NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I dropped by the Matthew Marks Gallery to catch up with a show on landscape called La Carte d’aprês Nature. It caught my attention because it included a dozen or so images by Luigi Ghirri, who we collect. Interesting show. I was there with my Leica M9 and 28mm Summicron lens.
From the street walking back from the gallery.
On this day one year ago: New Milford Connecticut. I said that this is a crap town a year ago and I’m sticking with my story.
BEIJING – We spent the morning in the 798 Art District. It started out ten years ago in a gallery in disused factory that had previously been used by the military to manufacture electronic components – 798 was the number on the building. It has expanded to 300 or so exhibition spaces, all privately owned, in an eclectic jumble. The streets were packed with artists, patrons, tourists, wannabes and so on. Wedding frequently take place there. The vibe is similar to New York’s SoHo and the prices are the same – there is apparently a truly global art market. There are major spaces operated by major players. Pace is there, for example, in a monumental space that featured works by and about Diane Von Furstenberg
The following two images were taken with my Leica M9 and a 35mm Summilux lens.
Two images with my 24mm Summilux lens.
Finally, back in central Beijing taken with my Leica M9 and a 50mm Summilux lens – this is two frames stitched.
On this day one year ago: my blog crashes.
NEW YORK NEW YORK – I spent this evening at the Armory Show, a major annual art show held here in New York. It was held this year on Piers 92 and 94 on the Hudson River. Pier 92 was focused primarily on modern – I spent most of my time there. Why is it called the “Armory Show”? I guess because it used to be held in the Seventh Regiment Armory on Park Avenue, but has clearly outgrown that space. It was a nice chance to catch up with my old friends James Barron, an art dealer based in Rome and Kent Connecticut, and Jeanette Montgomery Barron, a prominent photographer.
There was a lot that was of interest, but nothing new or radical. Here’s my picture for the day, captured with my Panasonic GH2 and a 20mm pancake lens:
On this day one year ago: Cholla, Joshua Tree National Park.
More images from the Armory Show picking up on some of the themes. As I said, nothing really new.
KENT CONNECTICUT – This is Presidents Day so we spent the day in Connecticut. We drove over to Kent, a good-sized village that’s a 20 minute or so drive from Warren. The name “Kent” is an example of the lack of imagination of the English settlers in this area. Not even “New Kent”. Perhaps “Kent-On-The-Tundra” would have been better, recognizing the colder climate here.
My sister in law, Francesca Barra, was with me and I wanted to show her Belgique, a remarkable chocolate and pastry shop owned by a former White House chef and his wife. We bought chocolate truffles and chocolate covered candied ginger. I have no idea of why or how this guy ended up here; his work is world class; he would be highly popular in New York or even Paris.
I took a lot of pictures in the village – this is my favorite for the day. It’s a caboose that houses an art gallery called, fittingly, the Kent Caboose Gallery. It was previously called the Paris-New-York-Kent Gallery (1984 – 2006), a rather grand name given its lilliputian size. I suspect that it was intended ironically. It was the first gallery in Kent. Photographed with my Alpa TC, a 35mm APO Schneider lens and a 60 meg Hasselblad digital back.
On this day one year ago: A doll house sized arts center near Milford PA. Photographed in infrared with my Leica M8.2.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I spent the morning visiting galleries in Chelsea. There was a terrific Hiroshi Sugimoto installation at the Pace. Pictures of “lighting” manufactured by a telsa coil and a few of his much earlier “beyond infinity” seascapes, shown below. My largest regret in life is that I didn’t buy one of these images years ago when they were first offered at $3,500 each (well it seemed like a lot of money at the time). Here’s a link to Sugimoto’s seascapes.
I also spent some time with Elizabeth Kabler, a friend of my daughter’s and now a friend of mine, at her gallery Skylight Projects.
From this day one year ago: Approach to the Brooklyn Bridge.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – I had lunch at Columbia today. This is an Henry Moore sculpture on the bridge that crosses Amsterdam Avenue from the Law School, an otherwise bare and uninviting space. The Moore is actually too small for the site and is located on a spot where there is no reason to walk past it.
On this day one year ago: Boston sunrise.
LONDON, ENGLAND – We spent the day dodging the Pope who is here on a historical state visit (but if I want to see the Pope I’ll go to Rome and security measures here snarled up traffic). We spent the day on foot, starting at the sensational Eadweard Muybridge show at the Tate Britain; catching a street food lunch in Chelsea near the Saatchi Gallery; a few well-spent hours in the Saatchi Gallery; and finally tea at the V&A. I had difficulty selecting so I’ve posted three images – I may winnow a bit further with a future edit. All images are with a Leica M9 and 30-year old 35mm Summicron lens.
