Walking in New York

New York is one of the great walking cities of the world. John and I always wear ourselves out with what we call aerobic tourism.

We stayed on West 23rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. 

Nearby between 9th and 10th Ave sits the London Terrace Towers, one time residence of Debbie Harry.

The neighbourhood includes the Fashion Institute of Technology so one can expect to see some original clothing design on the streets.

It's also near the Chelsea Gallery neighbourhood where art and meatpacking still mix.

We always admire the famous Empire Diner on 10th Avenue.

On 8th Ave around West 19th St we caught a performance by the Jose Limon Company at the Joyce Theater

and bought our postcard stamps at the huge, temple of postal service at West 34th.

Colourful streetwear on the subway heading south.

This fabulous Bowery Savings Bank on Bowery Ave has been preserved as an event rental space.

New Yorkers are good at rethinking architecture from their past (5th Avenue).

That's enough walking for now. Let's hop on the southbound 5th Avenue bus. John took this picture of  Grand Plaza Square through the grimy bus windows.

Ellsworth Kelly and Robert Mangold

Bill and I found delightful abstraction in Chelsea. At Matthew Marks Gallery we found Late Works by Ellsworth Kelly.

Kelly did these pieces in the last three years of his life.

After 70 years of constant effort

perfection.

Matthew Marks also had a show of Kelly's lovely Plant Drawings.

So carefully observed as to be portraits of individuals.

We hadn't seen these brush paintings before. 

Wonderfully loose where the pencil drawings are so controlled.

Nice to see some colour.

We thought these late Kellys had an affinity to these confident recent works from Contemporary American artist Robert Mangold

We liked these carefully framed Mangold prints at Pace Gallery.

At first glance they look simple but I found myself continuing to look for a long time.

Pace Gallery had a show of monumental works by Mangold on 25th Street

We found them delightful and refreshing.

They bear their monumental size lightly.

The show included works on paper. This one is about two feet wide.

We left with a new interest in Robert Mangold.

Max Ernst at Paul Kasmin

John and I were pleased to catch three new Max Ernst sculptures at the Kasmin Gallery in Chelsea (before the show closed on May 13th).

The bronze trio were entitled Big Brother: Teaching Staff for a School of Murderers. They were conceived by Max Ernst in 1967. The gallery press release does not say when the bronze figures were cast -- whether in Ernst's lifetime or recently.

The title head, Big Brother, was situated between two seated figures, Séraphine Cherubin and Séraphin le Néophyte,

Despite the dark title we found the sculptures charming and humorous, especially the Big Brother head with its smart cap and big ears. It would look great in a garden.

Erwin Wurm at Lehmann Maupin

Bill and I like Erwin Wurm's stuff so we were willing to meet him halfway in Chelsea.

Wurm provided the instructions in the form of little drawings.

As instructed, I "roasted" myself "under the sun of Epicurus...." It was lovely. 

Bill tried Wurm's Head TV 

"How is it Bill?" "It is very odd. There's this wood and stuff and I know I have to look out at the camera."

Here's one for you. We weren't up to kneeling.

"Ethics demonstrated in a geometrical way."  

We left the show feeling chuffed with ourselves for having enjoyed participating. I hope you do too. Only until May 26, 2017.

Robert Longo at Metro Pictures

If you are visiting the Chelsea Galleries in New York City soon try to see Robert Longo's The Destroyer Cycle -- new charcoal drawings at Metro Pictures.

 John and I still remember Longo's Men in the Cities series of the late 1970's so we were curious to see recent work. The Work is impressive. And big. Above, John examines Untitled (Raft at Sea), 2016-17. A very frightening image of immigrants afloat. 

 Untitled (St Louis Rams, Hands Up), 2016. The show is very dark in theme.

 John gets up close to Untitled (Justine) and Untitled (Juliette) both from 2017 -- huge sides of icebergs with a narrow strip of water at the bottom. 

Let's end with a detail Untitled (Teletubbies), 2016 in which the drawing meticulously copies the pixels of the internet source for the image. Another dark image. On until June 17, 2017. 

Eric Fischl's "Late America"

Bill and I had been taking Eric Fischl for granted

until we saw his new paintings at Skarstedt, Chelsea, NYC, and got excited about him again.

 It was fun to see again his signature scenes from "how we live now". (Feeding the Turtle, 2016)

The gallery states these works were "painted in the immediate aftermath of the 2016 presidential election" -- so expect a feeling of profound fatigue amid the usual disconnection.

Face Off, 2017 

But the urgency for us was in rediscovering Fischl's gorgeous handling of paint. These details from Daddy's Gone, Girl, 2016 (above), will illustrate.

Those brushstrokes!

That paint!

If you are doing the Chelsea galleries, try to make time for "Late America" at Skarstedt, 550 West 21st Street, until June 24th.