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I don’t usually get a chance to do this but I arrived in beautiful New York to glorious summer\autumn weather and the first stop was a wonderful walk down to Central Park
Everything seemed magic and people were happy, What a Joy!
People were sitting on the benches basking in the sun, all friendly and talking. The Autumn colours were vivid and dazzling to look at
Manhattan was bursting to the seams with great art. I visited the new Marian Goodman emporium; every floor was a wonderful representation of the array of artists they represent, I loved the new work of Tony Cragg
As you enter on the ground floor there is a spectacular Maurizio Cattalan and his emblematic pigeons hanging out on top of the ‘I love NY’ graffiti
The wonderful works by Tavares Strachan ‘Endless Love, Simone I and II’
I enjoyed learning about the work of Edi Rama, his history was fascinating as he is a painter and the PM of Albania
I love the work of Richard Deacon and was drawn to this work ‘I Know What You are Thinking #3’
I was also fascinated by the work of Adrián Villar Rojas: ‘The End of Imagination’
It was lovely to see work by Oliver Clegg at the journal gallery and this scarily prescient painting ‘Do you ever get anywhere? He asked with a mocking laugh’
At Canada Gallery my exciting discovery was Arthur Simms and this work ‘Señor Negro’, (1996) the title inspired by a phrase used in the street when he was being asked for money in Venezuela
We loved this other work by Simms ‘Spirit Dreaming ‘
Finally we made it to ‘Manuela’s’ the new Hauser & Wirth restaurant in New York’s Soho. Here is my Bestie Jill Bernstein and I in front of a Lorna Simpson and Louis Bourgeois spider
The bar was luminous, full of colour, with exciting lighting designed with Mika Rottenberg
I dropped into Robilant + Voena where there were new paintings by Cuban American artist Cesar Santos
My highlight was James Cohen gallery and ‘These Days’, an exhibition of new works by Alexandre da Cuhna uncovering the beauty of everyday objects. Ale and my favourite work ‘Vitral (Rosetta)’
We loved the back room, a full Wunderkammer of smaller sculptures. Thid work is ‘Ikebana (Escapism)’
We made it to the Rema Hort Emerging Art Foundation where I met up with Susan Hort with friend and Trustee, Carole Server
At Tanya Bonakdar Gallery Olafur Eliasson had an impressive show ‘your psychoacoustic light ensemble’, on the first floor were large watercolour works that conjure evanescent luminosity by applying thin translucent layers of pigment in succession
New York evenings are always so special - we went to Tate Americas Foundation dinner at Nine Orchard. The weather was still exceptional, and I enjoyed the views of downtown New York
Jeffrey Gibson stood up and gave a great speech in front of the head of Tate Maria Balshaw. It was an intimate artist’s dinner
Then outside Minetta Tavern we all stood to attention for our photograph with wonderful Ralph DeLuca
Another highlight was at 52 Walker Street, where Sara Cwynar’s film ‘Baby Blue Benzo’ features a new film presented on a monumental screen. She has included two sets of circular camera tracks with massive props and elaborate costumes, the film mainly features a life size cut out of an Mercedes Benz. The film scrolls through using an array of colour configurations and exposing an array of unexpected connections, like that like the anti-anxiety drug benzodiazepines commonly known as “Benzos” and likened to the expensive fast car. The music triggers emotional responses
Sara’s visual field is outstanding, her colours play with and juxtapose references and concepts, showing how language and image are intertwined, how brands like Ferrari claim a colour to be “Ferrari red”, pulling on our senses and our sense of reality through the process of photography. Outstanding. Sara came to Vegas with us on a residency a few years ago and I am so happy to see her work continue to grow and mature