twi-ny recommended events

YOSHITOMO NARA: WHITE GHOST

Park Ave. median at 67th St.
Park Ave. median at 70th St.
Through November 5
Admission: free
www.artproductionfund.org
67th st. slideshow
70th st. slideshow

In conjunction with his upcoming exhibit at the Asia Society, “Nobody’s Fool,” which opens September 9, Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara has installed “White Ghost,” two giant fiberglass-and-steel statues on the Park Ave. mall, one in front of the Asia Society on 70th St., the other in front of the armory on 67th St., where he recently held an open studio as he constructed “Home” for the show. A joint venture of the Asia Society, the Art Production Fund, and the Sculpture Committee of the Fund for Park Ave., the sculptures depict an enormous white girl, the one on 67th looking north, the other looking south, like sentinels or guards called komainu, both smiling slyly.

Yoshitimo Nara’s “White Ghost” sculpture still has umbilical cord connected to its head during installation (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

The sculptures were installed on September 4 by Dun-Rite and SRI; it was especially exciting watching the head being added to the body as the sun shined down on the glistening work. (One of our three videos can be seen above.) The two girls will continue watching over Park Ave. until November 5.

HARVEST IN THE SQUARE

The Gramercy Tavern will be among the many restaurants participating in the fifteenth annual Harvest in the Square benefit

Union Square Park
16th St. & Union Square West
Tuesday, September 21, 7:30
Tickets: General admission $125, VIP $400 (includes early admission and reception)
www.harvest.unionsquarenyc.org

The fifteenth annual Harvest in the Square will feature more than fifty chefs serving their signature dishes under tents, paired with wines and microbrews, with as many ingredients as possible coming from the Union Square Greenmarket and surrounding area. The culinary event will include delicious delights from such restaurants as Aleo, Angelo & Maxie’s, BLT Fish and BLT Prime, Blue Smoke, Chat ‘n’ Chew, City Crab, Dévi, Dos Caminos, Gramercy Tavern, Hill Country, Pure Food & Wine, Rosa Mexicano, Steak Frites, Tamarind, Tocqueville, Union Square Café, and ’wichcraft. Drinks will be supplied by Argo Tea, Bluepoint, Bedell Cellars, Brewery Ommegang, Paumanok, Goose Island, the Lenz Winery, the Harlem Brewing Company, Irving Farm Coffee, Wolffer Estate Vineyards, and others. This year’s restaurant chair is Jeffrey Zurofsky of ’wichcraft, and the wine chair is Garry Tornberg of Southern Wine & Spirits of New York. The event was founded by Danny Meyer of the Union Square Hospitality Group and Eric Petterson of the Gotham City Restaurant Group in order to raise funds for the Union Square Partnership for the beautification and maintenance of Union Square Park. Tickets are likely to sell out, so get yours now.

OUT AND ABOUT: THE FINAL SHOW AT GIANT ROBOT NEW YORK

Artist Kelly Tunstall is part of the last show at Giant Robot New York, which is closing later this month (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

NEW WORK BY SUSIE GHAHREMANI AND KELLY TUNSTALL
Giant Robot
437 East Ninth St. between First Ave. & Ave. A
Through September 23
Admission: free
212-674-4769
www.grny.net

It was with great sadness that we attended the opening of “Out and About: New Work by Susie Ghahremani and Kelly Tunstall” on September 4 at Giant Robot in the East Village, and it had nothing to do with Ghahremani’s adorable gouache paintings on paper and wood of animals or Tunstall’s surreal portraits of women with elongated features. Instead, we were horrified to learn from store manager Mark Gilson that this would be the last show at Giant Robot, which will be closing its doors on September 23, a victim of the bad economy. (Ghahremani was also part of the second-ever show at Giant Robot New York.) “It’s been a fun ride and it’s all smiles,” company founder and Giant Robot magazine publisher Eric Nakamura wrote on his blog that night. “Imagine, as a much younger man, I’ve always wanted to have a shop in New York City and I did it.” Sure, that’s easy for Nakamura to say; he still has stores in Los Angeles and San Francisco, while we here on the East Coast will now have to look elsewhere to find unique and unusual toys, art books, and clothing and to see exhibitions by such artists as Matt Furie, Evah Fan, Scrappers, Deth P. Sun, Keith Shore, Souther Salazar, and many others. Giant Robot was a great place to start personal art collections, as most shows had prices that began at $100 or less for original pieces. Beginning September 8, Giant Robot will be holding a clearance sale, with items selling for thirty percent off, and there will be a series of special events leading up to the closing, so keep watching this space for more information as it becomes available.

DOUG + MIKE STARN ON THE ROOF: BIG BAMBÚ

“Big Bambú” installation by Doug + Mike Starn is continually evolving and growing (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

YOU CAN’T, YOU DON’T, AND YOU WON’T STOP
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden
1000 Fifth Ave. at 82nd St.
Tuesday – Sunday through October 31 (open Monday, September 6)
Recommended admission: $20 adults, children under twelve free
212-535-7710
www.metmuseum.org
phase 1 slideshow
phase 2 slideshow

New Jersey twins Doug and Mike Starn are in the midst of creating a seemingly living installation on the roof of the Met, a twisting, anarchistic environment made of thousands of bamboo poles lashed together with colored nylon rope that will ultimately rise fifty feet high and one hundred feet long, offering spectacular views of Central Park and the surrounding buildings. The first phase of the six-month project opened April 27, followed by the second phase on August 16. The brothers, whose “See It Split, See It Change” was installed in the South Ferry subway terminal in the spring of 2009, will continue to expand the massive structure through the end of October, adding new paths that visitors can watch being constructed, as the Starns, along with a team of rock climbers, can often be seen working on “Big Bambú” during the day, even while people wander through on the free guided tours. (Museumgoers must sign up at the registration desk in the Uris Center for Education at the 81st St. entrance for the tours; make sure to read the very specific rules before going.)

“Big Bambú” offers Cyclone-like thrills and chills on Met roof (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

“Big Bambú” features benches with cup holders, handrails, steps, viewing platforms, and twists and turns that are reminiscent of the Coney Island Cyclone, offering its share of thrills and chills; in fact, the guidelines do not recommend the tour for people with a history of seizures, fear of heights, vertigo, claustrophobia, balance problems, or other physical or psychological conditions. “Big Bambú” is as chaotic as it is spontaneous, connecting the viewer-participant to a fascinating new world growing atop one of the most famous art institutions on the planet. Also on view at the Met now are such special exhibits as “An Italian Journey: Drawings from the Tobey Collection, Coreggio to Tiepolo” through September 19, “Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players: Leon Levinstein’s New York Photographs, 1950–1980” through October 17, “Epic India: Scenes from the Ramayana” through October 3, and “Between Here and There: Passages in Contemporary Photography” through February 13.

MASTER CLASS WITH ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY

Eclectic iconoclast Alejandro Jodorowsky will lead a seminar at the Museum of Arts & Design on September 25

ART AS A WAY OF TRANSFORMATION
Museum of Arts & Design
2 Columbus Circle at 58th St. & Broadway
Saturday, September 25, $60-$85, 3:00
212-299-7777
www.madmuseum.org
www.clubcultura.com

The Museum of Arts & Design is quickly becoming a major player in the world of independent, foreign, and avant-garde film in the city. In July, they presented “Zombo Italiano: The Italian Zombie Film Movement, 1972-1985,” which included screenings of works by George A. Romero, Lucio Fulci, Lamberto Bava, and Pier Paolo Pasolini. Later this month, they are featuring the hypnotic, surreal films of one of the twentieth century’s most bizarre characters in the series “Blood into Gold: The Cinematic Alchemy of Alejandro Jodorowsky.” While the museum will be screening such cult favorites as EL TOPO, THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, and SANTA SANGRE, the premier event will be a master class with the Chilean-born Mexican filmmaker, who is also a prolific playwright, poet, puppeteer, performance artist, psychoshaman, philosopher, comic-book writer (with Moebius), composer, mime, novelist, musician, tarot interpreter, and anarchist. The eighty-one-year-old Jodorowsky will be focusing on “the power of film and art, with attention given to art-making as a means for enlightenment.” Advance registration is a must, as space is extremely limited, so sign up quickly to be part of what should be an eye-opening experience.

WORKS & PROCESS 2010

The Guggenheim will offer a sneak peek at Kaija Saariaho’s MAA before its run at Columbia’s Miller Theatre (photo by Richard Termine)

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Ave. at 89th St.
September 20 – December 20, free – $35 (most events $30)
212-423-3500
www.guggenheim.org

Tickets are now on sale for the Guggenheim’s Works & Process fall series, consisting of advance sneak peeks at upcoming music, dance, and theater productions in the city, with the cast, crew, and/or creators on hand to discuss their work. The series, which tends to sell out relatively quickly, begins September 20 with “MAA: A Ballet by Kaija Saariaho,” an inside look at the collaboration between the International Contemporary Ensemble and choreographer Luca Veggetti, who are mounting a production of Saariaho’s only ballet, at Columbia’s Miller Theatre September 22-25. On September 23, the Gotham Chamber Opera takes the stage at the Peter B. Lewis Theater, performing excerpts from Xavier Montsalvatge’s EL GATO CON BOTAS (PUSS IN BOOTS), which will later hit the New Victory Theater, followed on September 26 with the New York City Opera offering selections from Leonard Bernstein’s A QUIET PLACE. October events include choreographers Jessica Lang and Pontus Lidberg premiering new pieces for Morphoses, set to the same music by David Lang, and “Voices and Dance Within the Americas,” which features further inventive pairings of composers and choreographers, chosen by Ballet Hispanico artistic director Eduardo Vilaro. November brings ABT’s new version of THE NUTCRACKER and an unrealized project from Vertical Opera, while December events range from Brian Turner and Bruce Weigl’s “Poetic Responses to War” to Isaac Mizrahi narrating the New York City Opera’s PETER & THE WOLF, with the season ending, as always, with a pair of free holiday concerts in the rotunda.

WEST INDIAN AMERICAN DAY CARNIVAL

Spectacular costumes are only part of the fun at annual West Indian American Day Carnival celebration on Labor Day (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Eastern Pkwy. from Schenectady Ave. to Flatbush Ave. Ext.
Monday, September 6, free, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
718-467-1797
www.wiadca.com
www.carnaval.com
2009 parade

Every year we look forward to this fabulous event, now in its forty-third year. We’ve been going for more than fifteen years, and it never lets us down, although it continues to get more and more crowded every Labor Day, with an expected crowd of more than three million in 2010. The festivities begin at 2:00 am with the traditional J’Ouvert Morning, a precarnival procession featuring steel drums and percussion and fabulous masquerade costumes, from Grand Army Plaza to Flatbush Ave. and on to Empire Blvd., then to Nostrand Ave. and Rutland Rd. The Parade of Bands begins around 11:00 am, as truckloads of blasting Caribbean music and groups of ornately dressed dancers, costume bands, masqueraders, moko jumbies, and more march down Eastern Parkway to Grand Army Plaza, soon to be joined by the glad-handing local politicians. Don’t eat before you go; the great homemade food includes ackee and codfish, oxtail stew, curried goat, jerk chicken, fishcakes, and lots of rice and peas. The farther east you venture, the more closed in it gets; by the time you get near Crown Heights, it could take you half an hour just to cross the street, so take it easy and settle in for a fun, colorful day where you need not hurry.