W 19th St -The Kitchen, The House Without the Door & The Edible xClinic

If you’ve never been to The Kitchen, now is the perfect time to get acquainted. In honor of their 40^th anniversary, The Kitchen is celebrating its rich history as a haven and incubator for experimental performance art, music, dance and video. Check out The View from a Volcano: The Kitchen’s Soho Years, 1971-85! You will not believe the laundry list of artists who got their start at/in The Kitchen. (In 1971 the gallery was literally in the kitchen of the old Broadway Hotel.) Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Karole Armitage, Robert Ashley, Charles Atlas, Beastie Boys, Dara Birnbaum, Eric Bogosian, Trisha Brown, Rhys Chatham, Lucinda Childs, Tony Conrad, Simone Forti, Philip Glass, Gary Hill, Joan Jonas, Bill T. Jones, Mike Kelley, George Lewis, Arto Lindsay, Robert Longo, Christian Marclay, John Miller, Meredith Monk, Matt Mullican, Tony Oursler, Charlemagne Palestine, Arthur Russell, Carolee Schneeman, Cindy Sherman, Stuart Sherman, Sonic Youth, Elizabeth Streb, Talking Heads, Woody and Steina Vasulka, Lawrence Weiner and many more.

If you don’t recognize these names, get yourself to The Kitchen (now in Chelsea) for a formal introduction! Keep an open mind; some experiments take several tries to perfect... And, if you’re intrigued, pick up a calendar of upcoming performances, and make plans to see upcoming artists who are guaranteed to be some of tomorrow’s stars. 

 

Then, stop in David Zwirner Gallery across the street for a whole different type of group show. The title, The House Without the Door, comes from an Emily Dickinson poem, and, like Dickinson’s writing, these works explore feelings of reclusiveness and isolation. Particularly beguiling is Maureen Gallace’s Summer House / Dunes. It simultaneously presents the peaceful serenity and frightening solitude of a beach house, at once sweetly inviting and without doors. Indeed, this show will leave you thinking about your home in a whole new way.

Head eastward across W 19^th Street to Socarrat PaellaBar. Their chilled Andaluz Tomato Gazpacho is the perfect indulgence on a hot, humid day like today. Along the way, don’t miss Natalie Jeremijenko’s xClinic Farmacy on the façade of Postmasters Gallery. It is a pretty wild variation on the urban farming theme. Jeremijenko designed special “AgBags,” which hang vertically from the building’s exterior and grow produce that is being sold at the green market throughout the summer. Then, next time you’re in Union Square counting how many Campbell’s soup cans have been left upon the Andy Monument, stop and pick up something edible that grew off the side of a building in Chelsea! 

Ingredients:

Venues: Postmasters; David Zwirner; The Kitchen

Artists: Adel Abdessemed, David Altmejd, Francis Alÿs, Mamma Andersson, Louise Bourgeois, Michael Brown, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Maureen Gallace, Isa Genzken, Robert Gober, Mona Hatoum, Toba Khedoori, Charles LeDray, Thomas Ruff, Gregor Schneider, Luc Tuymans, Jeff Wall, and Rachel Whiteread; Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Karole Armitage, Robert Ashley, Charles Atlas, Beastie Boys, Dara Birnbaum, Eric Bogosian, Trisha Brown, Rhys Chatham, Lucinda Childs, Tony Conrad, Simone Forti, Philip Glass, Gary Hill, Joan Jonas, Bill T. Jones, Mike Kelley, George Lewis, Arto Lindsay, Robert Longo, Christian Marclay, John Miller, Meredith Monk, Matt Mullican, Tony Oursler, Charlemagne Palestine, Arthur Russell, Carolee Schneeman, Cindy Sherman, Stuart Sherman, Sonic Youth, Elizabeth Streb, Talking Heads, Woody and Steina Vasulka, Lawrence Weiner and many more; Natalie Jeremijenko

Streets: W 19^th St

Eats: Socarrat Paella Bar

Map: