On the slider: TOKYO Bikes in downtown NY, a painting by Vera Iliatova at Tibor de Nagy Gallery, colorful juices keep us going from one art venue to the next, and 100 Secrets of the Artworld is on my bedside table.
The art galleries of New York — and there are hundreds — are full of exhibitions showcasing works old and new, conventional and avant-garde, by the established and by the just discovered. This seems especially true right now, with the international art crowd to visit Frieze in New York this weekend. How do you navigate it all, especially in a short time and how do you get something out of it, even when not in town?
IRMA picked a few must-sees which you can manage in a day:
1. LOEWE Craft Prize
Fashion is looking for new goals and LOEWE is going an interesting way you should not miss. In 2016 the LOEWE FOUNDATION launched the LOEWE Craft Prize, an annual international prize recognizing an outstanding work of craftsmanship that pairs an original artistic concept with a modern application of traditional methods. The award seeks to acknowledge and support international artisans of any age (over 18) or gender who demonstrate an exceptional ability to create objects of superior aesthetic value. By identifying work that reinterprets existing knowledge to make it relevant today while reflecting its maker’s personal language and distinct hand, the LOEWE FOUNDATION aims to highlight the continuing contribution of craft to the culture of our world. Take a look at the exhibition of finalist and winning works at Chamber gallery.
2. Inside the Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum
Celebrating Rei Kawakubo, 2017’s Met Gala is all about the fusion of fashion and art, with the Gala a chance to showcase the best in avante-garde design. See inside the Rei Kawakubo exhibition, which the Met Gala is based around and buy the T-shirt as a souvenir, also online.
3. Book signing: ‘100 Secrets of the Art World’ by Thomas Girst and Magnus Resch takes place on Thursday, May 4 at 6:30 in the Frieze Reading Room, Randalls Island Park, 10035 New York. This book tells all you need to know about art right now.
4. If you feel political, visit Kai Matsumiya Gallery on the Lower East Side and look at art by Rainer Ganahl in the exhibition “Legacy: Bush, Obama, Trump.”
Kai Matsymiya, 153 Stanton St, New York, NY 1000
5. If you just want to see a beautiful painting, go to Tibor de Nagy Gallery and look at Sarah McEneaney’s “Land, Sea, Sleep.”
Tibor de Nagy, 724 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10019
6. If you fancy a rock-star artist, 303 GALLERY in Chelsea is your kind of art stop. Artist Rodney Graham exhibits here during Frieze weekend.
303 Gallery, 555 W 21st Street, New York, NY 10011