http://www.dailygusto.com/ News and culture with punch. en-us 2008-04-17T11:04:00-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/new_york/000786.php Everyone loves a parade! Or at least on a day when spring seems irrevocable and the nibs on the tips of trees are enchanting us into the thinking life might be for the enjoying. OK, that wasn't a sentence but really all I want to say is this: First Annual LIC Bike Parade Queens, New York Saturday, May 10, 2008 Registration 11:30 AM Workshops 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM Parade 3:00 PM - 4:00PM Free / Rain or shine! Socrates Sculpture Park has more info.... New York harry 2008-04-17T11:04:00-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/etc/000785.php I'm taking the challenge. Or at least half of it. Orange Flower has started a 30-day macro photography challenge over at Flickr -- not a contest, just a share, compare and don't despair kind of thing (thanks for sharing, Kim). Meant to keep you engaged and taking pics every day. Here's the Flickr pool; here's the announcement with a list of participants.... Etc. harry 2008-04-13T05:40:44-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000783.php I ask because I don't know. It could mean nothing. It could add to the meaning of a work. In Jasper Johns' case, it certainly means at least one thing: big $$. But I want it to mean more. I started thinking about Johns' signature because I went to his show of drawings from 1997-2007 at Matthew Marks Gallery (NYC, through April 12). I noticed in the end of his show that he marked some of his drawings with very precise signatures. It's not just his signature on this handful of pieces. It's "J.Johns / March '06 / St.... Art harry 2008-04-10T12:52:34-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000782.php Faris McReynolds makes paintings like good baseball pitcher throws spitballs. It's nasty stuff, roughed up and delivered with a predictable inpredictability. There's an amazing moment where you lean in and ask "How did he do that?" And as soon as the question is asked, he's got you. Check out the photos above, of a painting in his current show at Goff + Rosenthal (NYC, until April 26). One is a detail from the other. It's a big painting of a bunch of cowboys looking at strippers on a stage. The close-up makes one the of the dancers look like... Art harry 2008-04-09T18:44:40-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000781.php Artist Robert Morris spoke last night at the New School as part of the Sculpture Center's "Subjective Histories of Scultpure" series. I have a soft spot for Morris' sculptures. In 1991, I saw a small collection of his work at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It was like a miniature retrospective of his work. I was just in high school, and growing up in a Richmond suburb, I hadn't been exposed to minimalism or any of the more radical artistic developments from the last 50 years. Entering the gallery, I saw one of Morris' felt sculptures. I looked at... Art harry 2008-04-08T10:51:59-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000780.php In the same way we can be moved by the rustic paintings of Lascaux, seeing something innately human in their creation and stroke, we can look at Katy Moran's paintings and be moved at something that will last as long as our DNA does. They are like cave paintings of the future, descended from those damp, rough walls via Delacroix and Joan Mitchell. There's just something about Katy Moran's paintings that is very, very old. Or really, I mean "old masterful." Old master-y. Whatever the kids call it. (Spray Glue calls them "Victorian.") Moran, a 33-year-old from Great Britain,... Art harry 2008-04-07T16:57:51-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000779.php Julian Hatton isn't exactly a cubist, but his approach to landscape is that of an artist trying to compress multiple perspectives into one flat canvas. His colorful landscapes, currently on view at Elizabeth Harris Gallery (in NYC, until April 12, so act fast), are suggestive, evocative, and ultimately satisfying in themselves. His work can be a bait-and-switch where, in the end, you're happy to be fooled. The color is extrapolated, which is to say it's not realistic but nor is it unrealistic, exactly. He'll use perspective lines that evoke a fence by a country road, or a round-ish shape... Art harry 2008-04-07T16:57:27-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000778.php Painter Thomas Nozkowski spoke to a crowd gathered at the Fisher Landau Center in Long Island City, Queens. The occasion was a small survey of his paintings there (until April 14). Pace Wildenstein also has a show up, of Nozkowski's most recent work (until May 3). The show at Fisher Landau spans all of Nozkowski's mature period since the early 1970's, and includes 20 of his small-ish canvases. Mr. Nozkowski, who arrived in his Suburu just as I got to Fisher Landau, is a pleasant and modest man with big ideas and an unassuming manner. He talked about going... Art harry 2008-04-06T16:30:12-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/food/000776.php I stumbled upon Brgr yesterday, having somehow avoided any buzz or or word-of-mouth. And the days of me seeking out good hamburger restaurants are a distant memory. But as I was walking back from the art galleries in Chelsea, I happened to see they claimed to have the best milkshake in New York. Could it be true? Could a place without vowels actually have a frosty cold river of frothy, bold taste? I decided to find out. I ordered a black and white shake. They only have one size and it costs $5.50. After five minutes or so, a... Food harry 2008-04-02T17:48:15-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/food/000775.php Since the cupcakes I made for Jennifer's birthday were such a huge success, I thought I'd share the recipe (and the modifications I made from the Barefoot Contessa's). The biggest change I made to this recipe were adding a lot more carrots, baking at 400 degrees for the whole time, and... the coup de sucre... injecting frosting into the carrot cake cupcakes. I've put up a food porn photo set from the making of. Here was the finished product (sorry for the fuzzy but the photo was taken *after* the party): Here's the recipe, with my modifications. Pretty shamefully ripped... Food harry 2008-04-01T09:07:46-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000774.php If bloggers have a roundtable and no one blogs about it, is it still a media event? I'm not sure, but I'll do my duty and blog about it any way. Hung over and in not a great mood to look at art, I was pleased to listen to the Red Dot Art Fair's blogger's roundtable at the Park Hotel. It featured Carol Diehl (ArtVent, Edward Winkleman, C-Monster, Paddy Johnson (Art Fag City), Sharon Butler (Two Coats of Paint) and Joanne Mattera was moderator. My favorite part was bloggers recounting their favorite big-traffic headlines. Who can top "How to... Art harry 2008-03-30T13:50:20-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000773.php I took some time today to stop by the Christie's in Rockefeller Plaza for the First Open Post-War and Contemporary Art preview. The auction happens April 1. There were a lot of shocking sticker prices that made me wonder how long the art market can maintain this. The place was packed, however, and there was a lot of good work there. This is one of those cases where I didn't photograph all my favorite work -- just what struck my fancy for one reason or another. See photos below, with Christie's estimated prices attached -- and my totally unqualified commentary... Art harry 2008-03-28T19:35:46-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000772.php Reading John Ruskin is like sitting in a living room with that good old grandmother of yours who lived through the Great Depression and World War II and everything after. Not the annoying one who talks about being part of "the Greatest Generation" (though that seems to be more of an anxiety-born boomer label for them). I'm talking about the one known for her patience, thoughtfulness, inner strength and forgiveness. Perhaps she's named Mildred or Barbara and she's tougher than you and twice as kind. Reading John Ruskin's thoughts on art reminded me of her. "Imperfection is in some sort... Art harry 2008-03-26T09:32:59-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000771.php There is an orgy of art happening at the Met these days and I encourage everyone to check out the Poussin show (which converted me to playing in the fields with nymphs), the Courbet show (wowsers) and last but not least, Jasper Johns. There were several surprises for me in the Johns "Gray" show: first, the show is big. I was thinking a small gallery of a handful of paintings. No. It's pretty much a Johns retrospective in black and white, as if you've bought a cheap used copy of a '60s book on Johns -- only they're the... Art harry 2008-03-17T16:12:27-05:00 http://www.dailygusto.com/blog/archives/art/000769.php After hearing so many negative things about the inaugural show at the new New Museum, I really draged my feet before heading down to check it out. Since the waves of negativity primed me for a bad show, I was in the best possible place to go see it: Things could only look up from what I was expecting. Right? Right. It's not as bad as you've heard, but let's face it: it's still not good. The show features lots of work using disposable materials, magazines and cardboard boxes and couches found on the curb. This doesn't make it a... Art harry 2008-03-10T06:55:02-05:00