Art in New York City

Friday, 17 November 2023

◄ Michael A Cummings quilt, Hunter Dunbar Projects Gallery, West 24th St – we were staying at the Chelsea Hotel on West 23rd St and a block north and three blocks west West 24th St featured a whole block of door-to-door art galleries. I rather liked the quilt art at this gallery although I certainly wasn’t expecting this one – with its Israel-Palestine lettering – suddenly to become so topical. Of course the Chelsea Hotel has quite an art collection in its own right.

▲ art on the High Line Park – back in 2009 I stayed at the Standard Hotel, straddling the High Line Park in New York City, the park – it converted a disused rail line into a linear park – was instantly popular and if anything its popularity has grown. Even on a day – like I chose – when it was pouring with rain there were plenty of High Line walkers.

◄ The Vessel, by the High Line Park – I started my rainy day High Line stroll at the Hudson Yards shopping center between West 30th and 34th St. Beside the center is The Vessel – designed by Thomas Heatherwick, ‘the elaborate honeycomb-like structure rises 16 stories and consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2500 steps, and 80 landings.’ And unfortunately it’s currently closed because it became popular for suicides! At the other end of the High Line, on Gansevoort St just south of West 13th St, the Whitney Museum of American Art was designed by Renzo Piano and concentrates on 20th and 21st century American art.

▲ hyper-realist art, Quan, Sea Idylls, Carole A Feuerman, Park Ave – A recent article in The Economist – Hyperreal Art is Instagram Worthy & Booming – kicked off with Ron Mueck’s wonderful works which are not only hyperreal but also hyper-unsettling since they always seem to be out of scale, either too big or too small. The article went on to Carole A Feuerman’s works, currently featuring along Park Ave in Manhattan, from East 34th to East 38th St.

◄ hyper-realist art, City Slicker, Sea Idylls, Carole A Feuerman, Park Ave – what also pleasantly amazes me about them is that none of them have been graffitied. Somehow I think in Australia or in England they simply would not have survived unsullied for a single weekend, and they’ve been up here for six months and will be until the end of 2023.