Returning to the City (a.k.a. I still love NY)

(#1 on our things to do list...)

photo courtesy of The High Line

(#3 on our places to eat list...)

photo courtesy of Bubby's Pie Co.

photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

(#4 on our things to see list...)

photo courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

As most of you know, New York City is by far one of my favorite places to get away. Thankfully, one of my gallery artists, Sarah Hinckley, has kindly allowed me to stay in her chic South Street Seaport loft while she is vacationing in Oregon as long as I promise to check the mail and water the plants. Done and done. Now that I don't have to pay for my lodging, that means more money to spend visiting museums, shopping, and dining in one of the best cities in the world, and I absolutely cannot wait.

One of my favorite parts about taking a trip is the armchair tourism that ensues in the planning process. I have been searching online for New York's best new restaurants and not-to-miss shows for the past few days and it almost feels like I am already there...almost. My assistant just returned from a month long summer study program through Sotheby’s in New York, so I am enlisting her help in compiling these ideas. So, here is my short list of places to eat and shows to take in while I am there. Any additional suggestions would be more than welcome!

Where I am eating:

(1) Bread - Best fontina panini and tomato bisque ever tasted. Spring Street (near Mott), and perfectly on the way to New Museum on Bowery.

(2) Locanda Verde - Italian taverna in TriBeCa. 377 Greenwich Street (near N. Moore).

(3) Bubby’s - The best brunch spot in the city! 120 Hudson Street in Tribeca.

(4) The Spotted Pig - Fantastic/cozy pub in the West Village. W. 11th and Greenwich Street.

(5) Le Bilboquet - My all time favorite French bistro, will be heading there solo with a great book and an appetite. 63rd and Madison.

What I am seeing:

(1) Matisse: Radical Invention and Bruce Nauman--MoMA

(2) Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance March 26-September 6--Guggenheim Museum

(3) Christian Marclay: Festival July 1-September 26--The WHITNEY

(4) Doug + Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambú: You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop April 27-October 31--The Metropolitan*

(5) Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other and Brion Gysin: Dream Machine--New Museum

(6) Otto Dix--Neue Galerie

What else am I doing?

(1) Walking the High Line, which runs above Gansevoort Street in Meatpacking to 20th Street between 10th and 11th avenues on the West Side.

(2) Going to PS1 Contemporary Art Center in Brooklyn/Long Island City.

(3) Galleries of Chelsea: Mary Boone, Gagosian, Pace Gallery, Ed Winkleman.

(4) Shopping in SoHo...

*Number four on our “must see” list above is actually a “must do.” On the roof of the Met, the Starn twins have created an environment of interlocking bamboo that is unlike anything you have ever seen. Extending vertically, and covering the majority of the outdoor “exhibition” space, these innovative brothers have created something truly magnificent. (Not to mention, it is fifteen degrees cooler walking through the bamboo alleyways than it is below on the streets of Manhattan.) As you can see in the pictures above, the view of the skyline and of Central Park is not too shabby either. Morphing and growing on a daily basis, the installation allows for visitors to interact with the bamboo structure. Guided tours are provided, but beware that you must buy a separate ticket from your museum entrance donation, and you are then provided with a timed tour (weather permitting). As the installation unfolds in front of your eyes, you quickly appreciate how hard their team is working to create it. Absolutely a must do.

Making summer 'funner'

We stumbled across this adorable and inspiring list of ten ways to break away from the sometimes humdrum pattern of summer and experience something new, enriching or liberating (thanks to Atlanta's own South of Market Blog!). Here are a few suggestions about how you may fulfill some of these activities around Atlanta:

1. Come see us during the Westside Art Walk this Saturday, July 17th, from 11-5!

2. Trips to lakes and beaches are definitely fun, but are also time consuming. If all else fails, splash around barefoot (#6) in a rain puddle.

4. In the city, it's difficult to find space for gardening, and that is where Artichoke Bliss, a community garden off of Edgewood Avenue, comes in. More information and updates are available on their Facebook page (linked above).

5. WonderRoot offers many interesting opportunities. We think the songwriting workshop taking place July 26th at 6pm sounds like a great time.

7. Or maybe give a gift. We love these interesting gift ideas from The Peak of Chic blog's recent post.

10. Revisit literary classics, such as Catcher in the Rye and Walden; or, Life in the Woods, or pick up something touching and more contemporary, like Randy Pausch's Last Lecture, which has enjoyed 94 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.

The best things...

Quote by John Ruskin

I recently ran across this image when perusing one of my artists' Facebook pages a few weeks ago and since then, I have not been able to stop applying it to my daily life. The affect the poetic image had on me is two-fold. Not only have I recently learned more about graffiti, stenciling, and wheat pasting than I ever thought I would need to know (thank you Exit Through the Gift Shop), but I have also been spending a lot of time trying to re-focus my attention of what is truly important. Life is fleeting and I have realized sometimes the most important things in my life are those that are often the most undervalued. Some of my favorite examples are: the color the sky turns when the sun is setting, a really good cup of coffee with a close friend, a two hour phone conversation with someone I haven't seen in 6 months, and a long drive without any necessary destination. If I was asked today to share my favorite things from the last few months, these are some of the things I would mention.

Fortunately for me, when others are asked the same thing, I would wager that some of them would mention visiting a museum or gallery they love or even spending time with one of their favorite paintings. I feel so blessed to be able to offer that respite to passersby and gallery-goers daily. If not every day, at least once a week, I have someone actually thank me for doing what I do and that feels so good. So I just wanted to say thank you in return.

Thank all of you for the support over the last 2 years and for allowing me to do something that I love. One of "the best things in life" is knowing that there are people out there who appreciate art and that I get to share my passion for art with them. I am truly so appreciative.

Living Walls, the City Speaks

(images courtesy of Living Walls Conference, Creative Loafing and Brooklyn Street Art.)

Come this August, our city will play host to the much-anticipated Living Walls, the City Speaks conference, an international, no-holds-barred, outdoor exhibition of street art. As seen recently in Creative Loafing, the very first mural has been completed on the West side of Atlanta by Oakland, California based street artist, Doodles. Canvasing 3,500 square feet, the piece stretches across the entire rear exterior of a building at the corner of Ralph David Abernathy and White Street. One of a number of local and international artists hailing from Europe and South America who will participate in the conference, Doodles has been on the scene for four years now. This large scale figure representing Poseidon comes as a timely reaction to the BP oil spill, and should not be missed!

Living Walls can be seen as part of a larger overarching movement to amp up Atlanta's urban planning, and fuel fundraising for the local arts scene. Similarly, the BeltLine transit system, and like-named 'Art on the BeltLine' project, which runs through October of this year, has been gracing Atlanta's streets with the works of local artists for months now. As citizens of the largest metropolis in the Southeast, Atlantans are feeling a surge of motivation to step out in defense of local artists and artisans as the economic downturn is still being felt, and budgets cuts seem never ending.

Also a part of the conference, scheduled for the week of August 13, is a lecture series featuring the Georgia Tech architecture department, and presentations at Eyedrum. The largest and perhaps most widely-hyped gathering leading up to the main event is being held at 7:00 p.m. this Saturday, June 26 at Mint Gallery and is hosted by Dashboard Co-op. The "Art Auction and Celebration of Badasses" will feature works donated by local artists to support the movement.

To donate, or learn more about Living Walls, please visit them online, or to read profiles of artists and updates on fundraising efforts, spend a few minutes on their blog. We hope to see you there this weekend!

And we're back...

Image courtesy of toxel.com

So sorry for the long delay in posting for the last 6 months or so. Luckily for us, the gallery is very busy at the moment, which makes it a bit harder to devote the proper time and attention to updating the blog. The current exhibition in the gallery is Re-Purposed: The Use of Everyday Materials in Contemporary Art featuring gallery artists Sara Cole, Sherry Williams, Will Corr & Clayton Santiago. The participating artists express their ability to create seemingly traditional work with non-traditional materials, by exploring media such as coffee, tar, sawdust, and rust. The show continues through June 30, 2010. Hurry in to see this wonderful show before it's too late!

In other news, our own Laura Clappier will be jetting off to New York City in just a few days to attend an intensive summer study program at Sotheby’s Art Institute to supplement her education in art history from UGA. What a great opportunity!

We hope that everyone is enjoying their summer, and finding refuge from this sweltering summer heat! More to come very, very soon...we promise!

Always ask questions

a sign spotted in New Orleans reminding gallery-goers not to be intimidated

This afternoon, I received this image via email from my great friend and fellow art lover, Alex West, the co-founder of Wonderroot. He and his family are in New Orleans this weekend and, not surprisingly, he has been doing some gallery hopping this Saturday. He and I have talked repeatedly about how to make art less intimidating, which is one of the unintentional bi-products of Wonderroot's mission. By "uniting artists and community to inspire positive social change," Wonderroot also ultimately brings art to the masses and abates people's fear and intimidation surrounding the arts.

As a gallery owner, I think the most important tool a gallery-goer can possess is knowledge. AND, the only way to be more knowledgeable about things with which you are unfamiliar is to ask questions, and lots of them. If you have ever visited the upper-east side galleries in New York City (or those in Chelsea for that matter) there isn't even usually anyone present to inquire to. Often times the seemingly sterile white box galleries are just that, sterile. There is no desire to make people feel comfortable, welcome, or at-ease, and being inquisitive certainly seems out of the question (no pun intended).

In the south, things work a little bit differently. I always greet people when they walk in the door and introduce myself. I usually encourage people to walk the loop around the gallery and engage them an additional time to see if they have any questions. Gallery owners as well as managers, directors, and interns are all more than willing to answer questions and often great conversation can be started with one simple question. Asking about the artists' process, their medium, their background or even the intention of the work is a successful way to learn more about the work and why you may have been drawn to it.

I think my eagerness to inform the viewer and my outgoing nature is a product of my upbringing. As Alex actually recently pointed out, my dad is a great conversationalist, in large part due to his willingness to ask tons of questions. In turn, he is one of the most knowledgeable men I know. So, please "be inquisitive; ask questions." Do so at the galleries and in life. Although it may be intimidating at first, soon you will become a wealth of knowledge (like my dad).

And we're off...

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...to NYC that is! My great friend Courtney Giles and I are headed to the big apple this afternoon for a much-needed girls weekend. We are going to spend most of our time shopping, eating, drinking and being merry in the best city to visit during the holiday season! We are even supposed to have a little snow Sunday, which will make for some great pictures. But, alas, I could not visit New York without doing a few arts-related things. So, our plan is to spend Saturday visiting the cutting-edge Lower East Side Galleries. I hear from some wise curator/dealer friends of mine that they will certainly not disappoint! So, here is our short list:

1. Sunday - 237 Eldridge Street

Talyor Davis: boardroom no. 1

2. nicelle beauchene - 163 Eldridge Street

ALMOST, curated by Lance Goldsmith

3. Lehmann Maupin - 201 Chrystie Street

Tracey Emin: Only God Knows I'm Good

4. Eleven Rivington - 11 Rivington Street

Volker Hueller: Solo Show

5. envoy - 131 Chrystie Street

Elise Ferguson: Capital X

6. Small A Projects - 261 Broome Street

Jesse Willenbring: Landscapes & Interiors Meour

Have a great weekend...I know I will be!