Tag Archives: madison square park

ORLY GENGER: IRON MAIDEN / RED, YELLOW AND BLUE

Orly Genger’s rope-based “Red, Yellow and Blue” winds through Madison Square Park (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

“Iron Maiden”: Larissa Goldston Gallery, 530 West 24th St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves., through June 22, free, 212-206-7887, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
“Red, Yellow and Blue”: Madison Square Park, through September 8, free
orly genger slideshow

New York City native Orly Genger has two very different, yet at the same time very similar, exhibits in her hometown right now. Through September 8, her sprawling “Red, Yellow and Blue” winds through Madison Square Park, melding with the green grass of summer to create simply lovely combinations of primary colors inspired by Barnett Newman’s series “Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue.” The exhibit consists of three elongated structures composed of 1.4 million feet of hand-knotted rope, in three different parts of the north side of the park. Evoking playful fortresses as well as captivating waves, the works, which weigh more than one hundred thousand pounds and are covered in three thousand gallons of paint, invite visitors to sit on them or rest against them, offering respites from the surrounding traffic and the rest of the New York City maelstrom. They reference the knitting craze, a traditionally female-centric activity, while adding an inherent strength and power that goes beyond mere materiality. “I wanted to create a work that would impress in scale but still engage rather than intimidate,” she explains in a statement. “The repurposed rope brings with it the stories of different locations and by knotting it, a space is created for the words and thoughts of viewers in New York City to complete the work, creating a silent dialogue that waves along.” The bold primary colors create happy, uplifting sensations that help bring out the kid in people, while also dazzling actual kids, who have a ball running around the pieces.

Orly Genger’s miniatures are on view in a tiny room in Chelsea through June 22 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

In conjunction with the spacious outdoor installation, Genger, who won the 2011 Rappaport Prize from the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, where “Red, Yellow and Blue” will be seen next — the first Mad. Sq. Art commission to travel — is also currently showing “Iron Maiden” in Larissa Goldston’s closet-size pop-up gallery in Chelsea, through June 22. The small exhibition begins with a pair of 2013 gold rope sculptures on white pedestals, the cast-bronze “Caught” and the rope “Sink Man,” which winds onto the floor, leading to a nearly claustrophobic back room where a table is populated by gold- and silver-colored miniatures that range from rope works to comical depictions of fantastical cartoonish figures. “Iron Maiden” offers quite a visual and physical contrast to “Red, Yellow and Blue,” yet both have an innocent intimacy that is a hallmark of Genger’s oeuvre. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Genger’s work has also inspired several jewelry collections by designer Jaclyn Mayer, including MSP, based on the Madison Square Park exhibition.

MAD. SQ. MUSIC: SUZANNE VEGA

Suzanne Vega will perform her unique brand of intelligent indie folk pop for free in Madison Square Park on June 19

THE OVAL LAWN SERIES
Madison Square Park
Between 23rd & 26th St. and Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday, June 19, free, 7:00
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.suzannevega.com

Madison Square Park’s free annual summer music program kicks off in a big way on June 19 with a performance by longtime New York City favorite Suzanne Vega. The singer-songwriter broke through in the mid-1980s with her eponymous debut album and follow-up, Solitude Standing, displaying a supremely original, poetic take on indie folk pop with such songs as “Marlene on the Wall,” “Undertow,” “Tom’s Diner,” and “Luka,” which opened a national discussion on child abuse. During the first twenty-two years of her career, the California-born, New York-raised Vega, one of the early MTV stars, released seven well-regarded records, including 1992’s 99.9F°, 1996’s Nine Objects of Desire, and 2007’s Beauty & Crime, but she’s put out four records over the last two years as she reinvestigates her old songs and adds a few new and/or previously unreleased ones as part of her Close-Up series, which is divided thematically into Love Songs, People & Places, States of Being, and Songs of Family. Her performance in Madison Square Park is one of the highlights of the city’s free summer music season; she’ll be back for a ticketed residency July 3 and 10 at City Winery, after which she heads out to Japan, Lithuania, Russia, Estonia, Finland, Denmark, and Switzerland. Mad. Sq. Music’s Oval Lawn Series continues every Wednesday through August 7 with such other acts as Rene Marie’s “Experiment in Truth,” Ben Sollee, Erin McKeown, and Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk.

BIG APPLE BARBECUE BLOCK PARTY 2013

Nearly 150,000 hungry people are expected to line up at the eleventh annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party this weekend

Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 8, and Sunday, June 9, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Admission: free; $9 per plate of barbecue, $3 per drink
www.bigapplebbq.org
www.madisonsquarepark.org

One of the season’s most crowded festivals, the Big Apple Barbecue Block Party will be serving up bbq from eighteen pitmasters in Madison Square Park on Saturday and Sunday, along with foot-stompin’ music, seminars, cooking demonstrations, and other events. A variety of ’cue will be prepared by Mike Mills (Memphis Championship Barbecue, Las Vegas, 17th Street Bar & Grill, Murphysboro, IL), Scott Roberts (Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX), Joe Duncan (Baker’s Ribs in Dallas), Garry Roark (Ubon’s Barbecue in Yazoo City), Chris Lilly (Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q in Decatur, AL), Drew Robinson (Jim ’N Nick’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham), Patrick Martin (Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville), Mike Emerson (Pappy’s Smokehouse in St. Louis), Tommy Houston (Checkered Pig in Danville, VA), Rodney Scott (Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, SC), Jimmy Hagood (BlackJack Barbecue in Charleston), Ed Mitchell (Raleigh), John Wheeler (Memphis Barbecue Co., Horn Lake, MS), and Sam Jones (Skylight Inn, Ayden, NC). The New York City entrants are John Stage (Dinosaur Bar-B-Que), Kenny Callaghan (Blue Smoke), and Charles Grund Jr. (Hill Country). The Saturday music lineup features the Spampinato Brothers (1:00), Barrence Whitfield & the Savages (2:45), and Marcia Ball (4:30), with Sunday consisting of the Myles Mancuso Band (1:00), Elizabeth Cook (2:45), and the Dirty Guv’nahs (4:30). Among the seminars are “From Tide to Table” with Chris Hastings, “Barbecue & Bivalves” with Mike Lata, “A Cure for What Ails You” with John Currence, and “Smoke, Bitters, Cucumbers, and Citrus . . . Cocktails from the Kitchen” with Joseph Lenn and Ashley Christensen. New this year is the Weber Grilling School, which will hold classes with Kevin Kolman; tickets are $30 and include a copy of Weber’s New Real Grilling cookbook. To best navigate the crowds, we suggest going with a group of friends, with each person waiting on a different line, then meeting up for your feast while listening to the live music.

TICKET ALERT: BIG APPLE BARBECUE BLOCK PARTY

Madison Square Park
23rd to 26th Sts. between Fifth & Madison Aves.
Saturday, June 8, and Sunday, June 9, FastPass $125, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.bigapplebbq.org
www.madisonsquarepark.org

The eleventh annual Big Apple Barbecue Block Party takes place June 8-9 in Madison Square Park, where New Yorkers will gather in huge lines to sample ’cue from around the country, from baby back ribs, whole hog, and pulled pork shoulder to brisket, smoked sausage, St. Louis-style ribs, and more. Although the culinary lineup, live music, and seminars have not been announced yet, FastPass tickets have just gone on sale, allowing purchasers to go onto a second, shorter line and bypass the ridiculous crowds. Each pass is $125 and redeemable for $100 worth of food, drink, and merchandise, so you’re essentially paying $25 to get your food somewhat quicker — express lines can be rather long at times as well — but you can bring one guest with you. Last year plates were $8 each, with desserts $4. The passes sell out fast and in advance, so don’t wait if you’re already aching to devour lots of ’cue at this annual event.

LEO VILLAREAL: BUCKYBALL / HIVE

“Buckyball”: Mad. Sq. Art, Madison Square Park, through February 15
“Hive (Bleecker Street),” Bleecker St. 6 / Lafayette St. F interchange, permanent
www.villareal.net

Since the late 1990s, Leo Villareal has been creating eye-catching LED artworks using intricate computer programs. Born in New Mexico and based in New York City, where he graduated from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, Villareal has created site-specific projects for MoMA PS1, the Tampa Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and BAM, where his five-part “Stars” continue to dance on the building’s facade. He currently has two more works dazzling New Yorkers, one aboveground, the other in the subway. In Madison Square Park, “Buckyball” is a thirty-foot-tall geodesic dome, containing a smaller dome, that uses math and geometry to produce a whirlwind of light and color. On view through February 15, “Buckyball,” inspired by and named for architect Buckminster Fuller, consists of 180 LED tubes that display 16 million pixelated colors shooting through them in endless random designs developed by Villareal’s unique software programming. “Buckyball” evokes the synapses of the brain as well as a slow-motion gyroscope, with very different effects as day turns into night. Be sure to recline on the special zero-gravity benches that proved the best angle for experiencing the meditative, mind-expanding piece.

Villareal used a honeycomb as inspiration for “Hive (Bleecker Street),” an LED sculpture commissioned by the MTA for the Bleecker St./Lafayette St. subway station. On a low ceiling by the new transfer point between the F and the 6, colored lights fill hexagonal tubes, almost like a living, breathing subway map with its own unique route. “Hive” was influenced by British mathematician John Horton Conway’s zero-player cellular automaton Game of Life, which evolves on its own as it deals with underpopulation, overcrowding, and unpredictability, sort of like the New York City subway system itself. Be sure to ride the escalator up to see the work slowly unfurl before you. While “Buckyball” will remain on view in the park through February 15, “Hive” is a permanent work that is part of the MTA’s Arts for Transit and Urban Design program.

CHARLES LONG: PET SOUNDS

New Jersey-born artist Charles Long has populated Madison Square Park with a group of colorful, amorphous musical creatures (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

MAD. SQ. ART
Madison Square Park
25th St. between Madison & Fifth Aves.
Through September 9, free
www.madisonsquarepark.org
pet sounds slideshow

For several years, California-based multidisciplinary artist Charles Long been inspired by the Los Angeles River, particularly the detritus that washes up on the shore and the excrement of the blue herons and white egrets that snakes down the concrete, forming abstract images that he sees as creatures and interprets into sculptures. He has also collaborated with such musicians as Stereolab, Wilderness, and Mark Mothersbaugh. Long’s latest work, the site-specific “Pet Sounds,” combines his love of abstract shapes and experimental music in engaging, playful ways. Taking its name from the classic 1966 Beach Boys album, “Pet Sounds” winds through the center of Madison Square Park, as handrails create a new path populated by a group of colorful amorphous shapes that emerge from the railing and make sounds when people touch them. A kind of three-dimensional Rorschach test, the smooth biomorphic blobs, which add bright doses of blue, yellow, gray, pink, and purple to the very green park, resemble body parts, animals, and, well, excrement. Different sounds emerge from different sections of some of the pieces, resulting in a cacophony that is not quite as smoothly harmonic as the Beach Boys but still tons of fun. It might look like a kids’ playground, but adults are more than welcome to let out their inner child and create their own mini-symphony with these inviting organic shapes. Long’s largest public sculpture to date, “Pet Sounds” will remain on view through September 9.

MAD. SQ. MUSIC: AN EVENING OF FOLK

The Roches and Wainwrights will perform together in Madison Square Park on August 1

THE OVAL LAWN SERIES: SUZZY AND MAGGIE ROCHE, SLOAN WAINWRIGHT, AND LUCY WAINWRIGHT ROCHE
Madison Square Park
Between 23rd & 26th St. and Madison & Fifth Aves.
Wednesday, August 1, free, 6:30
www.madisonsquarepark.org
www.roches.com

The First Family of Female Folk will be in Madison Square Park on Wednesday night for an evening of original and traditional songs as part of the Mad. Sq. Music Oval Lawn Series. For thirty-five years, sisters Suzzy and Maggie Roche have been performing together, either in a trio with sister Terre, with brother Dave, or singing backup with Paul Simon, the Indigo Girls, and others. They’ve also teamed up with the next generation, joined by Suzzy’s daughter, Lucy Wainwright Roche, whose father is Loudon Wainwright III, and keep it all in the family with Loudon’s younger sister Sloan as well. On Wednesday in the middle of beautiful Madison Square Park, Suzzy, Maggie, Sloan, and Lucy will come together for a free show that should be filled with warmth, humor, and great music.