Eastern Parkway - BMA - Youth and Beauty, Hide/Seek, Brunch

Journey far from tourist-infested Times Square this weekend and treat yourself to the fantastic offerings at Brooklyn Museum of Art.  Start on the 5th floor with Youth and Beauty. Despite the loud reputation of the roaring 1920s, the exhibition presents the art and tropes of the time as quiet, desolate landscapes and intimate portraits. Take, for example, this captivatingly still photo of Gloria Swanson by Nickolas Muray. According to the commentary, her hand-to-face starlet pose originated in the ‘20s “to suggest a beautiful woman’s depth.” Who knew?!

The exploration of liberated individuality seeps down to the 4^th floor galleries where Hide/Seek surveys the extraordinarily complex history of LBGT representation in modern American art from Walt Whitman and Thomas Eakins to Annie Leibovitz and Ellen DeGeneres. Spotlighting the contributions gay and lesbian artists have made to modern art, the show runs the gamut from grand oil paintings to tiny platinum prints. George Wesley Bellows depicts dozens of men disrobing by the riverfront on a hot day. Robert Mapplethorpe offers just his arm and torso reaching across a blank wall in a private studio. Félix Gonzåalez-Torres' work piles 175lbs of individually wrapped candies in the corner of the room and invites you to take one. You should!   

Then, save the rest of the museum's offerings for your next visit and opt for a cozy, delicious brunch at Cheryl's Global Soul. Full disclosure: there isn’t much that’s global about brunch at Cheryl’s, but the brioche French toast and Norwegian smoked-salmon plate are darn good. Afterward, take advantage of this gorgeous weather and stroll around the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. They bloom all year round!

Robert Mapplethorpe, Self Portrait, 1975.

Ingredients:

Venue: Brooklyn Museum of Art

Artists: Nickolas Muray, Robert Mapplethorpe, George Wesley Bellows, Félix Gonzåalez-Torres, Others

Streets: Eastern Parkway, Underhill – Washington Ave

Eats: Cheryl’s Global Soul

Map:

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:

Beekman St - Dia:Beacon – Blinky Palermo

Crisp air, clear blue skies, trees in every autumnal hue... a quick check of the official foliage report confirms that it’s finally fall in New York! While NYC is just starting to change, Beacon NY is nearing peak, which is a perfect excuse to head up to Dia:Beacon for the final weeks of Blinky Palermo: A Retrospective 1964-1977! In the exhibition pamphlet curator Lynne Cooke explains that Palermo is an “artists’ artist.” His geometric, color-block work is focused on the relationship between color and space. Whether you love it or hate it, this space, with its natural light and with Imi Knoebel’s 24 Colors – for Blinky on view nearby, is the place to see it (especially because there are so many other great things to see while you’re visiting). 

The building itself is an awesome old box-printing factory with surprises around every corner. There is so much space here! The galleries are divided in a way that highlights each artist individually, so skip the ones you’re less interested in. Personally, I’m mildly obsessed with these Sol LeWitt wall drawings. Not only are they mathematical and methodical and so precise, but they’re drawn right on the walls! That somehow presents the artist's hand in a more tangible way for me. It’s like standing in the original Barnes Foundation in Merion, PA and realizing Matisse himself stood there sketching on the wall with a long charcoal stick. So cool! 

Dia:Beacon also offers you the opportunity to choose from John Chamberlain’s car-crash-esque sculptures, Dan Flavin’s light installations, Fred Sandback’s work with acrylic yarn, and so much more. Step out onto the west garden landing to hear Louise Lawler Birdcalls. Wind your way through Richard Serra’s Torqued Ellipses. Relax in Robert Irwin's landscaped forecourt.

Then, head over to Main St, Beacon (about a mile away), for the deliciously fresh soups and sandwiches at Homespun Foods. While you’re there, pop into Hudson Beach Glass to admire their seasonal glass gourds. 

Or, just grab a sandwich at Dia:Beacon's cafe and take a stroll around the grounds. Might as well enjoy every bit of it while you're there, right? I mean, isn’t this place unlike anywhere you’ve been before?! 

Ingredients:

Venue: Dia:Beacon

Artists: Blinky Palermo, Sol LeWitt, Richard Serra, Various Artists

Streets: Beekman St, Beacon, NY

Eats: Homespun Foods

Map: