60 Hours in New York Part 1 (NSFW)

New York holds such an embarrassment of riches when it comes to art and culture that there are moments I long to live there. I had the good fortune to be able to drop in for the weekend during the middle of an East coast business trip and caught 4 great shows in between hanging out with two dear friends.

Normally I would start with the opera, but the first large exhibition of Otto Dix's work at the Neue Galerie gets ranked first in importance because it's ridiculous Dix is not more well-known in this country. He's one of the most significant artists of the 20th Century and his work is unforgettable once you've seen it. With the exception of Goya, I cannot think of a painter who's willingness to portray his world was so unflinching and revealing. It's this quality, coupled with a deep level of skill and style, that gives Dix's art its potency.

The exhibit has some unfortunate absences- notably the Big City Triptych, Prager Strabe, The War Cripples, To Beauty, The Seven Deadly Sins, Der Krieg, Three Women, and the portraits of Dr. Paul and Sylvia Von Harden. Nevertheless, it's a comprehensive overview from the most important years of Dix's career and features a lot of work I hadn't seen before. There's a large selection of his WWI prints which still had the same hit-you-in-chest impact from the first time I saw them at LA's Museum of Art more than 20 years ago. This is not a touring show, and the Neue partnered with the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to present it. So it's not coming to a city near you. The exhibit runs until August 30th. If you are in New York, don't miss it.

Oh- and we saw Maggie Gyllenhall there with her baby. She looks better in person and her child is very well-behaved- how many actresses you can say that about?

One shame to the Neue- ask your store employees about how to create a commemorative exhibit poster- the one (wtf !?!) you have is unsuitable for the exhibit, and I really would have liked to have had one.

After the Nueue, we went over to see the Cartier-Bresson exhibit at the MOMA, which was interesting, good even, but almost obliterated from my consciousness by the Marina Abramovic retrospective taking place on the same floor, along with the William Kentridge exhibit. I don't think I've ever seen an art exhibit that freaked me out to the extent this one did. It's truly disturbing, and I mean that in the most complimentary way. There's been a mountain of press on it, so do search if you want more details and information. The pictures here are stills from films or live presentations and can't possibly capture the impact of watching them or seeing them live.

I didn't realize that anyone could participate in the "Artist is Present" portion of the show. If I could go back and participate in this, I surely would. This kind of art isn't to everyone's taste, and there are tons of naysayers who would say "where is the art in this?" but I was deeply moved by it- the video with her and her parents flanking her on each side, while her father aimlessly twirls a gun with a sinister, detached look on his face was simply chilling. I can't find a single image of that particular part to steal and post here, but the show ends May 31st and is fascinating, disturbing and yes, it is most certainly art.

The Kentridge exhibit, which I missed when it was in San Francisco, was also deeply interesting (and alas, now over in NY), but it would also have taken a good two hours to absorb completely and I didn't have that much time to devote to it sadly. Having all three one the same floor? Priceless. First stop in NY on my next visit, after the opera house that is, is NY's MOMA- for an entire afternoon.

Which brings me to Berg's Lulu at the Met, which was fantastic but I'm going to save that for another post.