Today’s “Fab Five” / Selected NYCity Events – MONDAY, AUG 05, 2013

‘The Fence’ in Brooklyn Bridge Park (through Oct. 1)
When is a fence not a fence? When it is the backdrop for a free display of over 200 jury selected images of people, animals and daily life by 39 photographers from the United States and abroad. Presented for the second year by United Photo Industries, a Brooklyn arts cooperative, as a showcase for young photographers, the display consists of a 1,000-foot-long waterproof mesh banner superimposed with color and black-and-white photos.

The banner stretches through Brooklyn Bridge Park, from Pier 15, at Joralemon Street and the East River in Brooklyn Heights, to Main Street in Dumbo. (Anne Mancuso-NYT)
Pier 5, Joralemon Street and the East River
From 6am to 1am / FREE
(718) 215-9075, fence.photovillenyc.org

‘Making Room’ (through Sept. 2)
Living in tight quarters — something very familiar to New Yorkers — is the subject of this exhibition of architectural designs that includes an example of a furnished micro-studio apartment of 325 feet; imaginative designs for equally small living spaces elsewhere in the country and abroad are included in the show.
Museum of the City of New York ,Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street
Daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m./$10, $6 for students and 65+,
492-3395, mcny.org

Ali Jackson Quintet (Monday through Thursday)
“Ali Jackson, a spirited drummer best known for his affiliation with Wynton Marsalis, leads a Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra subunit of sorts, with a front line of Sherman Irby on alto saxophone and Vincent Gardner on trombone. The run is said to feature “surprise special guests,” which could mean a number of things (but one in particular).” (Chinen-NYT)
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and  Broadway
At 7:30 and 9:30 p.m./$30 cover, with a $10 minimum
258-9595, jalc.org

Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
There’s a tradition in many New York City jazz clubs: Monday nights are reserved for big bands. The Village Vanguard, the most storied of clubs, has observed this practice since 1966. The Grammy-winning VANGUARD JAZZ ORCHESTRA, established by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, is definitely a big band with 4 trumpets, and 4 trombones to accompany 6 reed players.
Village Vanguard, 178 7th Avenue South, just below West 11th Street
At 8:30 and 10:30 pm / $25
212-255-4037

Jim Caruso’s Cast Party
Broadway impresario Jim Caruso hosts a combination open-mic, networking event and party, where some nights you may hear the biggest stars on Broadway relax on their night off by performing their favorite songs in an informal setting. Always fun.
Birdland – 315 West 44th St (Btw 8th/9th ave)
9:30 pm / $20 (includes a drink if you sit at the bar, which are not bad seats)
(212) 581-3080 / birdlandjazz.com

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change.
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Chelsea is the heart of the NYCity contemporary art scene. Home to more than 300 art galleries, the Rubin Museum, the Joyce Theater, and The Kitchen performance spaces,   there is no place like it anywhere in the world.

Come here to browse free exhibitions by world-renowned artists and those unknowns waiting to be discovered in an art district that is concentrated between West 18th and West 27th Streets, and 10th and 11th Avenues. Afterwards stop in the Chelsea Market, stroll on the High Line, or rest up at one of the many cafes and bars and discuss the fine art – my fave is Ovest on W 27th St., where the aperitivo is like Happy Hour on steroids.

Here are a few Special Exhibitions in Chelsea Galleries that you shouldn’t miss:

Francis Upritchard, “War Dance” (through Aug 09)
New Zealand’s representative at the 2009 Venice Biennale, Francis Upritchard has been showing throughout Europe and Asia for the past 16 years. Aside from a 2005 project-room showcase at Andrea Rosen and a few group exhibitions at Salon 94, however, Upritchard’s strange sculptural output has been largely unseen here. In May, Anton Kern presented a group of her delicate figures at Frieze New York; now, with this solo show, the uniqueness of her artistic pursuit is finally being revealed.

For “War Dance,” Upritchard fills the front gallery with eight spindly characters—resembling attenuated elves—each engaged in some sort of weird ritualistic movement. The back room, meanwhile, holds a ninth figure, along with an assortment of quirky drinking vessels. Upritchard uses polymer modeling clay pressed over wire armatures and hand-sewn garments to create her works, which recall the wood carved Moriskentänzer (Morris dancers) by the Northern Renaissance sculptor Erasmus Grasser, or the warriors from the Bayeux Tapestry. Upritchard’s war dancers, however, are unarmed, and with their half-closed eyes and turned-down mouths, appear more somnambulant than aggressive as they gesture with skinny arms atop stylish metal plinths.

Along with the pitchers, flasks and mugs, these objects evoke a medieval celebration deep in a forest somewhere—led, perhaps, by the chap in the back room, who sports scraggly hair and harlequin-patterned skin. Whatever the case, they all seem to exist in a realm where past, present and future both oddly and vividly collide.” (Paul Laster, TONYmag)
Anton Kern Gallery
532 W 20th St (btw Tenth and Eleventh Aves0
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm / FREE
212-367-9663 / antonkerngallery.com

Simon Fujiwara, Studio Pietà (King Kong Komplex) (through Aug 09)
Andrea Rosen Gallery, 525 W 24th St., (btw 10/11Ave.)
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm / FREE
212-627-6000 / andrearosengallery.com

“Reinventing Abstraction” (through Aug 31)
“Curated by poet and critic Raphael Rubinstein, this show looks at a group of painters who, to varying degrees, undertook an individualistic, even eccentric, approach to abstraction during the 1980s, when the attention of the art world was otherwise focused on Neo-Expressionism, Neo-Geo and appropriation art. Carroll Dunham, Mary Heilmann, Bill Jensen, Elizabeth Murray, Joan Snyder and Terry Winters are some of the artists with works on view.” (TONY mag)
Cheim & Read, 547 W 25th St, btw Tenth and Eleventh Aves
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm / FREE
212-242-7727 / cheimread.com

==========================================================For a listing of 25 essential galleries in the Chelsea Art Gallery District, organized by street, which enables you to create your own Chelsea Art Gallery crawl, see the Chelsea Gallery Guide (nycgo.com)
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For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (08/03) and (08/01).