Hi Everyone,

As you prepare for your holiday and winter break with the kiddies, here are some cool, fun shows that won’t disappoint.

Ezra Jack Keats at the Jewish Museum:

September 09, 2011 – January 29, 2012.  

This is a great opportunity to see the original collages that make up the book “A Snowy Day” as well as many other art works. There is also a sweet installation (a collage come to life) where the kids can sit on a bean bag and read one of his fabulous books. http://www.thejewishmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-snowy-day-and-keats-exhibition

Maurizio Cattelan at the Guggenheim Museum.

November 4, 2011–January 22, 2012

This retrospective survey brings together virtually everything the artist Maurizio Cattelan has produced since 1989, and presents the works en masse, strung haphazardly from the oculus of the Guggenheim’s rotunda. This is a show for the older kids  crowd as there are some challenging images.  All the sculptures are suspended and create an incredible maze from above. http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions

Sanford Biggers at the Brooklyn Museum

This show is for everyone.  The work exhibited deals with issues of race but in a poetic and sometimes playful manner.  Don’t miss the tree trunk sculpture puncturing a baby grand piano that plays.http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/sanford_biggers/

September 23, 2011–January 8, 2012

Carsten Höller: at the New Museum

This show closes January 15th

If you want to experience (also the title of the show) sculpture or installation bring the kids a long and slide through an gigantic plexi-glass slide.  It’s supposed to be a mood altering experience. This is one show where you can touch some of the art which is really cool for the kids (I like it too.)  There is more to see than just the giant slide. His work often draws on social spaces outside of the museum such as the amusement park, zoo, or playground, but the experiences they provide are always far from our usual expectations of these activities.

http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions

Have fun!!

On Friday November 11th from 10 – 11 am, Nurit Newman will be teaching an Exquisite Corpse Workshop for children at the PLG Pop Up Gallery. Please join us in supporting art and artists in the PLG neighborhood. Supplies will be provided. Bring family and friends. The Pop Up Gallery is located at 552 Flatbush Avenue at Maple Street. See you all there!

More information on Exquisite Corpses can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse

Hi Everyone,

Sorry it’s taken so long to post but there are some great, fun works to go see on your own or with the kiddos.

1. New York Comic Con: Friday/Saturday 10-5pm, Sunday 10-5 @ The Javitz Convention Center, 655 West 34th St (888) 605-6059.  Tickets are $45 for Friday and Sunday.  Special fee for Saturday. nycomiccon.com

Costume contest for kids under 12 at 1pm on Sunday.

2.MoMA: The New Photography show (there is nudity in the show and a photograph of a naked woman astride the lap of a man sitting in a chair.) A show that gives new life to contemporary photography.

3. Richard Serra:  Gagosian Gallery http://www.gagosian.com/exhibitions/2011-09-14_richard-serra/ open till November 26th. Fun for kids and adults to explore this amazing sculptors maze.

4. Carsten Nicolai: Pace Gallery at 545 W. 22nd http://thepacegallery.com/ The kids will love the parachute in flight right before their eyes.

5. Sanford Biggers, Eva Hess, Lee Mingwei at the Brooklyn Museum http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/ Don’t miss Eva Hess

6. Kim Beck at Mixed Greens in Chelsea http://mixedgreens.com/exhibitions.html Using drawing, sculpture, and site-specific installation, Beck explores the relationship between desire, stability, and economic security. 

7. Nick Cave at Mary Boone Gallery http://www.maryboonegallery.com/exhibitions/2011-2012/Nick-Cave/index.html  this wonderful exhibition of performative objects closes on October 22nd so don’t miss it with the kids. Continue reading ART in NYC 10/14/11

I hope everyone got a chance to see the kids art work @ K-Dog and 65 Fen.The work is amazing and comes down on the 15th.  K-Dog and 65 Fen were packed during the opening so if you need a second look this is your last chance.  Also, thank you to everyone who donated $$ to the scholarship fund.  Thanks to your help I’ll be able to offer 2 more scholarships in the Autumn.

Our beloved teacher Meghan Turbitt will have a booth on Sunday May 15th at the 5th Avenue fair in Brooklyn.  Her booth will be near Union Street and 5th Ave.

If you’re wondering where to take the kids to see some interesting art that will hold their interest, spend an afternoon on the Lower East Side.  Yes, some of the most interesting work is being shown here. You can then hop over to Chinatown or Little Italy for a snack or any of a number of hip cafes in this neighborhood.  Ok, I’ll stop planning your day but do try to check out this work and let me know your thoughts.  Please check the gallery websites for show closings and hours of operation.

My favorite show is Raffaella Chiara”s @ Frosch & Portmann (53 Stanton Strret, 646-266-5994.) Raffaella walked around the lower east side and created a collage of the architecture she experienced. What I found so compelling about this work besides how genuine it appeared was it’s playful yet serious quality. This is most evident in her cave-like paper sculpture (which is not life size.) This show is for kids and adults.

My second favorite show is Jessica Mein’s “Verso Reverso” @ Simon Preston Gallery, 301 Broome Street, 212-431-1105.  The show starts with a sweet, stop motion animation (made from hundreds of drawings) of a sign-man taking down a billboard.  In fact that’s exactly what Jessica uses for her work, discarded billboard images. In some pieces she has spent hours punching out the pixelated imagery only to reuse those very same punched out pieces of paper to reconfigure the billboard or parts of the billboards. She alters reality in a painstaking way that viewers only notice once they look closely.  She invites us to give the art a closer inspection by using smart techniques to make us curious enough to examine the work.  Her work investigates the in-between state of things appearing to look as they always have while being tainted or altered.  That sounds very official, but go see the show cause the kids will get a kick out of the stop motion video while you can look at the billboards and obsessive drawings in this show.

I saw an interesting video installation in the basement closet of the Stephan Stoyanov Gallery @ 29 Orchard Street, 212-343-4240.  It should have been in the upstairs gallery.  The artist Eva Davidova created a multi channel arresting performative video that’s worth checking out.  (There is a little nudity on one of the screens.)

Other artists to watch for  were in a large group show at Lesley Heller Workspace @ 54 Orchard Street, 212 -410-6120. I liked Audrey Hasen Russell’s sculpture made with found materials (this is great for the kids to see as they will get tons of ideas.)  I also enjoyed looking at Elisabeth Condon’s new paintings in the larger front room space of the gallery.

Also, our beloved teacher Meghan Turbitt will have a booth on Sunday May 15th at the 5th Avenue fair in Brooklyn.  Her booth will be near Union Street and 5th Ave and she’ll be selling some of her new smaller, affordable pieces.  Stop by and say hi.

That’s all for now, more to come in the next few weeks when I celebrate Mother’s Day again (I wish) and go to see more shows in Manhattan.

Read about our great arts program on the Lefferts Manor blog http://www.leffertsmanor.org/