New York City journey II

A visitor.

I spent a summer in NYC studying English while I was 17. My eldest sister was working on her PhD in NYU at the time. It was a liberating summer which rooted my fond memory of Manhattan. Returned to Manhattan again several times in my adult life, I grew to love Queens for its humble scenes and the cutting edge art venues.

PS1 is my must visit and every trip I was blown away by the artists/works they shown. It is my charging and challenging station, never fail to question me what contemporary art is and where I want my artwork to be.

Socrates Sculpture Park is the second on the list. It fulfilled my wildest dream that emerging artists can also have a space and opportunity to create public art. Snow was deep, we carefully trekked through the park; this place worth our 20 minute walk from the subway station in 30 degree wind and getting our boots wet.

This is a lovely piece named "Argyle" by Daniele Frazier. Look at how the colors on the sides create this very flat shadow, so 2D and 3D at the same time. Marvelously standing in snow against the busy skyline. Thumbs up, Artist!

Another piece that fed my appetite, "Sponge Piece for Socrates" by Jory Rabinovitz. Yes, made of sea sponges and concrete, metal. NICE! It is innovation and originality. Also, it turned out that there is a floor element that was buried by the snow.

And David M. Scanavino's “16 ft. Rope in Three Positions: (catenary, taut, and coil).” The impressions left by the rope on concrete shaped these three pieces. Smart and good looking, as art should be!

It was as joyous as winning a lotto when we walked into Ursula von Rydingsvard's exhibition at Sculpture Center.

You know once a while you run into a master sculptor's work, all you want to do is to curl up right next to it, sleep inside it, touch, rub, lean on it or lay on it. I lingered, and while nobody is watching, I laid inside this oceanic tidal mouth "Droga"! Ahhhhh... the ceder aroma, soft like Ursula's voice, I float on top of marks left by her...

In a side room, we discovered this "Ocean Floors." "Breath came out of one's life" was what I felt when I first encountered this piece.

 Look at the layers and how she "scooped" the cedar. Mark by mark, chisel by chisel, the texture is just magnificent. After finishing my cardboard pit in Bisbee, I just love the shape in this scale. Thank you, Ursula!