Art & Design Notes

So Percussion + Joshua Light Show — River to River Festival

posted on 29 Jul 2013 17:15 by Sara Spink

A concert featuring So Percussion, to be accompanied by an improvised light show administered by a collective that provided visual support to the Doors, the Grateful Dead, and the Who—yup, that pedigree had me raring to go. I knew So Percussion from an intimate concert given in a private setting in Maine about five years ago, but this performance differed from my memories. Joined by special...

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Tags: art concert contemporary design festival joshua_light_show modern multi-sensory music new_york new_york_city percussion performance river_to_river so_percussion

Punk: Chaos to Couture — Met Museum

posted on 25 Jun 2013 03:19 by Sara Spink

Richard Hell, Adam Ant, Sid Vicious at the Met? That's right. And Dior, Givenchy, Versace Yes, all in the same place. The premise of this show as it is smartly set out in the initial wall text intrigues: that couture fashion draws inspiration from the punk aesthetic, and moreover that the one-of-a-kind made-to-measure concept of couture is closely aligned with the highly individualized,...

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Tags: alexander_mcqueen american black_flag british couture design exhibit exhibition fashion gareth_pugh jannis_kounellis maison_martin_margiela malcolm_mclaren met metropolitan metropolitan_museum multi-sensory museum new_york new_york_city nyc punk sex_pistols textile vivienne_westwood wasted_youth

El Anatsui - Brooklyn Museum of Art

posted on 04 May 2013 21:54 by Sara Spink

Freedom. Freedom of movement, of shape, of materials, of process, of interpretation. Freedom is a central theme manifest in all the myriad facets of El Anatsui's work, which is so well presented at the Brooklyn Museum's Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui. The show does a marvelous job of highlighting the conceptual complexities of Anatsui's art, as well as the continuities that...

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Tags: anatsui art artifact bma brooklyn brooklyn_museum_of_art contemporary craft design exhibit exhibition hands_on history installation interactivity material_culture mixed_media museum new_york participation process sculpture textile

LES Gallery Walk

posted on 12 Mar 2013 03:25 by Sara Spink

Another installment from Armory Arts Week, which wrapped up yesterday. My biggest takeaway is that NYC art galleries—at least those on the lower East Side—do not value highly visible signage. This can be troublesome. Second: I had no idea there was such a concentrated population of such galleries in this area of the city. Moreover, I felt pressed to take advantage of the publicized gallery...

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Tags: anastasia_photo art charles_banks contemporary denny_gallery exhibition free gallery lower_east_side mark_miller mixed_media mulherin_pollard new_york new_york_city painting participation photography public salon_94 tomlinson_kong tour walk works_on_paper

Independent art fair 2013

posted on 09 Mar 2013 03:21 by Sara Spink

All images by the author unless otherwise noted. The stairwell smelled like gingerbread. This only added to the surreal sensation permeating last night's opening of the Independent art fair, one of many occurring during this year's Armory Arts Week in New York City. Free and open to the public, it showcases over 40 international galleries. Holland Cotter of the New York Times declares it the...

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Tags: armory_week art ceramic contemporary design fair gallery installation international modern multimedia new_york new_york_city nyc painting public sculpture works_on_paper