Helloooo all!
It’s honestly embarrassing how long it has been since I last posted. February. I’m cringing. Taking five hard classes at Tufts this semester completely took over my life. I think I dream now in a strange combination of english and french 1 vocab. (J’adore les croissants…) And what’s even more ridiculous is that the last few months have been filled with art even if I haven’t had the time to write about it! In the last few months I helped curate an exhibit of student work at the Tufts Art Gallery, helped plan a spring gallery party, went to LONDON and saw only my favorite Pre-Raphaelite paintings of all time, and went to the Neue Galerie to see the Egon Schiele exhibit.
But the good news is, I’m back in New York and the only thing on my mind is art. Living it, seeing it, and writing about it. I will definitely backtrack a little and post about all the exciting art-related things that I saw and did this spring, but I’m also excited to keep moving forward. Today I had brunch with my friend Vera and we attempted to go to the new Whitney on Gansevoort. Unfortunately, the line wrapped around the block and apparently the museum now requires tickets (?) to skip the line. Maybe this was always a thing and I’m only noticing now because everyone and their mother is going to the Whitney, but I’m definitely getting a ticket this week.
Instead, Vera and I decided to do a little gallery hopping. We started at the Kitchen on 19th street and 10th ave, which is currently showing the Parsons Fine Arts 2015 MFA Exhibition. It was incredible. I cannot wait to see what these artists continue to create. Then we crossed the street to see Yayoi Kusama’s “Give Me love.” You may have seen pictures on Facebook or Instagram of your friends covered in colorful dots posing in a room also filled with colorful dots. It’s part of an interactive exhibit that’s even more fun and visually appealing in person. After pealing stickers off ourselves, we walked through the David Zwirner Gallery to see the rest of Kusama’s exhibit, as well as a wonderfully ethereal exhibit of Lisa Yuskavage’s pastels and oil paintings. Lastly, Vera and I dipped into the Paula Cooper Gallery, which curated Bruce Conner’s 70’s punk photographs to a T.
By the end of the day, Vera could no longer feel her feet and I was dying for a glass of water. Our next stop? My apartment for late lunch and back-to-back episodes of SVU. Nothing could derail this beautiful dream. But, on our way to the E train, a sign caught our eye. “15,000 Books by Artists Inside.” Like a black hole of happiness (questionable metaphor) we were sucked into Printed Matter, a shop that sells artists books. While I had heard of artists books– essentially books that are considered art in their own right– I had never seen a shop devoted entirely to the genre. What followed was an hour of pouring over zines crafted with pom-pom spines and pamphlets smaller than my hand. And of course– well, I’ll save it for a post alllllll about Printed Matter.
Can’t wait to go into more detail about everything I saw today! Gallery-hopping was a very rejuvenating way to return to New York and start the summer. It’s comforting to know that there IS life outside of college. People eat real food. Food that is NOT cereal. And they wear outfits that DON’T include sweatpants! And go places that are NOT libraries!!!
My summer of art has just begun. The exhibits-to-see list on my wall is massive, starting with the Frida Khalo exhibit at the Botanical Gardens. I’m also very intrigued by the Russian Modernism exhibit at the Neue Galerie. Anyone wanna join me?
xoxo, Chloe <3