It's spring!? Really? Winter wrap-up...

Winter wrap-up...

Jenny Holzer

Well, I confess I am not doing so well on my New Year's resolution to post weekly about art and food explorations but fortunately I still have nine months to improve.  But my not posting doesn't not mean that I haven't seen a lot of fabulous art and eaten at many noteworthy venues - rather I have been busy doing a lot of both allowing little time to report on my experiences.

Not long ago, I went to the opening at NYU's Grey Art Gallery of an exhibition that had travelled from the Block Museum of Art in Chicago, The Left Front: Radical Art in the "Red Decade," 1929-1940. This historical exhibition, organized by two Northwestern graduate students John Murphy and Jill Bugajski, examines the decade after the 1929 stock market crash and the increase of artists using printed materials to voice political activism and to attempt to make art more affordable. I was fortunate to see it at the Block as well and loved being able to compare how the curatorial choices varied and the archival items were specific to each show. Also on view at the Grey is Abby Grey & Indian Modernism - an area of art that I am not terribly familiar with but I found it to be an extremely beautiful body of work. Both shows close next month.

Top: Henry Simon (Unitled, Industrial Frankenstein I)

I was recently in Washington, DC with college friends and together we visited the Hirshhorn Museum - it was the first time for me in many years.  In addition to their amazing permanent collection, I was mesmerized by the impressive video exhibition Days of Endless Time. The DeadSee piece by Sigalit Landau of the artist floating in unwinding spiral of linked watermelons was both beautiful and disturbing.  And I was taken to another world while watching David Claerbout's enchanting video Travel (1996-2013).

stills from Sigalit Landau, DeadSee

David Claerbout, Travel (1996-2013), ©David Claerbout

And from the permanent collection, two of my favorite female artists, Joan Mitchell and Louise Bourgeois:

Louise Bourgeois, The Blind Leading the Blind

Joan Mitchell, Cercando un Ago, 1959

Amory Week in NYC came and went.  Throngs of culture vultures descended upon Manhattan to visit the Armory Show at Pier 94, downtown to the satellite fairs, including Pulse, Spring/Break and uptown to the ADAA Show at the Park Avenue Armory.  There were also some exciting auctions and I was particularly impressed by Phillips' Under the Influence sale.

Jorge Méndez Blake, From an Unfinished Work (The Garden of Eden)

Kehinde Wiley, Portrait of Mark Donkeng, 2015

Kirsten Everberg

William Kentridge, Remembering the Treason Trial

Last week, I had a divine lunch with friends at one of Danny Meyer's new spots, Marta, where I had the Cicoria salad but also got to sample the Pig Face Testa and Funghi pizzas - the Funghi won! The food was incredible and the space designed by architect Annabelle Selfdorf is gorgeous.  I can't wait to go back for dinner!

           

After lunch we headed to Chelsea and saw a few of the blockbuster, museum-quality shows that are currently on view.  In particular, I loved the Sean Scully show Landline at Cheim + Read.  The paintings are gorgeous and the brush stroke definition of the thick horizontal stripes on the canvases are hypnotic.

Landline Skyline

Untitled (Floating Painting)

Down the street at the Pace Gallery is the exhibition Variations of genius sculptor, Isamu Noguchi that crosses decades of the artist's work and spans the variety of materials and disciplines used by the sculptor.  It is practically a mini-retrospective of Noguchi's work.

Around the corner at Gagosian is an incredible installation combining works by artist John Chamberlain and French architect and designer Jean Prouvé. The massive installation highlights how they each mastered metal in both art and design.  Chamberlain sculptures constructed from demolished cars are placed in Prouvé's Demountable Houses.

Mangia! Mangia!

Some of the fabulous meals I have enjoyed over the last couple of months include lunch at one of my favorite spots outside of New York City - Jean-Georges' the Inn at Pound Ridge.  Not only is the food some of Jean-Georges' best but the setting and decor are worth the trek to to the country.  For lunch I had one of the finest tuna tartare's I've ever tasted, which was topped with thinly sliced radishes on a bed of avocado. The brussels sprouts with pecans and avocado were perfect.  For those who know me, tuna tartare and brussels are staples I order almost every time I find them on a menu.  

     

I went with my husband for the first time to another one of Jean-Georges' out-posts, JoJo, on the Upper East Side.  It's hard to believe that I had never before been to this classic Jean-Georges restaurant and was completely impressed. The warm asparagus salad and the tuna roll with soy bean emulsion were incredible starters.  I had a curry seasoned scallop entrée that was almost like a stew - mixed with roasted cauliflower, yellow raisins and a lot of butter.  I must say the sea-salt butterscotch pudding beat out the warm chocolate cake. 

      

All'onda

We also tried All'onda with some foodie friends of mine - a new modern Venetian style Italian restaurant housed in a narrow two story building near Union Square.  The scallops I had melted in your mouth.  And the side of wild mushrooms and miso-cured egg yolk on southern grits-style polenta was unbelievable. I tasted everything that the four of us ordered and each bite was better than the last. I highly recommend it.

And one week mid-winter I was lucky enough to eat at two of the Momofuko's - uptown and downtown - Ma Peche and Momofuko Noodle Bar.  Having been to both on many occasions, I am still blown away by the flavors and freshness of the food with every bite and spoonful.  And don't forget to take home a stash of Momofuko Milk Bar cookies - we decided our favorites are the cornflake marshmallow cookie and the cake truffles.  And the Crack Pie is lethal.

spicy ramen from Momofuko Noodle Bar

So I am hoping that after today, that this winter is truly a wrap and that we can move onwards towards the next season - sunny days, lots of art and good eats!  In the meantime, there are several museum shows in NYC that  are not to be missed - I will be posting about them next week!  So until then...