Vernissages | NYC, Dennis Hopper at Tony Shafrazi, September 12

Dennis Hopper's exhibition Signs of the Times includes a vast selection of the actor/artist's 1960s photographs, twelve "billboard paintings," and video excerpts from Hopper's work as an actor and director in film and television.

Vernissages | September 10, NYC

Second "Grand" (?!?) opening day of the fall 2009 art season in NYC... A long list of vernissages, it will be difficult to follow up with all of them. My taxonomy mania would lead to genre, but my time/transportation limitations leads me to a more realistic geography proximity based tour.

I start with Soho, with Allan Wexler's display of archi/design conceptual chairs:

Allan Wexler at Ronald Feldman

I move to Chelsea, wonder through the 529 West 20th, not so exciting to me, quite traditional and expected work. PW at W22, Maya Lyn's landscape interests me, but when I arrive the pusher at the door does not let me in, too late. Usual story in NYC, too much, too little time, hard to choose and prioritize...
I continue to Marlborough, at W25 St, hosting Will Ryman's A New Beginning : meagsculptures of flowers from 2' to 7'. The sculptures are hand made (by the artist himself) of steel, epoxy, aluminum, plaster and paint, and grouped in clusters of three at the base. Sculptures of urban waste ---cigarettes, beer cans, paper cups--- are combined with the flowers. Ryman chose to reproduce roses as  the rose is, in the artist's words "the most recognizable flower and most symbolic across the world"

Will Ryman's at Marlborough

More hyperreality from "nature" at One Doosan, with deer, branches and twigs by Myeongbeom Kim,

Getting tired and moving uptown, a final glance to the overcrowded W26th Street:

My final impression / question of the day: "What's art got to do it?"

Camminando | "The Parliament of Reality" and Fisher Auditorium at Bard College, NY

Art and architecture, both signed by celebrities in the fields, are facing each other at Bard College. The Fisher Auditorium a well celebrated example of blob architecture, another artichoke type of building by Frank Gehry, is located a few hundreds feet across from Elafur Eliasson landscape art work "The Parlament of Reality".

Fisher Auditorium

Camminando | Maine, Acadia :: Mount Desert Island

My nature pilgrimages took me to one of the most beautiful and topographically varied places, the Acadia Park in Mount Desert Island, north coast of Maine. Acadia presents a very diverse landscape varying from pine trees and granite boulder overlooking mountain lakes to sandy beaches and cliffs on the mighty Atlantic coast; falcons, hawks, seagulls and many other species of birds contribute to a very diverse habitat. If you are tired of the land, there are many boat tours in the foothills town of Bar Harbor taking you to whale watching.
The Acadia web site describes the park as: "Comprised of a cluster of islands on the Maine coast, Acadia is positioned within the broad transition zone between eastern deciduous and northern coniferous forests, and hosts several species and plant communities at the edge of their geographic range. Steep slopes rise above the rocky shore, including Cadillac Mountain, which at 1,530 feet is the highest point on the U.S. Atlantic coast. While surrounded by the ocean, the entire fabric of Acadia is interwoven with a wide variety of freshwater, estuarine, forest, and intertidal resources, many of which contain plant and animal species of international, national and state significance."
This is my second visit in over 12 years, and I am truly enjoying hiking and experiencing the solitude of some of the least known hikes. It seems that the mainstream tourist’s interest is more about physical challenges in hiking than the landscape and wildlife. The most popular hikes “Precipice” and “Beehive” are highly challenging and demanding for those of us with fear of heights ---we are rewarded going through not crowded alternate trails, where the focus shifts from the attention and stress of not falling to a precipice to the actual beauty of the remote views as well as the enjoyment of the immediate landscape and wildlife.
My first day hike, quite demanding because of the 90F degree temperature, included the Beachcroft trail (alternate to the Precipice trail) to the summit of Champlain Mountain, then I followed the ridge ---with very few encounters--- and down to the Bowl, then final descent to Sand Beach. Unfortunately, in spite of the resemblance with a Mediterranean landscape, there was no swimming: the ocean temperature did not go above 50 F degrees!

Great Ridge Trail (South of Mount Champlain)

The Bowl

Thunder Hole

Sunrise from Mount Cadillac

Events | New York :: Juana Molina at Summerstage, July 8

The Argentinian singer, songwriter and actress Juana Molina performed at Summerstage; I was really captivated by the, for me unfamiliar, music of the Argentian performer. Her hypnotic sounds integrates melodic lyrics with ambient and electronic music. Quite a discovery....

Events | New York :: Matisyahu at Summerstage on July 9

New York is a melting pot of cultures: the American Hasidic Jewish musician Matisyahu is certainly an example of blending sounds and themes coming from completely different cultures. The themes of his lyrics are from traditional Haisidic Jewish teachings mixed with reggae, rock and hip hop sounds; it is quite an unusual mix, considering that often Matisyahu (Matthew Paul Miller) alternates Hebrew and Yiddish words with English. He performed at the SummerStage after the progressive rock band Umphrey's McGee.

The Central Park outdoor theatre was crowded and enthusiastic fans were dancing at Matisyahu relentless beat. Although quite different from my memories of concerts of "classic" Jamaican reggae music filled with dreadlocks and Rastafarian beliefs, the energy was there, as my bluried snapshots suggest...

Camminando | Pilgrimage at the Hudson River Art Trail :: 2. Cedar Grove

On Sunday I crossed the Hudson River at Rip Van Winkle Bridge for the second stop of my pilgrimage: Cedar Grove, Thomas Cole's home in the village of Catskill. Of a lesser spectacular tone than Olana, Cedar Grove presents a more intimate landscape and architectural design. The house and the garden were quite simple, in contrast with the extravagance of Frederic Church's estate.
I learned that Thomas Cole was born in 1801 in Northwestern England and emigrated with his family to the United States in 1818. Cole discovered the wilderness and beauty of the Catskill while hunting (he was 24 year old). He was primarily self-taught, but often worked with members of the Philadelphia Academy, and later became a fellow.
Cole painted The Course of Empire a five-part series of paintings in the years 1833-36, symbolizing how urbanesism will destroy the bucolic beauty and in Cole became Church's mentor.

Cole died on February 1848 in the west bedroom of Cedar Grove.

And a few photos from my pilgrimage...

Camminando | Pilgrimage at the Hudson River Art Trail :: 1. Olana

Perhaps inspired by rivisiting the Luis Bunuel's masterpiece "La Voie Lactée" , on Independence Day I started my own pilgrimage --- at the Hudson River School of Painting places.

When I started Sun Farm in 1999 I was of course aware of the XIX art history of the Hudson Valley. The views of the landscape, the sky, the meadows, the mountains, the clouds and dramatic changes of light portrayed by the Hudson School artists were probably in my subconscious, but deliberately I did not want to immerse myself in the same places which inspired that glorious art. Perhaps I was afraid of being influenced in my own work of recording similar landscape framing the views in time.
After thousands of photos and hundred of hours of video recording I am finally ready for the pilgrimage. I had a great start at Olana, Frederic Church's estate, Olana, overlooking the river with the spectacular views of the Catskills mountains. It was the time the sun was setting on Independence Day ---perhaps the first real summer day in the region, this year hit by so many major precipitations.

the Sun setting behind the Catskills

The Sun Setting...

...and the Moon rising

cedar fences curve in the garden outside Church's home