Summer Streets – E 72nd to the Brooklyn Bridge

New York City is full of folks who grew up elsewhere and journeyed to this fine island seeking “something more.” Still, from time to time nostalgia creeps in, and those suburban transplants crave the kinds of quieter streets ideal for Wiffle ball and roller hockey (cul-de-sac preferred). Enter SUMMER STREETS! For three Saturdays this August you can frolic down the NYC streets from E 72^nd to the Brooklyn Bridge. As summarized on their website, it’s a chance to use the “valuable public space” that is our city’s streets to “play, walk, bike, and breathe.” Oh good! Finally a chance to breathe!

The route is loaded with rest stops and neat activities. Personal highlights include:

- Guacamole-making demonstrations by Chipotle (at Park & 51^st)

- Free bike and roller blade rentals (throughout)

- Double Dutch Performance by National Double Dutch League (at Uptown & Foley Square rest stops)

- REI rock climbing wall (at Spring & Lafayette)

- Barefoot running by Vibram and Merrell (at SOHO rest stop)

and so much more!

While you’re enjoying juice and snack bars at the Astor Place Health and Fitness Zone be sure to look up. Animus Art has installed their super cool Flaming Cactus (cacti?) throughout the intersection. This public art installation caused quite a stir on East Village Grieve. What do you think? Is it interesting? Is it worth it? Is it art?

When you reach the southern end of the Summer Streets route, keep going! Continue down to City Hall Park for the Sol Lewitt sculptures. Then, if you’re up for it, why not walk across the Brooklyn Bridge?!

Of course, there are a million places to eat along the way, including free sample stands. Do yourself a favor, though, and stop in Hampton Chutney Co for a delicious dosa (just before the SOHO rest stop on Prince St near Lafayette). It won’t break the bank, and it’s the perfect amount of food to fill you up without making you too logy to keep going. Plus, they have cardamom coffee!

Ingredients:

Venues: NYC Summer Streets; Astor Place; City Hall Park

Artists: Animus Art; Sol Lewitt

Streets: E72nd – Duane St +

Eats: Hampton Chutney Co

Map: (See above Route Map)

W 22nd St – Nort, Magic for Beginners & Sun Screen

Peek in through the wormholes of Phoebe Washburn’s Nunderwater Nort Lab at Zach Feuer and see what you find! Washburn’s installation, which is a direct comment on the flaws on inefficient construction and looks like something straight out of a hoarder’s basement, is a celebration of the process of making lunch with all its sights, sounds and scents. Regretfully there are no tastes for the observers. In fact, Zach Feuer Gallery’s press release states, “Washburn has devised a site and context specific installation that juxtaposes two seemingly unrelated activities - art and lunch.” Well, clearly, Zach Feuer, you are tragically unacquainted with Inspirational Lunch. Please read on!

Walking across 22^nd St, you pretty much can’t go wrong. Pace, Julie Saul, CRG, Matthew Marks…This block is packed with blockbuster galleries! Plus, there’s a little Magic for Beginners at PPOW. It’s a show about limitations and minimalism, constraints that generally lead to creative, interesting art. This is no exception.

In case you missed it, last year the ICP had a super cool show of work by Miroslav Tichý, who was this crazy, reclusive Czech artists who made his own cameras out of tin cans, elastic waistbands and other repurposed junk and lived his life as an incredible voyeur. Google some images of his handmade cameras so you have an idea what he was working with, and go see Sun Screen at Horton Gallery. There is something so captivating about Tichý’s bathers. He has such a great eye for form and composition. Granted, at first glance his photos may seem like the creepy snapshots of a psychopath, but they are so much more.

As you approach 10^th Ave, you’ll see the iconic corner diner. It was Empire Diner, it’s recently reopened as The Highliner, which is more American Nouveau than diner, but it serves a mean (if expensive) egg cream. Grab a stool at the counter and try the beef brisket hash.

Ingredients:

Venues: Zach Feuer; PPOW; Horton Gallery

Artists: Phoebe Washburn; Bas Jan Ader, Olaf Breuning, Jennifer Cohen, Scott Hug, Kevin Lips, Niall McClelland, Jesse McLean, Kristie Muller, RBT. Sps., Brent Stewart; Miroslav Tichý

Streets: W 22^nd St between 10^th & 11^th Aves

Eats: The Highliner

Map:

 

Forsyth St / Chrystie St – Ray Johnson, Mia Taylor & Freemans Alley

If you’ve never heard of Ray Johnson, add How to Draw a Bunny to the top of your Netflix queue and, while you’re waiting for that little red envelop to arrive, head down to Half Gallery. Basically, in the 1950s and '60s, Johnson inadvertently started the “New York Correspondence School,” which is to say that he started sending collages and such to friends via post mail. Half a century later, his work has influences scores of artists, and that is the focus of Half Gallery’s fantastic Ray’s A Laugh. Amid all the newer work, Johnson's mixed media collages still stand out. They are ever fresh and oh so cool.

This weekend only, trek a little further south on Forsyth Street, because it’s the last weekend to see flat pack, the inaugural show at toomer labzda. Mia Taylor, a British artist who is celebrating her US premiere with this show, works with neon hues, plastic strips and timber pieces to make wonderfully zany wall art and watercolors. If this show is any indication, this little gallery is going to be bringing us great artwork. Don’t miss the chance to say you were there when it all started!  

Cross Sara D Roosevelt Park to Chrystie Street and stop in Mulherin + Pollard for Daniel Davidson: Fat Fingers, which is, sadly, also closing at the end of the weekend. It’s a chance to see Davidson’s newest paintings, which are vibrant and fluid and completely abstract.

Since you're in the neighborhood on the weekend (or else you'll miss these closing shows), you simply cannot pass up brunch at Freemans. (From Chrystie, head west on Rivington until you see Freeman's Alley, then take that to the end.) Everything on the menu is delicious. The baked eggs, the smoked trout, the devils on horseback... Plus, their produce is from local NY farms, their seafood is sustainable and their Bloody Mary is made with potato vodka!

Ingredients:

Venues: Half Gallery; toomer labzda; Mulherin + Pollard

Artists: Ray Johnson, Leo Fitzpatrick, Hanna Liden, Dan Colen, Nate Lowman, Adam McEwen, Dash Snow; Mia Taylor; Daniel Davidson

Streets: Forsyth St, Chrystie St, Freeman’s Alley

Eats: Freemans

Map:

E 77th St – Case Histories, Middle Age & Flowers for Summer

The Future Was When? is an awesome video by Patricia Esquivias currently screening at Alex Zachary Gallery as part of Case Histories. In it, in her casual, stream-of-consciousness style, Esquivias explains her fascination with mosaic tiling while recounting the story of Susan Brown, an artist who repairs broken mosaics in the NYC subway stations. It is about 20 minutes long, and it’s just one of many great pieces on view in Case Histories. I hope you have some time to stay and watch!

At Leo Castelli Gallery, the experience of getting buzzed into the gorgeous old Brownstone that is 18 E 77^th and riding the tiny elevator is reason enough to visit. It’s so old New York! Their current group show, Middle Age, offers the likes of Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein and Ed Ruscha. These art stars may not be “young and fresh,” but they are certainly not past their prime. The show is a celebration of how seasoned masters have informed art and design throughout history. Ludwig Schwarz’s sculpture of pawned diamond rings drives the message home: life gets complicated, scrap the knickknacks and keep making beautiful art!

On a more conventional note, Michael Werner Gallery down the block invites you to Flowers for Summer, a look at the “historical motif of the flower.” It’s summer. It’s hot outside. I’m happy to look at some pretty blooms, whatever the motives may be. 

 

Now, choose your own adventure: A) walk a few blocks north to the Met Museum’s south steps and treat yourself to Sigmund Pretzelshop’s hot dog on a pretzel bun with homemade kraut. B) walk east toward Madison and satisfy your sweet tooth with L’Arte del Gelato, which has a cart outside the Carlyle Hotel. C) indulge yourself to the summer restaurant week lunch menu at the Carlyle Restaurant (fancy pants!).  

Bonus: Stop in the Gagosian Shop and follow the instructional footprints down to the basement for Damien Hirst’s butterflies, pills and polka dots. On your way out, pick up an art book or a deck chair. 

Ingredients:

Venues: Alex Zachary; Leo Castelli; Michael Werner; Gagosian Shop

Artists: Barbara Bloom, Patricia Esquivias, Harun Farocki, John Miller, Rosalind Nashashibi, Alexander Kluge, Steve Reinke and James Richards; John Baldessari, Jasper Johns, Diana Kingsley, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Pettibone, Ed Ruscha, Ludwig Schwarz, Oona Stern, Lawrence Weiner, Erwin Wurm; Hurvin Anderson, Georg Baselitz, James Lee Byars, Lovis Corinth, Aaron Curry, Enrico David, Peter Doig, Thomas Houseago, Jörg Immendorff, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Per Kirkeby, Jean Fautrier, Lucio Fontana, Fernand Léger, Eugène Leroy, Markus Lüpertz, A.R. Penck, Francis Picabia, Pablo Picasso, Sigmar Polke, Kurt Schwitters, Félix Vallotton, Don Van Vliet; Damien Hirst

Streets: E 77^th Street, 5^th & Madison Aves

Eats: Sigmund Pretzel Cart; L’Arte del Gelatol Carlyle Restaurant

Map:

 

E 103rd St – Joel Grey at MCNY & Conservatory Garden

The Museum of the City of New York is forever serenading its namesake with adoring love songs, and right now legendary stage and screen performer Joel Grey is “emceeing” the show. Joel Grey / A New York Life presents personal relics, posters and playbills from Grey’s expansive body of work, but the star here is his photography. Grey is the quintessential New Yorker, which is to say he was born elsewhere, fell in love with NYC and has spent his life doting upon it. From a padlock to a reflection in a puddle, his work highlights the beauty in the oft-overlooked details. They are fantastic. Bonus: Go tonight at 6:30pm to see Grey in conversation with Jon Robin Baitz! 

If you have time, stay for Timescapse: A Multimedia Portrait of New York (22’ long). It is a fascinating (and remarkably compact!) history of how New York became one of the world’s greatest cities, and it’s definitely worth a look. Then stop by the Stettheimer Dollhouse on the first floor. The best part is that it is adorned with one-of-a-kind mini-masterpieces by avant-garde artists who happened to be Socialite Carrie Walter Stettheimer’s friends.  

Grab a freshly-made sandwich at the café in the museum’s courtyard and head across the street to Conservatory Garden. From the moment you step through the exquisite Vanderbilt Gate you are instantly transported. Take your pick from French, Italian and English styles, grab a bench (I suggest one by the Frances Hodgson Burnett memorial) and enjoy!

Ingredients:
Venues: Museum of the City of New York; Conservatory Garden
Artists: Joel Grey; Carrie Walter Stettheimer
Streets: 103^rd – 105^th & 5th Ave
Eats: Pyramid Café at MCNY
Map: