New York City is home to nearly a thousand galleries, and while Chelsea and Tribeca often attract the attention of art fans, the Upper East Side sustains a reputation for housing a concentrated number of high quality galleries and cutting edge artists. On May 14, The Madison Avenue BID and ARTnews, the oldest art magazine in the world, will present the Madison Avenue Spring Gallery Walk. The epic (and free) event provides art lovers with inside access to a host of over 60 galleries, 23 of which will feature talks from artists, gallery directors and staff. With so much happening, Upper East Siders will have the opportunity to experience a massive amount of work spanning period, geography, and style.
International powerhouses David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth will each present a gallery talk focused on their current shows. David Zwirner’s artist managers will discuss their exhibit on Fred Sandback, a fascinating artist whose minimalistic and arresting work places us in confrontation with our sense of place. Hauser & Wirth will feature a “director-led walk through” of their exhibition on trailblazing photographer Cindy Sherman.
Ippodo Gallery invites audiences to “come learn more about Toshio Tokunaga and his chairs.” Tokunaga, a Japanese furniture artist, offers a glimpse into the cultural and aesthetic diversity contained within these galleries.
Despite the insight roused from listening to knowledgeable gallery directors or curators, it is perhaps the artists themselves, speaking about their work and process, which brings about the greatest inspiration. These opportunities are, unfortunately, not as frequent, but there are several galleries offering artist talks. At the Jennifer Baahng Gallery, Eric Brown and Jaye Moon will guide audiences through their respective works. Eric Brown’s work has been compared to Paul Klee by the New York Times and Jaye Moon is a provocative artist working with Legos. Another artist talk comes from Shelly Malkin at Graham Shay 1857. A New York City native, Ms. Malkin will discuss her large-scale, dream-like, environmentalist watercolors.
Those are just samples of some offerings you might explore on May 14 at the Madison Avenue Spring Gallery Walk. Check out madisonavenuebid.org/springgallerywalk/ for more information on all the different galleries, exhibits and people involved.
