If you’ve seen the 1987 horror movie Hellraiser, you probably remember the Butterball Cenobite: one of the minor demon characters charged with dragging people to Hell. If you can’t conjure an image of his likeness from memory, he looked like this: Please Click Me. To me, the wildly surreal portraits comprising Christian Rex Van Minnen’s recent exhibit, Coniuncto look like they could be Butterball’s contemporary relatives, albeit with tattoos and jewel-toned gummy candies hovering over their mutant visages. At the very least, this series of paintings encourages wildly imaginative extrapolation, and that’s what good art is all about! Continue reading Coniuncto By Christian Rex Van Minnen→
Chicago is a fabulous city and home to one of the most beautifully curated art museums (The Art Institute) in the world. That said, it definitely does not enjoy a socially vibrant art scene that is equivalent to that of NYC — with its vast number of galleries in Chelsea, the LES, Midtown and Uptown. While the NYC art scene hosts a weekly (Thursday) night of opening receptions in galleries across the city, Chicago has one such evening per month, which is called Second Friday. Taking place in the Chicago Arts District (also known as Pilsen) Second Fridays Gallery Night is a monthly evening of opening receptions at the galleries and artists’ studios along South Halsted Street. If you’re a tourist and have the chance to attend Second Fridays only once, the one studio you must absolutely must not miss is House of The Apocalypse. Continue reading Warriors of The Apocalypse Series By Brian Sperry→
Image Sourcefor Above Photo. All Other Photos By Gail.
Opening an art gallery inside a restaurant may not be an entirely original idea, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen more often. In fact, I think it’s a spot-on idea whose time as arrived! In a thrilling and logical partnership, TAO Group and Pop International Galleries have joined together to create a new art gallery in the vestibule of Vandal, one of the coolest contemporary pop art-themed restaurants and lounges in New York City. Continue reading Vandal Restaurant Launches Pop Art Gallery in its Vestibule!→
As part of the gallery’s anniversary of 25 Years in business, David Zwirner on 20th Street is currently hosting an exhibit of works by a selection of the major artists it represents. Being a major Jeff Koons fan, my favorite piece in the show is Bluebird Planter: a piece from Koons‘ Banality series (2010 – 2016) created in the artists signature mirror-polished stainless steel, with a transparent color coating, and a space on top of the sculpture for live flowering plants.
If you think you’ve been to every kind of cool art gallery in New York City, from the LES to Midtown, but you have not yet been to Waterfall Mansion, then now is a good time to add a visit to this uptown gem of an art destination to your bucket list. Waterfall Mansion, a Townhome only open to the public for a few hours each Saturday (and the rest of the week by appointment only) specializes in unique exhibits by Asian artists, really does have a two-story waterfall inside, but to really appreciate that distinguishing architectural feature you need to go in person. Continue reading Lee Sung-Kuen’s Interconnected at Waterfall Mansion→
