at the Met thru July 31

The Alexander McQueen exhibit, Savage Beauty at the Met is extraordinary as McQueen was the most extraordinary of designers. To see his fantastic creations in person is awe inspiring and the Met has done an unusually wonderful job of displaying them dramatically and respectfully.

Of course, like any fashion show at the museum it can test ones patience with all the crowds (at one point it was literally shoulder to shoulder) but if ever a show were worth the inconvenience this is it.

The exhibit spans the whole of his career and leaves one not only breathtaken at the details and imagination but heart broken as well. I was more moved after walking through than I expected and found myself with a knot in my stomach and a bit teary eyed by the end to know such an amazing talent is gone.

I couldn’t help but act like I still had pre-baby disposable income and splurged on the gorgeous, hologram covered book (Happy Mother’s Day to me!) but wisely, the museum has offered more affordable souvenirs including a very nice calendar and a pretty humorous armadillo high heel paper weight.

This is a must see!

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Posted on May 8, 2011

at The New Museum through May 8

My friend Jessica directed me to the George Condo exhibit at the New Museum. I felt like a bad art student for not recognizing the name, but am glad to learn about the prolific artist now. The exhibit begins on the 4th floor where an onslaught of his work greets you. It’s actually an appropriate way to confront his manic work that ranges from dark Bacon-esque portraits (including one of my favorites, Man with Three Arms) to bright, almost slap dash paintings that look, and I mean this in a good way, like artwork from an insane asylum.

The next floor offers a series of paintings that merit more individual examination titled “Melancholia”. These disturbing, funny and sad portraits of archetypes with bloated faces and confused disembodied smiles were the most captivating of the show. Next were more provocative excessively sexual works entitled “Manic Society” and even if it makes me sound like a prude, I found their crassness uninteresting. “Abstraction” is the final room in this retrospective and featured huge layered canvases. Some of my favorites revealed small intriguing overlapping sad faces once you took a closer look.

Also on display in the other galleries is the work of sculptress Lynda Benglis. Some of her stuff is pretty cool. I liked the glowing neon blobs suspended out of the wall, but frankly it was harder to have enthusiasm for a big stick with glitter on it or pink paper mache with gift wrap sticking out of it. Too many memories of Freshman year art projects I guess.

Thanks to Jim for doing Van duty which allowed me a night out. The museum is open til 9 on Thursdays and to my happy surprise, it was free too. An even happier surprise? Birdbath has opened a cafe in the lobby!

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Posted on March 4, 2011

6767 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

No one really goes to the Hollywood Wax Museum. But Jim and I are suckers for this kind of thing and the grimier the better. There are plenty of opportunities to ham it up with all your favorite celebrities like a frightening Jim Carrey, the Crypt Keeper, and a demented Will Farrell. The wax sculptors are not always generous to the famous people they’re creating – if I were Gwyneth or Toby Maguire I’d develop some serious issues after one visit (the former with the idea of inhuman all-body cellulite, the later with a completely dimwitted expression). If I remember correctly, it’s a bit expensive (as to be expected from a tourist trap) but so worth it to show our child photos of us hanging out with Austin Powers and Samuel L Jackson – he’ll think we are sooo cool.

There are lots, maybe too many, photos below/after the jump including an up shell shot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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Posted on October 15, 2010

200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn

I don’t know why the trek to the Brooklyn Museum seemed so insurmountable that I kept putting off my trip to see the American High Style exhibit. In truth it only takes about and hour and is more than worth it. If the sister exhibit at the Met is the dolled up, flashy younger sister boasting pop music, glitzy styled head pieces and films, this one is the calm, dignified older sister. It’s far larger and more spaced out than the other exhibit and features some incredible fanning Charles James, well preserved and embellished Worths, a huge amount of shoes, and more stunning prints, draping, and colors than any fashion lover could want for.

I’d heard great things about the exhibit, so was not surprised to be delighted. I was surprised, however at what a great museum it is over all. I spent most of the day on the 4th floor where they have huge recreations of old homesteads and interior design through the decades (recreated interiors are a favorite of mine in any museum). Also currently on exhibit is an inspiring Kiki Smith retrospective, the famous Judy Chicago “The Dinner Party”, a show of the jewelry of Art Smith that had my head swimming with want (many of the awesome pieces reminded me of what Grace Jones would wear), and he vibrant exhibition called Extended Family that includes work from sculptor Nick Cave, Nina Chanel Abnay, and Vadis Turner.

So, lovers of decorative arts take the 2/3 train and prepare to spend a day on the 4th floor in pure happiness. Plus! They allow non flash photography!

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Posted on June 27, 2010

at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

I will always be giddily happy with any museum or gallery show that lets me ogle unbelievable bead work, divine draping, stunning silhouettes, and incredible fabrics. The vintage clothes, from the 1900s to the 1940s presented with great headpieces and backdrops at the Met’s American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity made me and friend Stacy dizzy with pleasure and whispering about details we col hardly contain our excitement about.

Still, like all the fashion oriented shows at the Met, it was not without its flaws. I can only guess that the Costume Institute is limited in its funds compared to other wings, because the shows are always boxed off into some very tight corridors that become at times wildly packed with visitors exclaiming that “no one would really wear that” (ha!). Any room with video playing gets instantly bottle-necked and with no room to really stand back from the garments, much patience is needed to get a good, unobstructed view.

We were a little surprised to find the first “Heiress” room filled exclusively with Worths (not that we’d say no to a Worth or, pun intended under estimate his Worth as one of the most amazing couturiers if his time) but there were other designers of the era. The room for the suffragettes pretty much screamed “boring!” – all the wool suits were pushed in the corners with little fanfare, but my biggest gripe was the abrupt and undignified end. After the dreamy Starlet clothes of the  and 40s, we’re accosted by a bright screen of alternating images of modern beauties (like Jennifer Aniston, of course) and a blaring loop of the title sharing Lenny Kravitz song. After all this dimly lit beauty what were they trying to say? That true style ended in the over 60 years ago and now it’s all pop and noise? Probably not the intention.

Still, with the unusual limited time frame of the show (would have assumed The American Woman had some sartorial significance for the past few decades) and the limits of the space, once again The Met delivered with the actual clothes and styling, both amazing. Worth a visit before it closes August 1.

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Posted on May 31, 2010