Tag Archive "rashaad-newsome"

Chelsea – We look high and low and run into friends

It was a day of big sculpture installations and unexpected encounters with friends. Cate ran around with us in Chelsea. We also had a gastro-incident and a gastro-delight: At our usual eatery, Pepe Giallo, the little Italian place at 253 10th Ave, we hadn’t even ordered when our wait person came to us and said they couldn’t take our order because the NY Dept of Health had just walked in to do a surprise kitchen check. We hope they passed. Ever resourceful, we crossed the street and tried Trestle on Tenth at 242 10th (between 24th and 25th). Cate and ... More » »

Interview: New Museum’s “Free” Curator Lauren Cornell

Lauren Cornell, executive director of Rhizome and New Museum adjunct curator, is the curator of the New Museum’s current exhibit, Free (info about the show is at the end of the interview). Cornell answered Corey Armpriester’s questions via email. Corey Armpriester: What inspires your curatorial ideas? Lauren Cornell: Its hard to pinpoint inspiration to a single moment. I show artists, write about their work, fundraise for projects, constantly—I always feel a sense of urgency about what I do. Art isn’t a day job for me, its my life.

New York summer – beach balls and Greater New York at PS1

The concrete beach was empty — not too many beachballs in play —  when Cate, Steve and I arrived in Queens to see Greater New York at PS1.   But an hour and a half later when we left, the place was packed for one of the museum’s summer WarmUp concerts.   With the music and beer, hammocks and lounge-like atmosphere, the place was festive as a beach club.

Whitney Biennial – noisy, quiet, beautiful, ugly

Now in its 75th go-round, The Whitney Biennial is still the big kahuna, the show every American artist wants to be in and every art lover wants to see. This year the career-boosting show includes no Philadelphia artist.   We had representation in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 — so much for that trend.  Instead, the curators went to Chicago, Oregon, Los Angeles and, of course, New York for the 55 artists, more than half of them women (a first) and many of them under the national radar.

Shiny penny no more–Whitney Biennial takes on the new America

Quiet, a little sad, introspective, and not a lot of beauty. Those are how I’d sum up this year’s Whitney Biennial, now celebrating its 75th edition. After the ebullient excess of 2008, in which more than 80 artists exploded beyond the bounds of the museum, taking up residence in the nearby armory, and pock marking Central Park, a mere 55 artists certainly reflects a societal time of retrenchment and self-reassessment. It’s as if America is no longer the youthful shiny penny it used to be. Well, that would be right. It’s not. And this is the Whitney Biennial that reflects ... More » »