Art in NY

[Judy Seigel <jseigel@panix.com>]

Saw the Gerhard Richter show at MoMA yesterday, finally. It's only on for
4 more days, but if you can possibly, go. Hadn't seen his group of 48
painted portraits of famous men of 19th & 20th century (done from
photographs)  mentioned before. They are dazzling, hypnotic, amazing,
alive, virtuoso. Worth the trip alone. (Flash: Jed Perl is blind, his
seeing eye dog too.)

Another delight was an adjacent show of photographs of New York. Many
classics from the collection, also "democracy in photography" -- drugstore
type prints from the public, just pinned to the wall. Well not all
drugstore -- a couple cyanotypes casually stuck up, even a polaroid
transfer in blue.  Was fascinating to see that this extremely casual
presentation gave a charm & importance to every print, even the buckle on
a shoe, or the most mundane shot of the kiddies.

After the 21st, MoMA moves to Queens for duration of its renovation (for
better or worse). It was crowded, but we need the money -- and the crowd
was quite civil, even affable.

best,

Judy