Quintessentially New York -||- Essentially Seventies
New York Portrait, 1970
Susan Hall
Acrylic and graphite pencil on canvas
The Whitney Museum of American Art
September 10th, 2016
Tag: nyc
Woman with Parasol
Cultural fusion (Upper-East-Side version)
August 27th, 2016
New Yorkers I
Howard Kanovitz
New Yorkers I, 1965
Acrylic, graphite pencil, fabricated chalk on linen
This painting depicts composer Richard Rodgers who, together with Oscar Hammerstein, co-wrote such legendary Broadway musicals as Oklahoma!, South Pacific and the Sound of Music. Howard Kanovitz based the painting on a newspaper photograph because he was impressed by its low definition quality which suggested an isolation of the figures from their environment. It was the same quality that made me want to capture the detail on the first photo above.
September 10th, 2016 at The Whitney
Ethel Scull 36 Times
Love him or hate him, Andy Warhol is one of the most important pop icons of the twentieth century, his art still gaining both in popularity and value. I’m on the side of the haters to be honest, but that doesn’t prevent me from admiring some of his works, like the Screen Tests or this screenprint of Ethel Scull which I audaciously borrowed for my blog profile pic.
”Ethel Scull 36 Times” was one of Warhol’s first commissioned portraits for which he escorted Ethel Scull, a patron and collector of modern art, to a Photomat in Times Square. There, under his direction, they took more than a hundred photos with Ms Scull posing with or without sunglasses, making serious or playful faces; in short having some silly fun. Warhol chose 36 of these poses and here is the end result. What attracts me most about it, is this personification of joie de vivre with a certain je ne sais quoi, emanated from every pose.
Andy Warhol
Ethel Scull 36 Times, 1963
Acrylic and screenprint on canvas
The Whitney Museum of American Art
September 10th, 2016
3 | 2 | 1 – START
2016 ~ Α year in pictures. From Brussels to New York.
Nova Cinema Brussels
Kaaitheater Brussels
Autoworld Brussels
Antwerp ~ playing with infinity
Art Nouveau ”triangle” Antwerp
Day after Zaventem airport and Maelbeek Metro station bombings – Brussels
Bristol, U.K.
Bath, U.K.
Doctor Who Experience, Cardiff
Doctor Who Experience, Cardiff
Garrick Theater, London
Alice in Wonderland, London
Stocklet Brussels
Ouziel Quarter, Thessaloniki
Rotonta, Thessaloniki
Alexandre Iolas, Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki
Accidentally Rothko, wall in Athens’ old town of Plaka
Brussel’s Botanical Garden in Meise
Herakleion, Crete
Lake Kournas, Crete
Vrytomartis Resort, Crete
Chania, Crete
Eratyra, Greece
Nature’s goodies in Eratyra, Greece
Kavala, Greece
Square Ambiorix, Brussels
European Quarter, Brussels
Cité Administrative, Brussels
Broadway, New York
Brooklyn Bridge, New York
Society of Illustrators, New York
Back Room, New York
Rainbow Room, New York
Midtwon New York views
Back Room, New York
HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU ALL!
Stay healthy, live in peace, be cool and keep smiling – because smiling is contagious.
*Click on any one picture to start gallery
Duck Santa
Still waiting for Santa?… I hear you ask, with a bit of eye-rolling in the background.
Well, yes you do, if you’re a Greek kid. For in my country of birth, Santa – or Saint Basil (Agios Vassilios – ‘Αγιος Βασίλειος) to be precise – comes all the way from Caesarea in Asia Minor to bring gifts to the children on December 31st. That’s because the Greek Orthodox Church honours the memory of the kind Saint who was always on the side of the needy aiding the poor, on January 1st. And every Greek family serves vasilopita, a round brioche-like cake with a coin inside. The cake is then swirled around before cutting it in equal pieces for everyone present, not forgetting those living in the family’s memories, the church and, of course, Saint Basil.
Tradition has it that who finds the coin is blessed with good luck the whole year round.
You see my friends, all good things to those who wait…
Quack Quack Quack! Ho Ho Ho!
December 31st, 2016
There can be no X-mas W-out Doctor Who
And the fact that the Doctor landed in New York and joined forces with a brand new superhero in his effort to save Manhattan, made the story all the more poignant.
Also, ”The Return of Doctor Mysterio” marked the return of the universe’s most resilient Doctor on the screens after a full year’s absence, and got us Capaldi-deprived Whovians even more excited about his – eagerly awaited – next adventure.
Viewed on a big screen in AMC Empire 25. Edited to include a link to the current wpc.
December 29th, 2016
Marilyn Pursued
Marilyn Pursued by Death, 1963
Rosalyn Dexler
Acrylic and paper collage on canvas
From the accompanying caption: [… On the day this source photograph was taken in 1956, Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller were to announce their upcoming marriage; in the frenzy to cover the event, a car carrying reporters crashed, killing at least one member of the press. Drexler’s painting is an eerie evocation on the sometimes tragic results of our society’s insatiable desire for celebrity news.]
The Whitney Museum of American Art
September 10th, 2016
Dyker Heights
I was longing to see them up close, the famous Christmas lights in Dyker Heights. These are some of the decorations to be seen between 11th & 14th Avenues and 82nd & 85th Streets. They range from zero to elegant minimal to mesmerizing to hypnotizing to glorious to explosively colourful to downright extravagant. In all cases they are magnificent and are best enjoyed on foot. Choose any route but, whatever you do, save the displays on the Spata house at 1152 84th St. and that of Polizzotto at 1145 84th St. for last. You’ll be so bedazzled everything else will seem just a little bit dimmer (if that is even possible!) next to them.
We took the subway from Manhattan: the D train to Brooklyn Heights until 18th Av. and on the way back, the R train from 86 St. The trip was an hour and-a-half long each way, with a 20-minute walk from/to the subway stations. But it was worth every minute.
December 27th, 2016
The Moth Fairy
Whether you walk on a tightrope or safer roads, follow the Moth Fairy; she will show you the path to where your heart lies. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
December 3rd, 2016
The Humble Fabulist 