Today’s “Fab 5” / Selected NYCity Events – FRIDAY, NOV. 15, 2013

Grand Central Terminal’s Holiday Fair (through Dec. 24) For Grand Central Terminal’s 14th annual Holiday Fair, its Vanderbilt Hall hosts 76 stalls that offer a mix of clothing, accessories, toys, bed and body products, home décor, prints, pet goods and seasonal ornaments.

This centennial edition has 21 new vendors and 56 local ones. Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Dec. 24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Grand Central Terminal, (212) 532-4900, grandcentralterminal.com.

Aaron Neville
“The Grammy-winning soul and R&B singer Aaron Neville yearned to make a doo-wop album for 30 years, yet he was turned down by record labels despite his celebrated career. He finally released the passion project, titled “My True Story,” this year. Don Was and Keith Richards helped produce the pleasant, unhurried outing. Mr. Neville brings a five-piece band to re-enact it and his decades of R&B and soul hits.” (Anderson-NYT)
TriBeCa Performing Arts Center, Borough of Manhattan Community College, 199 Chambers Street, near Greenwich St.
At 8 p.m./ $45 to $65.
(212) 220-1460, tribecapac.org

Mariza
If you’ve never listened to fado, then you’re missing out on one of the hottest musical trends of the last 200 years. Fado represents the first major contribution to international music from the Portuguese-speaking world—it’s what flamenco is to Spain and tango is to Argentina.

Only 39, the blonde-haired, close-cropped siren Mariza is regarded as the leading figure in 21st-century fado, and her New York appearances are frustratingly infrequent. She has a big voice and a haunting tone, which is even more distinctive when draped across the backdrop of the guitars and percussion she works with. You don’t need to speak Portuguese or even habla español to be overwhelmed by her amazing sound, which is fully as sensual as it is spiritual. (WSJ-Will Friedwald)
Carnegie Hall, 57th Street & Seventh Avenue,
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
at 8 PM / $18-$115
247-7800 / carnegiehall.org

A 70TH BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO JONI MITCHELL
“Hannah Reimann, a classically trained New York City pianist, who is also an actress and a rocker, has formed a seven-piece group to mark the Canadian songsmith’s birthday. They’ll be taking on Mitchell’s songs from the late sixties and early seventies, and Reimann is a determined and uncanny performer of Mitchell’s canon—earlier this year, she performed the 1971 album “Blue” at the Bitter End.” (NewYorker mag)
Littlefield, 622 Degraw St., (btw Third and Fourth Aves., Brooklyn)
At 8PM / $15-$20
718-855-3388 / littlefieldnyc.com
subway:#2-3 express to atlantic ave; walk S on 4th ave to degraw (12 minutes)

Lincoln Center Presents: White Light Festival – Beautiful Africa
Is it my destiny to grow toward the unknown? Malian singer-songwriter Rokia Traoré, last seen in Peter Sellars’s Desdemona, poses this question on her acclaimed new album, Beautiful Africa. Singing in Bambara, French, and English, Traoré brings to life her beloved homeland in the midst of political uncertainty, celebrating the strength of the human spirit and a hope that prevails.
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, 60th St. and Broadway,
At 7:30/$25, $45, $60
(212) 258-9595, jalc.org

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm dates and check times, as schedules are subject to change. ===============================================================================

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.

WHAT’S ON VIEW: Here are 3 Special Exhibitions in Chelsea Galleries that you may want to see:

Karl Wirsum* (through Nov. 16)
“In the 1960s when he was a member of the Chicago imagist group the Hairy Who, Karl Wirsum made graphically bristling paintings resembling banners for an underground freak show. His eye-popping and mind-bending first exhibition of new paintings and drawings in New York since 1988 finds him still rambunctiously animated.” (Johnson-NYT)
Derek Eller Gallery, 615 West 27th St. (W of 11th ave.)
(212) 206-6411, derekeller.com

Raqib Shaw, “Paradise Lost” (until Sat Dec 21)
East meets West in the work of this London artist, who originally hails from India, and whose sumptuous, jewel-and-enamel inlaid paintings and intricately detailed sculptures combine numerous traditions and canons—including Indian miniatures and textiles, Old Master painting, Orientalism and Surrealism. His works might be best described as visions of paradise being invaded by the forces of hell. It’s a strange mix that plays upon our notions of exoticism while sending them up. For his debut at Pace, the artist fills all three of the gallery’s Chelsea locations.
Pace Gallery 508 W 25th St. btw Tenth and Eleventh Aves
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm
212-255-4044 / thepacegallery.com

Richard Serra, “New Sculpture” (until Sat Jan 25 2014)
Gagosian’s double dose of Richard Serra presents dueling sides of the sculptor: the popular artist name checked in a Vampire Weekend song, and the confrontational figure familiar from his earlier career.

The gallery’s West 21st Street location presents the former in fine form, with a single massive work. Curling ribbons of steel, set on edge and towering to ceiling height, nestle together to create Serra’s signature bowing and curving of space. They swallow viewers up in a phenomenological ecstasy one usually associates with, say, walking along a narrow canyon. The metal’s russet color only adds to the sensation of experiencing something more natural than man-made.

The tone, if not the scale, of the work shifts on West 24th Street, with a group of sculptures and nary a bend in sight. Hard-edged steel plates, patinated a carceral gray, get in your way like barricades around a government building. A set of enormous blocks serves as a memorial to the recently deceased sculptor Walter De Maria, a friend of Serra’s. Experiential warmth gives way to cold truths as Serra employs his legendary toughness to challenge not only gravity, but death itself.—(Howard Halle/TONY mag)
Gagosian Gallery, 522 W 21st St, btw 10th/11th Aves
Tue–Sat 10am–6pm
212-741-1717 / gagosian.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)

Or check out TONY magazine’s list of the “Best Chelsea Galleries” and click through to see what’s on view.

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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 (11/07) and (11/05).