Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
New York's big-money art scene has put most of its eggs in one basket by clustering galleries between Tenth and
Eleventh avenues. For the gallery fan, this means you can visit hundreds of shows without ever leaving
the lower
West 20s.
The geography also rewards the serendipitous, allowing for quick pop-ins at randomly selected spaces.
Not interested in a bunch of paint splotches on Brillo pads? Pop right back out. My favorite strategy is to write
down some interesting-sounding shows from the listings and then hit a few of their unlisted neighbors. With
floor after floor of galleries in the old warehouse buildings here, you're bound to find something of interest.
Subway: C/E to 23rd St.
David Zwirner
One of many SoHo refugees, Zwirner shows a range of interesting, inventive art, usually
from emerging artists. His Chelsea holdings cover three separate spaces on West 19th Street.
519, 525, and 533 W. 19th St., btw. Tenth Ave. and West St.
212/727-2070.
www.davidzwirner.com
.
Gagosian Gallery
Perhaps the heaviest hitter around, this gallery puts on major shows in a space large
enough to accommodate sculptures by Richard Serra.
555 W. 24th St. and 522 W. 21st St., btw. Tenth and Eleventh aves. Other location:
UpperEastSide,
980 Madison Ave., btw. 76th and 77th sts.
212/741-1111.
www.gagosian.com
.
Matthew Marks Gallery
Matthew Marks has built a mini-empire in west Chelsea. His four galleries show
top-tier painting, photography, and sculpture.
523 W. 24th St.; 502 W. 22nd St.; 522 W. 22nd St.; 526 W. 22nd St., btw. Tenth and Eleventh aves.
212/243-0200.
www.matthewmarks.com
.
SoHo's Secret Installations
The
DIAFoundationfortheArts
(
212/989-5566;
www.diacenter.org
) maintains a pair of hidden galleries with ec-
centric conceptual works by Walter De Maria. Both galleries are open Wednesday to Sunday from noon to 6pm (closed
3-3:30pm).
NewYorkEarthRoom
Just like the name says, this is a room full of dirt. Really—140 tons of soil filling up a SoHo loft
to a depth of almost 2 feet. It's an oddly compelling sight in the middle of the city, and the rich earthy scent is almost
refreshing. 141 Wooster St., btw. Houston and Prince sts.
www.earthroom.org
.
TheBrokenKilometer
A few blocks away you can find a gallery floor covered with orderly rows of solid brass rods.
Placed end to end, the 500 rods would stretch exactly—yup, 1 kilometer. (Its sister piece, a sculpture with identical, un-
broken brass rods buried vertically in the ground, is in Germany.) 393 West Broadway, btw. Spring and Broome sts.
Downtown
In the early and mid-'80s, the headquarters of New York's avant-garde was the East Village. Tiny galleries dotted
the landscape and helped break the era's big names. The stock market crash of '87 put an abrupt end to frivol-
ous spending, and most of the galleries withered away. It's taken more than 2 decades, but galleries are just now
returning. Throughout the
East Village
and
Lower East Side,
and even into
Chinatown,
storefront operations
are coming to life. SoHo, conversely, continues to atrophy as an art scene. The galleries can't afford the rents, al-
though a few top-rate institutions remain firmly embedded in the area.
Subway:
SoHo,
N/R to Prince St.; C/E to Spring St.
LowerEastSide/Chinatown,
B/D to Grand St.; F to Delancey St.; J/M/Z to Essex St.
East
Village,
F to Second Ave.
AIA New York Chapter Center for Architecture
The exhibits here tend to be esoteric, geared more to the
professional architect than the public at large. The space is interesting, however, with a nice layout. Beneath the
