Tag Archive | "New York City"

Other Criteria – Art for All

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Currently running two stores in London and the latest store located in NYC Other Criteria originally began as a publishing company created by Damien Hirst, Hugh Allan, Frank Dunphy with creative directorship from Jason Beard. The company evolved into an established art store destination with offbeat gifts, art, books, jewerly, tees, home decoration and knick-knacks, some mass-produced, others exclusive, and limited artist-made creations. You can check out works by Jeff Koons, Gary Hume, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Banksy, Raymond Pettibon and Cindy Sherman among others. The company prides itself on partnerships with the world’s leading fabricators and printers.

The NYC located Other Criteria store has taken over the lower half of the Gagosian Store. The new space features distinctive pieces from the collection, including limited edition prints previously unseen in the US, alongside the ‘Hallucinatory Head’ and ‘Transcendent Head’, the iconic skulls created as the unpredictable result of the now famous and highly sought after ‘Spin’ painting technique developed by Hirst.

“We’re all about working with artists to make things that they want to create and other people want to buy. It’s as simple as walking in to the shop, or clicking through the website, and buying it there and then. It shouldn’t intimidate anyone”, Damien Hirst.

All merchandise is currently available through the company website as well as the the three shops: www.othercriteria.com

Other Criteria, New Bond Street
36 New Bond Street, London
+44 20 7629 5800

Other Criteria, Hinde Street
14 Hinde Street, London
+44 20 7935 5550

Other Criteria, NYC @ Gagosian Gallery
988 Madison Avenue.
New York, NY 10075
212 744 9200

You Beautiful Cow

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Fittingly located in the Meatpacking District of New York, the ultra-luxe Cowshed Spa sits within the six floors and rooftop of Soho House NY. This NYC baby sister to the original Cowshed located in England comes complete with treatment rooms, a private eucalyptus steam-room and relaxation spaces specially designed to calm and soothe. Unfortunately cows are not allowed at the Cowshed, the spa is only available to human Soho House members and overnight guests.

Cowshed also has an adorable range of natural and therapeutic bath and home products. The indulgent line is based on the philosophy of using 100% natural, premium quality essential oils, minimal use of preservatives and cosmetic materials and is both suitable for vegetarians and made from completely sustainable resources.

The luxurious and cheeky-named products include Bath & Shower Gel (are you a “Knackered Cow” or a “Wild Cow”?), Shampoo, Conditioner, Body Lotion and more. The Bullocks line for him includes a Bullocks Muscle Rub Massage Oil for sore and achy muscles and Bullocks Bracing body wash made with essential oils of petitgrain and grapefruit.

Mooooo your bum into the Cowshed and release your inner Cow.

Cowshed
29 9th Ave
New York, NY 10014
(212) 627-9800

Gift certificates are also available at the Spa or by calling Cowshed at Soho House NY – 646.253.6111.

Exploring the Heights of NYC Dining at Jean-Georges

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By Alex Palmer

What is there left to say about Jean-Georges? With three stars from Michelin and four stars from The New York Times, not to mention plenty of breathless reviews from virtually every culinary critic who covers the city, the restaurant has reigned for years as the pinnacle of New York dining. Its namesake is Jean-Georges Vongerichten, one of the most celebrated chefs in the world, with top restaurants in Shanghai, London and Paris and plans for expansion of the JG brand through hotel partnerships and additional restaurant openings. But Jean-Georges the restaurant remains the crown jewel in the chef’s dining empire.

Located on the ground floor of the slightly gaudy Trump International Hotel, the restaurant itself exudes a humble elegance that made me feel immediately at ease for being in a culinary cathedral. The plush cream-colored seating created a sense that I was there to relax and the service also struck just the right balance between formality and comfort. The attentive staff immediately responded to every request with pitch-perfect courtesy, but happily engaged in friendly conversation whether we asked about the vintage of the Riesling or how long they had lived in New York. Prior to the meal, we even had the opportunity to briefly speak Jean-Georges himself—a cheerful and focused man who seemed genuinely interested in what we thought of the restaurant (though having yet to begin our meal, we could not yet effuse about his work).

My dining companions and I certainly had much we would have said about his dishes. The combinations and textures of the ingredients were near perfect. There was the “egg toast”—two firm egg yolks placed between thin rectangles of brioche, topped with sturgeon caviar—which created bursts of flavor as the fish and chicken eggs exploded and the brioche cracked in my mouth. The Yellowfin Tuna Ribbons sculpted thinly-cut strips of the fish upon a fine paste of avocado and spicy radish with a ginger marinade. Not only did this make for a satisfying combination of flavors, but one of the most unique textures I’ve ever experienced with fish.

Jean-Georges’ dishes combine French and Asian cuisine, preferring thin broths and oils in place of the thicker sauces usually associated with French dining. For example, the wild mushroom tea, which combined a rotating selection of at least eight different types of mushrooms in its thin broth, but was supremely satisfying when poured over the parmesan, chili and thyme base.

The wine pairings selected to accompany each course added another layer of complexity to each finely balanced dish. The Dierberg Chardonney perfectly complimented the creamy foie gras brulee, with a crisp cherry and pistachio top and white port gelee, while a crisp sake was an appropriate companion to the Santa Barbara sea urchin and jalapeno, with tart yuzu juice atop a pair of black bread squares.

The squab with a licorice broth poured on top was a bit too much for my taste buds, and while the syrah it was paired with put in the extra work to balance the bold taste of the game, my antipathy for licorice eked out to make the dish a mild disappointment. I couldn’t help but give Jean-Georges the benefit of the doubt on that one and chalked it up to my own unrefined palate.

We completed our meal with Jean-Georges’ famous warm chocolate cake and fresh vanilla bean ice cream, as well as a selection of desserts from Nougatine, the chef’s more affordable and playful restaurant next door. I finished off the meal with a smooth espresso macchiato that served as the perfect period to the rich, dulcet poem that was my meal to Jean-Georges.

1 Central Park West,
New York, NY
(212) 299-3900
www.jean-georges.com

Eloise at the Plaza Shop – NYC

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“Getting bored is not allowed
Sometimes I comb my hair with a fork…
Here’s what I like to do: Pretend.”
- Eloise

Eloise always treated The Plaza as her playground, but now she has a “playhouse” all her own. On Tuesday, December 1, 2009, the Eloise shop opened up on the Concourse Level of The Shops at The Plaza. As irresistibly engaging as the fictional sixyear-old heroine herself, who “moved into” The Plaza in 1955 with pet pug Weenie, turtle Skipperdee and her “mostly companion,” Nanny, the new Eloise shop is designed to delight,entertain and engage, for Lord’s sake.

Playfully decorated to be faithful to Eloise’s indomitable spirit and distinctive color palette of “Eloise pink” and black, the 2,100-square-foot Eloise shop resembles a ‘playhouse,’ an homage to one of the most lovably precocious fictional characters ever. Here Eloise fans young and old may re-enact their favorite vignettes from the “Eloise” books and movies, or, if they’d rawther shop for a full assortment of adorable Madame Alexander dolls, Eloise books, Eloise-inspired bathrobes and bath towels, and exclusive product lines including the Eloise in Paris doll. The holiday debut will provide shoppers with an assortment of special holiday gift items including an exclusive Eloise ornament, Eloise at Christmas book and holiday-themed dolls.

Guests who skibble in may relax in the stylish living room, and plan their (mis)adventures with the concierge, just like a certain young lady. In the Fashion Room there is absolutely nothing but costumes for dress up, so mini-Eloises can model their favorite looks from the podium. Sklonking off to the Library Room, guests may enjoy “park views” and watch their favorite Eloise movie clips, play on the computer stations or enjoy story time with their mostly companion. And of course, fans can’t leave without a visit to the Tea Room where family and friends can come together for tea and birthday parties and other celebrations. A visit to the Beauty Salon rounds out a day of living like Eloise, and in Spring 2010, tea and birthday parties, beauty salon service and etiquette classes will be available too, thank you very much.

Naturally, all forms of payment are accepted, but visitors can always just charge it please!

Visit http://theplaza.com for more information and look out for the Betsey Johnson designed Eloise themed suite in 2010.

THE SHOPS AT THE PLAZA
One West 58th Street (Entrance at 58th Street)
New York, NY 10019
212-546-5498

Mandarin Oriental – NYC

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There is no denying that the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Manhattan is serious about luxury with an added Far-East flair: chandeliers, Oriental marble and tapestries; over-attentive staff who aren’t uncomfortably stiff; glorious flower arrangements; divine bathrooms; ludicrously comfortable beds and floor to ceiling windows in some of the largest rooms in all of New York. The location at Columbus Circle allows for views of Central Park, the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline north and south. The Lobby Lounge is the perfect place to go for a light meal, drinks and panoramic views over Central Park while Asiate, MOny’s award winning French/Asian fusion fine dining restaurant is the scene of countless celebrity and fashion industry parties. MOny also boasts an amazing spa known as “the Spa”- a 14,500 square foot spa with a fitness center and 75-foot naturally-lit lap pool. Everything needed for a comfortable stay away from home can all be found within the massive tower of Mandarin Oriental.

Mandarin Oriental New York
80 Columbus Circle at 60th Street,
New York, New York 10023, USA
T: 1.212.805.8800
www.mandarinoriental.com/newyork


Mandarin Oriental and Barney’s New York Holiday Shopping Special:

This holiday season you can shop in style with Mandarin Oriental New York’s Barney Suite Holiday Shopping package. Manhattan’s celebration destination and the city’s most fashionable shopping mecca have joined forces, offering two shop-‘til-you-drop nights in a fashionably appointed suite with breakfast each morning and an enticing $250 Barneys New York gift certificate. To help maintain the holiday shopping momentum, this package includes one dinner for two at the see-and-be-seen Fred’s at Barneys New York restaurant serving Chef Mark Strausman’s deliciously chic fare.
Priced from USD 3,500, the package is available from November 27 – December 31, 2009 and includes:
• Two nights suite accommodations at Mandarin Oriental, New York with daily American breakfast
• One USD 250 Barneys New York Gift Certificate that can be applied against purchases of USD 1,000 or more
• One dinner for two at Fred’s at Barneys New York restaurant
For more information call toll free at +1 (866) 801 8880 or
+1 (212) 805 8800, email monyc-reservations@mohg.com, or book on-line.

The MAve Hotel – NYC

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By Danny Chan

Let’s skip the foreplay and get straight to business. That’s the feeling I had when I hopped out of my taxi and into the minimal lobby (if you even want to call it that) of the MAve Hotel. As I approached the reception desk I was greeted in such a professional and yet personal way, I almost felt like I was arriving home. The lobby is literally a front desk, which is probably the reason why the staff at this Boutique Hotel are able to give you such personal attention. With a lot of Boutique hotels popping up, you often find a weird and wacky interior theme/layout pushed upon you in hopes of appearing different and unique. I was quite relieved that the MAve had taken the simple approach and actually made it easier for me to enjoy my time in NYC.

During a friendly chat and the usual check-in banter, I had mentioned that I was meeting a friend for dinner and was offered help and directions. I pretended to listen but really just wanted to get up to my room and get ready for my posh dinner.  Up to the penthouse it was and upon entering my room I was very pleased. A living room area with tons of space, big couch, massive TV and desk/work area. I made my way into the bedroom which in fairness was a bit of a squeeze when moving around with a suitcase, but this was quickly forgiven as the tight fit was due to the biggest and most comfortable bed I had ever seen and I was actually looking forward to getting home from dinner and getting some kip in that beast of a bed. On to the bathroom: gorgeous, spacious and a shower to die for. After putting the shower to test…and it passed…I dressed myself and decided to abuse the complimentary WIFI and find directions to my friend’s hotel and then to the Trump International Tower (I should have listened earlier when they tried to explain). Lo and behold there’s a knock at the door. Matey from downstairs has come to check that everything with the room is ok and gives me hand written directions and a map to the locations I had mentioned earlier, SCORE. Now that what I call service.

As expected my night’s sleep was one of the best ever due to the incredible bed and I was fully rejuvenated and ready to make my way to the airport. When I got downstairs I found a complimentary buffet table of breakfast snacks to take on the go… perfect. Then it hit me, the lack of extravagant lobby and predictable hotel restaurant is what makes the MAve aMAVEing and is actually a plus. Less time farting around lobbies and more time to get out there and actually enjoy this beautiful city you’ve come to visit and taste the vast variety of food it has to offer. Oh and it just happens to be located smack in the middle of Manhattan, close to subways and walking distance to a plethora of attractions. You couldn’t be more encouraged or inspired by a hotel to really experience and enjoy a visit to a city. Thank you MAve.

21 East 27 Street
New York, NY 10016-8701
(212) 532-7373
www.themavehotel.com

Picholine – NYC

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By Alex Palmer

Picholine, the flagship restaurant of chef Terrance Brennan, stands out for being on such a quiet New York City street. Located near the Lincoln Center in New York’s upper west side, the restaurant’s name comes from the small green olive harvested in the Mediterranean and the menu and wine selection also lean toward Mediterranean sources. Opened in 1993 and revamped a few years ago, the windowless dining room could seem a bit stuffy if the food were not so uplifting. Brennan is also the proprietor of Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro, its dressed down sister restaurant Bar Artisanal, as well as The Artisanal Table Pizzeria Enoteca, but Picholine remains in a league of its own among the chef’s creations.

Brennan has a reputation for whimsy, playing on traditional entrees to create something unexpected (look out for the quotation marks on the menu). I tried the foie gras “shabu shabu”—a disk of tender, uncooked foie gras topped with root vegetable pearls and light greens presented in a bowl, which our waiter poured a delicious sweet and sour bouillon over, cooking it in 15 seconds, in shabu shabu style. The dish was even accompanied by Gewurztraminer, an aromatic white wine often paired with Asian cuisine. The full-bodied wild mushroom risotto, with squash, black truffle butter and a hint of parmesan was an ideal cold-weather dish.

Picholine has also gotten inventive with its pricing. A full three-course meal of two dishes and a dessert or cheese plate costs $92, but diners also have the option of a smaller prix fixe menu for $56 and a range of a la carte options. The restaurant has even introduced a “Menu D’ Economie” featuring tasting flights of three small dishes such as the dry aged beef or mushroom tempura for $20 and tasting plates of a single dish, including the Maine lobster and pumpkin bisque, for $15 each.

Wild game is a specialty of the house (visitors can actually enjoy an entire prix fixe menu of only game dishes), and I was intrigued by the note on the menu under the Wild Scottish Game entrée that “birdshot may be present.” In the end I selected the millbrook venison au poivre, with a crisp side of three pain perdu squares (aka French toast) and sweet huckleberry jam. Cooked medium rare, the dish was the ideal balance of moist texture with a peppery punch.

A meal at a Brennan restaurant is not complete without a sampling of the grand cheese selection. You can order a cheese plate by region, such as USA, Switzerland or Spain, or you can go off-menu and select whatever suits your tastes. My dining companion and I decided to do the latter. With the aid of the restaurant’s friendly and knowledgeable fromager (or “cheese wiz” as our wonderful waiter dryly joked) we made our selection of five. We enjoyed a great cross-section of cheeses, focusing on the soft and pungent, from the Spanish Pau Sant Mateu goat cheese to the bold Grayson from Virginia. My favorite was Switzerland’s more firm Vacherin Fribourgeois—a cow milk with a mildly acidulous taste.

The meal concluded with a sampling of desserts that were as striking as the entrees. One of my favorites was the small loaf of brioche soaked through with caramel and apple, which made for a wonderful feeling when you bit down on the caramel-soaked bread. The crisp citrus dish of blended shaved ice and fruit was as refreshing as the brioche was rich.

The chef’s skill and sense of humor were summed up in the quarter-size sampling of pistachio cotton candy. Unexpected, satisfying and inventive, it was an appropriate conclusion to the wonderful meal.

Picholine
35 W 64th St # 1
New York, NY 10023-6728
(212) 724-8585
www.picholinenyc.com

Hotel on Rivington – NYC

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Hotels these days are really pushing the boundaries in terms of offering more services, outlandish design and mechanized service. Hotel on Rivington holds their standards to a high point, without sacrificing anything in the process. I’ve visited plenty of hotels of late where the staff seems terrified of the management (and thusly, me), hotels where I can get a re-fi on my house with the remote control on my TV and hotels where I feel like I need to know how to play a Harpischord to run the water. What do these places all have in common you might ask? They all strive to improve the guest experience, but all their excess, fail me.

I think these people have forgotten that you come to a hotel to relax, not to feel like you’re washing your hands in a Bjork music video. So I was relieved and impressed to see that the Hotel on Rivington’s efforts to maximize comfort did just that, without clutter. When I walked into my suite, I was inundated with the size of it. Then I was happy to see that it was the only thing that was inundating. The décor, designed by India Mahdavi is refined yet subtle. The bedroom and bathroom consist of floor to ceiling windows with sweeping views of the city, this offers a nice contrast to the minimalism of the rooms. Speaking of the bathroom, it’s almost as big as my home and had a giant soaking tub facing the window so you can relax and bathe while watching the city and contemplate the fact that NYC is the number one city in the world where binoculars are put to use. Please hold my calls and put a robe on stand-by.

Walking around the hotel I talked with a few of the staff of varying positions. I was pleased to see consistency in the balance of personable and professional. I really dislike being in a place where the staff is on edge or discouraged from engaging with the guests. The sensibility is akin to the Lower East Side. Back to my room, the bed was a deluxe white, dream castle composed of fine linens, soft pillows and a fluffy down comforter that seemed to breathe with me as the night shed its cloak. In my normal habitat I have a preference for sleeping in absolute dark with the blinds shut, every night at the Hotel on Rivington I felt compelled to leave all the curtains wide open so that I could fall asleep to the panoramic city views.

Hotel on Rivington, you get it and I thank you for getting it. After so many “fashion” boutique hotels that feel like Hemmingway’s estate sale and hotel groups that look like house-of-the-future mockeries, you at long last have delivered an escape from hectic city life right in the best location while avoiding the hospitality industry’s theme excesses. I look forward to seeing you again very soon.
Hotel on Rivington
107 Rivington St.,
New York, NY 10002
http://hotelonrivington.com

House Industries Exhibit and Pop-Up Shop – NY

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House Industries announces the opening of its Type as Object show at New York’s Type Directors Club. The show will open on October 20, 2009 and run until November 20, 2009. House Industries principals Andy Cruz and Rich Roat will give a short introductory lecture at the opening.

Type as Object will feature the three dimensional objects that House has derived from its 16 years of creating a tangible experience around its digital type. House Industries has exhibited previously at Shepard Fairey’s Subliminal Projects Gallery and at 222 Gallery in Philadelphia.

Pixels, points and curves are indispensable conveniences to the modern type designer, but House Industries artists discovered the resulting digital vapor did not deliver a satisfying tactile experience. Consequently, House has spent much of the past 16 years freeing letterforms from their rigid typographic confines and introducing them to the three-dimensional world. From the ridiculously impractical to the infinitely functional, Type as Object is an exhibition of these items and the products they have become.

In an effort to marry art, commerce, practicality and sustainability, the exhibition will be centered around a “pop-up shop” concept where most of the objects will be available for sale. Products will include pillows, wood alphabet blocks, cloth totes, hand-printed serigraphs, cast iron and aluminum bookends, books, cutting boards and anything else that will fit on the freight elevator. House Industries is also printing two limited-edition serigraphs that are only available at the Type as Object show.
To close the show, Ken Barber will give a lecture entitled “Letter as Image” on November 19 followed by an all day lettering workshop on November 20th. Both events take place at the Type Director’s Club.

Show Info:
Gallery: Type Directors Club, 347 West 36 Street, Suite 603, New York, NY
Opening: October 20, 2009, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Runs: October 21 through November 20, Call in advance for hours, 212-633-8943 or email director@tdc.org
Closing Lecture: November 19, 2009, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. “Letter as Image” by Ken Barber
Lettering Workshop: November 20
Show Description: A new exhibition of prints, patterns, products, installations and sculptures based on House Industries’ 16-year love affair with alphabetical forms.

www.houseind.com

Sampling the City at New York’s Taste

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By Alex Palmer

New York is a city of delicious extravagance—the number of restaurants seem to outnumber the population, especially with how quickly spots open and close even before the recession started. So I jumped at the opportunity to check out the 11th annual New York Taste event, which brought together more than 40 chefs and mixologists from the city’s biggest, most raved-about restaurants and lounges into one venue for three hours of top-notch sampling. Still a bit sugar-shocked with Halloween candy from two days before, I entered the massive Skylight space in SoHo ready for a chance at a different kind of indulgence, as well as something of a New York culinary education.

I got plenty of both. Hosted by New York magazine, the packed house had a feeling of a bustling high-end market, where the merchants and mongers were the culinary geniuses behind some of the city’s most renowned menus. What stood out most as I made my way through this trick or treating with adults (pillowcase full of candy now replaced with an eager appetizer plate), was the variety that New York has to offer. The offerings ranged from the American classics of Craft to the Italian classics of SD26. More edgy fusions could be found at the Shang table and at Oceana’s twists on traditional seafood. Finishing (the first round) off with pastry from Rouge Tomate had me checking my watch to see how many more rounds I might be able to squeeze in. Several, it turned out.

But all the tasting wasn’t limited to food. I had a chance to sample the complicated concoctions from the folks at Clover Club and Death & Co. as well as a signature cocktail from “liquid chef” Junior Merino, who thankfully didn’t go too heavy on the tequila—or maybe it was just some of the smoothest tequila I’d ever sipped**. My unsteady walking after his drink tells me it was probably the latter.

Taste had its air of celebrity chef worship, from the crowds surrounding Blue Hill’s Dan Barber, to Fatty Crab’s Zakary Pelaccio to Morimoto’s Masahura Morimoto (better known to me as Iron Chef’s Masahura Morimoto—sadly I can better afford salivating at the cuisine on Food Network than actually experiencing it first hand). Even Bethenny Frankel of the Real Housewives of NYC had a table to offer her own twist on traditional delights.

But in spite of the culinary (and C-list) star power, the attendees were interested in experiencing the food. Walking from table to table, sampling each perfectly executed morsel, it was an adventure of anticipation wondering what the next booth would bring. What began as trick or treating for foodies turned into a race to experience just the right samples before the clock wound down to 9pm. Saving Le Cirque for the end turned out to be the right call.

Some of my guilt at this unbridled indulgence was offset by the knowledge that New York was donating a portion of the proceeds to hunger-fighting nonprofit City Harvest, which collects excess food from restaurants, farms and cafeterias, which it donates to food programs throughout the city. Learning from one of the event planners that the huge countertop I had set my small plate on was made of 75 percent recycled material (not sure how they came to that number) also left a nice, socially responsible taste in my mouth.

In the end, I left Taste with a sense that I’d seen a slight glimmer of all the city has to offer. In the years to come I hope that turns into at least a steady glow, if not a full burst of light (that might take a lifetime).

http://nymag.com/taste/

**Note about the tequila used by Junior Merino: 901 Tequila (which was one of the sponsors of New York Taste) is produced using only 100% Blue Weber Agave. Produced by Tequilera Newton, in the heart of Jalisco, Mexico, 901 Silver is triple distilled using the most innovative distillation methods available for fine tequila. Perfected with over three generations of craftsmanship and more than 60 years of experience, 901 Silver is hand crafted in small batches allowing greater quality control of the tequila. www.901.com

Resto: Belgian Restaurant in the style of New York

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Belgian cuisine, at least as it is known in the outside world, consists of just a few potentially delicious things. They are: steamed mussels, French fries, Belgian endive, good chocolate and of course amazing beer. All of these things—except Belgian endive—are served at Resto and clearly a good amount of care has gone into the beer and wine list as much as the food. This neighborhood restaurant & bar is an American restaurant that serves Belgian food much the same way a Japanese or Italian restaurant serve sushi or carpaccio.  Resto, which is French slang for “casual restaurant” gets the hardest part right by serving beautifully flavored dishes which can be nicely paired with beer to add a complexity to every dish. If you find yourself being indecisive and need any assistance with the beer and wine list, the staff are very knowledgeable and can help you pick the perfect pairings for the food you order and each beer is cutely served with its own signature pint glass.

The Gastropub styled space is intimate yet slightly theatrical with a copper ceiling, beige walls and a big chalkboard filled with piggy doodles showing the days specials. The tables are woodsy and the chairs are aluminum giving the restaurant a cozy yet stylish pub vibe. The real centerpiece of the Resto is the lively bar which is decorated with glassware, a back mirror and lots of cool people.

The drink list includes a lot of Italian, French, and Spanish wines, but Resto’s heartbeat is in the amazing selection of Flemish microbrews to go with regional cuisine. The starters consist of a variety of creative finger foods. A starter of Tete de Couchon is not as scary as it sounds (Tete de couchon means “Pigs Head”). Served up slider style the Tete de Coucon sandwiches are filled with braised pork (not mini pig’s heads!), cilantro and pickled carrots inside slightly charred bread and are absolutely delicious with a kasteel rouge red beer. The chicory salad is also a really big winner with surprisingly tasty, crispy pig ears sitting on top of a soft egg, frisee and warm guanicale dressing. You can’t visit Resto without trying the deviled eggs. Served up on crispy pork toast, each egg just slides into and then melts in your mouth. Mains such as the Moules Frittes or Steak & Frittes are great dinner options if you can handle the large portions. You might be quite full by the time you’ve finished your mains but trying a dessert shouldn’t even be debated. The selection of Belgian chocolates range from white to dark and are heavenly. The Fruit Beer float is out of this world and the liege waffle is tasty and traditional.

Brunch, lunch and dinner are served throughout the day but this is a great place to drop in after a long day at work, have a few beers and enjoy the delicious food. Delivering quality food and drink, Resto is well worth a visit. Interview with chef/owner Christian Pappanicholas below:

Resto
111 E. 29th Street
New York, NY 10016
(212) 685-5585
http://restonyc.com

Q: Why did you decide to open a Belgian inspired restaurant?
A: I have a lot of Belgian Friends. Visited Belgium for a bunch of Weddings and loved the food, culture, and beer.

Q: What is one of your favorite items on the menu and pair it with your favorite Belgian beer?
A: Definitely the sausages that Bobby makes. Fresh Sausage is somewhat of a lost art as people focused so much on curing samuli. The fresh sausages are such classic Belgian food and I like to pair them with a sour ale like Rodenbach or T’Gaverhopke

Q: Is everything on the menu Belgian inspired?
A: Truthfully speaking we are really an American Restaurant. We source our food from local farms and we just let the Belgian / European influences come through. Belgian in the Style of New York

Q: I LOVE the chicory salad, the pig ears are a nice, crunchy touch. Why pig ears?
A: WHY NOT PIG EARS? It’s really better that bacon. You get all of the porky goodness but not as much fat.

Q: What do you like/dislike (in general) about dining in New York.
A: I like the fact that there is such great reciprocity between restaurants in NYC. I dislike that there are too many Starbucks.

Upcoming Exhibits at the Guggenheim

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Free Day at the Guggenheim and upcoming exhibits:

GABRIELE MÜNTER AND VASILY KANDINSKY, 1902–14:
A LIFE IN PHOTOGRAPHS

September 18, 2009–January 13, 2010
Gabriele Münter and Vasily Kandinsky, 1902–14: A Life in Photographs presents German artist Gabriele Münter’s photographs (along with a selection taken by her companion, Russian-born artist Vasily Kandinsky), recording the years they lived, traveled, and worked together between 1902 and 1914. Private and documentary images from their life in Germany and their travels in Europe and northern Africa, as well as portraits taken with friends and colleagues offer a fascinating glimpse into the artists’ private and public personas. Gabriele Münter and Vasily Kandinsky, 1902–14: A Life in Photographs is organized by the Sackler Center for Arts Education at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

PAIRED, GOLD: FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES AND RONI HORN
October 2, 2009–January 6, 2010
Bringing together two important works from the permanent collection for the first time, this exhibition illuminates the profound artistic dialogue between Roni Horn and Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Suspended from the ceiling, the new acquisition “Untitled” (Golden) (1995) by Gonzalez-Torres will act as a site of passage, a shimmering curtain of golden beads opening onto Horn’s delicate gold floor piece, Gold Field (1980–82). The paired works reflect a critical engagement with the legacy of Minimalism and the emotive possibilities of form. This exhibition is organized by Nancy Spector, Chief Curator.

INTERVALS: KITTY KRAUS
October 9, 2009–January 6, 2010
German artist Kitty Kraus has been invited to exhibit her work for the second installment of Intervals, a new contemporary art series designed to showcase experimental projects by emerging artists and reflect the spirit of today’s most innovative practices. This exhibition is organized by Nancy Spector, Chief Curator, and Katherine Brinson, Assistant Curator.

THE DEUTSCHE BANK SERIES AT THE GUGGENHEIM
ANISH KAPOOR: MEMORY
October 21, 2009–March 28, 2010
With the inauguration of the Deutsche Guggenheim in 1997, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Deutsche Bank launched a unique and ambitious program of contemporary art commissions that has enabled the Deutsche Guggenheim to act as a catalyst for artistic production. Anish Kapoor: Memory is the 14th project to be completed since the program’s inception and is the foundation’s first collaboration with the artist. The commission is traveling to New York after its Berlin debut, demonstrating Kapoor’s ability to create a site-specific work that engages with two very different exhibition spaces. Kapoor was born in 1954 in Bombay, India. He has lived in London since the early 1970s and quickly rose to prominence in the 1980s. Best known for his explorations of the concept of the void and his use of color and scale, he has since redefined contemporary sculpture. Memory is a remarkable new work in industrial Cor-Ten steel that transforms the galleries through shifts in physical, mental, and architectural scale. This exhibition is organized by Sandhini Poddar, Assistant Curator of Asian Art.

TINO SEHGAL
January 29–March 10, 2010
London-born, Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal constructs staged situations that often defy the traditional contexts of museum and gallery environments, focusing on the fleeting gestures and social subtleties that define lived experience rather than the material aspects of conventional art making. His singular practice has been informed by extensive studies in dance and economics, yielding entirely ephemeral works that consist only of the interactions among their participants and are not visually documented. Organized as part of the Guggenheim’s 50th-anniversary celebrations, Sehgal will present two major projects in the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed rotunda, each representing a pivotal part of his practice. The first, entitled Kiss, takes the form of a choreographed interaction between two participants, transforming the ground floor of the rotunda into an arena for spectatorship. In the second work, This Progress, a succession of interlocutors directly engages visitors in an increasingly sophisticated verbal interaction throughout the spiraling rotunda. Together these works expand the concept of what constitutes a contemporary art object, offering the viewer a direct engagement with the realization of the work presented. This exhibition is organized by Nancy Spector, Chief Curator, assisted by Nat Trotman, Associate Curator, and Katherine Brinson, Assistant Curator.

CONTEMPLATING THE VOID: INTERVENTIONS IN THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM ROTUNDA, AN ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT EVENT
February 12–May 13, 2010
This exhibition celebrates the catalytic power of the Frank Lloyd Wright–designed museum’s spiraling rotunda on the occasion of the building’s 50th Anniversary. Since its opening in 1959, the building has served as an inspiration for invention, challenging artists and architects to react to its eccentric, organic design. The central void of the rotunda has elicited many unique responses over the years, which have been manifested in both site-specific solo shows and memorable exhibition designs. With that history in mind, the Guggenheim invited approximately 200 artists, architects, and designers to imagine their dream interventions in the space. The exhibition will feature their renderings of these visionary projects in a salon-style installation that will emphasize the rich and diverse range of inspired proposals. This exhibition is organized by Nancy Spector, Chief Curator, and David van der Leer, Assistant Curator for Architecture and Design.

HAUNTED: CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEO/PERFORMANCE
March 26–September 5, 2010
Much of contemporary photography and video seems haunted by the past, by ghostly apparitions that are reanimated in reproductive media, as well as in live performance and the virtual world. By using dated, passé, or quasi-extinct stylistic devices, subject matter, and technologies, this art embodies a melancholic longing for an otherwise unrecuperable past. Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video/Performance examines the myriad ways photographic imagery is incorporated into recent practice and in the process underscores the unique power of reproductive media while documenting a widespread contemporary obsession, both collective and individual, with accessing the past. The works included in the exhibition range from individual photographs and photographic series, to sculptures and paintings that incorporate photographic elements, and to videos, both on monitors and projected, as well as film, performance, and site-specific installations. Drawn primarily from the Guggenheim Museum collection, Haunted will feature recent acquisitions, many of which will be exhibited by the museum for the first time. Included in the show will be work by such artists as Marina Abramovi?, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Sophie Calle, Gregory Crewdson, Tacita Dean, Stan Douglas, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Roni Horn, Zoe Leonard, Robert Rauschenberg, Cindy Sherman, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Jeff Wall, and Andy Warhol. A significant part of the exhibition will be dedicated to work created since 2001 by younger artists. This exhibition is curated by Jennifer Blessing, Curator of Photography, and Nat Trotman, Associate Curator.

Program Highlights

DESIGN IT: SHELTER COMPETITION
Enter through August 23, 2009
Voting begins on September 7, 2009
From June 8 to August 23, the Guggenheim and Google invite the public to participate in the Design It: Shelter Competition at guggenheim.org/shelter. Participants around the globe may design a shelter—a place to live and work—anywhere in the world through Google SketchUp, and submissions will be viewed and judged by the public and a jury. Public voting begins on September 7, and winners will be announced on October 21.

LEVELS OF NOTHINGNESS
Thursday and Saturday–Monday, September 17 and 19–21, 7:30 pm
Inspired by Vasily Kandinsky’s Yellow Sound (Der gelbe Klang, 1912), Mexican-born Rafael Lozano-Hemmer creates an installation, in which colors are automatically derived from the human voice, generating an interactive light performance. Isabella Rossellini will read seminal philosophical texts on skepticism, color, and perception, while her voice is analyzed by computers that control a full rig of rock-and-roll concert lighting. Audience members will have the opportunity to test the color-generating microphone.

FREE DAY!
October 21, 2009
On October 21, 2009, exactly 50 years after the opening of the museum’s historic Fifth Avenue home, the public is invited to celebrate the Guggenheim’s golden anniversary with free admission, tours offered in several languages, and a roster of special education programs, including many family-friendly activities.

EMPIRE STATE BUILDING TRIBUTE
October 21, 2009
On October 21, 2009, the Empire State Building will be lit Guggenheim red in honor of the museum’s 50th birthday. Throughout October, the Empire State Building’s display windows in the lobby will feature the museum.

Current Exhibitions

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT: FROM WITHIN OUTWARD
May 15–August 23, 2009
Fifty years after the completion of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most iconic work, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation have partnered to develop Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, an original exhibition that examines Wright’s concepts of space and its impact on the organization of modern life, highlighting the Guggenheim’s famed spiral as a culmination of the continuous spatial experiences that defined Wright’s 72-year career. The exhibition explores how Wright’s forms, designed from within outward, showcase the positive effects that architecture can exert on the human psyche. Through the presentation of more than 80 of Wright’s projects, from privately commissioned homes to office, civic, and government buildings to religious and performance spaces as well as unrealized urban megastructures, the exhibition elucidates his visionary projection of the modern lifestyle—initiating open, communal spaces that stimulate social exchange. It also highlights his ability to organically unite people, buildings, and nature in physical and spiritual harmony. Frank Lloyd Wright is presented through a range of media, including more than 200 original drawings, newly commissioned and historic models, one-to-one scale replicas, newly created video and digital renderings, photography, and ephemera such as correspondence and blueprints. The curatorial team includes Thomas Krens, Senior Advisor of International Affairs of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and David van der Leer, Assistant Curator of Architecture and Design of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, in collaboration with Philip Allsopp, President and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation; Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives; Oskar Muñoz, Assistant Director of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives; and Margo Stipe, Curator and Registrar of Collections of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue (at 89th Street)
New York, NY 10128-0173
http://guggenheim.org

Kefi Restaurant – New York City

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There is something so expressive about Greek cuisine. Plump purple olives and creamy feta drizzled with olive oil; grilled fish spiked with thyme; sea evoking salty anchovies; a glass of chilled Greek wine all come to mind. It’s the taste of summer nights and warm breezes fragrant with jasmine and roses.

A tree filled subterranean area of the Upper East Side, is home to KEFI; a neighborhood restaurant where excellent Greek food meets shockingly reasonable prices. The simple, clean design of KEFI with its warm, rustic earth tones, stone floors and impeccable wooden tables is a reflection of the menu which channels dishes straight from acclaimed chef and owner, Michael Psilakis’ childhood spent in Greece. This is authentic Greek cuisine outside of its country of origin and in its finest form. The menu is based around the very best seasonal ingredients treated with the utmost respect and a simple approach which combines Greek ideas and techniques. So you might find yourself tempted by Roasted lemon chicken with potato, garlic and dill or indulge in some of the finest fish around fresh from the grill. Everything is so authentic that even the menu is written in both English and Greek.

KEFI features a ground level dining area with a buzzing bar and more space downstairs in an extra large dining basement. The restaurant is full to bursting with happy customers kept happy with a plate of olives to start. Drop dead delicious meze includes a selection of spreads consisting of yogurt “Caviar”, eggplant and chickpea (hummos) –perfect for two people or you can opt for the Warm Feta with tomatoes, capers and anchovies served with pita bread. Amazing main courses include the Grilled Swordfish or the Pan seared striped bass. If you’re a vegetarian the Sheep Milk Ravioli or the KEFI Mac & Cheese are great choices. Dessert is traditional Greek fare such as Baklava. There is something to be said about the drink list which features page after page of Greek wine, beer and cocktails. From Aegean and Cretian white wines to reds from Northern Greece, Reds from Central Greece and more focused areas such as Peloponesse. The “KEFI Sangria” is a great Greek twist on a Spanish favorite: Greek red wine, Greek Metaxa brandy with raspberry infused vodka and fresh fruit….and again the breezy Greek beaches start calling. Kefi is probably one of the best culinary experiences to be had outside of Greece.

KEFI
505 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10024
(212) 873-0200
http://kefirestaurant.com

Interview with acclaimed Chef & Owner of KEFI, Michael Psilakis

Q: Why did you become a chef?
A: Growing up as the eldest son of a traditional Greek family here in the United States, it was always my responsibility to make sure all house guests felt welcome. When a guest walked through the doors of our home it became their own. All of our possessions were there for them to enjoy and it was my job to ensure their feelings of warmth and welcome. We spent the majority of our free time entertaining friends and family, and food was always the locus of these gatherings. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized that my mother, grandmother, and aunts were using food as a means to bring their loved ones together. It was their gift. They cooked to share these gifts and their love for family was the driving force behind all of this. I have always felt this. So, when I finished college and was preparing to go to law school, I started working as a waiter in an Italian restaurant to pay for my tuition. I fell in love with the business immediately. I was very comfortable in that environment, it felt like home. As a restaurateur, I strive to have those same ideals -the Greek notion of hospitality -inhabit every single one of my restaurants.

Q: I would say that some of the best Greek food I have ever had in the US, I had at KEFI. I’m sure that many people would agree. How did you accomplish this?
A: It would have been impossible without the help of others. I can honestly say that the critical attention I have received has allowed me to accumulate an abundance of human resources. These talented individuals are the foundation I have used for such rapid growth. But, I have to say that sometimes it seems surreal. To think that all of these wonderful things have happened in such a short period of time is truly remarkable. I am very lucky and thankful.

Q: How authenticly close to Greek food in its homeland of Greece would you say that the food at KEFI is?
A: I am often asked this question because of my style of cookery. I grew up eating traditional food every day at home. It is my mother’s food that has shaped my palette and moved me towards trying to capture the essence of Greek food. To me, it is not a question of which one is better, it’s just a different way of looking at the two. I would never be able to live without traditional Greek food.

Q: Your restaurant is wildy popular. Did you expect this before opening it?
A: We knew the new KEFI would do well, but we didn’t expect it to do this well. It’s just so busy, it’s fantastic. When you’re opening a 200-seat restaurant it can be very daunting thinking of filling all of those seats and turning tables. I’m very happy about its success.

Q: What is your personal favorite item on the menu at KEFI? Which Greek wine from you list would you pair it with?
A: If I had to choose I would say the Tsoutsoukakia (Meatballs, Roasted Garlic, Olives, Tomato) and I would pair it with Kretikos Boutari 2006 from Crete.

Kandinsky Retrospective Opens @ The Guggenheim

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Exhibition: Kandinsky
Dates: Sept 18th 2009 – January 13th 2010
Venue: Soloman R. Guggenheim Museum
1071 Fifth Avenue New York, NY
Preview: Thursday September 17th 2009 10am-1pm

Kandinsky, a full-scale retrospective of the paintings of Vasily Kandinsky—the visionary artist, theorist, and pioneer of abstraction—will be presented at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum from September 18, 2009, through January 13, 2010. This comprehensive survey comprising nearly 100 of Kandinsky’s most important canvases from 1907 to 1942 is drawn primarily from the three largest repositories of the artist’s work—the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York, and the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau in Munich—as well as from significant private and public collections. Complemented by more than 60 works on paper from the collections of the Guggenheim and Hilla von Rebay foundations, this retrospective traces the painter’s oeuvre, focusing on the key events that informed his life and work. Marked by two world wars and the Russian revolutions, Kandinsky’s abstraction did not develop in detachment or isolation. Kandinsky, the first comprehensive retrospective of the artist’s career in the United States since the three surveys mounted by the Guggenheim Museum in the 1980’s, reveals the complex background to his aesthetic innovations.

This exhibition is organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, in cooperation with the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris.

The exhibition was shown earlier this year at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, Munich and the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris before its presentation at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York.

The unprecedented collaborative efforts of the Guggenheim, Pompidou, and Lenbachhaus have allowed this exhibition to include examples from Kandinsky’s Improvisations, Impressions, and Compositions series, and to demonstrate the artist’s formal and conceptual contributions to the course of abstraction in the 20th-century. Kandinsky will feature works that have rarely traveled, such as the Lenbachhaus’s early masterpiece Colorful Life (Motley Life) (Das bunte Leben, 1907), and the Guggenheim Museum’s Light Picture (Helles Bild, December 1913)—a seminal work among the first of Kandinsky’s truly abstract canvases that has not been exhibited in the museum’s own galleries since the 1970s—offering new contexts and comparisons for all the works.

Under the care and preparation of the Guggenheim’s conservation department, three canvases considered extremely delicate due to the artist’s use of sand as well as paint, traveled for the first time in decades to the other venues. Significant loans from institutions such as Nizhny Novgorod State Art Museum and the State Tretyakov Gallery in Russia, as well as the Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, will introduce works rarely or never seen in the United States.

The survey traces Kandinsky’s thematic motifs, such as the horse and rider, mountainous landscapes, tumultuous seascapes, apocalyptic imagery, and other sacred subject-matter references, and follows the artist’s painted realizations of his well-developed aesthetic theories, allowing a reexamination of the geographical- and time-based periods traditionally applied to his oeuvre.

Kandinsky is curated by Tracey Bashkoff, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Christian Derouet, Curator at the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; and Annegret Hoberg, Curator at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich. Karole Vail, Assistant Curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, assisted with the organization of the New York presentation.

Kandinsky and Solomon R. Guggenheim
Kandinsky was a central figure in the history and genesis of the Guggenheim Museum, and this landmark exhibition fittingly coincides with the museum’s 50th anniversary year. The museum’s founder, Solomon R. Guggenheim, started acquiring works by Kandinsky in 1929 upon the counsel of Hilla Rebay, who was to become the museum’s first director and who advocated collecting works by Kandinsky in all mediums and from all periods. Guggenheim paid an historic visit to the artist’s studio at the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, in 1930, and over the course of his lifetime ultimately purchased more than 150 Kandinsky paintings. Guggenheim soon became the champion of a particular brand of abstraction known as nonobjective art, which had no ties to the empirical world and aspired to spiritual and utopian goals. His enthusiasm eventually led to the opening of the Museum of Non-Objective Painting in 1939, the direct precursor of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Permanent galleries were devoted to Kandinsky from the museum’s inception, a practice the Guggenheim Museum has revived in recent years. In 1945, shortly after the artist’s death in Paris, Rebay organized a memorial exhibition at the museum and translated some of his influential writings into English.

About Kandinsky
Vasily Kandinsky (b. 1866, Moscow; d. 1944, Paris) was one of the pioneers of abstraction and great theorists of modernism. He was born in Moscow to an affluent family and initially studied law and economics at Moscow University, but at age 30 he left Russia to study painting in Munich. With his companion, artist Gabriele Münter, he traveled throughout Europe, spending time in Amsterdam, Palermo, Rome, Vienna, and other cities, as well as Carthage and Kairouan in Tunisia. In 1906, he and Münter settled briefly in Paris, returning in 1908 to Munich where Kandinsky began a period of intense activity—painting and organizing artistic associations and exhibitions.

Kandinsky published his first major theoretical writing Über das Geistige in der Kunst. Insbesondere in der Malerei (On the Spiritual in Art: And Painting in Particular), in December 1911 (dated 1912). In it he explores connections between theosophical thought and form and color in painting, considers the potential of music to express inner feelings and ideas, and identifies three types of paintings designated by titles associated with music: Impressions, which are based on real-life subjects; Improvisations, which are spontaneous and unconscious images from the artist’s inner life; and Compositions, which are formally developed works often preceded by a series of studies. Stimulated by contact from vanguard musicians and artists, including Arnold Schönberg and Franz Marc, Kandinsky painted prolifically, gradually leaving figuration behind. The outbreak of war brought an abrupt end to this highly creative period, as he was forced to leave Germany and return to Moscow in 1914. After the Russian Revolution, he worked alongside Kazimir Malevich, Liubov Popova, Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Tatlin, and other Suprematist and Constructivist artists, though he opposed the geometry of their “pure” painting. In 1921, he returned to Germany with his wife Nina.

In 1922, Kandinsky accepts an offer from architect Walter Gropius to teach at the Bauhaus, a school of art, architecture, and design in Weimar dedicated to establishing a modern aesthetic. While teaching the Preliminary Course and Wall Painting Workshop, Kandinsky reconnected with Paul Klee, an artist with whom he shared ideas regarding the correlation between the spiritual and art. His painting was also influenced by the rationalist inclinations of the Bauhaus and the systematization of ideas he then imposed on his own teaching. His formal vocabulary and palette simplified as he explored compositions based on geometry. Kandinsky completed his second aesthetic treatise Punkt und Linie zu Fläche. Beitrag zur Analyse der malerischen Elemente (Point and Line to Plane: A Contribution to the Analysis of Pictorial Elements) in 1926. The Nazis forced the Bauhaus to close in 1933 and the rise of National Socialism led Kandinsky to abandon Germany a second time.

In January 1934, Kandinsky and his wife Nina (whom he married in 1917) settled in a suburb of Paris. Despite a certain degree of isolation, Kandinsky succeeded in showing his work and connecting with a younger generation of artists. At a time when German authorities confiscated his work and declared it “degenerate art,” Kandinsky exhibited in Paris and continued to cultivate an American audience through his connections with Catherine Dreier, Hilla Rebay, Galka Sheyer, and other collectors. His formal vocabulary changed, featuring a softer palette and biomorphic forms, informed by his contact with artists Joan Miró and Jean Arp, Surrealism in general, and his interest in the natural sciences. After 1942, Kandinsky, restricted by a shortage of canvas, continued to create small paintings and works on paper. He died at home in 1944.

Catalogue
An illustrated 320-page catalogue accompanies the exhibition, and contains five comprehensive art historical texts and a conservation study of Kandinsky’s work. The contributors to the catalogue are Vivian Endicott Barnett, art historian and Kandinsky scholar; Tracey Bashkoff, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Christian Derouet, Curator at the Musée national d’art moderne, Centre Pompidou, Paris; Matthias Haldemann, Director, Kunsthaus Zug, Switzerland; Annegret Hoberg, Curator at the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich; and Gillian McMillan, Senior Conservator, Collections, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The catalogue also features an extensive illustrated chronology compiled by Hoberg, as well as a selected bibliography. Priced at $55 for the hardcover and $35 for the softcover, the exhibition catalogue Kandinsky can be purchased at the Guggenheim Store or at the Online Store at guggenheimstore.org.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

A full schedule of educational programs is being presented under the auspices of the Sackler Center for Arts Education during the run of Kandinsky. For updated information regarding ticketed programs, contact the Box Office at 212 423 3587 or visit http://guggenheim.org/education

Morgan’s Hotel Group Asks: Who Do You Want to Be?

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Morgans Hotel Group Co., the original boutique hotel company and originator of hotel lobby socializing is introducing a new “Who do you want to be?” campaign, with exclusive offers designed for sophisticated travelers: “The Escapist”, “The Hedonist”, “The Romantic”, “The Socialite” and “The Road Warrior”. In keeping with Morgans’ tradition of celebrating the individual and inspiring dynamic experiences, these offers cater to personal preferences and are committed to enhancing value and creating the opportunity to experience more for less.

The Escapist
Designed for the escapist, the package may include breakfast in bed, late checkout, one complimentary movie per night, a 25% discount on mini-bar products, a bottle of champagne or wine, $100 food and beverage credit and 25% discount at Agua Spa. Rates and privileges vary by location.

The Hedonist
Designed for the Hedonist, the package may include 4pm checkout, a box of Asia de Cuba cupcakes, a daily poolside pitcher of caipirinha, overnight parking, continental breakfast, one complimentary movie per night, complimentary mini spa treatments and reserved seating at exclusive nightlife venues like Hudson’s Sky Terrace. Rates and privileges vary by location.

The Romantic
Designed for the Romantic, the package may include breakfast in bed, 4pm checkout, champagne and strawberries, dining discounts and a complimentary room upgrade. Rates and privileges vary by location.

The Socialite
Designed for the Socialite, the package may include two complimentary cocktails, guaranteed access to our exclusive nightlife venues including, Skybar at Mondrian in LA, The Florida Room at Delano, Redwood Room at Clift, Bar 44 at Royalton, Private Park at Hudson, and Light Bar at St Martins Lane, and priority reservations at our restaurants including Brasserie 44 at Royalton and Asia de Cuba at Morgans. Rates and privileges vary by location.

The Road Warrior
Designed with the business traveler in mind, packages may include complimentary business center access and wireless internet, unlimited local calls, parking, continental breakfast, newspaper and in-room coffee service throughout the day, complimentary gym access, a room upgrade and even a concierge to unpack your bags. Rates and privileges vary by location.

For reservations visit Morgans website: www.morganshotelgroup.com or in the US call 1.800.606.6090 or internationally 00.800.4969.1170. Offers may vary by property and are not applicable to group