80s--Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program has been a unique tool to counteract graffiti and help at-risk kids for years—and the latest in the legacy is the absolutely lovely A Love Letter for You. 

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4/13/2011 TIPOFF: SCIENCE AND ART AT COLUMBIA

The Columbia Science Review, Scientists and Engineers for a Better Society, Postcrypt Art Gallery and CU AMSA have joined forces to organize Through the Looking Glass – an art and science exhibit aimed at exploring these two seemingly disparate fields. With generous funding from the Gatsby Foundation and the P&P Fund,  we aim to break down boundaries and create meaningful interactions between artists, scientists and viewers. The world that we live in is becoming increasingly diverse and interdisciplinary.
 

We hope to take the idea of interdisciplinarity even further, and spark conversation between science and art. Like in last year's exhibit, we plan to bring together a diverse group of media and topics by Columbia students and affiliates. Each one explores scientific imagery and concepts in an attempt to bridge the gap between what we conventionally think of as two separate worlds. The event will take place on April 15th in Wien Lounge 5-7 pm. Refreshments will be served.  Free tickets are available at The Tic and online here.

-Allison Cohen 

4/11/2011 ONLY IN NEW YORK: THE CLOISTERS EDITION


PHOTOGRAPHS BY AIDA LALEIAN

4/11/2011 Word to the Wise: Up There

If your morning is missing some beautiful views of the city, sharp and funny commentary from unconventional New Yorkers, and insight into an art form you didn't know existed, have we got some (old) news for you.  For three weeks in 2009, Sky High Murals partnered with Stella Artois to document a traditional Belgian beer-pouring ritual on a 20x50 SoHo wall. And this is one ad that actually deserves more than a passing glance--in fact, it's earned a beautiful short documentary film: Up There. 

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3/28/2011 ARTIST PROFILE: THIS IS (NOT) CRAP! THE WORK OF ALLISON COHEN

In the land of the young artiste, where the same H&M scarves and lensless Ray-Bans stretch for miles, Barnard freshman and emerging art star Allison Cohen is one of the few who can not be accused of conformity.  When I fed her with the cliched line, "So Allison, name one of the artists who had served as a primary inspiration for you," I deserved a "Jackson Pollock" or "Picasso, the blue period" (recently described to me as the default choice for angsty teens). Allison, however, calm, cool, and cited Chris Ofili, a little known British painter whose artwork references his Nigerian heritage.

She spoke of how he used elephant dung to paint pictures of the Madonna, simultaneously creating a cultural commentary and playing upon the religious significance of  elephant dung in Zimbambwe. Cohen then explained how she replicated this process at home with her pet African Gray Parrot. She painted a canvas a tone that would emphasize the white urates, allow nature to take its course, and then fix the canvas with a gel medium.  Then, like Offili, she superimposed a picture on these deposits, matching the natural tonal values of the excrement to the paint. She got some mixed responses from an obviously close-minded audience, "Most people upon seeing the bird poop pieces would be like 'Oh that's so pretty! It looks like Jackson Pollock, how'd you do that?' And I'd be like, 'It's poop,' and they'd be like 'Ew.'" She laughed mischievously but then suddenly made the transition from delighted imp to introspective academic announcing, "It was interesting to see the reaction produced by the visual aspect of the painting and then the reaction produced by the medium that was used to make it."As the work of all great artists was reviled before it was accepted, I believe that we can expect only remarkable things from Ms. Cohen. Who knows,  between her and Offili's efforts, they may have already set the precedent for the next emerging art form.

FOR MORE, VISIT: http://allisongallery.com

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