Ludlow – East Broadway – Sun and Moon, PDF, Die Like You Really Mean It

From the moment you open that beautiful wrought iron gate and begin to descend the long hallway at Klaus von Nichtssagend, the many vibrant blues of Pamela Jorden’s paintings will strike you. Somehow this feels as exciting as waking up on the first day of vacation and glimpsing the cerulean water in the distance. (Maybe because the closest you’ll get to these shades on the NYC landscape is a subway car covered in posters declaring “It’s better in the Bahamas.”) The longer you look, the more things you will find to love in Jorden’s beautifully complex compositions. Like, have you noticed that giant, streaky brushstroke along the bottom left corner of this gorgeous oil-on-linen piece? It is so subtle yet so bold.

Stop in Brown Café for an autumnal soup and a side of their killer mac & cheese, and then make your way down East Broadway to Allegra LaViola for two interesting group shows. The first is PDF, which, playing off the notion of the “Portable Document Format,” presents a variety of work based on de-constructing, delivering and rebuilding. Even the gallerists admit that “at the outset, the work in PDF is strangely matched,” but it seems to gel into a feeling of overall repurposing and resourcefulness. Case in point: this refurbished cardboard box by Ivin Ballen.

The second show at Allegra LaViola, Die Like You Really Mean It, is a passionate outpouring of emotion through painting. From colorful street scenes to bi-chromatic reliefs, the show emits a fear of what is lurking below the surface. Especially haunting is Christopher Saunders’ The Long Now. It is the thrill of taking off from an airport runway mixed with the uncertainty of ominous clouds in the distance. It is anxious. It is many-layered. It is claiming.

Ingredients:

Venues: Klaus von Nichtssagend, Allegra LaViola

Artists: Pamela Jorden, Christopher Saunders, Ivin Ballen, Various Artists

Streets: Ludlow St; East Broadway

Eats: Brown Café

Map:

Ludlow St - Persistent Illusions, Lotus Pods & Panama

Your previously learned associations will be prodded from the moment you enter Discursive Arrangements, or Stubbornly Persistent Illusions. Even if you don’t catch the curators’ nod to Einstein in the show’s title, your subconscious will. From digital prints of ancient wall reliefs to Plexiglas display boxes filled with hair gel, this show challenges the way your brain processes familiar images. I am especially drawn to this watercolor by Allyson Vieira. Such a violent, raging fire; such a picturesque, glorious sunset; such intricate detail throughout, yet with a reminder down the side of the page that this is but paint on paper. It is simply incredible. Seriously, get yourself down to Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery ASAP, and see this show!

As you walk down Ludlow St, take a moment to notice where you are in the world: New York’s storied Lower East Side, the archetypal Melting Pot. On the northern end of Ludlow (at Houston St) is the famous Katz’s Deli (If you can stomach a GIANT pastrami sandwich, go!). At the southern end is Les Enfants Terribles, bringing you a French-colonial vibe with the flavors of the Ivory Coast. In between these bookends you are technically in Chinatown (come back for dinner at Kuma Inn), but, with so many great gallery shows on the block, it feels more like Chelsea. Stop in Blackston where the current show, You Have Left Your Lotus Pods on the Bus, is likewise exploring how we experience and interact with our geographical location. Plus, they have the AC blasting in there, as if they want to nudge you that much harder to notice your environment, so stop in to cool off and take a look around. 

Finally, acquaint yourself with artists from Panama in The Pleasure's All Mine at Lu Magnus where, in collaboration with Diablo Rosso, they are celebrating globalization and art as the common language. There is even a gift-shop-like postcard installation from which you are invited to take. My favorite piece is a video by Jonathan Harker in which a made-up, puzzle-like game is played out. It’s strangely compelling, as if you know you could figure out the rules of this game if you just watched it played one more time…

Top off your “roots” tour with a nosh from the old world Kossar’s Bialys. In a city teeming with culinary fusions, it is a refreshingly authentic treat.  

Ingredients:

Venues: Klaus von Nichtssagend; Blackston; Lu Magnus

Artists: Mathew Cerletty, Devon Costello, Timothy Hull, Ryan Mrozowski, Thomas and Renée Rapedius, Sean Raspet, Ruby Sky Stiler, Sophie-Therese Trenka-Dalton, Allyson Vieira; Davide Balula, Ellie Ga, Gelitin, Fritz Henle, Babette Mangolte, Corey McCorkle, Glynnis McDaris; Jonathan Allen, Fabrizio Arrieta, Tofer Chin, Maria Raquel Cochez, Miky Fabrega, Jonathan Harker, J. Ivcevich

Streets: Ludlow St

Eats: Kossar's Bialys; Katz's Deli; Les Enfants Terribles

Map: