Cosmopolitan Eye

If you’re an art lover, chances are you’ve been planning for this week for a while now. If you happen to be lucky to be a VIP of The Armory Show, chances are you’ve been charting all your events around town and RSVPing as soon as the events opened up.

For those of you who may not be acquainted with The Armory Show, I’ll take the description from their website:

PIER 94
MARCH 4-7, 2010

The Armory Show is America’s leading fine art fair devoted to the most important art of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its eleven years, the fair has become an international institution. Every March, artists, galleries, collectors, critics and curators from all over the world make New York their destination during Armory Arts Week.

For more information, visit their website at http://www.thearmoryshow.com.

For a visual preview based on prior year pictures check out the photographs link at The Armory Show website.

There are quite a few events about the show that caught my attention and that I intend to cover and share with you  here. These are events scheduled throughout the week. Some of them are:

Tuesday 3/2:

1. Guided Tour of the Metropolitan Museum’s Modern Art Galleries, plus Richard Hamilton: Selected Prints from the Collection, 1970-2005 – I’ve always been wanting to understand their Modern Art collection, the way I understand that of the Guggenheim or the MoMA. So, I’m honored to be able to attend and will share with you here later on.
2. Open Studios at Columbia University School of the Arts – This will be a very special visit because it is the first year they open it up to The Armory Show guests who will join Columbia University School of the Arts MFA Students for private studios visits. The two-year program is taught by internationally celebrated artists. I think a force behind this event is one of their new staff members, Daisy Nam, formerly with the Guggenheim, who was involved with the YCC and The Armory Show in previous years.  She’s someone to watch, an art world mover and shaker in the making.

Wednesday 3/3:

1. Volta and The Armory Show open for special previews (Press and VIPs). In prior years, Michael Bloomberg, a well-known patron of the arts usually attends for the opening ceremony. Let’s hope I catch a picture of him this year.

Thursday 3/4:

1. The Armory Show opens to the public from 12 noon to 8pm, and will hold a few great art discussion forums with international experts leading the discussion. Some of the topics covered will be on global art, collecting, and art from the Middle East.
2. There are receptions and private tours of galleries and private collections around the city to entertain the VIPS of the show, many focusing on art from Berlin, Spain and the Middle East.

Friday 3/5:

1. The Guggenheim will be holding a VIP preview of Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum Rotunda, the Deutsche Bank Series at The Guggenheim: Anish Kapoor: Memory, and selections from the Guggenheim Collection, and be the first in line to experience Tino Sehgal. This will be a sight to see.
2. At The Armory Show there will be more open forums for more discussion, more art viewing, and lots of champagne drinking.
3. Volta, its sister show at 34th Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues will also hold really interesting forums, one of the themes will be on emerging artists, always a hot topic.
4. Art Middle East will present Tehran-New York at a gallery uptown- This group show surveys the synergies and differences that exist between Iranian artists living in different places. The artists who are separated from their homeland are often bold and overt in their message, while those who work from within the homeland frequently refer to symbolism and metaphors. This will be an hot and interesting topic to cover.

Saturday 3/5:

1. Back at The Armory Show in the Pier there will be a few events for children–this is a first in my time attending the show– on Saturday afternoon. I’ll try to make that and cover it. It should be interesting. The events are held by the Children’s Museum. I’m glad they are involving kids, for it is important that little art lovers and collectors be groomed from early on. Seriously!
2. The MoMA, as well as the fabulous Met and the fantastic Guggenheim, is an active participant of The Armory Show, and aside from its opening party on Wednesday night, which I sadly won’t be attending due to an important class I have to attend instead, will be holding a special preview for Armory VIPs. I’ll try to make that event to cover it and share with you here. Special Installation-In-Progress Previews of Marina Abramovic Performance Retrospective Exhibition at MoMA – MoMA invites Armory VIP guests to view special installation-in-progress (for March 14-May31st), the first US large scale museum retrospective of Abramovic’s groundbreaking performance work, including reperformances of historical works by performers selected especially  for the exhibition and featuring the artist’s longest solo performance to date. The Museum is open to the public during these VIP previews.  Among other exhibitions on view will be William Kentridge: Five Themes
3. At Volta, there will be really interesting discussions on various topics such as the latest terminology of “post” something when referring to new art, as well as a forum on Latin American contemporary art.

Sunday, 3/7:

1. Ultimately, on Sunday, when I’ll likely be exhausted after juggling school courses and running around for The Armory Show events, DIA Beacon will be holding a VIP tour. There are also some early brunch events and the LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) will hold open studios for visitors. If you have access, it’s really great to visit these emerging artists on a scholarship, sponsored by this great program. If you can attend these, try to make it. I’ll try to cover as much ground as possible before collapsing  of exhaustion. (Smile)

The Armory Show week is a week that if you’re a contemporary art lover, you just can’t miss. You don’t have to be an elite  collector, if you appreciate great work and want to see what are the latest emerging global art trends, this is the place to be in the planet this week, for selected galleries from all over the world will be present, displaying work from their hottest artists.

I’ve taken great pictures from art work from prior years, but given that I need the artists’ permissions to display them here, I won’t be able to share all of them with you. Therefore I am sharing a few here showing attendees at the show and other events around the city.

I look forward to capturing new ones this year, more about the events and less focus on the artwork.  If you have any questions on the show, don’t hesitate to reach me. I don’t work for The Armory Show. I’m just an art lover who wants to share with you how fantastic is the experience of attending this great event.

Stay tuned for more updates of the events of Armory Show week! For more information on Armory Week here in NYC, go to this site: http://www.armoryartsweek.com/

Stay tuned for updates! Follow me on Twitter for on the go tweets from my @CosmopolitanEye account.

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It was so exciting to learn about this ship on Monday morning, when the news covered its maiden voyage up the Hudson River, stop in front of Ground Zero, do its 21-gun salute and move on to dock next to the USS Intrepid.

It was a very proud moment, I am sure, for all New Yorkers, and any of us who are still touched by the grief of 911. It’s a bit of a Phoenix-bird-rising-from-the-ashes story, and it has managed to capture our imagination, our hearts, and for many of us, our curiosity, enough to go visit her while she is temporarily docked on Pier 88 here in NYC.

The USS New York will be commissioned this Saturday, November 7th, and will leave the city on Thursday, November 12th, to get its assignment, somewhere in the planet, to fight those posing a threat to our way of life.

Having this beautiful ship here visiting us is a proud moment, and I couldn’t wait to go see this magnificent Phoenix bird. Tuesday was a perfect, blue-skies-sunny fall day, just right for pictures and capturing a few sights to share with you here.

Basically, the tour is free to all visitors. It is advised that you dress comfortable. Make sure to wear sneakers because you’ll be walking a lot and will have the opportunity to climb in and out of some our fine war machinery. Also, bring small bags. No large packs, no backpacks are allowed, and no water bottles. There will be a screening area, a bit like the airport. There were lines, but on Tuesday they moved rather fast. Also, bring money or plastic. They have great merchandise such as the fabulous USS New York hats, T-Shirts, golf shirts, commemorative coins, sweatshirts, etc. There is no way you can walk away empty handed. As you will see in the pictures, there is also one of those typical hot dog/snack/drinks stand, as well as porta-potties for your comfort (or discomfort).

Don’t assume you’ll be allowed into the control room or the sleeping quarters of the soldiers. There is no access to any of that, thank God. What they do have is a museum-like exposition of weaponry and some of the great transportation items the ship carries. I found it a bit odd that our armed forces had no problem displaying that, and had no restrictions on taking pictures. Since guns and war machinery don’t impress me much, I didn’t take too many pictures of the transports and weaponry displayed inside. I was fascinated by the ship itself, its sturdy construction and the landing dock. So the pictures you will see here are mostly from those spots. Also, I’d feel odd placing pictures of our war equipment on such a public site.

I invite you to visit the ship. The line moves fast. The soldiers, crew, staff, etc. are all very friendly and very helpful. They posed for pictures. They were wonderful hosts and hostesses. Make sure to contribute by buying some commemorative merchandise. I was proud and happy to wear my crew hat.

Prices for the merchandise are as follow:  Crew hats $15, Admiral/Captain hats $20, Commemorative coins $10, Commemorative coins in leather box $25, Sweatshirts $40, Golf shirts $25-30, T-shirt with hat $25. This is to give you an idea of the kind of money you can spend there.

Visiting the USS New York, as a denizen of this wonderful city, was a delightful duty, and meeting the fine people working the ship, was an honor. I hope you have the chance to do the same. I was happy to thank personally those great soldiers for all they do for us. No doubt, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.  You can’t miss it. So go before the ship is gone!

For more information, visit the USS New York website, by clicking here. Or go directly to:  http://www.ussnewyork.com/

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these pictures, feel free to contact me by clicking here.

Thank you for visiting and enjoy the views! As always, your comments are welcome.

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