For other useful and curated NYCity event info for Manhattan’s WestSide check out:
♦ “Notable NYC Events-Feb”, and also “on Broadway”, and “Top10 Free” in the header above.
♦  For NYCity trip planning see links in “Resources” and “Smart Stuff” in the header above.

Hot Chocolate Festival
It’s cold out, but no worry, this is February and City Bakery’s Hot Chocolate Fest. “Regress to childhood with skillfully concocted mugs of hot chocolate courtesy of this downtown canteen. Owner-mastermind Maury Rubin will serve a different flavor of his intoxicating cocoa every day during February. The lineup won’t be announced until late January but previous year’s highlights included Earl Grey Tea hot chocolate, a delicate blend with notes of bergamot, and Sunken Treasure, an indulgent cup with submerged caramel coins and chocolate truffles. Be sure to show up on Jan 31 for the opening-night party.” (TONY mag)
City Bakery, 3 W 18th St, between Fifth and Sixth Aves

4 Generations of Miles (through Feb. 8)
“The rapid permutation of Miles Davis’s bands makes it technically possible for four of his former sidemen to claim connection to four separate phases of his career. Here as in similar past engagements, those musicians are the drummer Jimmy Cobb, the alto saxophonist Sonny Fortune, the bassist Buster Williams and the guitarist Mike Stern.” (Chinen-NYT)
Birdland, 315 West 44th Street,
At 8:30 and 11 p.m./ $40 cover, with a $10 minimum.
212-581-3080, birdlandjazz.com

Art and History of the Metropolitan Museum 
Doctoral students in art history lead this Big Onion Tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, surveying the art and providing historical facts about the museum.
at 1 p.m. in front of the group admission door, Fifth Avenue, at 81st St.
$40, $34 for 65+, $28 for students; price includes museum admission.
212-439-1090, bigonion.com

Joshua Redman Quartet
“Whether the instrument in question is the tenor or soprano saxophone, Joshua Redman is one of the most individual voices of his generation. Redman, a thematic improviser par excellence, showcases his extraordinary tone and penchant for creating elegant melodies within challenging structures and infusing them with emotional content. Propelling the flow and detailing the nuances are his working quartet — pianist Aaron Goldberg, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Gregory Hutchinson — each a long-standing partner.” (CityGuide)
Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Allen Room, Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th St., 212-721-6500, jalc.org

NAKED BURROUGHS: A 100 Year celebration
“Had William S. Burroughs been able to parley a lifetime of unabashed drug use into an even longer life than he somehow managed to have (he died in 1997 at the age of 83), the experimental beat would have turned 100 this February. Celebrate the life of one of literatures most creative, controversial and uncompromising figures at Cornelia St. Cafe tonight with a discussion and tribute readings of his work by performance artist and Burroughs associate Penny Arcade, poet Steve Dalachinsky and spoken word artist Kat Georges. Those in attendance can also take part in a group reading of excepts from NAKED LUNCH. The festivities are presented by Three Rooms Press and hosted by Peter Carlaftes.” (Cooper Berkmoyer, Flavorpill)
Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia St. (btw W4th/BleeckerSt.)
at 6pm / $8
212-731-0574/corneliastreetcafe.com

Before making final plans, we suggest you call the venue to confirm ticket availability, dates and 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:

Martina Bacigalupo: ‘Gulu Real Art Studio’ (through Feb. 8) “In 2010 the Italian photojournalist Martina Bacigalupo spent time in the city of Gulu in northern Uganda, where she came across a curious form of portraiture. In a local shop called the Gulu Real Art Studio she found dozens of full-length pictures of sitters from which the heads had been neatly cut out. The shop’s owner, Obal Denis, explained why. His machine for developing passport-size photos automatically produced four prints at a time, but most people coming for an ID picture needed only one. So it was easier, and cheaper, to shoot a regular full-length portrait, edit out a head shot and toss what was left. The pictures in this remarkable show are the result: studies in body language and clothing, accompanied by audio-taped interviews made with some of the sitters.” (Cotter-NYT listings)
The Walther Collection Project Space, 508-526 West 26th Street, Suite 718, (212) 352-0683, walthercollection.com.

‘Para-Real’ (through Feb. 8) “This philosophically catchy 14-artist show reflects a few forms in which reality, whatever that is, impinges. It includes a pile of scrub brushes by Robert Therrien; a self-portrait of Maurizio Cattelan as a real puppet; Hiroshi Sugimoto’s photograph of stuffed golden eagles in a museum diorama; and Thomas Demand’s “Ghost,” a photograph of a colored paper and cardboard construction of a kitchen, wherein some culinary objects hover above the stove, as if tossed up by a poltergeist.” (Johnson-NYT listings)
601Artspace, 601 West 26th Street, (212) 243-2735, 601artspace.org. 

Richard Serra, “New Sculpture” (through Feb. 8, and March 15) “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.
through Feb. 8 at 522 West 21st Street, 212-741-1717

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) through March 15 at 555 West 24th Street, 212-741-1111
Gagosian Gallery, 522 W 21st St, btw 10th/11th Aves Tue–Sat 10am–6pm 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. ==========================================================

For other selected Museum and Gallery Special Exhibitions see Recent Posts in the right Sidebar: “Selected Events + Special Exhibitions : Manhattan’s WestSide” dated (02/05) and (02/03).