The Dinner Party

I have had the pleasure of seeing numerous iconic artworks in person. I rarely get “startstruck” by the big names anymore. That’s why it was such a wonderful treat to see The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum recently.

I remember when I first learned about The Dinner Party in my high school AP Art History course. (How cool is it that my school offered Art History?) The piece was my first exposure to both feminist art and installation art, the two main areas that would eventually inform my graduate research. Because these two fields played such a large role in my education, The Dinner Party showed up repeatedly in my coursework. Viewing it at the Brooklyn Museum was a big deal for me and the piece did not disappoint.

The Dinner Party is a massive multimedia installation created by Judy Chicago in the late 1970s. It took 6 years and hundreds of collaborators to bring Chicago’s vision to life. The piece is a triangular banquet table with 39 place settings, each designed for an important woman from history. Each place has an embroidered table runner and ceramic plate decorated with imagery specific to the woman that they commemorate. The table sits on a white tiled floor with the names of 999 additional women inscribed in gold. The piece celebrates 1,038 individuals in total. This expansive survey of women’s history is so significant because it was created during a time when women were still largely marginalized from the historical narrative.

The Brooklyn Museum’s display begins with a series of 6 Entry Banners that introduce the color palette and symbols of the ceremonial banquet. The banners bear quotes that convey Chicago’s vision of equality.

When you enter the banquet “hall,” you find yourself at the place reserved for the Primordial Goddess, the oldest of Chicago’s guests of honor. The guests are arranged chronologically, allowing visitors to move forward through history as they circumnavigate the table.

The open triangle shape of the table is a symbol of equality and femininity. Chicago celebrates the feminine even further through the vaginal shapes echoed in the ceramic place settings and the use of traditionally female arts such as sewing, needlework, and weaving. By elevating these domestic arts to the realm of high art, Chicago validates the artistic accomplishments of women throughout history.

There is a series of Heritage Panels placed outside the installation. The panels outline the 999 women whose names are written on the tiled floor. The names are organized by the place setting they correspond to.

Like most installation art, The Dinner Party is one of those works that needs to be viewed in person. Seeing images of the table and the individual place settings did not compare to being in the space. The Brooklyn Museum has created a really special context for the piece. The room hums with an energy that can’t be sensed through photographs.

The Dinner Party is on permanent display at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art on the fourth floor of the Brooklyn Museum. Some of Judy Chicago’s other works are currently on exhibition at the Museum of Art and Design and the Hebrew Union College Museum.

Lacey Yeager’s New York

On Monday, I gave you my review of Steve Martin’s new novel An Object of Beauty. The book is a recent history of the New York art world presented through the fictional exploits of gallerist Lacey Yeager. Lacey’s career follows the evolution of the city’s art scene. After working at Sotheby’s, Lacey takes a position at a gallery on the Upper East Side. Eventually she opens her own space in Chelsea. Lacey’s move downtown illustrates the shift of the city’s art center as well as the development of a younger, more contemporary art market.

Throughout the novel Lacey moves easily between Chelsea and the Upper East Side, stopping at several real-life restaurants and galleries along the way.

Upper East Side

3 Guys Restaurant
960 Madison Avenue

In the book, 3 Guys is described as “a coffee shop gone crazy with a menu as expansive as a Nebraska plain.” Lacey frequently stops here for coffee during her time at Sotheby’s. Once she moves to the Barton Talley Gallery, however, her tastes become a little more uptown.

Cafe Boulud
20 East 76th Street

Boulud, adjacent to the Carlyle, was the restaurant where upscale dealers took their clients, often to celebrate a sale or to position themselves as a matchmaker between an important collector and a museum director.

Cafe Boulud is culinary bigwig Daniel Boulud’s Upper East Side outpost. Formerly Daniel, the space was relaunched as Cafe Boulud in in the late 1990s. Lacey’s lover, Patrice, has dinner here with two prominent art collectors. The narrator, Daniel Franks, also attends an art lecture at the restaurant.

Kenneth Lux and Hirschl & Adler Galleries
818 Madison Avenue #3
21 East 70th Street

These two galleries are the site of Lacey’s first art market coup. During an afternoon of gallery hopping, Lacey spies a small Peto still life at Kenneth Lux priced at $35,000. Minutes later she encounters another small Peto for sale at Hirschl & Adler. Though the pictures are nearly identical, the Hirschl & Adler painting is priced at $65,000. Lacey  purchases the painting from Kenneth Lux and resells it for a profit at the other gallery. Best of luck making your own deals on Madison Avenue.

The Carlyle
35 East 76th Street

The Carlyle is Patrice’s hotel of choice in Manhattan. Lacey meets him at The Carlyle many times for dinner, drinks, and, ahem, well you know. The Carlyle’s Bemelmans Bar also happens to be my favorite place to splurge on a glass of champagne. The walls are painted with murals by Ludwig Bemelmans, the illustrator of the beloved Madeleine books. The pub mix is fabulous as well.

Chelsea

Robert Miller Gallery
524 West 26th Street

Lacey visits the Robert Miller Gallery on the first Thursday of the Fall art season. She walks away completely enamored with a small Andy Warhol Flowers. She ends up purchasing the work, signalling her first art purchase guided by passion rather than practicality.

Gagosian Gallery
555 West 24th Street

Gagosian, a humongous force in the art world, expanded his empire to Chelsea shortly after 9/11. In An Object of Beauty, Martin discusses the resources required to organize the gallery’s inaugural Richard Serra exhibition. The energy spent on the gargantuan space and the landmark exhibition is a symbol of the rebirth of both New York and the art market in the months following the World Trade Center attacks.

525 West 25th Street

Lacey opens her first gallery, Yeager Arts, in a small space on the fifth floor of 525 West 25th Street. She eventually moves to a storefront gallery on West 24th Street.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Boy, do I have a treat for you today!

Here’s a first look at a fresh new talent emerging in the Southeast:

Shamrock by Little Binge.

My nephew, Little Binge, is quickly developing a distinctive artistic style defined by iconic shapes and a strong sense of composition. His early work included gestural abstract drawings of common sports objects. He reproduced baseballs and baseball bats with the fervor of Warhol’s Factory. Now that he is approaching his second year, however, his work has become more figurative. His new piece Shamrock demonstrates an intriguing interest in texture and new media that I hope continues well into preschool.

The Artist

Adorable and talented!

Have a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Drink beer, enjoy the parade, and check back tomorrow when we resume our normal adult-oriented posting.

Art Binge Reads: An Object of Beauty

I recently read An Object of Beauty by Actor/Writer/Musician Steve Martin. I’ve always enjoyed Martin’s work, but this book truly surprised me. It tells the story of Lacey Yeager, an ambitious southern girl who moves to New York to conquer the art world. The plot follows Lacey from her first job at Sotheby’s through her eventual foray into the city’s gallery scene. Though Lacey’s tale serves as the main action of the novel, the true protagonist is the capricious New York art market. Martin candidly presents a recent history of the art world, spinning a compelling story that weaves through auction houses, galleries, and private collections during the boom and bust years of the late 90s and early 2000s.

The novel is narrated by a young art writer named Daniel Franks. Franks has the interesting position of being involved in, yet isolated from, the intimate details of both Lacey’s life and the New York art scene. As Lacey’s college friend and confidante, Daniel hears about her exploits without experiencing them himself. Similarly, Daniel’s status as an art critic prevents him from gaining access to the inner sanctum of the galleries and museums that he frequents. He relays Lacey’s story with a simple tone and fresh wit that is reminiscent of Martin himself.

Warhol's Flowers, One of Lacey's First Art Purchases

The book is written in a clear and concise manner, which is a huge feat considering the number of artists and artworks that Martin tackles. Martin insisted that the book be illustrated with images of the art discussed. The images are cleverly dispersed throughout the text instead of being grouped together in the center of the book. In this way, the individual pieces become supporting characters in the novel.

As his recent speaking engagement at the 92nd Street Y revealed, some of Martin’s fans will be disappointed by the book’s narrow focus. However, Steve Martin has continually challenged the public’s perception of him as an artist. He is a playwright, a Grammy winning banjoist, and a published author. It’s admirable that he pursues his diverse interests with such successful results. Despite all of this, I was still shocked that he produced such an eloquent and honest depiction of the art world. In fact, I professed my surprise so frequently while reading the book that it became a running joke in our apartment.

I cannot say enough good things about An Object of Beauty. Read it if you love art. Read it if you live in New York. Just read it.

Eager to see yet another side of the wonderful Steve Martin? He’s in town! Get down with some mighty banjo music at the Highline Ballroom tonight or at Joe’s Pub Tuesday through Thursday.

And stay tuned later in the week for Lacey Yeager’s Guide to New York!