You’ll probably walk into Aksel Paris at 311 West Broadway thinking that it’s just another Soho fashion store, but a pleasant surprise awaits those who enter—this high-end shirt shop doubles up as an art gallery as well. Be it the Gregory Okshteyn-designed bright orange, 3D-printed, wave-like rack displaying the store’s fine garments, or British artist Saroj Patel’s intricate mural crawling over the store’s walls, one can easily tell that this is not just another Soho shop.
The New York World’s Fair, with its “World of Tomorrow” theme, inspired a legacy of cultural references, from the 1941 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith, to Charlie Chan’s film Murder over New York, to an essay by E.B. White. For urban planners, the Futurama exhibit by General Motors introduced Americans to the idea of the expressway system, which would then dominate city and regional planning for the next 60 years.
Photographer and teacher Walter Plotnick has been melding images of the 1939 World’s Fair with 1930s circus performers, using a hybrid of wet photography and digital processes. He’s inspired by photographers of the Bauhaus and Constructivist movements, lending a Surrealist influence juxtaposed against familiar vintage imagery of culture and commerce.
High above the bustle and noise of Times Square, piano keys tinkled as guests of the Sing For Hope Pianos Launch Party admired the 88 new painted pianos that the organization will be scattering throughout public places in the city’s five boroughs over the next two weeks. (The organization chose to debut 88 new pianos because there are 88 keys on a piano).
A nonprofit charity whose primary focus is making art “accessible to all,” Sing For Hope was founded in 2006 by best friends Camille Zamora and Monica Yunus, two world-renowned sopranos who met while at Julliard; the idea behind the joint project was to provide a way to connect working artists to elementary schools in need, health resources, and the community at large. (more…)
The momo, the Tibetan dumpling, could be considered the unofficial “spokesfood” of Tibetan Cuisine. You might feel inclined to dismiss these as merely ubiquitous dumplings within our fine metropolis but the difference is in the details.
Taking its name from Potala Palace, former home of the Dalai Lamas of Tibet, Potala Fresh Momo in Jackson Heights, Queens is a symbol of the fairly recent rapid influx of Tibetan, Nepalese and Himalayan people making the cultural blend even more complex. It’s one thing to see a sit-down restaurant in an area, but when something as casual as a food cart appears, you know that the culture has a stronghold in the neighborhood. (more…)
Last week’s popular Google Keyword was “Slums of Paris.” Did you know there were even slums in Paris? We previously showed one such prominent informal settlement along the RER B train line from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to the center of Paris, visible to many visitors to Paris. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was notorious for his push to clear out slums and illegal residents (mostly Roma gypsy populations). Photographer Steven Wassenaar has been photographing the Parisian gypsy populations since 2005 and told us, “I have met many Roma that just go from campsite to campsite in Greater Paris. Sarkozys eviction policy was very limited, mostly a communication action and it did not change anything.”
Get in touch with the author @untappedmich. Untapped also previously reported on the ongoing urban renewal of Roma gypsy populations in Istanbul.
Street art of chipped brick and plaster on Abbot Kinney by Alexandre Farto
With Venice’s history as a hub of art and culture, most notably with the Beat Generation, it’s not surprising that street art is scattered throughout the neighborhood, both built into the façade of storefronts and hidden in back lots. (Jean-Michel Basquiat and Dennis Hopper both had studios in Venice.) In 2011, French artist JR put up pieces in Venice as part of his “Wrinkles of the City” series, which included 20 large-scale portraits of 20 ethnic Angelinos. You can still see a piece of one mural left here:
There’s a wide range of techniques as well, including wheat paste and chipped brick and plaster. Do you recognize other street artists in the slideshow below?
Get in touch with the author @untappedmich.
In 1857, the city held a design competition for Central Park. The winning plan, by Frederic Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, was named ‘the Greensward Plan’ and featured an English style landscape with meadows, lakes, hills, winding pedestrian paths, and many trees to block the view of city buildings. The park was envisioned to be world class, on par with the greatest parks in London and Paris.
In today’s post, we focus on some of the most naturalistic features and areas of the park that were included in the original Greensward Plan. Like all the landscapes in Central Park, these beautiful areas are all man-made in areas that were irregular, containing swamps and farms. Most of that was completely razed, though some existing trees and many rock outcrops were incorporated into the plan. These naturalistic areas and elements were intended by the designers to allow city dwellers to connect with nature and experience the change that comes with seasons, weather conditions, and different times of day.
Photo by Stephen Mallon, one of the artists in the East River Ferry’s floating photographic exhibition.
MONDAY, MAY 20: Screening of the Restored 1927 Fritz Lang film classic Metropolis, an Association for Preservation Technology Fundraiser. 6-8pm Benefit auction with light hors d’oeuvres; 8pm film screening at Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Avenue, Brooklyn. $50. Buy tickets here.
TUESDAY, MAY 21: THE VILLAGE: 400 Years of Beats and Bohemians, Radicals and Rogues – A History of Greenwich Village. The work is a monumental study that captures the singular spirit and significance of a place that long shaped American arts, politics, and popular culture. A sprawling, anecdotal chronicle that begins with the earliest settlements and travels with non-stop momentum to the reinvented, affluent Village of today. 6pm at the General Society Library, 20 West 44th Street. $5 students / $10 members / $15 general admission. Email victoria.dengel@generalsociety.org or call 212.840.1840 prompt 2.
Also on Tuesday: bOb Bar presents the Girls On Top (GOT)–UK’s first all-female graffiti crew formed in 2000 by Chock and Ned to unite female graffiti artists. Introducing NYC to 5 members (Chock, Luna, Lyns, Pixie, and Syrup), the show represents each individual’s style. Exploring the limits of graffiti aesthetics through mediums including embroidery, collage, and customized novelty items, they illustrate their experiences within a male-dominated graffiti culture. 7pm at bOb Bar, 235 Eldridge Street. (more…)
Summer is almost here; soon it will be time for New Yorkers to get out their bathing suits and head over to Coney Island for some sunshine and corn dogs. Despite the brutal damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy, our favorite spots on Coney Island–the Cyclone, Nathan’s Famous hot dogs, the New York Aquarium, and more–have re-opened their doors, ready to feed and entertain New Yorkers all summer long. (more…)
The biennial festival, IDEAS CITY, hosted by The New Museum, aims to investigate the future of cities with the notion that the arts and culture play a vital role in the health of the urban core. The theme for this year’s festival was Untapped Capital (fittingly for us). Participants were called to explore the under-utilized or under-recognized resources and potential within cities.
Kim Holleman is one such artist. She has taken the often-scorned mobile trailer and created a park in its interior, turning the entire notion of “trailer park” on its head. Holleman’s ideas came from what she saw as a growing need to integrate nature into the urban environment and provide access to larger numbers of urban residents.
