MoMA - de Kooning Retrospective

Nearly 200 pieces taking up MoMA’s entire sixth floor and spanning 7 decades? Man! Laziness creeps in just thinking about the vastness of the de Kooning retrospective at MoMA, but shake it off because you must see this show. Pregame with a strong espresso and a yummy pie at PizzArte (dare you to try their new deep fried pizza!). Then, take a breath and go! From the first glimpse of the first Woman you’ll be glad you’re there.

De Kooning insisted, “Art should not have to be a certain way.” That conviction translates into a massive body of work, which MoMA breaks down for you into six sections. The coolest part is having the chance to see it all together. The master continually challenged himself. He manipulated traditional materials and techniques. He layered and sanded and reworked his canvases. If you look closely you can find traces of color behind the “black and whites.” 

Seeing de Kooning’s work all together like this seems like the only way to truly appreciate its greatness. As NYMag’s Jerry Saltz said in his review, “this retrospective should permanently set the art-historical record straight on this artist.” Bottom line, there is a lot to take in. Plus, there’s a free audio tour with really interesting commentary by curatorial assistant Lauren Mahony (available for ipad/iphone, too). Thank you, MoMA, for that!

De Kooning: A Retrospective is up for the next three months, so go see it! If you can’t make it in person, click here and live vicariously. MoMA has set up a comprehensive exhibition website where you can explore the work by theme, period, method & material, or timeline. Zoom in on the bits of charcoal in the paint, the drips, the pinholes, but doing so will make you want to see it in person. Consider yourself forewarned. 

Ingredients:

Venue: MoMA - Museum of Modern Art

Artist: Willem de Kooning

Streets: 53rd St, 5th-6th Aves

Eats: PizzArte

Map:

W 57th St – Damnatio Memoriae (or) Creating Memory, Arabesque & a second chance

Laurence Miller Gallery is doing you a big favor and presenting a greatest-hits-esque compilation of works from their past season. So, Danis Darzacq’s incredible stop-action photos of b-boys “floating” through super markets are back in the gallery, along with Ray K. Metzker’s “Autowackies” and so much more. I mean, when life gives you these second chances, you’ve just got to jump on them, right?

Nearby the music of piano playing wafts through the air, and, though you are on the right block for it, it is probably not coming from Carnegie Hall. This music likely drifts from Marian Goodman Gallery where Dara Birnbaum’s Arabesque fills the front of the gallery space with a multi-screen mash-up of YouTube footage of pianists playing two different opuses. Apparently husband-and-wife composers Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann wrote these opuses for one another, and Birnbaum’s amalgamation of the two works is compelling. Major bonus: in another section of the gallery space, there is a selection of some of Birnbaum’s earliest works, including a super cool piece about JFK and Jackie O set to “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright.”

Around the corner at Greenberg Van Doren, thanks to their Fulbright Fellow staff member Kristen Lorello, there is a group show of Italian artists whose work is rarely seen in the US. The show’s title, Damnatio Memoriae (or) Creating Memory, refers to the ancient Roman custom of erasing any record of someone who has disgraced the state. These artists used a wide range of materials to explore the complexities of both personal and historical recollection. I’m particularly drawn to the complexly entwined yarns and ropes of Sissi’s faceless “portraits.”

Stick with the Italian theme and check out PizzArte. Not only do they serve Neapolitan, wood-fired pies with awesomely unexpected toppings like zucchini blossoms and truffle oil, but they showcase budding Italian artists on their walls. So if you order enough for leftovers, you just might be taking home a Lello Esposito piece with that doggie bag. 

Ingredients:

Venues: Laurence Miller, Marian Goodman, Greenberg Van Doren

Artists: Daniz Darzacq, Ray K. Metzker, Simone Rosenbauer, Stephane Courtier, Burk Uzzle, Jessica Backhaus, DoDo Jin Ming, Toshio Shibata; Dana Birnbaum; goldiechiari, Sissi, Cesare Pietroiusti, Giacinto Occhionero

Streets: W 57^th St & 5^th Ave

Eats: PizzAtre

Map: