Walkin' in Chelsea

There's nothing like New York City on a crisp, cool fall day, and I was fortunate to be able to meet up with my lovely friend Lisa, an advertising account manager, for a walk through the city's Chelsea neighborhood this past Saturday. As we made our way through the streets that have gone from warehouse to wonderful in the last few years, we kept asking each other why we weren't the people who decided that Chelsea should be THE place for fabulous art in New York City. Not to say that you won't find great art on New York's East Side or elsewhere, but Chelsea showcases all types of art from Warhol to Picasso, as well as contemporary Chinese and Korean Art.

While strolling through the neighborhood, we came upon a couple of intriguing art installations that, just maybe, could be our favorites for the day. Take a look for yourself. GOTCHA! Pretty funny, huh? They did appear to have been strategically placed though, so I insisted that they pose for pictures.

The afternoon started with a visit to Jim Kempner Fine Art on 23rd Street. It has been my desire for years now to check out this gallery. Architectually, the building is so cool. In addition to the Keith Haring in the sculpture garden in the front courtyard, the gallery is home to one of the most amazing and lifelike pieces of modern art that I have ever seen. Carole A. Feuerman gets the Uncle Paulie Award for new favorite artist this month for her 1981 sculpture entitled "The Shower" made of oil on resin.

Later on, we hit Chinese Contemporary Gallery, which never fails to please with exceptional art by top Chinese contemporary artists like these whimsical and slightly disturbing pieces by Zhang Shuang. They are part of the gallery's Cartoon II show that runs through November 20. I like Chinese Contemporary because every piece in this small space is food for thought and a feast for the eyes.


I especially enjoyed the larger works by Wang Ke. The combination of colorful and social commentary of asian pop art always intrigues me.

Time's running out to check out Composed Cities, the phenomenal work of Simon Nicholas at Gallery Henoch. His paintings depict crowded environments that seem to hint at the overpopulation that one feels in a city like New York. Nicholas's paintings filled me with exhiliaration because of their unnatural vastness. They also caused me to relive the social phobia I feel everytime I'm in similar situations--VERY exciting work. This piece reminded me of my high school graduation from Plano Senior High School in Texas. My graduating class was comprised of 1,432 students and the scene actually looked like this! Composed Cities is on exhibition through November 1.

Our evening gallery walk ended with a visit to the Max Lang Gallery, which features a wonderful menagerie of Asian contemporary art upstairs. Upon entering the upper gallery, we suddenly heard what we thought was the air conditioner starting up. The noise turned out to be Pink Pink (1985) by Choi Jeong Hwa. This is a remarkable three-dimensional flowerlike sculpture that inflates and deflates at various intervals. It is one of those things that makes me happy just looking at it.