exhibitions | "Narcissus Garden" at Rockaway! - Fort Tilden

The MoMA PS1 public art festival Rockaway! is at its third edition in the usual dramatic settings of Fort Tilden. The abandoned US fort site (40.566667, -73.883333) was opened in 1917 at the end of First World War and in use by the US Army until 1995 [1]. Fort Tilden is currently part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, featuring bunkers, abandoned industrial buildings,  semi-destroyed structures next to natural dunes and bird nesting areas.  
   Centerpiece of the 2018 edition of Rockaway! is  Narcissus Garden (1966–present), a site-specific installation  by Yayoi Kusama’s (Japan, b. 1929) comprised of "1,500 mirrored stainless steel spheres" [2]. Kusama first presented the installation and enacted a performance in 1966, at the 33rd edition of La Biennale di Venezia, by the Italian Pavilion. The artist, dressed in gold kimono was tossing the mirrored sphere, next to signs with the written statements “Narcissus Garden, Kusama” and “Your Narcissism for Sale.” Each sphere was offered for sale at 1,200 lire [2].

Exhibitions | NY Art Books Fair

It's November, and time again for the annual NY Art Book Fair (at its fifth edition), one of the most refreshing and energetic events of the NYC art world.

The energy comes from the multeplicity and diversity of the exhibitors: usually small presses of different ages, sizes and contents, ranging from political activism to visual poetry and conceptual photography.

It seems to be the place where creativity can still exists without being deraged from the big commercial galleries, real estate and collectors.Even now, when content seems to be delivered in format quite diverse from the traditional printed paper, art books are still vital examples of creative expression.

And it is quite indicative of the current "cultural decentralization" that for the second year the NY art book fair takes place outside Manhattan at one the historical places of NY visual art "avant-guarde".

Just a few snapshots, trying to capture the dynamic and diverse atmosphere of the fair: