CITYist

What’s better than gazing at Jeff Koons’ giant balloon dog and heart sculptures? Owning a car by the famed pop artist, that’s what. Koons has adapted James Bond’s ride of choice, the Aston Martin Black DBS, with an all-over psychedelic print. The colors are designed to deflect light, while the interior is outfitted in black leather with silver stitching. We’d imagine arriving to a party in this pop mobile would certainly make a statement.

Amazing news: CITY is getting its very own mural over at the intersection of Crosby and Broome in Soho. Don’t let your eyes fool you, this isn’t an ad for Bushmills. If you squint, you can make out the lines spelling out CITY (hey, these pics are from yesterday, and it was only day two). Advertisement in the form of art? Sounds good to us. We’ll keep you posted on the progress (and look for more photos after the jump).

If Andy Warhol was a woman, and that woman was a garden, how might it grow? Photographers Paul Solberg and Christopher Makos, longtime friends who collaborate in a prank-infused partnership dubbed “The Hilton Brothers,” set out to answer this strange question in their exhibit “Andy Dandy.” The show is a collection of diptyches—paired pictures—with Warhol in drag and vibrant blooms.

Have You Heard? is our weekly roundup of items we may have previously missed (or would like to remind you of again). So as you plan the week ahead, take a look at our cherry-picked selections of what’s hot in art, music, film and fashion right now.

At times colorless color can hold the most complexity. Miles Mendenhall’s solo show of grey, white and black screenprints opening at HALF GALLERY on Tuesday, August 24 proves this with an uncommon vibrancy. The intimate space is well-suited to host the reflective work of this young, talented finalist from Bravo’s Work of Art. (On a side note, check out judge Bill Power’s article on the show.) The Midwesterner, whose innocent fresh face could be more easily seen as a Disney channel heartthrob than a rising art world star, is exploring the subjectivity of digital distortion in this show.

Fans of nudity rejoice: now you can marvel in public nudity in a completely socially acceptable manner. Every Thursday night through September 9th, stop by CV on the Lower East side (105 Rivington St.) for a live nude art exhibit. Known as Statue Garden, the spectacle features nude art models to the beat of pulsating music, only during the mood-setting night time hours from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. On paper, Statue Garden sounds rather scandalous, but relax, people. This is art.

Brazilian graffiti duo Os Gemeos (that’s “the twins” in Portuguese) have teamed up with fellow artist Futura2000 to create a mural of monolothic proportions, appropriately titled the Giant Project. Painted on the side of PS 11 Elementary School (W 21st between 8th and 9th), the giant stands what appears to be at least five stories tall. The yellow-skinned, Matt Groening-esque figure sports a pair of patchwork pants made up of various world flags. According to Os Gemeos, the idea was to signify “unity, a world without borders, combined to form ‘one world one voice.’” Click through to see a series of photographs of the giant in various stages of completion.

Bemoan the fact that Ikea has conducted an international takeover of home furnishings all you want, but there’s no denying the brand’s influence. And in the scheme of things, the Swedish monolith is pretty damn innovative. Take, for example, this sculpture erected in London’s Barbican Centre. Donned “Surrealistika,” the work consists of an enormous white birch tree flanked by Ikea appliances. Of course, there’s a green message here—that we should apply sustainability to hearth and home, or dishwasher, to be exact. But we just think it’s pretty, especially when lit up by purple or green lights. Check out more photos and a video of its construction after the jump.

There’s no better place to nurture and celebrate the creative mind than in New York City. It’s fitting, then, that every year the most radical (and impressive) assortment of performances and presentations takes place here, in the form of the New York International Fringe Festival. Twenty venues dispersed downtown will open their doors to fans of all art forms: film, improv, stand-up, performance art, the musical—you name it, it’s on the Fringe Festival’s lineup. On opening day alone (August 13), choose from the comprehensive list of shows, including a burlesque musical (SHINE), a murder mystery (Ruby Wilder), a sex sketch (Love In The Time of Swine Flu) and a political drama (Picking Palin). We’ve got a photographic preview for you after the jump.

Have You Heard? is our weekly roundup of items we may have previously missed (or would like to remind you of again). So as you plan the week ahead, take a look at our cherry-picked selections of what’s hot in art, music, film and fashion right now.

Brazilian ad agency Moma channeled Don Draper and Peggy Olson with a set of fictional ads that have been floating around the Internet. With posters for Facebook, Youtube and Skype, the ads imagine how these modern technologies would be marketed circa 1963—and the results are appropriately Jetsons-inspired. The sepia-toned posters boast such chipper slogans as, “Striking, Miraculous Social Team-up!” and are as clean as an episode of Leave it to Beaver. Regardless of the white bread tone, there’s something rather refreshing about the mom and pop attitude—when the world was as simple as a line of good copy. Read on to see them all.

In a small, nearly hidden section of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 44 photographs are now on display that offer a snapshot of New York in days gone by. “Hipsters, Hustlers and Handball Players,” a collection featuring the work of the late Leon Levinstein, will be on view through October 17th. Though born in West Virigina, Levinstein eventually moved to the city and focused his lens on everyday New Yorkers from the beat scene of the 50s through the drug culture of the 80s. Close-ups often prevent identification of the surrounding scene, but some of his favorite settings included Times Square, the Lower East Side and Coney Island—places that were always hip but not always happy and often infested with drugs, prostitution and crime.

Have any guesses on who the Next Great Artist is? CITY’s Contributing Editor Bill Powers knows—since he’s a judge that will eliminate another hopeful contestant tonight on Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist.

Bill Powers along with China Chow

Generally, a leather handbag boutique is the last place you’d expect an art installation. But that’s just what you’ll get when you set foot in Parisian accessory designer Jérôme Dreyfuss’s Broome Street store this summer. Citing Palm Springs as inspiration (the starting point for the current handbag line, as well) artist Julien Gardair took the unlikely medium of masking tape and created an oasis of abstract palm fronds, rays of sunshine and general desert flora and fauna.

Have You Heard? is our weekly roundup of items we may have previously missed (or would like to remind you of again). So as you plan the week ahead, take a look at our cherry-picked selections of what’s hot in art, music, film and fashion right now.

Besides the breathtaking views and the reasonably priced food and drinks, (well, for New York City at least), the Metropolitan Museum rooftop is offering yet another reason to head up to the top: Big Bambu. This intense, ever-evolving bamboo structure is the creation of twin brothers Doug and Mike Starn, best known for their “See it split, see it change” permanent installation at the South Ferry Station 1 line subway terminal.

Those with nervous disorders or photosensitive epilepsy may do best to stay away from the New Museum from July 7 until Oct. 3 thanks to Brion Gysin: Dream Machine.

As if Governors Island doesn’t already offer enough reasons to leave the over-crowded (and during the summer, over-heated) streets of Manhattan’s mainland, you now have one more reason to venture over to New York’s other isle starting this June. This year, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council began a program of year-round artist residencies, and will kick off a summer filled with exhibitions on June 5th.

What happens when you take seven talented artists, the novel Art & Lies by Jeannette Winterson and free reign? Spazi Sergreti, or Mendacity, Mood exhibit at the Centotto in Brooklyn. Featured artists include: Deborah Brown, Jenn Brehm, Mary Kate Maher, Karilyn Johanesen and more. It’s a visual feast of prose as the artists dissect and interpret the author’s rich narrative, resulting in something truly unique. But it doesn’t stop there. Curator Paul D’Agostino then asked the artists to select and rewrite memorable passages from the novel by hand, which will be apart of a second show, Citational Graphologies, or A Show of Hands (or “the handwriting show,” as D’Agostino has joked). In a world of email, texting and reading 50 characters or less, we’d say that’s rather refreshing.

Retro/Active, the exhibit at El Museo Del Barrio, is a contradiction–one which accurately describes Rafael Ferrer, who’s worked for more than half a century and is still working today. Unfortunately, Ferrer never rose to the same fame of other 20th century contemporary artists, like say, Picasso or, Matisse, but his notable work is fueled by a passion and curiosity for life: the Puerto Rican-born artist draws on everything from his love of jazz to snippets of life in his Caribbean homeland.

Who knew booze was so beautiful? Bevshots, perhaps the most ingenious art/science/commerce combo venture we’re ever heard of, crystalizes various alcoholic beverages on lab slides and photographs them under light microscopes. The result are stunning, psychedelic images of the drinks’ molecular makeup, electrified with color. Mint Julip? Black and tan? Vodka Tonic? Chances are there’s a print of your poison of choice. Ranging from $37.99 all the way up to $549, most pieces fall way below normal modern art prices. Plus, it gives you the chance to say things like, “Oh that? That’s just my American Light Lager.” To infuriate art classicists and take a peek at our favorites, read on. And remember: next time you’re downing that margarita, consider it a work of art.

Mid-century painter Jack Tworkov, often grouped in with Pollock and De Kooning, spent his summers on Provincetown. Some of the artist’s most prolific periods happened in the seaside community on the tip of Cape Cod–so it’s not surprising that his works have found their way back there. Previously shown in New York, Jack Tworkov: Against Extremes / Five Decades of Painting has been expanded to include more pieces by the abstract expressionist, whose art could go from wild brush strokes of color to abstract representations of every day life. Some of them invoke a feeling or place more than any tangible thing, which, of course, is their triumph.

The MoMA’s upcoming exhibition, starting July 18th, follows Henri Matisse from Morocco to Paris and finally Nice in the years 1913 through 1917. Cubism and modernism were pulling the art world in a new direction, and Matisse was not immune to this pull. His work, focusing on the human form (particularly bathers, as seen in the famous work Bathers by a River) and iconic scenery (View of Notre Dame), produced a particular brand of abstract painting—geometric and spare, but full of grace. Matisse’s swooping lines and washed out color palette of greys, greens and blues makes many of the works look as if they’re underwater, sharp edges and detail smoothed away, colors rinsed.

Have you been keeping up with Work of Art on Bravo? Our very own art columnist Bill Powers is one of the show’s judges. Check out his article for CITY on the contestants, his fellow judges, and what it takes to be the “Next Great Artist.”

In between challenges, Work of Art contestant Peregrine Honig drew this sketch of the show’s judges Bill Powers, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Jerry Saltz, and host China Chow.