Above is a photo that I took of JULIA MANDLE's chalk shoes on exhibit at the LEO KESTING GALLERY (May 15-21) when I visited the Meat Packing District last Sunday. Below is Mandle's photo used to promote the exhibit. Julia Mandle is a Brooklyn-based, multi-disciplinary artist. Last April 30, Mandle led 30 students from the NYC Lab School wearing her signature "chalk shoes" in a performance of large-scale, public street drawing by scuffing the chalk shoes along the paths they will take to the High Line. The High Line is New York's elevated park built on a former freight rail viaduct, set to open later this year. Mandle's project is commissioned by Friends of the High Line, highlighting the future public access points of the High Line, and drew connections between the neighborhood and the new park.
Leo Kesting Gallery is located at 812 Washington Street in the Meatpacking District. Shoes used in the performance and a video documenting the project are on view. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The exhibition coincides with the Meatpacking District Design Week.
As part of the 2008 New York Dance Parade last May 17, a dance group performed at the Tompkins Square Park's Temperance Fountain. I made these images of beautiful Asian dancers as they performed what they call "kinetic movement art."
On exhibit at the ESTABLISHMENT at 30 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District are intricate bamboo sculptures of Thai artist KORAKOT AROMDEE. Aromdee employs the "tie and knot" technique, which he learned from his grandfather. He uses bamboo exclusively in his large scale sculptures. To ensure strength and pliability, the artist utilizes only bamboo that is more than 3 years of age, and is properly smoked.
It's the Second Annual New York Dance Parade celebrating diversity of dance forms. I took photos of a few of the participants as they danced their way through St. Mark's Place.
From danceparade.org:
On May 17th, thousands of us will dance in the streets of New York City, moving to every kind of dance music under the sun. Why?
To celebrate diversity as "One Parade with Many Cultures" 31 genres are represented:
African, Algerian, Ballet/Ethnic, Ballroom, Ballroom, Swing, Latin & Tango, Belly Dance, Break Dance, Cumbia, Disco, Ecstatic, Folkloric, Greek, Hip-Hop, Hooper, House, Hustle and Salsa, Jazz, Mambo, Modern, Roller Dance, Roller Disco, Sacred, Salsa, Samba, Swing, Tap Dance, Techno, Tinku, Tribal, West Coast Swing, Zydeco, just to start!
To honor Dance’s historical roots:
New York has never celebrated the forms of dance that it has birthed until now: Voguing, Jazz, the Jitterbug, Punk, Gothic--even Salsa was birthed in the Cuban Communities in this great city. And it is now time for Dance. New York has enjoyed the last three years of a September Art Parade and since May 2007, we are finally honoring Dance in a similar fashion.
To unite in respecting Dance’s diversity:
Dance is vital in healthy societies, helping people to communicate and affirm individual and collective identity. Dance Parade is a multi-cultural, multi-generational expression of the joy and value of these various forms of expression. It will foster cross-pollination of dance forms as it introduces audiences to novel styles and beats: teenagers to tango, clubbers to square-dancing, and seniors to hip-hop.
To support grass-roots organizations:
As an umbrella organization, Dance Parade empowers and supports dance communities that do not have access to public funding yet have a communicative art form they wish to practice and promote. We help them build websites, get access to materials, fundraise, and reach broader audiences.
To legitimize Dance as a communicative, social form of expression:
In the 19th century, ballroom dancing was deemed devil’s work. In the 1920’s, New York City enacted the Cabaret Law to stem interracial dancing from Harlem Jazz Clubs. The 1930’s had Nazi Germany quashing Swing Dancing because it was considered anarchistic. And in 2006, a New York State Supreme Court ruled that, unlike music, theater and painting, dance is not a constitutionally protected form of expression. In contrast, Dance Parade will highlight the diversity found in its many forms and showcase dance’s immense cultural and communicative importance.
To invoke joy and brotherhood:
New York’s annual dance parade will reinstate New York City as the dance performance and nightlife capital of the world. We quote Dr. Motte, the founder of Berlin’s Love parade: “Dance is spreading rapidly and is unstoppable around the world. It is about LOVE and it is about FREEDOM. This represents a much wider personal, social and spiritual transformation-revolution which will utterly change our world over the coming decades.
Post-War And Contemporary Art Evening Auction at Christie's, New York will be held tomorrow, May 13, 2008. On auction are the works of MARK ROTHKO, ANDY WARHOL, JEFF KOONS, LUCIAN FREUD, FRANCIS BACON, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, WILLEM DE KOONING, AMONG OTHERS. I took photos of a sculpture of ROBERT INDIANA'S LOVE series on display outside CHRISTIE'S.
This is the LOUIS VUITTON flagship store on Fifth Avenue with its colorful window display. From the official website:
The 20-storey building is located at the corner of 57th St and 5th Avenue. The upper levels of the building are set back to create a monumental crystalline stalagmite, and multi-layered white glass wall reinforces this crystal-like form. The wall with its graduated transitions, from opaque to transparent, replaces the white marble façade at the lower levels and corners.
Since 1896, Louis Vuitton and its legendary gold monogram have been synonymous with luxury and timeless elegance. But while the line is best known for its durable, supple brown leather travel pieces, accessories and handbags, as well as the more colorful, artist-designed seasonal must-haves, one look inside the designer's flagship store, on 57th Street at Fifth Avenue—the largest in the world—reminds shoppers that Vuitton's style goes far beyond its carry-alls. Within the illuminated blue, white, purple and gold translucent glass walls are four floors—over 20,000 square feet—of classic men's and women's ready-to-wear, modern timepieces and jewelry, and uptown-chic footwear. Past the towering wooden grids that showcase the famed handbags lie the relaxed suits and ultra-feminine knee-length skirts that typify Vuitton's polished look, punctuated by bright colors and soft accents for a swank mix of tradition and modernity; this familiar style is echoed throughout Vuitton's designs, from the monogrammed canvas belts to the red ostrich-leather wrist watches. Black-suited sales associates are attentive, without being overbearing.
