Posts Tagged ‘The Met’

How to Celebrate the Year of the Ox in New York City

Lunar New Year begins on February 12 this year, continuing for two weeks through February 26. This year is the Year of the Ox signifying strength and honesty, characteristic attributed to this highly valued animal. The Lunar New Year is a festival of unity, a way for friends and family to come together whether virtually or in-person to enjoy traditions that will bring good fortune for the coming year. Traditional red lanterns, dragons, wishing trees, lion dances, and, of course, food, mark this important holiday. It’s a time when families celebrate the transition between zodiac signs.

On the Waterfront

Courtesy Westfield World Trade Center

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey celebrate Lunar New Year all week, in partnership with Westfield World Trade Center and the China Institute, with a weeklong series of activities at the World Trade Center. Instruction in virtual dumping making, watercolor calligraphy and paper cutting are highlights. Register online where you can also view the schedule of events. And, don’t forget to look up — the Oculus, Goethals Bridge, Bayonne Bridge and JFK Tower will shine in red and gold to commemorate the Year of the Ox.

Lunar Ice - Courtesy Brookfield Place

Brookfield Place is holding its annual Chinese New Year celebration in person, adapted this year to meet all safety procedures. On the shopping center’s Waterfront Plaza, Lunar Ice showcases ice sculptures by New York City-based art collective, Okamoto Studio on February 12 and 13. Turn your smartphone’s camera to selfie mode to use the new Transform Yourself! Instagram Filter, made especially to commemorate Chinese New Year. Warm up indoors where you can participate in another  Lunar Year tradition, receiving a red envelope. Red is regarded as the symbol of energy, happiness and good luck. If you spend $200 or more in the shops, you’ll be rewarded with a Lucky Red Envelope with a gift card inside with an amount including a lucky Chinese 8.

Virtual Celebrations

Lunar New Year Festival - Courtesy The Metropolitan Museum of Art

A family favorite, The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s annual Lunar New Year Festival goes virtual this year beginning with pre-recorded videos on February 12 and virtual programming on February 13. The celebration of the Year of the Ox is filled with performances, interactive activities and artist-led workshops for all ages.  Highlights include a sketching session for teens with inspiration from The Met Collection, and a dance and musical performance by the New York Korean Performing Arts Center in The Met’s Astor Court. Teaching artists will provide instruction in making a nature-inspired confetti popper, a zodiac animal charm and a puppet of a dragon, an important symbol in Chinese culture that possesses great power, dignity and wisdom.

Courtesy Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company

Music, dance and acrobatics are featured in Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company’s special production for the Chinese New Year.  The company, a favorite among New York and New Jersey audiences, presents a series of events online for a colorful and vibrant celebration on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 11, 12 and 13. Programming highlights the Company’s repertory along with special guests including the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, the Renaissance Chinese Opera Society, toe tip acrobat Lina Liu, and Master Balancing Acrobat Yang XiaoDi. You won’t want to miss the spectacular Dragon Dance, Lion Dance and performances by two Chinese rappers.

Courtesy Watson Adventures

NYC-based Watson Adventures is hosting a virtual scavenger hunt for people to virtually celebrate New Year in Asia with Around the World Scavenger Hunt:  The Asia Pacific Game. After watching giant panda Xia Qi Ji frolicking in the snow this week at Washington, DC’s National Zoo, everyone will enjoy a look at these adorable animals in China’s Wolong Grove and more. The one-hour hunt is scheduled for Saturday, February 13 at 4pm for teams of 2-6 people.

What to Eat and Drink

Courtesy Mansa Tea

NYC’s Mansa Tea invites you to a traditional tea ceremony led by Ashley Lim, certified tea sommelier and company founder. According to Lim, enjoying tea re-affirms ties of kinship and friendship. Observed differently this year, you can enjoy this tasting event with your friends and families in a socially distanced setting. Tasting kits with a variety of aged teas are sent to your home in advance. If there’s a range of ages in your group, it’s traditional for tea to be served to the oldest person first who then passes it to the youngest.

Courtesy Baldor Specialty Foods

Making dumplings is a family tradition during Lunar New Year. Dumplings, like other foods chosen for the holiday, embody good fortune and family unity.  Baldor Specialty Foods has teamed up with NYC’s popular dumpling shop, Mimi Cheng’s to deliver a DIY dumpling kit with pork and chive filling, fresh pre-rolled thin dumpling skins, hand-rolled scallion packages, and a bottle of Mimi’s famous “secret” sauce.

Courtesy Milu

For a full Lunar Year culinary experience, Milu, the new casual Chinese concept from Eleven Madison Park, has arranged a Chinese feast for pick-up. Chef Connie Chung’s eight-dish dinner includes whole salt-baked black bass, shrimp spring rolls, wontons, sesame noodles, Chinese chicken soup, blood orange buns and more.

Soogil (c) Lily Brown

Lunar Year is important to Korean families as well. Eaten for good luck, Tteokguk is a beef broth based soup (guk) served with a thinly sliced rice cakes (tteok) as well as seasoned beef, julienned boiled eggs and seaweed. The rice cakes’ round shape resembles coins which symbolize wealth and prosperity in the coming year.  For the holiday, Soogil will include the soup with all tasting menu orders on February 11 and 12. If you’re in midtown, Yoon Haeundae Galbi invites you to enjoy it in their outdoor structure.

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Outdoor and Indoor Museum Exhibits to See This Winter

While most entertainment is shut down in New York City, museums provide a welcome diversion that’s both socially distanced and enlightening. Two museums invite you to view their current feature installation from outdoors, free of charge. Four invite you in from the cold to view exhibits that will not last as long.

The Bronx Museum of the Arts

http://www.bronxmuseum.org

#SeeMeBronx

Through May 24

Bronx Museum of the Arts - Installation Image by Becca Guzzo

Celebrating the Bronx Museum of the Arts’ 50th anniversary, #SeeMeBronx is an interactive project about visibility, intersectionality and identity. Visitor participation is encouraged and all you need to do is write a question about any of the three topics on a sign and take a selfie of yourself with it. You then post your selfie and tag @bronxmuseum with the hashtag #seemebronx. The Museum creates a changing selection of submissions, which are then included on the installation on the outside of the museum.

The Jewish Museum

https://thejewishmuseum.org

“All the Stars in the Sky Have the Same Face”

Through February 2021

Lawerence Weiner, All the Stars Have the Same Face. The Jewish Museum, NY. Photo: Liz Ligon.

On the museum’s Fifth Avenue façade, you’ll see the building-wide banner “All the Stars in the Sky Have the Same Face” by New York City artist Lawrence Weiner. The two-story red, white and blue banner imparts a plea for shared humanity. The banner was born out of Weiner’s many years of reading messages on walls all over New York and he views these walls, like the walls of the museum, as a canvas for communicating important messages. The sentence itself derives from a Yiddish saying that Weiner has reconceived in response to anti-Semitism, xenophobia and racism, writing the words in English, Hebrew and Arabic to emphasize inclusiveness.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

www.metmuseum.org

“About Time: Fashion and Duration”

Through February 7

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - About Time: Fashion and Duration

In a sleek serpentine display of black silhouettes, mirrors and a pendulum that ticks off the years and moments of a timeline, two rooms of paired designs show the influence of past creations on later ones. Each creation is displayed in black to emphasize comparability. Contrasts in shape, material and decoration are discussed with many earlier designs looking as fresh as their more recent counterparts. Designers include Cristóbal Balenciaga, Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior, Tom Ford, Hubert de Givenchy, Christian Dior, Gabrielle Chanel, Alexander McQueen and other fashion-world cognoscenti. Timed tickets are required, and tickets are limited.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

https://www.guggenheim.org

“Countryside, The Future”

Through February 15

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum - Countryside, The Future

Heavy on text and environmental and cultural references, “Countryside, The Future” lines the entire spiral of the museum, focusing on differences and evolutions in city and country living over the years. Even more relevant today than when the exhibit first opened in February 2020 (and then closed due to the pandemic), the contrasts of country concerns with the problems of the urban life spark a growing contemplation of our current situation. Whereas the movement to the country might have seemed to be gradual and remote, isolationist, or perhaps more of an environmental or political reactiveness last year, the outflow now holds extended relevance and invites closer reading of the dense texts that discuss the forces, ecosystems and other motivators to the present. The exhibit was organized by Dutch architect and theorist Rem Koolhaas with a team of researchers and was five years in the making.

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art

www.moma.org

“Handles”

Through February 2021

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art - Handles - Photo By: Dennis Doorly

“Handles,” a site-specific commission by Korean artist Haegue Yang for MoMA’s Marron Atrium, features six sculptures with a variety of geometries that combine with light and sound. As conceived by Yang, Handles are points of attachment and material catalysts for movement and change. Some clearly represent door handles, some move with tones of bells or rattles. A subtle background of bird sounds recorded in the DMZ between North and South Korea during the 2018 summit adds a haunting soundtrack. The effect is a sensory experience with mixed-in historical references.

Whitney Museum of American Arts

http://whitney.org/collections

“Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945”

Through January. 31

Whitney Museum of American Arts - Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945

A striking exhibit of three Mexican muralists alongside their American contemporaries, “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945” presents approximately 200 works by 60 artists. Pieces by Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros acknowledge the influence of these painters on art in the United States during the twenty-year period. Of particular note is the reproduction of Diego Rivera’s controversial mural “Man at the Crossroads” removed from Rockefeller Center due to the inclusion of Vladimir Lenin. Also mounted are never-before-shown sketches of this giant mural.

Much like the city that never sleeps, online never sleeps either, so you can tour these museums virtually as well.

Google Arts & Culture

This non-profit initiative by Google Arts & Culture is a compendium of NYC museums and cultural institutions around the world available 24/7 with virtual tours. https://artsandculture.google.com

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Part I: Museums and Noshing on the Upper East Side

Museum Mile on the Upper East Side is a destination unto itself.  You can literally walk for miles once you add your steps through all the wonderful galleries at the Met, the Whitney and Guggenheim, and that’s only a start.  Here are some of my favorites pit stops to refuel as you immerse yourself in NYC culture.  Watch next week for “where to eat” on the Upper West Side.  Remember, most museums are closed on Monday, so check the schedules carefully.

More on Part I: Museums and Noshing on the Upper East Side

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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Museums that Invite You to Soak up the Art… with Drinks and Music

Even the city that never sleeps has something for its art lovers  — cocktail parties!  At a number of the city’s top museums — sometimes with free admission — nights become the best time to soak up some culture with gentle prices.   Take advantage of these after-dark events, and live out your own “Night at the Museum” fantasy without breaking the bank.

Morgan Museum

Manuscripts, memoirs, and music highlight the collection at Midtown’s Morgan Museum with refreshments just up the stairs at the delightful Morgan Café (open until 8pm).  Admission is free on Fridays from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Through March 2010, explore the life of novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) at the “A Woman’s Wit” exhibit which showcases Austen’s personal letters, finished and unfinished manuscripts, and drawings.  The exhibit also includes a short documentary featuring interviews about Austen’s legacy.  After exploring her life, get a taste of the 19th century with the Morgan Café’s Americano Cocktail, dating back to 1860.

225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, Manhattan, (212) 685-0008

Rubin Art Museum

Opened in 2004, the Himalayan culture museum, located in Chelsea, has both beautiful artwork and delicious cocktails.  Friday nights, the café becomes the K2 Lounge, and drinks are served 2-for-1 between 6 and 7pm.  To sweeten the deal, gallery admission is free from 7 – 10 on Friday, for a bit of culture after your cocktails.

150 West 17th Street, Manhattan, (212) 620-5000

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Fridays and Saturdays between 4 and 8:30pm, venture uptown to witness the Met’s transformation into a cocktail lounge.  The Great Hall Balcony Bar on the second floor is the setting for live classical music and drinks.  Try a signature drink like the Apple Martini to enhance this exciting Big Apple experience.  The museum closes at 9 so you’ll still have ½ hour to check out one last art exhibit before you have to leave.

(In the summer, the rooftop is the place to go for top-notch cocktails amid the sculpture exhibits with knockout views of Fifth Avenue and Central Park).

1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street,Manhattan, (212) 535-7710

Hayden Planetarium at the Museum of Natural History

SonicVision, a digitally animated alternative music show, has Space Oddity written all over it.  Presented on select Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 and 8:30pm, this musical and visual event features a mix by Moby, with tracks by Radiohead, David Bowie, The Flaming Lips, David Byrne, and more for only $15 ($12 for members).  Like a Pink Floyd Laser Show for Generation Y, SonicVision provides an eye (and ear)-opening experience like no other.  No cocktails are served, however – you’ll have to wait until the show is over to check out some of Columbus Avenue’s nearby watering holes.

Central Park West at 79th Street, Manhattan, (212) 769-5200

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Art After Dark, First Fridays is the Guggenheim Museum’s signature party event the first Friday of every month.  Capacity is limited so members get priority and free admission.  Admission for all others is $25 (cash only) for a full night of music played by some of NYC’s best DJs and a night of wandering among some of the best art in the city.  Doors open at 9pm, and the party swings until 1am!  Cash bar.

Also try the wonderful new Wright restaurant and its bar downstairs, open at least until 11pm on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

1071 Fifth Avenue at 88th Street, Manhattan, (212) 423 3500

Brooklyn Art Museum

At the Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturdays, visitors are invited to enjoy free programs of art, entertainment, and dancing the first Saturday of each month from 5 to 11 pm. To add to the party atmosphere, the Museum Café serves sandwiches, salads, and beverages, and a cash bar offers wine and beer. Parking is a flat rate of $4 starting at 5 p.m. All other Saturdays, the museum closes at 6pm.

200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000

Modern Museum of Art

MoMA invites visitors to start their weekends early by heading to the museum the first Thursday of each month, better known as “MoMA Nights.” MoMA remains open on these special evenings until 8:45 pm and includes free gallery talks, audio tours, and film screenings with the price of regular admission.  Café 2, the Italian-themed restaurant on the second floor, offers a fabulous three-course prix fixe dinner for only $25 on these evenings, and a cash bar is available in the main atrium where a DJ spins great beats for the evening.

11 West 53rd Street, Manhattan, (212) 708-9400

Posted by Meryl Pearlstein
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