Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events – SATURDAY, AUG 17, 2013

Jazz Age Lawn Party – Today’s Top Pick
“Put on your favorite Gatsby attire and head out to Governors Island for a Prohibition era–themed weekend at the eighth annual Jazz Age Lawn Party. Fops, dolls, and even the little ones (the party is free for children under 12) can see classic cars, listen to retro music broadcast from antique gramophones, have a vintage-style portrait made, or do the Charleston in the dance-off. In addition to era-appropriate performances by Michael Arnella and His Dreamland Orchestra and others, there will also be a “Taste of the ’20s” menu. While you may bring your own picnic, no outside alcoholic beverages will be permitted—it’s Prohibition, remember?” (VillageVoice)
Governors Island, Colonel’s Row
From 11AM-5PM/$35, with VIP packages, $49 and $149
jazzagelawnparty.com
Directions: Ferry departs from the Battery Maritime Bldg., 10 South St.,
adjacent to the SI Ferry in Lower Manhattan.
schedule for free ferry service: governorsislandalliance.org

THEATRE: FringeNYC
(New York International Fringe Festival) (thru 08/25)
“Now in its 17th year, the multi-arts festival is the biggest of its kind in North America. Theatre companies from all over the world (185 in total) converge on downtown Manhattan to mount performances at venues like The Players Theatre, SubCulture, and Theatre 80.

With 200 shows over 16 days at 20 venues, from the dark to the comical, starships to strip clubs, if you fancy yourself an adventurer, FringeNYC is absolutely worth exploration.” — Mindy Bond.
Can’t tell the players without a scorecard.
The NYTimes has a guide.

Summer Streets
This is the last Saturday when portions of Park Avenue will be closed to traffic and open for recreation as part of the 6th annual Summer Streets program sponsored by the Department of Transportation.

Seven miles of streets from the brooklyn bridge to central park are open for only pedestrians to enjoy. Everything is free, including a zip line, rock wall climbing, bike + roller blade rentals, bike helmet giveaways, yoga + fitness classes, a seven-block-long art installation in the park ave tunnel, and more.

Enjoy the recreational and cultural events, as well as rest stops along the route: Lafayette Street, from the Brooklyn Bridge to 14th St., and Park Avenue, from 14th to 72nd St.
From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m./ nyc.gov/html/dot/summerstreets.

Gabriel Misse and Analia Centurion* (through Sunday)
“The celebrated tango dancers, based in Buenos Aires, have returned to New York for a series of milongas, performances and, for those moved to try what they do, in-depth seminars. Any time spent in the company of this charismatic couple — whether as spectator or student — is said to be exhilarating.” (Burke-NYT)
Dardo Galletto Studios, 151 West 46th Street, 11th floor, At various times / prices vary
575-0222, dardogallettostudios.com

Joey DeFrancesco with the City Rhythm Orchestra
Mr. DeFrancesco, the soulful Hammond B-3 organ virtuoso, teams up with a big band long active in his hometown, Philadelphia.” (Chinen-NYT)
Birdland, 315 West 44th Street, Clinton
At 8:30 and 11 p.m./$30 and $40 cover, with a $10 minimum.
(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 may want to see:

“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

Desire (through August 23)
On Bob Dylan’s 1976 Desire album cover, we see him decked out in a fedora, fur-collared coat, and scarf tie, gazing off into the distance—but what is he looking at? This alluring image, taken by Ruth Bernal, serves as the curatorial inspiration to Desire, a group show of more than 20
female artists. Check out compelling and provocative work like Yoko Ono’s Touch Me cut-up canvas, Vivienne Griffin’s peephole op-art ink drawing, and Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin’s watercolor paintings, one of which features a red penis and is titled A Million Ways to Cum. Want more? Don’t wait, this show closes soon. (Araceli Cruz. VillageVoice)
Yancey Richardson, 535 W. 22nd St.
10:00 a.m. every Mon., Tue., Wed., Thu., Fri.
646-230-9610 /http://www.yanceyrichardson.com

“Photo Brut” at ZieherSmith (through Aug 23)
“Shows of so-called vernacular photographs (found photos, ranging from family-album fare to police mugshots) have become a gallery staple of late, for a number of reasons, including the appeal of their accidental aesthetics and their frequent detours into the uncanny.

This group show attempts to expand the category by giving it a snappy new label, and by offering up some bizarre images indeed—including a series of beauty-shop images showing only the backs of coiffed female heads; a cache of old Polaroids taken off television and featuring obscure performers whose names are carefully noted on the picture margins; and a 1940s backyard portrait of an otherwise unremarkable man whose erect penis is emerging from his trousers.” (TONY mag)
ZieherSmith, 516 W 20th St, btw 10th and 11th Ave.
Tue–Sat 11am–6pm / FREE
212-229-1088 / ziehersmith.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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Top Photography Exhibitions – NYCity / Manhattan’s WestSide

  Museum of Modern Art
Walker Evans: American Photographs (through Jan. 26, 2014)
11 West 53rd Street / 212-708-9400

  Metropolitan Museum of Art
Photography and the American Civil War (through Sept. 2, 2013)
Everyday Ephiphanies: Photography and Daily Life Since 1969 
(through January 26, 2014)
1000 Fifth Avenue (at 82nd Street) / 212-535-7710

   ICP
A Different Kind of Order: The ICP Triennial (through Sept. 22, 2013)
1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street / 212-857-0000

  American Museum Natural History 
Picturing Science: Museum Scientists and Imaging Technologies          
(through May 31, 2014)
79th St. And Central Park West / (212) 313-7278 

  Howard Greenberg Gallery
Bruce Davidson: “Time of Change” & “Staff Picks 2013”
(through Aug. 31, 2013)
41 East 57th Street, Suite 1406 / 212-334-0100

  Staley-Wise Gallery
It’s An American Thing (through Sept. 14, 2013)
560 Broadway, Soho / 212-966-6223

One more photo exhibition, this one in a special setting – the lovely, new Bklyn Bridge Park with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline, and of course, the Brooklyn Bridge.
(easy to get to via subway: #2 or 3 express to Clark St., the 1st stop in Bklyn.)

‘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
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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 (08/15) and (08/13).