picking cichorium

Twiggy by Richard Avedon

Surely I have two midterm exams tomorrow, and my arse will be viciously kicked by Indian MBAs, who, mind you, are no regular MBA students. Many of them are restlessly studying human calculators on steroids. From what I hear, some of them mumble stuff about fixed costs and increasing returns to scale in their sleep. You are right, that is an entirely different story; my point is, this post could not wait.

When Twiggy’s boniness meets Richard Avedon’s hunger for movement, one must postpone her life and take a look. Then one must go further,  gobbling up such photographer’s work. Sure, you can also google “Avedon” and come across all of these photos, but I really really wanted them on my page.

I was alerted to this spasmatic googling by Through the Eyes of Richard Avedon by NYT Style. Thank you!

I saw Il Trovatore at the Metropolitan Opera yesterday. According to the program, David McVicar’s  “look” of the production was taken from Goya’s visuals: “The Third of May, 1808″ and The Disasters of War series.

Goya, Francisco. "The Third of May, 1808." 1814. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

Goya, Francisco. "Great Deeds! Against the Dead!" The Disasters of War, plate 39. 1810-1820

Goya, Francisco. "Not Either." The Disasters of War, plate 36. 1810-1820

You can look up all of these 80 aquatint prints HERE.

The curtain was a zoom-in on a detail of “Pilgrimage to San Isidro’s Fountain.”

Goya, Francisco. "Pilgrimage to St. Isidro's Fountain." 1821. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain.

this is what my berry saw

Cassatt, Mary. "Woman with a Pearl Necklace in a Loge." 1879. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, USA.

Just like the woman depicted in the paining, I did lots of double-edged people  watching: endlessly beautiful hedgefund wives, old men with bright scarves in a breastpocket, old women with “perfect hair” and inch-thick gold chains, sophisticated talk in German, French, Russian, etc… I saw many people coursing amongst expensive orchestra seats, “Oh hello, so wonderful to see you!” Looks like opera remains what it has always been – a social event, participation in the fancy ways of the higher society.

“One’s art goes as far and as deep as one’s love goes.”

Andrew Wyeth

Today Internet is full of announcements about Andrew Wyeth’s death. 

He was one of my favorite artists and thought provokers. I have posted before on how much Wyeth’s art impresses me. I am thankful for his unintrusive but deep perception of human emotions and phenomenal story-telling on each separate canvas. 

Wind from the Sea

As I was walking to pick up my laundry this afternoon,  I spotted the famous Mosaic Man fixing up the details on one of the lampposts of the Mosaic Trail. Surely I stopped to chat.

The celebrity is vivacious and very friendly: dozens stopped to say hi in the 10 mins that I spent around him, and he did not snob one person. Barely moving (he is waiting to get a hip replacement and is in a lot of pain), but continuing to scrape the mix of human slobber and gum off the sidewalk right next to the lamppost, Jim told me that he is trying to raise $200,000 to hire artists as aids. His goal is to complete the trail and fix the mosaics that need a healing touch. To find more about what Jim is trying to accomplish, check out EmpowerJimPower.com.

As for me, I am a believer in East Village and its local quirks. It is Jim and people like him that make the Village what it is, and it would suck if they disappeared.

i should begin in the beginning. at first there was fish.

then there was elmo, mom, sheep and what not. every time i waited for a seat at Mogador, i would check out the window of the De La Vega‘s shop. slowly checking out has become more systematic: i now take a stroll along St. Mark’s every Sat or Sun morning to see what’s new.

reading up on this young artist has revealed that his genius is not appreciated by the NYPD. i have nothing to say to this, but to remember my own encounter with NYPD, when i almost got arrested for sitting in a park late at night, talking about politics and economics with two friends. heh, NYPD and the law do not seem to have a sense of humor.

James De La Vega’s popularity is not only with the local police. if you walk thru east village or east harlem paying attention to what is around, you will be blown away how many businesses get this man to decorate their furniture, exteriors and what not.