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Ten From TWI-NY: 9-20-06

TEN FROM TWI-NY: THIS WEEK IN NEW YORK

For a great selection of recommended events in New York, check out Mark Rifkin's picks below, and then head over to http://www.twi-ny.com for more...

ALEX ECHO: THE PERPETUAL DESIRE MACHINE
213 West 23rd St. at Seventh Ave., seventh floor
Through October 1
Admission: free
http://alexechoarts.com
http://www.theapt.com/news/echo.html

Alex Echo, “Poetry #7 (Rene Ricard),�? oil on canvas, 2006

Alex Echo, “George Orwell: 1984, first sentence,�? red conti & charcoal on paper

DUMBO-based artist Alex Echo compresses language and information into fascinating works of art that are as compelling and mysterious as they are exciting and stimulating. Echo carefully selects quotes from a diverse group of writers, artists, musicians, philosophers, and historical figures--including Blaise Pascal, Martin Luther King Jr., John Keats, Albert Einstein, Plato, Edward Albee, Mozart, Helen Keller, Harold Pinter, Donovan, Oscar Wilde, Malcolm X, Pablo Neruda, and Jane Austen--and then, using a variety of media (charcoal and epoxy on panel or paper, oil pastel on paper, oil on canvas, and more), writes out the quote, piling the letters on top of each other, forming surprisingly different abstract images. The final paintings and drawings, in a wide range of sizes, are a visual wonderland of style and color; among our favorites are “Poetry #7 (Rene Ricard),” a dizzying array of post-Impressionist hues; “Harold Pinter,” which evokes an odd kind of electronic signal; “Albert Einstein,” which is like a sun sending out swirls of heat in its own universe; a hallway full of Rumi, where the letters jumble on top of each other in black in the center of the paper, surrounded by white emptiness, like a single thought in a vast brain; and “The Talmud,” a dark, haunting piece with long, vertical swaths of red and letters and words popping out from an ominous storm.

“The Perpetual Desire Machine” also works splendidly as a site-specific installation, as Echo, who formerly created massive billboards for Absolut as well as special Swatch designs in the 1990s, produced many of these works with the fabulous space in mind. The enormous three-level apartment includes several bedrooms, amazing bathrooms, narrow hallways, hidden nooks, and unusual wallpaper. Echo’s pieces complement the space, which is worth seeing purely on its own merits. (Actually, the apartment itself is for sale; the asking price is well into the millions.) Echo supplements the show with his enticing Botanical Series, mixed-media collages featuring Victorian images on flowered wallpaper; Pop art snowboards; PVC computer cutouts of “Desire” and “Love”; a trio of public-park word-sculpture models; and more. Echo was inspired by the Joseph Beuys quote “The concept of a people is elementally coupled with its language”; visitors to this very cool exhibit will be inspired by Echo’s unique examination and celebration of the written word.

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CELEBRATING REMBRANDT: ETCHINGS FROM THE MORGAN
FROM REMBRANDT TO VAN GOGH: DUTCH DRAWINGS FROM THE MORGAN
The Morgan Library & Museum
225 Madison Ave. at 36th St.
Closed Mondays
Through October 1
Admission: $12
212-685-0008
http://www.morganlibrary.org

Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, “Self-Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed�?

After a three-year, $133 million renovation, the Morgan Library & Museum reopened in May, showing off the collection’s masterworks. In honor of Rembrandt Harmenz. van Rijn’s 400th birthday, the museum is staging a dual exhibition, matching Rembrandt’s etchings and drypoints with drawings from the golden age of Dutch art, from the 17th through 19th centuries. “From Rembrandt to van Gogh: Dutch Drawings from the Morgan” features more than three dozen drawings covering three centuries, including works by such students of Rembrandt’s as Samuel van Hoogstraten, Nicolaes Maes, and Ferdinand Bol. Among our favorites are Cornelius Dusart’s “The Chair Mender,” Simon Jacobson de Vlieger’s “A Dutch Coastal Scene,” and van Gogh’s “Working in a Field, Saint-Remy de Provence.” But it is the other side of the gallery that is filled with the glorious work of Rembrandt himself, each etching telling its own remarkable story. Rembrandt was an innovative printmaker, and the Morgan has included multiple states of several of his etchings, enabling viewers to get a look inside his creative process. Notice how the light changes in states 1 and 5 of “The Flight into Egypt.” There is a remarkable difference between the first and last states of “Christ Presented to the People.” Look closely at states 1 and 2 of “Self-Portrait Etching at a Window” for wonderfully subtle mood changes. There are also plenty of single-state works on display. “The Monk on the Cornfield” is tiny and engaging. “The Landscape with Three Trees” is exquisitely composed, with several hard-to-find tales being told. Five early self-portraits reveal Rembrandt’s more playful side as well as his love of drawing himself. He also delves into the Old Testament, featuring Adam and Eve, Jacob and Benjamin, and Abraham.

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PYTHONALOT
Film Forum
209 West Houston St. between Sixth & Seventh Aves.
September 22 – October 5
Tickets: $10
212-727-8110
http://www.filmforum.org/films/python.html

The inspired comic genius of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, who took England by storm in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the riotous sketch-comedy show MONTY PYTHON’S FLYING CIRCUS, takes over Film Forum for two weeks, with screenings of eight of their finest flicks, both as a team and as individuals. Things get going with one of the funniest movies ever made, MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL, as King Arthur (Chapman) and his knights battle catapulting cows, killer rabbits, and almost certain temptation. THE MEANING OF LIFE will teach you to always look on the bright side of life, LIFE OF BRIAN will make you reevaluate your messianic dreams, BRAZIL will fill you with fear for the future, TIME BANDITS will simply enchant and delight you, A FISH CALLED WANDA will force you to never think of John Cleese’s butt in the same way again, JABBERWOCKY brings new life to Lewis Carroll, and AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT is exactly that. And there was much rejoicing.

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THE RACONTEURS
Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd St. at Broadway
September 25-26
Tickets: $35
212-571-0440
http://www.theraconteurs.com
http://www.v2records.com

The Raconteurs race into Roseland in support of debut disc

Fresh off their stint as the house band for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City--where they played with such artists as Lou Reed (“White Light/White Heat”), ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons (“Cheap Sunglasses”), and director Jim Jarmusch (“Internet Killed the Video Star”)--the Raconteurs go down the street and around the corner for two shows at Roseland in support of their debut record, THE BROKEN BOY SOLDIERS. The first few times we listened to the album, someone in the other room thought we were playing a psychedelic pop compilation, but we assured them it was just the new album from the indie supergroup made up of Jack Lawrence, Patrick Keeler, Jack White, and Brendan Benson, with all original songs, even though they don’t hide any of their influences. The disc kicks off with “Steady, as She Goes,” which steals the bass line from Joe Jackson’s “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” while the second song, “Hands,” takes the guitar line from Reed’s “Waves of Fear,” but the melody comes straight out of the Beatles. “Broken Boy Soldier” is Zeppelin-esque, with a little Rush thrown in for good measure, the best of bombastic Middle Ages rock. The British re-Invasion continues with a little TOMMY-era Who in “Together” (along with some Dylan, whom the Raconteurs will be opening for in November on Long Island and in Jersey). Zeppelin mixes with WHITE ALBUM-era Beatles and some soul in “Blue Veins.” Heck, we think we even hear some Thunderclap Newman in “Call It a Day.” But don’t get fooled into thinking that this is just some rehashed sound; the Raconteurs may be groovy, but they also add a power-pop feel and really play the hell out of these tunes. However, even their Web site is retro, with a 1981, 1982 copyright, lettering from Atari’s Pong game, and old-fashioned commands.

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QUEENS RESTAURANT WEEK
September 18-21, 25-28
Special menus: $19.86
718-263-0546
http://www.discoverqueens.info

Water's Edge in Queens offers fine dining and fabulous views

In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the 1986 New York Mets, Queens restaurants will be featuring special three-course prix-fixe lunches and dinners for $19.86; participating restaurants include Bourbon Street, Dazies, Water’s Edge, Gum Fung, Papazzio, Plum, Lenny’s Clam Bar, O Lavrador, Buddy’s Kosher Delicatessen, Cup Diner, Donovan’s Pub, Riverview, Old Time Vincent’s Clam Bar, the White House, Maxim, Dae Dong, Five Corners, J&B Lobster King, Le Sans Souci, Zenon Taverna, Malaqueta, Marbela, La Baraka, Happy Budha, and many more

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Visitors learn about epidemics in the Cholera Tent of the traveling exhibit

A REFUGEE CAMP IN THE HEART OF THE CITY
Prospect Park
Long Meadow at Grand Army Plaza
September 20 through September 24
Admission: free
800-490-0773
www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Doctors Without Borders brings this traveling exhibit to Prospect Park, featuring a vaccination tent, therapeutic feeding center, emergency refugee housing, a water pump, and a cholera treatment center, 9:30 am – 6:30

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National Geographic brings world parks to Grand Central

EXPERIENCE PARKS AND CONSERVATION
Grand Central Terminal
Vanderbilt Hall
September 22 through September 28
Admission: free
www.nationalgeographic.com
www.grandcentralterminal.com

National Geographic magazine sponsors multimedia and interactive displays examining national and international parks and conservation, featuring large-scale photographs of parks from around the world, 7:00 am – 7:00 pm

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VIK MUNIZ: PICTURES OF JUNK
Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
530 West 22nd St. between Tenth & Eleventh Aves.
Closed Sunday & Monday
Through October 14
Admission: free
212-929-2262
http://sikkemajenkinsco.com
http://www.vikmuniz.net

Vik Muniz, “Narcissus, After Caravaggio�? (Pictures of Junk), 2006

If you’ve ever thought that a lot of modern art is just plain junk, Brooklyn-based Brazilian multimedia artist Vik Muniz goes you one better, re-creating classic(al) works of art out of actual junk. Using discarded tires, appliances, furniture, metal, hardware, and a myriad of other objects, Muniz and his staff fashion such familiar figures as Carravagio’s Narcissus, Delacroix’s Medea, Cranach’s Apollo and Diana, Watts’s Minotaur, Velasquez’s Mars, Ingres’s Oedipus, and Goya’s Saturn out of found materials, laid out on a basketball-court-size space outside of Rio and preserved in these large-scale chromogenic prints. The tongue-in-cheek pieces are a sly nod to the overpriced art market–even though these works are not exactly cheap as well. Muniz extends his sense of humor into the individual “Pictures of Junk” themselves; for example, among the items Titian’s Sysyphus is carrying on his shoulders is a piano, and an open refrigerator holds alcoholic delights for Rubens’s Bacchus. In the back gallery are four of Muniz’s “Pictures of Pigment,” in which he uses powdered paint pigments to re-create Monet’s “La Japonaise,” Redon’s “Butterfly,” Klimt’s “Life and Death,” and Hopper’s “New York Movie” (the original of which is currently on view at the Whitney). And don’t miss the third gallery, home to two dozen “Pictures of Earthworks”; influenced by Robert Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” and a visit to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Muniz dug huge objects into the ground, including dice, a dripping faucet, a whistle, footprints, an umbrella, a wrench, a ruler, and, most enchantingly, a paper airplane. DVD monitors go behind the scenes of the making of “Pictures of Junk” and “Pictures of Earthworks”; snippets are available at Muniz’s Web site as well.

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CENTRAL SYNAGOGUE
Sanctuary: Lexington Ave. at 55th St.
Community House: 123 East 55th St. at Lexington Ave.
Tours every Wednesday at 12:45 pm
Admission: free
212-838-5122 ext. 222 (for group tours)
http://www.centralsynagogue.org/default.php

Landmark synagogue in Midtown

Beautiful, historic Central Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United States and the oldest congregation in New York City. The foundation was laid in 1870, and when it opened in 1872, there were four hundred member families; today there are more than 1,500. Following a massive renovation completed in 1998, a terrible fire destroyed much of the temple, but it has since been restored to its original majesty, based on Henry Fernbach’s 19th-century architectural drawings. Fernbach, New York’s first Jewish architect, chose a Moorish style when told not to make it look too Jewish. Walk to the northeast corner of 55th & Lex and take in the unique design, with its star-filled rose window, copper-zinc ornamentation, and blue spheres atop the towers. (Notice that throughout the structure, most of the stars are not six-sided, as the Mogen David was not in widespread use at the time the Central Synagogue was built.) The stained-glass window that faces Lexington going uptown was dedicated to the firefighters of the Eighth Battalion, who saved the synagogue from total disaster in 1998; the windows take on an added meaning since 10 of those men perished at the World Trade Center on September 11.

Walk inside and look to your left, where there are two old tzedakah boxes. Inside the sanctuary, you’ll see diagonal side pews, ornately decorated cast-iron columns featuring different designs, a new choir loft, and the gorgeous wooden ark, which, remarkably, was undamaged by the fire save for a heavy layer of soot. The ark, surrounded by Moorish designs, contains two sphere-topped towers that mimic the outdoor building. To your left is an elevator for hoisting the grand piano onto the bema. And both in front of you and behind you is the Gabe M. Weiner Memorial Organ, which was built by Casavant Frères for the synagogue in 2001-2. There are free tours given every Wednesday at 12:45, and we heartily recommend them; when we went on one a few years ago, the docent leading the small group had spent virtually his entire life at the synagogue–he went to Sunday school there, he got confirmed there, and he became a member of the board.

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GARDEN OF DELIGHTS
Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park
Brooklyn Bridge Park
Plymouth & Main Sts. & the East River
Open daily 8:30 am - sunset
Through October 13
Admission: free
http://www.bwac.org

Tyrome Tripoli, “Travel with the Kitchen Sink�?

The Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition’s 24th annual outdoor sculpture show features site-specific installations by more than two dozen artists, winding through Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park. As you make your way between the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, you’ll come upon a variety of mostly playful pieces that work well in this sweet little environment that has a small, rocky beach and offers a magnificent view of Manhattan. Tyrome Tripoli welded together stainless-steel kitchen sinks for “Travel with the Kitchen Sink.” Naomi Teppich’s “Terra Stela” rises phallically , off-kilter from its branchlike base. Thea Lanzisero’s spheres bring “Starlight” to the park. Doug Makemson’s “Royal Heron” and “Duck Billed Heron,” constructed out of car parts, gleam in the sunlight. Jack Howard-Potter’s pink “Fat Lady” stands with her hands on her hips, peering into Brooklyn. Bill Berry’s “Too 2” consists of a cage of children’s punching dummies, featuring a businessman in a suit and a red tie on each one. Steve Dolbin’s “False Oracle” seems to have lost her head. Julia Ousley creates a new kind of “Skyline,” her wooden beams topped by dozens of tiny people. For her homonym-influenced “Bird Flew,” Charon Luebbers (who curated the show with Richard Brachman) dangles paper birds from a tree. Miggy Buck’s “David” comments on Michelangelo’s famous statue, in this case with two huge feet. (You know what they say about big feet.) And don’t forget to put two quarters in George Spencer’s “Gumball Machine” in order to do some “block busting” that you can take home with you.

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