Midtown Manhattan

The museum experience in New York is often overshadowed by the hard-hitters: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim, The Museum of Modern Art and the Natural History Museum. A step below these museums are many other worthwhile institutions, although not as "famous." The Museum of Art and Design, across from MoMA on 53rd Street has an incredible collection of contemporary objects, innovative furniture, package design, ceramics and other design elements...

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I've always loved the Museum of Modern Art. Even during its brief hiatus in [Queens] (which is now PS 1 Contemporary Art Center). The powers that be behind MoMA have a way of presenting work in an exciting and original manner, and I mean, how many ways can you really present art in a museum context? And of course, I'm impressed again with MoMA's latest project by Doug Aitken

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If you've read the New York Times recently, you can't help but notice the craziness going on at the auction houses in New York. Paintings are selling for all time highs- I'm talking hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars. Meaning, the richest jerks get to enjoy the world's finest art- all to themselves. Imagine a Picasso or a Cezanne hanging in your living room?! Unreal. Unfair!

Well, thanks to a trip to Sotheby's with my grad school class, this outsider art lover found out something I'd wish I'd known years ago...

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Window dressing seems to be an art form that is taken very seriously only in New York. Bergdorf Goodman's window design department not only occupies an entire floor of their 57th Street store, but also inhabits a large warehouse across the river in Queens.

Each season, Director David Hoey's elaborate visions enliven the corner of 5th Avenue and 57th Street- adjacent to Central Park and the Plaza hotel. The windows have become more than just a place for showing off the wares for sale at Bergdorf's, but a venue for exquisite installation narrative art. Using designer clothing, antiques, original art works and other borrowed props (this Halloween features a skeleton horse!), the windows are somewhat of an art gallery on their own. I am a big supporter of art for art's sake, which seems to be less common in the United States as opposed to Europe...

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Rockefeller Center is a symbol of New York. The annual lighting of the giant Christmas tree and the iceskating rink infront of is has come to define Christmas in New York. Home to countless businesses, NBC, Christie's auction house and retail shops, Rockefeller Center IS New York.

Emphasizing this, artist Anish Kapoor designed an installation highlighting this notion. The Sky Mirror, a temporary exhibition, is a giant concave disk made of stainless steel, and placed at the entrance to the Rockefeller Compound on 5th Avenue. The giant mirror reflects the top of the center and the sky, bringing it to the ground on 5th Avenue. The opposite concave side reflects the hustle and bustle of the street. The sculpture, although physical, represents a window or a view, rather than being an object itself.

Kapoor also designed the permanent famous "giant bean", called Cloud Gate at Chicago's Millenium Park. Also made of stainless steel, Cloud Gate warps Chicago's skyline, bringing it closer and framing the viewer.