The NEW MUSEUM of CONTEMPORARY ART

The NEW MUSEUM of CONTEMPORARY ART opened to the public last month. We recently visited this museum located at 235 Bowery between Stanton and Rivington Streets, at the origin of Prince Street. This is the first art museum ever constructed from the ground up in downtown Manhattan. From a distance, the New Museum looks like a haphazard pile of welded boxes on the Lower East Side. The seven-story structure was designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA with Gensler, New York, serving as Executive Architect."Sexy and defiant in this see-through armature, the museum challenges passersby to call it a freak, thereby earning a spot as a genuine New York institution." The museum houses contemporary art, and serves as a "incubator for new ideas."

On exhibit from December 1, 2007 through March 23 is UNMONUMENTAL: AN EXHIBITION IN FOUR PARTS. It features 21st century sculpture by 30 international artists, and morphs as layers of collage, sound and internet-based art.