Sunday, January 16, 2011

galleries at west 26th st














According to online database www.artfacts.net, there are 956 private galleries in NYC. Taking the non-listed institutions into account, that would amount to over 1000. That's why it's not possible for anybody to catch a glimpse of the majority of them, also regarding the fact that gallery hours are not compatible with office hours.

So Saturdays, if not slept away completely, are the only chances to take a stroll.

I started slowly: with a single street in Westchelsea to see a group exhibition featuring the Korean-American artist Sook Jin Jo... to find it closed. It didn't matter as there was still too much to see.

Thanks to the enormous density of showcases in each respective neighborhood here, a gallery tour doesn't demand as much endurance as in other cities, where the time to arrive at one normally exceeds the time you spend in it. In some buildings you just have to get to the next floor or pass through a door to hit a different realm.

I learned later that it has not been more than a decade since this desolate spot of Manhattan turned into the the world's most important landscape for contemporary art.

What stands out right at the beginning is that here more than ever each gallery has its own distinct style and interior design.

Here are some snapshots including a lithograph by Willem de Kooning at Mary Ryan Gallery.


2 comments:

  1. dearest su

    thank you so much for your greetings, for stopping by, for commenting on my posts. it cheered me up a lot every time to hear from you! now i would love to return the favor. so cool that you finally started your own blog! i love it. it's honest and so happy. you are a happy person, right? truely inspiring. i will come back. let's keep in touch!

    xo from zurich to lovely new york (would love to hear the story as of how and why you got there...?)
    scarlett

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  2. Lovely Scarlett,

    I am happy most of my day until reading about other bloggers' sensationally fabulous lives and getting jealous ;) Thank you, I really appreciate that you stopped by!

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