Results tagged “moma”

The slightly less epic version of what was once dubbed the MoMA Monster, now standing at just 1,050 feet, was approved by the City Council today in a 44-3 vote. Curbed reports that "this was the last hurdle in the public land-use approval process made necessary by Tower Verre's desired zoning variances and air-rights deals." Last we checked there was word that developer Hines and architect Jean Nouvel may just leave that lot empty for a while so the NIMBYs can savor their precious view.

The recently decapitated MoMA monster, which would have measured in at 1,250 feet (the height of the Empire State Building), has been surrounded with controversy from day one. Midtown NIMBYs didn't want a skyscraper going up in Manhattan, and they eventually got 200 feet taken off the tower so that it wouldn't impact the skyline. Sigh.

The MoMA Monster has officially been decapitated. The City Council's Land Use Committee approved (by a 12-2 vote) the City Planning Commission's height reduction of the building earlier today. Now the Jean Nouvel designed Monster Hines Tower set to be raised next to MoMA, will drop down from the iconic height of 1,250-feet, to 1,050-feet. That's 200 feet below the Empire State Building, and the exact height of the Chrysler Building.

Howard Roark scoffs. A giant skyscraper, dubbed the MoMA Monster, keeps shrinking. Set to go up in the empty lot next to the museum, creators of the proposed 1,250 feet tower continue to fight a cut of 200 feet; WCBS reports that at a city council committee meeting yesterday, the real estate developer and the architect "saw their plans for a soaring Midtown skyscraper crumbling."

It's not just us city folk who appreciate the art institutes here. The New Yorker reports that Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art, has received quite a generous donation from a neighbor of his Vermont house who passed away. They say, "Two years ago, when Lowry heard that a man named Michael H. Dunn, from the town of Derby, just across the lake from him, had dropped dead of a heart attack, and that his estate, in excess of ten million dollars, had been left to MOMA, he was flabbergasted."

The empty lot next to Museum of Modern Art on West 53rd Street will be a filled with a building one day, that's just a fact. How high will that building be? That's more debatable. After much noise was made about the proposed 1,250 feet/85 story Hines Tower (which some dubbed the MoMA monster) , the NYC Planning Commission voted yesterday to cut 200 feet off of the Jean Nouvel design; because another tall building in this city would just be overkill? Who knows. But the NY Times sheds some light on the thought process, noting that "Edith Hsu-Chen, the director of the Manhattan office of the Department of City Planning said that although the overall design of the building is 'exemplary,' the commission is concerned about its effect on the skyline, and does not feel that the top of the tower merits being in the zone of the Empire State Building’s iconic spire.”

That empty lot next to MoMA on West 53rd Street isn't exactly aesthetically pleasing (unless there are prefab houses in it!), but would an 85 story tower be any better? Many fear that could be a reality, and are battling against the proposed development.

       

Not that we needed any convincing about Belgian artist James Ensor (1860-1949), but after New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl declared that the "astonishing" Ensor retrospective at MoMA "will affect many viewers like the detonation of a bomb whose fuse has been fizzing inconspicuously for a century," we quit procrastinating and finally humped it to midtown on Saturday. It was definitely worth the trip, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the exhibit wasn't disastrously mobbed in the way that blockbuster museum retrospectives tend to get.

With more patrons opting to go to museums on their free days or only paying the minimum suggested donation on others, local museums are being thrifty themselves by dipping into their own collections for upcoming shows. WCBS 2 points to the Brooklyn Museum's recent exhibition of Coptic and Pagan sculpture and the MOMA's fall presentation of Claude Monet's water lilies series as shows that draw largely or entirely from the museums' own respective holdings. The Brooklyn Museum recently just raised its rates after recent months have seen an increase in visitors on their free First Saturdays by almost 50% to over 10,000. A spokesman for the Met doesn't think cutbacks will get too dramatic saying, "There's no thought of changing hours, closing galleries, aborting the schedule.'' The president of the Association of Art Museum Directors added, ''Although all nonprofits and profits are struggling, we do have a curious place in this reality.''

You would think MoMA would love an edgy ad campaign that draws even more attention to the museum than expected. However, following Doug Jaeger of HappyCorp's alleged involvement with Poster Boy's crew to alter their installation at the Atlantic/Pacific subway stop, they've severed all ties with the company (who created the campaign). Kim Mitchell at MoMA tells us, "No one at The Museum of Modern Art had any role in or prior knowledge of the acts of vandalism committed against posters in the Museum's installation in the Atlantic Avenue subway station. On February 27 we ended all work to be done by Doug Jaeger and thehappycorpglobal on this project and all others, and have completely severed our relationship with the company. The Museum deplores any kind of vandalism and is profoundly distressed that the posters were defaced." Prudes. No word yet on if HappyCorp has severed any ties with Poster Boy. To be continued!?

As of Tuesday, Doug Jaeger of HappyCorp was cleverly wording his comments about his and Poster Boy's involvement in the alteration of MoMA's subway ad campaign in Brooklyn, which he developed. According to Jaeger, he met Poster Boy, who he says is more than one person, and that he and some others were in the subway system the night the ads were deconstructed.

Have you all been enjoying that MoMA installation (ad campaign) at the Atlantic/Pacific stop in Brooklyn? Well, it just got a little bit Picasso on us, so you may want to take another look. NYMag reports that Poster Boy and Aakash Nihalani have altered the classic works. However, there is question as to whether proof this "vandalism," that took place this past Saturday at 2 a.m., was all part of the master plan.

       

Earlier this month MoMA started installing vague signs in the Atlantic/Pacific subway stop in Brooklyn, alluding to an exhibit on the way. Today they unveiled their publicity campaign, which saturates every ad space in the two connected stations (including the turnstiles). Their accompanying website explains that they've filled the station "with reproductions of over 50 works of art in the MoMA collection. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, walk through the station to see images of works by Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Charles Eames, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, and many other great artists, filmmakers, and designers." This is their first large-scale campaign aimed at getting locals in to see their permanent collection, and it even comes with audio for a little tour if you're not in a rush (or stuck waiting on a train). Wonder if any Posterboy's out there will mash-up the masterpieces.

The Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim worked out an agreement with a German art collector's heirs right before the case was headed to jury selection. This allow the MoMA to keep "Boy Leading a Horse" (1905-1906) and the Guggenheim "Le Moulin de la Galette” (1900; pictured). Bloomberg News reports, "Both paintings had been in the private collection of Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, a German Jewish banker, who died in 1935. The plaintiffs claimed in the suit that the paintings were sold under duress and should be returned to the family." The family had argued the paintings' transfer to Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's second wife was not legal; the museums said they were a gift to her and that they acquired them properly. The settlement was not disclosed, but Judge Jed Rakoff, who allowed the case to move to trial, believes it should be out in the open, "The public surely would want to know now and forever which of those diametrically different views was true, and the great crucible of a trial would have made that known."

Reader Neil spotted a MoMA "installation" going up at the Atlantic stop in Brooklyn yesterday, saying posters like the above are filling up "every space in the station." It turns out that the museum is pulling all the stops for the expected plummet in tourism this year, and are targeting locals to come visit instead.

PS 1 announced the winners of their annual contest that allows amateur architects the opportunity to transform the entrance to the Long Island City museum throughout their summer of weekly dance parties held in its courtyard. Winners Hilary Sample and Michael Meredith's of Brooklyn almost didn't make it down to the judging Monday because their proposal, called "afterparty," wouldn't even fit in their car. The title of the piece seemed appropriate because MoMA architecture curator Barry Bergdoll says all entries responded to the current climate with the thinking of, "How do we still create a fun party space when clearly the economic party is over?” The Times says that the winning piece, finished in the wee hours of of Sunday night, was created by a team that describes themselves as “a collective of designers, architects, thinkers and state-of-the-art weirdos.” Last year an urban farm sprung up at the space.

The Museum of Modern Art announced it will loan the iconic Andrew Wyeth painting, , to the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where a memorial for Wyeth will be held on January 31.

   

The expansive six story atrium at the Museum of Modern Art, which the NY Times notes has been a "space more suited to corporate functions than to art," has had its second floor taken over by a new Pipilotti Rist installation titled Pour Your Body Out.

Earlier this year the Guggenheim's notoriously-hated director, Thomas Krens, announced his departure from the museum (which many blame him for turning into a McGuggenheim). The NY Times announces today that the Guggenheim is now ready to name Richard Armstrong as the next director, saying the final board meeting regarding the decision will be held on or before September 23rd.

The choice was considered a safe one after nearly 20 often tumultuous years of Mr. Krens’s maverick vision. In addition to being criticized for his globe-trotting ways, in which he created an array of satellite institutions, Mr. Krens was known for dipping into the museum’s endowment to cover operating costs and for mounting exhibitions from motorcycles to of-the-moment artists like Matthew Barney.

       

The prefab housing has arrived and been constructed at MoMA for their Home Delivery exhibit (opening on the 20th and running through October 20th). The exhibit examines the factory-produced architecture which has been a part of our landscape since 1833; five full-scale residences have been installed in the museum's 54th Street lot, while the 6th floor exhibit delves into the prefab's timeline. Prepare for residential envy! Here are some photos of the construction (the NY Times also has a slideshow)...with the grand unveiling coming next week.

Delayed spoiler alert: This photo reveals what the upcoming East River waterfalls will most likely look like. Although artist Olafur Eliasson’s ambitious art project doesn't officially start until June 26th, apparently they do need practice turning the spigot. One eagle-eyed Curbed reader caught them in the act late last night and snapped this photo, which depicts the waterfall at Pier 35 by the Manhattan Bridge.

So a little movie called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has opened at last. Fan-boys have live-blogged during the premiere, physicians have written open letters of protest deriding the movie’s myriad junk food tie-ins, Russian Communists have been offended, and archaeologists have condemned Dr. Jones for his “unethical” violation of international treaties. But is the long-awaited (by some) $185 million fourth installment of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg franchise any good? Responses include everything from “the worst of the 'Indiana Jones' movies, but still pretty much a delight,” to “far from a travesty,” to “it's almost unfathomable that this hoary mishmash is the best that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg could cough up.”

When Olafur Eliasson's NYC Waterfalls start roaring on the East River and New York Harbor this June, cruises like Circle Line will be bringing passengers so close to the spray they’ll need to stock ponchos on board. Sure, you could just look at the falls from any number of points on the shore, but tour boat companies are betting that plenty of people will gladly pay for the Man-Made of the Mist experience.

Work on this summer’s NYC Waterfalls project seems to be flowing forward, as the photo above indicates. The $9-$10 million project will bring 4 man-made waterfalls, ranging 90 to 120 feet, to the East River and New York Harbor. Presented by The Public Art Fund, the waterfalls are the creation of Danish–Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, who’s currently enjoying a retrospective at MoMA.

As if the Graffiti Research Lab hadn't blurred the line between establishment art, graffiti culture, and technology enough, they recently bombed the Museum of Modern Art. During a cocktail reception at the museum, GRL used its laser-guided, software enabled, light spray paint system to project virtually-dripping messages on an interior wall of the museum. They ranged from the tags of well known New York graffiti stars to messages directed at the wine-sipping attendees ("F*** You Snobs.") We doubt that Councilman Peter Vallone was in attendance.

magazine from a swift sink into bankruptcy by transforming it into one of the most visually provocative publications of the last half century.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on East 39th St. in Manhattan, a large fight on 2nd Ave. in Manhattan, and a child in cardiac arrest on Pitt St. in Manhattan.
• Police in Nassau County are conducting an active homicide investigation in New Cassel, after they were called to a home where three children--all under the age of seven--were found dead in a room. Their mother has been hospitalized.
• Ripples of Kosovo's recent independence are being felt in New York City's Central and Eastern European immigrant communities.
• Thousands of students fasted for a 30-hour period over the weekend to raise awareness of world hunger.
• To celebrate the system's 100th anniversary tomorrow, everyone can ride the PATH trains to and from NJ for free.
• A large number of the panels being removed from the stained glass window at American Airline's JFK Airport Terminal are going to the group lampooned as a cult that recruited members as they cleaned one's carpet for free in an episode of Seinfeld.
• A Greyhound bus traveling from New York City to Syracuse and then across the border to Toronto flipped over in northeastern Pennsylvania early this morning. 41 of the passengers were treated at a hospital and released.
• Grammy Award-winning singer Rihanna is working with an international bone marrow donor network to help Lisa Gershowitz Flynn, a New York City mother of two young children who has leukemia.

EVENT: Angels and Kings is hosting a Nerd Nite, described as: "the Discovery Channel with beer." This evening brings zombies to life, sort of, with a presentation on the undead titled "Zombies Are Real: Actual Zombies of the Natural World And Why You Might Be One." Drink, learn, be nerdy.