Art in New York

What's On in New York Now
by Melissa Cicci

[Images at left:]
Terese Agnew
Portrait of a Textile Worker, 2005
clothing labels, thread, fabric backing
98x110 inches

Andrea Riccio (1470-1532)
Boy with a Goose,
c. 1515-20
Bronze, 19.6 high
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna


Emerging artists, old masters, impressionists and surrealists. Despite the economic challenges facing the current art market (less-than-stellar sales at the recent fall auctions at Sotheby's and Christie's), art is everywhere in New York this fall and winter. And the price of admission is relatively small for the reciprocal pleasure. Entrance fees typically range from $15-20 at most Manhattan art museums (galleries remain free of charge). For those on a very tight budget, some museums offer pay-as-you wish or free visiting hours.

Here, a snapshot of exhibitions around Manhattan this season.

Downtown
On the lower east side, among the kitchen supply stores along the Bowery, is the recently completed permanent home of the New Museum of Contemporary Art. As the name implies, the New Museum showcases contemporary artists, often those living and working in New York City. Current exhibitions feature Elizabeth Peyton's jewel-like celebrity portraits and Mary Heilmann's vivid abstract paintings.

Flatiron District
The School of Visual Arts will host its graduate school Open Studios in mid-December. Open studios are an opportunity to see new works by current students in the studio setting. A variety of media (painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media) showcases emerging international talent.

Midtown
Two marquee exhibits draw crowds to the Museum of Modern Art: "Van Gogh and the Colors of the Night," and "Joan Miró: Painting and Anti-Painting 1927-1937" (both through early January 2009). Several of van Gogh's iconic works are represented (The Starry Night) along with early landscapes that depict a darker, luminescent tone (Toward Evening is an exquisite and haunting example). Spanish surrealist Joan Miró was one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century. At MoMa, several rooms are dedicated to the paintings, collages, objects, and drawings of a transformative decade in Miró's career.

Uptown
"Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary" is the first exhibition at the Museum of Arts & Design's new building at Columbus Circle. The exhibition features objects and installations made from ordinary materials. The work, by emerging and established artists from around the world, is at times whimsical, at others thought provoking. Terese Agnew's Portrait of a Textile Worker, draws on an unauthorized black-and-white photograph of women at work in a Bangladeshi textile factory. Using 30,000 garment labels collected over several years, Agnew weaves a haunting picture of third-world labor. In Skylines, Nigerian artist El Anatsui employs wire thread and hammered metal bottle caps to create a visually stunning African tapestry.

The Frick Collection is serene. Once the 5th Avenue mansion of Pittsburgh industrialist Henry Clay Frick, the museum houses masterpieces of Western painting, sculpture, decorative art and furniture. Three examples of the mastery of 17th-century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer are on view through late November. Mistress and Maid, Girl Interrupted at Her Music, and Officer and Laughing Girl hang side-by-side for the first time in more than a decade.

If you miss the Vermeers (on exhibit through November 23), don't miss the Frick. The permanent collection also includes masterworks by El Greco, Velazquez, della Francesca, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Whistler and Turner. Also at the Frick this season; "Andrea Riccio: Renaissance Master of Bronze," a special exhibition of the work of one of the most creative sculptors of the Italian Renaissance.

WHERE and WHEN:
(venues listed in alphabetical order, admission prices are for adult non-members)

The Frick Collection
1 East 70th Street (between 5th and Madison)
Tel. 212.288.0700
www.frick.org
Vermeer (thru November 23, 2008)
Andrea Riccio (thru January 18, 2009)
General Admission: $15 or (Sundays, 11a-1p, Pay-as-you-wish)

Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle
Tel. 212.299.7777
www.madmuseum.org
"Second Lives: Remixing the Ordinary" (thru February 15, 2009)
General Admission: $15 or (Thursdays, 6-9p, Pay-as-you-wish)

The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street (between 5th and 6th avenues)
Tel. 212.708.9400
www.moma.org
Van Gogh (thru January 5, 2009)
Miró (thru January 12, 2009)
General Admission: $20 or (Free Friday evenings, 4-8p)

New Museum of Contemporary Art
235 Bowery (at Prince)
Tel. 212.219.1222
www.newmuseum.org
Elizabeth Peyton (thru January 11, 2009)
Mary Heilmann (thru January 26, 2009)
General Admission: $12

School of Visual Arts
133/144 W. 21st Street (between 6th and 7th avenues)
www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/events
MFA Fine Arts Department Open Studios - December 11-13, 2008
This event is open and free to the public.