First Outing to Sotheby's

Hey Everyone! This is your blog-captain updating. It was great meeting Joe and learning a lot about contemporary Asian art, especially how modern artists imitated Westernized works and made them "Asian" (refer to the image on the left of Michelangelo-style sculptures with Mao jackets).

If you want to see an album of photos that I took, click here!

I'm currently working on a collage to put all those pictures up together, so check for updates soon. Can't wait to see you all in our first meeting at the Guggenheim museum!

MoMA!

WHEN: Saturday, March 29th, 2-4pm.

WHERE: 4 West 54th Street. We’re meeting in the lobby, on the side where there is a bunch of benches (☺ fun alliteration). This is not the main entrance of the Museum. It is the Education and Research Building.

Directions: MoMA is next door to where we met for the Kick-Off. For detailed directions go to MoMA web site. Call me if you get lost.

WHY: Because we’re going to look at tons of great artworks! We will walk through the astonishing permanent collection galleries of the best modern art museum in the world and also visit a fun temporary exhibition dedicated to color, Color Chart. 

Sotheby's on Thursday!

Your first outing with be the day after the Kick-Off, to Sothbey's - Where Art is for Sale in NYC.

You will meet Joe Martin Hill, a Sotheby's consultant, who will give you a preview of the contemporary Asian art auction and tell you about works on display as well as behind-the-scenes facts about the hottest contemporary art market.

The Address:
334 York Avenue at 72nd St (on the eastside)

Take the 6 Train to 68th Street - Hunter College Station. Walk north to 71st Street and turn right. Walk 4 Avenues to New York Ave to Sotheby's.

Try to get there by 4 o'clock. If you miss Anna at 4, she will be back outside to bring anyone else in at 4:30. Make sure you have her cell phone number (and mine), just in case!

Click here to take a look at the Asian Art catalog (then scroll down for a preview of the works for sale.)

Happy art buying!

~eric

Spring TRaC Application now available!

Another season of Visual Arts TRaC is around the corner!

Go the TRaC Homepage at www.high5tix.org and download the Spring 2008 TRaC Application. Also available are a flier for the new TRaC season and an invitation to the Open House on February 13th (4:30 - 5:30). Please download those and distribute to any friends or teachers or mentors who you think would be interested.

I hope to see you all at the Open House - if not before! It's only a month away already. As many of you know, having been to a TRaC Open House before, I'll need some volunteers for speaking on the alumni panel. Volunteers? Contact me if you're interested. The rest of you can just hang out, snack, and mingle with any teachers or students who are interested in learning more about the program.

And of course you should bring a friend or two! Maybe they're interested in signing up for Spring TRaC and don't even know it yet....

Looking forward to the new season!

~eric

BANKSY in NYC

Heyo.

The hip of the New York City hip are all-a-chatter as London’s most mysterious and popular street artist, BANKSY, has come to town—or has he? (truth is, no one knows who he is, except for Brad Pitt and people like that.)

BANKROBBER, Banksy's latest show—his first in NYC—is showing at the Vanina Holasek Gallery (502 W. 27th St. @10th Ave, Manhattan) from December 2 thru December 29th. BANKSY’s iconoclastic graffiti prints, agitprop and signature rat-traps (lining the railings!) are on display in the Gallery's converted three-story apartment building. Make sure you look at the scrawled pencil prices next to each piece (if you can afford $115,000, maybe you'd like to buy one for me?).

While you’re there with your friends, take the time to do some more “gallery-hopping” in the Chelsea area. Pop in-and-out of the galleries along 27th St. and see what's happening in the art world today—walking through the gallery doors is totally FREE, making it event cheaper a High 5 Museum Pass.

enjoy!
~eric

Vanina Holasek Gallery
502 W. 27th St. (@ 10th Ave.), Manhattan
Hrs: Tues-Fri: 10:00-6:00 p.m.; Sat: 11:00-6:00 p.m.
A, C or E to 34th St./Penn Station

2 questions to always considers....

#1
What is the art trying to accomplish?

#2
Does it succeed?

Keeping the art in mind, you can never go wrong in your reviews. You will avoid the pitfalls: "i didn't like it. it was good. i liked it. it was bad..." blah, blah. The interesting stuff is in the WHYs and the WHATs! Why did it succeed in parts, but not as a whole? What was it (the dance, the play, the painting, the song) trying to accomplish? Did it do more or less? Are you cool with where it went?

And tell us what you think! A little interpretation/a little context (do some research!) is always nice for your readers. Remember to keep them - US, your readers - in mind.... Or, just write for you. I carry a small notebook with me everywhere I go. Writers write. You are all writers because you write. That's the only requirement. :)

Open hearts, open minds.
The most important thing I want you to take away from TRaC is to be open to things foreign to you. Crain your neck, your ears, your brain to understand. Get excited, and bring people along!

Art is communication and communion.
That's what makes this fun....

happy december.
~eric

Outing This Wednesday, Nov 21!

Don't forget to mark your calendars for the Visual Arts TRaC outing this Wednesday, Nov 21! We will be seeing several good shows in Chelsea, including Thomas Ruff at Zwirner (top picture above) and Do-Ho Suh at Lehmann Maupin (bottom picture above). We will meet at 4:30 at the first gallery on the list (Zwirner) and then move on rather quickly to the others on the list. Be sure to call me (646-765-3388) if you're going to be late so that I can tell you where we are, as we may have moved on from Zwirner!
Here's the list -- print it out and bring it with you:

Zwirner (519 W 19 btwn 10 & 11)
Leslie Tonkonow (535 W 22)
303 (525 W 22)
PPOW (555 W 25)
Roebling Hall (606 W 26)
James Cohan (533 W 26)
Lehmann Maupin (540 W 26)