Naturally...

Happy New Year! As we move through time, our relationship with nature is ever-changing, ever-evolving. We develop new understanding of our effect on it, how we're changing it, how we can help it, and how we are a part of it. There's an exhibition opening tomorrow night of an exhibit that deals with just this at the Broadway Gallery. "As we move farther and farther away from a simple relationship with nature, a relationship naturally evolved out of a need for survival, our abilities to control and manipulate our environment and ourselves have taken us places beyond our imagination." There's morals and politics involved. We are of course natural. "What IS unnatural in this era of artificially modified humans/plants/materials; medicines for mood or muscle enhancement, hormone manipulation of gender and fertility?" Go see this very interesting exhibit and ask these same questions tomorrow night from 6-8.

Metropolitan Museum Monday!

The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Holiday Monday is happening today! The MET is usually closed on Mondays but today "The Main Building of the Metropolitan Museum—select galleries, public restaurants, and shops—will be open Monday, December 29, between 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. The cafeteria, Petrie Court Café and Wine Bar, and the Balcony Café will be open until 4:30 p.m. Please note that The Trustees Dining Room will not be open. Take advantage of this special Met Holiday Monday to enjoy exhibitions and programs at the Museum." So, take advantage of this opportunity to go to the museum with your family on your day off.

Happy Holidays at the Museum

Happy holidays! I'll be back in full blogging capacity on the 29th. This Friday begins Newark Museum's holiday fun week! "Enjoy art and performances with the family this holiday season. Enjoy holiday performances, art and science activities, treasure hunts and a laser lightshow in the Planetarium. Step into a Victorian Christmas celebration when you visit the Ballantine House exhibition, Feasting with Family and Friends. Enjoy tea, coffee and a selection of desserts at the Museum's Holiday Café." Here is the schedule.

New York. Why?

There's a great exhibit up at the Metropolitan Museum of Art titled "New York, N. Why? Photographs by Rudy Burckhardt, 1937-1940." It's completely photographs of New York City. But, the way some of the shots are taken, our beloved New York looks exactly the same. Close-ups of pedestrians make the difference between us and them indecipherable. Some shots of buildings do the same. The famous sidewalk skylights in SoHo appear with only the shot of a woman's legs. However, images that include storefronts and newsstands highlight the difference of time. A barber shop is pictured, a woman's clothing in front of Saks, etc. But it's fun to go through the photographs and try to figure out where the shot was taken. Also, to take note of the lack of gum on the sidewalks. Travel through New York's history with these stunning photographs at the Met.

Outsiders

Native New Yorker? No? Yes? Either way, the perspective of the New York "outsider" is always interesting to explore. Whether you are the one experiencing New York for the first time or watching someone else experiencing New York for the first time it is a time of discovery, judgment, and strength. At the Lumenhouse art space in Brooklyn there will be an exhibition of a variety of artists dealing with this very topic. "Integrating new artistic and technical approaches to image making with the historical traditions of various mediums, this exhibition explores perceptions of the city from 'outsiders' via the manipulation of word and image. The young artists represented in this exhibition have considered critical insights through collaborative and personal work to create an exhibition that is intended to draw the viewer into a dialogue between verbal and visual language. The work, created in a three-day collaboration, concerns itself with the process of encounters and relationships. The opening is tonight from 6-9 with complimentary beverages!

Oscillation: (For a minute there, I lost myself)

There is my favorite kind of collaboration going on tonight from 7:30- 9 pm at the Museum of Arts and Design (at 2 Columbus Circle). That's right, the kind that includes a poet. Visual artist Xaviera Simmons "combines audience interactivity, experimental electronic sound, photography, video, movement, and text work. This world premiere event is a part of the artist's continued exploration into landscape, history, performance, and play. Much of the inspiration of this work comes from Jibade- Khalil Huffman's newly published collection of poems, 19 Names For Our Band." This looks like it's going to be good guys. It's called Oscillation: (For a minute there, I lost myself) Call 212.299.7790 for reservations.

Sand

Tomorrow there will be an exhibition opening at the Sara Tecchia Roma New York gallery of artist Karina Wisniewska entitled "The Sand, the line and the Consequences: New Paintings.". "Wisniewska's continuously evolving oeuvre consists of lush abstract paintings of dichromatic calligraphic-like writings and monochromatic geometric motifs of a more structured nature. The artist gives chance plenty of "free rein" but states, "I constantly intervene in a consciously ordered fashion by keeping the wrist flexible and varying the pressure and speed. "Yet, the works appear deceivingly spontaneous with overlapping lines that free flow like a piece of music: chance occurrences and intentions mingle freely." She paints completely free hand with quartz sand. She explores the line and movement with effortlessly moving expression. The reception is from 6-8pm tomorrow night.