Today’s “Fab 5”/ Selected NYCity Events – WEDNESDAY, FEB. 19, 2014

We are well into the second week of competition in the Winter Games.
Today’s highlights – the Men’s Giant Slalom and the Swedish women curlers, defending champs, in the semi-finals.
Paley Center for Media: The Olympic Games
(Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday)
On select days through Feb. 23, visitors can watch daytime coverage of the Olympics on the center’s big screen. The free programming is a celebration of the center’s United States Olympic Archive, featuring televised Olympic competitions dating to 1960.
Paley Center for Media, West 52nd St.
screenings included in admission: $10, $8 for students and 65+
212-621-6800,paleycenter.org

Black Joe Lewis
“On this group’s major label debut, “Tell ’Em What Your Name Is!” from 2009, Mr. Jones made no bones about being the world’s worst paramour: He yelped with Howlin’ Wolf’s ardor about forgetting his girlfriend’s name, eating her chicken and guiltlessly skipping town. He and his band members, who previously performed as Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, offer similarly memorable blues riffs and funk bravado on their latest album, “Electric Slave.” With Pickwick.” (Anderson-NYT)
Irving Plaza, 17 Irving Place, at 15th Street,
At 7 p.m., $18.
800-745-3000, irvingplaza.com

JESSICA LANG DANCE
“Impeccable craft and a strong sense of visual design mark the work of Jessica Lang, a much in-demand ballet choreographer whose chamber ensemble débuted at the Joyce last fall. Lang’s dances often take inspiration from painting, calligraphy, film, or sculpture. In “Ink,” made in collaboration with the Japanese visual artist Shinichi Maruyama, the dancers move in silhouette, melting into projected images of inky droplets. In “The Calling,” a solitary figure fills the stage, her dimensions augmented by an elaborate costume. Lang’s first full Joyce season includes three new works, one of which is her latest collaboration with Maruyama.” (NewYorker mag)
Joyce Theatre, 175 Eighth Avenue, at 19th Street,
at 7:30PM / $10 to $39
212-242-0800, joyce.org

Eddie Palmieri Salsa Orchestra
“Eddie Palmieri has been at the top of the Latin-jazz game for more than 40 years, offering fans subtle harmonies and heavy pianistic flurries. With him, you get salsa and then some. Come out and whet your appetite for his new album, Sabiduria/Wisdom, scheduled for release this summer.” (TONY mag)
B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, 237 W 42nd St. btw Seventh and Eighth Aves
AT 8:00pm / $30
212-997-4144 / bbkingblues.com

Harold Mabern Trio
Hard bop and Memphis soul are inextricable in the ensemble music of Mr. Mabern, a veteran pianist who works here with the rhythm team of Essiet Essiet on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums.” (Chinen-NYT)
Smalls Jazz Club, 183 West 10th St.
From 9:30 p.m. to midnight /  $20 cover.
smallsjazzclub.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:

Richard Serra, “New Sculpture” (through March 15)
“In this show, Richard Serra continues along the road that emerged from the hugely successful “Torqued Ellipses” of the 1990s, but also circles back to his earlier oeuvre. Here you have the Serra of the ’60s and ’70s, revised and updated: heavy rectilinear plates and cubes fabricated in steel rather than lead, his signature material in the ’60s.” (Schwendener-NYT) 
Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street,
 Tue–Sat 10am–6pm / 212-741-1111, 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 (02/17) and (02/15).