Spring Street Art Comes to New York City

Gazing Globes by artist Paula Hayes

When spring weather arrives to cities hit hard  by the winter's cold and snow, outdoor art installations sprout over night. New York City is blooming with spring flowers and public art exhibits, rewarding locals and tourists after an unusually brutal winter.

Madison Square Park in downtown NYC is home to an exhibit by artist Paula Hayes, Gazing Globes. This is Hayes' first outdoor art sculpture, and consists of 18 illuminated orbs filled with recycled objects from modern urban life.

Reminiscent of Christmas ornaments or snowglobes,  the clear globes merge memories of the city's winter streets filled with snow, sleet and ice dotted with street trash. Artist Hayes used:

vintage parts because technology moves at such a fast pace.  These play a role in the current landscape and how information is transmitted from one part of the globe to the next. I am making an illuminated landscape evocative of the designed landscape of Madison Square Park. Both are born of human imagination and technology.

~ Paula Hayes, artist

Gazing Globes in Madison Square Park

Gazing Globes in Madison Square Park

I'm invigorated by the burst of beautiful spring weather and public art sprouting up in cities and towns everywhere. What street art has popped up in your neighborhood?

à la prochaine,

Shirley

A Visit to Whitney Museum of American Art and the Jeff Koons Exhibit

Jeff Koons is one of the most popular artists alive today; his latest exhibit Jeff Koons: A Retrospective is at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City until October 19. Koons is an American artist born in 1955, who is know for his bright, colorful and whimsical paintings, sculptures and reproductions of everyday objects. In 2013 his "Orange Dog" sold for $58.4 million - the highest sale price for any living artist.


Jeff Koons is widely regarded as one of the most important, influential, popular, and controversial artists of the postwar era. 

~ Whitney Museum of American Art 

With 150 objects in the exhibit dating back to 1978, the exhibit is on 4 floors of the museum and in the courtyard. The entire city of New York appears to be paying homage to Koons:

• Split-Rocker is a giant living plant sculpture on display at Rockefeller Center
• a limited-edition gold Dog Balloon purse is on sale at HandM  and Koons is curating an exhibit at the 5th Ave store 
• a 6-story billboard of the Dog Balloon proclaims Fashion Rocks from the side of the building

To respond to the huge crowds and public enthusiasm for the exhibit, the Whitney expanded its hours to include Mondays on September 1.

Cat on a Clothesline by Jeff Koons

Purple Heart by Jeff Koons

Michael Jackson and Bubbles by Jeff Koons

Play-Doh by Jeff Koons

Moustache Lobster by Jeff Koons

A friend in NYC attended the exhibit in early September, and the lines were out the door and around the corner. While waiting, she overheard several families with young children discussing the sexually graphic nature of some of the art, and that they would not be visiting several rooms of the exhibit. When my friend visited those rooms, she did note that there were many children with their parents visiting that part of the exhibit.

The exhibit is open:

• Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, 

          Saturday, Sunday                                     11am - 6pm

• Friday                                                         11am - 9pm

Visitor rates are:

• General Admission                                    $20
• Ages 19-25, over 65 and FT Students:      $16
• Members and 18 and under                       FREE
• Fridays from 6-9pm                                    Pay As You Wish

Jeff Koons: A Retrospective will be on display at the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne, Paris, from November 26, 2014–April 27, 2015; and the Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain, June 5–September 27, 2015.

a la prochaine,

Shirley