Happy Hour Museum

Looking for something different to do in the city on a Friday night? I'm sure you want the best of both worlds; culture and cocktails. Look no further go to the Rubin Museum of Art: Art of the Himalayas! They offer two for one cocktails and free admission into the museum on Friday night. I was there recently for happy hour. We had tapas and cocktails, caught up on gossip, then took the elevator to the top floor and descended our way through the extensive collection of religious art down the six story spiral staircase.

Also, do not miss the museum shop. They have a great collection of jewelry, buddha's, books, scarves, and soaps - just to name some of the items.

Rubin Museum of Art is open free of charge from 6 - 10 pm
Happy Hour is 6 - 7 pm
150 W 17th St
Between 6th and 7th avenues

NYC's Largest Block Party - Museum Mile

In under one week on June 12th from 6pm - 9pm ten of New York City's greatest museums will be open to all free of charge! I attended the Museum Mile festival a few years ago and thought it was a great way to browse museums like the Neue Galerie New York or the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution which I had never even heard of. It is also fun to just walk along Fifth Avenue from 82nd Street to 105th Street and see what events are taking place on the streets. It is one big cultural block party complete with music and entertainment for children and adults.

LowLine

LowLine Rendering

Have you heard about the LowLine or the Delancey Underground project? It is the opposite of the HighLine. What do I mean? Underneath New York City's Delancey Street is an abandoned train station being re-imagined into a spectacular park.

I love the this idea! It is so unexpected and innovative. It will be a great addition to the Lower East Side (where I grew up). I'm so excited about this. I hope the vision of architect James Ramsay, executive Dan Barasch, and money manager R. Boykin Curry IV is made into a reality.

For more information and to view the full photo gallery to go In Habitat New York City. To donate to this amazing cause click here. Also Mark Miller Gallery in the Lower East Side is showing an exhibit entitled Let There Be Light - A preview of the LowLine Park. On display now until April 29th.

Maurizio Cattelan: All

I found out earlier this week I was a corporate member to the Guggenheim Museum but only until Dec 31st 2011. I decided I had to go as soon as possible considering admission is $18! I arrived at the museum at 1:30pm and it felt a little crowded but we were able to walk right in. On our way out at around 3pm there was a long line curved around the block. 

I didn't do any research before getting there and was so amused to see Maurizio Cattelan's Novecento hanging from the ceiling of museum's rotunda.  The whole exhibit is a giant mobile gone wild with all of his works (except two) on display in no particular order. The exhibit is a retrospective of 128 works collectively entitled "All". 

I started at the top and worked my way down mesmerized by his works.  Looking at this exhibit brings up many emotions; laughter, awe, surprise, and unease.  Some of the most eye catching pieces were: a wax figure of Hitler in the scale of a young boy kneeled and supplicating entitled Him hangs near the top. A few steps down the rotunda is a huge (20 feet long by 26 feet high) resin skeleton sculpture of a house cat entitled Felix (after Felix the cat).  Further down is a life size sculpture of a barefoot John F Kennedy in a a coffin and towards the bottom is a large scale black and white photograph of Maurizio Cattelan rolled on his back, tongue hanging out, with his hands and feet up like a dog begging for his belly to be rubbed. 

This exhibit is one not to be missed on display now until January 22, 2012.

Guggenheim Museum 

New York Times review and Slideshow

*2017 Update - To learn more about Maurizio Cattelan go to Artsy.net