La “Belle époque” by Michael Kalish along the Hudon River

This glorious 14-foot tall three dimensional sculpture, unveiled in the Hudson River Park a few weeks ago, has for name la “Belle époque” and was created by the American artist Michael Kalish for Perrier-Jouet.
 

Here’s a nice video showing the creation of the artwork. I also suggest you take a look at the artist’s website as it shows his work very well. Finally, I’ve found this CBS report explaining how Kalish, who mainly works with metal, has been using old license plates to create portraits – including a series of presidents – and other artworks picturing his own take on the United States' culture.

2012 Tribeca Film Festival

I have to admit that I was really lazy in my job search last week… I preferred going to the movies instead of passing my days on the computer looking for my next professional challenge. But all for good reason: It was my first Tribeca Film Festival. 

Getting ready for a film screening at
the School of Visual Arts Theatre

Founded in 2002, the Tribeca Film Festival is a relatively recent but already famous and major New York spring event dedicated to independent cinema. Created in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks and the consequent loss of vitality in the Lower Manhattan’s TriBeCa neighborhood, the festival was the initiative of the American film producer Jane Rosenthal, the renowned actor, director and producer Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff, a New York real estate investor and philanthropist. Its mission is to help filmmakers reach the broadest possible audience, enable the international film community and general public to experience the power of cinema and promote New York City as a major film making center.

Expat stories: Claire from Central Park Wedding

This week, I am happy to publish my first expat interview – I have wanted to do this since the beginning of this blog. Claire is a British expat who moved to NYC in January 2011, following her boyfriend who had a job offer.  She got married in Central Park and guess what… she now runs her own business specialized in weddings in this beautiful landmark of Manhattan. I really admire her entrepreneurship!
 
I always enjoy hearing about expats or NYC lovers experiences, so don’t hesitate to contact me for an interview or if you wish to submit a blog post; I would love to hear about your story!
 

Claire, you’ve been in the City for more than a year now… What do you think about New York?
Americans think New York is an unfriendly place. I suggest they take a trip to London, to put things in perspective. There, you might be lying in a gutter, clutching your chest and gasping for air and people might still give you a (polite) kick as they step over you. 
 
I made numerous friends more quickly in New York than anywhere else I have lived.  We found a flat on the Upper East Side and I furnished it with Craigslist, I went to a Brooklyn woman's apartment to try out her sofa, it was nice, but too expensive but she was pretty great, and has become one of my closest New York friends. 

Penn Station’s work of art

This wall mural was created by the artist Andrew Leicester and is part of Ghost Series, which consists of five monumental bas-relief terra cotta artworks installed throughout the station. All 5 pieces evoke the 1910 Pennsylvania Station building, the Penn Station’s predecessor, which was demolished in 1963.

Super Mario Invader on West 23rd Street

Are you familiar with the Invader phenomenon? Perhaps one of the most recognizable street art stunts of the last decade, Space invaders appeared in Paris in 1998 thanks to an anonymous French urban artist who began assembling characters made of small coloured square mosaic tiles in the City. 

Inspired by the popular 1980’s Space invaders arcade game – and renowned to be an invasion – the eccentric artistic approach was soon transported in other cities around the world; you can now find these little pixelized characters – the tiles perfectly represent the pixels of this vintage game with low-resolution graphics – in New York, LA, San Diego as well as tens of European and Asian cities.

Paul Richard: Taking street art to another level

Walking in New York is usually more about looking up than looking down but in certain areas of the city, there may be good reasons to look at what is happening at your feet. 

I recently discovered a New York street artist named Paul Richard and the more I learn about his work, the more I am crazy about it. This man – like many other street artists I agree – has been working for years at turning New York into a giant art gallery that all citizens and visitors can enjoy constantly and for free. And with him, street art is taken to another level…

Another Riverside park work of art

To add to the picture and information I published last week about the program Model To Monument and the numerous pieces of public art in Riverside Park, here is another beautiful artwork; it is perfectly integrated in its urban landscape.

  
The picture was taken with Instagram and the filter Nashville.

Meatpacking Graffiti

I really enjoy street art and I think I will never get bored of taking pictures of graffiti. This one was discovered in the Meatpacking District, more specifically in an indoor parking around 16th Street.

I played a little with the picture using Pixlr-o-Matic but I can’t remember the exact filters.

Beautiful work of art in Riverside Park

In June 2011, some student sculptors were given the chance to unveil their art in front of the entire city. The program Model To Monument allowed them to create a piece of public art from start to finish and to display it in Riverside Park, a popular 266-acre park – designed among others by Frederick Law Olmsted - that stretches along five miles of the Hudson.

This piece of art is a life-size bronze of a girl and her dog looking out on the River. The picture was taken with Instagram.

Sculptures will be displayed until June 2012.

Three shows (among hundreds) to see in Chelsea’s art galleries

These past 15 years, Chelsea has become the world’s most important center for contemporary art by being home to hundreds of art galleries mostly situated in the West part of the neighborhood. The Municipal Art society of New York recently organized a walking tour around the various galleries, allowing us to visit seven very different places with a variety of exhibitions, the aim being to explore what is new and most exciting on the current art scene.
 
Here are my three favorite exhibitions of the tour; this represents a very small fraction of what is available and all choices are totally personal, but hopefully it will encourage you to discover or rediscover Chelsea and its vibrant art community. As many galleries are located within just a few city blocks, it is really easy to visit numerous places in one single afternoon – but this will certainly make you want to come back for more the day after! 

Open House at the Apollo Theater

What better way to celebrate Black History Month than a sweet escapade to Harlem, this major African-American neighborhood of Manhattan. The Apollo Theater, a notorious music hall that is also one of the oldest in the United States, recently held an open house weekend. For the occasion, residents and visitors were offered a glimpse into the Apollo’s rich history, having the chance to explore the neo-classical theater and step onto the legendary stage where many of our favorite African-American performers, among them James Brown, The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Lauryn Hill, have launched their successful careers.

Graffiti marriage proposal

Did you watch this viral 2011 video about a graffiti marriage proposal in East Village? I did when I was still in Montreal and I was so happy, recently, when this famous street art appeared along my path.

Apparently, the artist’s girlfriend was walking to meet him for dinner when she saw the street art. He promptly got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. How adorable…

Happy Valentine's Day!

Punchdrunk’s Sleep no more: I want more

Last week, Martin and I went to see Sleep no more, an immersive theatrical production created by the British site-specific theater company Punchdrunk. The show has been playing for almost a year now in the McKittrick Hotel – a nod to Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” –, a deserted luxury 1930’s hotel situated on West 27th Street, in Chelsea’s gallery district.

A complicated story; an even more complicated experience
Sleep No More tells the very dark and shocking story of Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a creative and unique way: welcomed in a beautifully decorated 1930’s bar, the masked audience – all “guests” are required to wear and keep on a Venetian carnival-style mask to stay anonymous – has for two hours an almost unlimited access to the amazing decor of the six stories pleasure palace, having the great freedom to explore any of the one hundred rooms and chase up the silent characters, choosing where to go and what to see.

Your options are quite simple but might be disconcerting: you can follow one character all evening as they run and dance around the different bedrooms, bathrooms and ballrooms – there is even a hospital room and an outdoor forest – or you can stay in one area, waiting for something meaningful to happen. You can read letters left on desks, take a look in bookcases and get as close as you want to Macbeth and his lady, Macduff and his wife, King Duncan and various witches and hotel employees - as long as you don’t touch them. Half actors half dancers, Sleep no more’s protagonists have certainly the power to make you feel sometimes in an intense and disturbing horror movie, sometimes in a wordless murder mystery evening.

A glimpse into New York’s Chinese New Year festivities

Chinatown becomes a very crazy area during Chinese lunar New Year; there is no better place to make a quiet and peaceful girl like me feel like I’m on another continent, not to say in a completely different world. 

On January 23rd, I participated with excitement in the Firecracker Ceremony, risking my life walking through the frenzied crowds. People go to this famous celebration to welcome local politicians and other community leaders but above all to watch the renowned cultural performances and animals - mostly dragons this year – dancing in the neighborhood’s main streets and parks. Even if it was raining that day, thousands of people were celebrating, bursting firecrackers everywhere to ward off evil spirits – believe me some people are dangerous with these firecracker - , and squabbling for a place to contemplate the numerous beautiful dragons coming out of houses in almost every corner of Chinatown.