Category: Exploring New York City

New York Aquarium 602 Surf Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11224

New York Aquarium

602 Surf Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11224

(718) 265-3474

http://www.nyaquarium.com

https://nyaquarium.com/

Open: Sunday & Saturday 10:00am-5:30pm/Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm

Fee: Adults $25.00/Children $20.00/Seniors $27.00 (see their website for more details on pricing and times)

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60827-d107414-Reviews-New_York_Aquarium-Brooklyn_New_York.html?m=19905

The New York Aquarium at 602 Surf Avenue.

The aquarium entrance at the boardwalk.

The aquarium’s outside tanks with sea lions, otters and penguins.

The penguins were very entertaining that afternoon.

The otter just ignored us. They just played amongst themselves.

I have been to the NY Aquarium many times since it reopened after Hurricane Sandy and there have been many positive improvements in both the facility and the service. The new Ocean Wonders: Shark! exhibition which has opened up giving an interesting look at the underwater world of the many different types of sharks that dominate the deep.

The Shark Exhibit

The Shark exhibition

The sharks and string rays

It is not just a display but also a commentary on the conditions of the deep and the treatment of sharks around the world. There contributions as bottom dwellers cleans our oceans and benefits other fish. It was shocking what the treatment is of these animals in Asia when strip these animals of their fins for soup. I like how professionally the aquarium shows this in their displays and videos and doesn’t preach but offer solutions to the problem.

The entrance to the new shark tanks.

That and walking through the tanks themselves in the darkened rooms with music makes for a fascinating and almost ominous trip into the ocean behind the walls with the sharks and other mammals and fish swim past you. There is also a small tunnel that you can climb under to watch the fish swim on top of you and past you.

The tropical fish exhibition

In the Conservation Hall, you will learn all about the fish that dominate and keep our reefs vibrant and what happens when pollution takes over and kills them. Again the aquarium displays this in a positive way, shows how the animals keep the reefs healthy. I point out that there are a lot of colorful fish on display and it is fun to watch the small children yell out to them.

The coral reef exhibition

The Coral Reef Exhibition

The fish in the Coral tanks

There is a wonderful seal show during the day that you should not miss especially in the warmer months when you can sit in the stands and watch them perform with their trainers. They are more Native New Yorkers than most humans having been born at the aquarium and showing their own pride in their home and abilities.

The Sea lion show at the aquarium is very popular.

The Sea lion show

The Sea lion show

The new “Spineless” exhibition shows all the jelly fish and related species.

The “Spineless” exhibition

The beautiful jelly fish at the aquarium.

The “Spineless” exhibition

The different creatures of the deep.

The Jellyfish tank

The Jellyfish are amazing to look at in the tank

There were all sorts of tanks displaying many different types of tropical fish and corals that are exotic and very much endangered. We are beginning to destroy their habitants.

The fish habitats

As part of the new building there are also several new eating establishments at the aquarium including the new Oceanside Grill that I have not visited yet (it was closed on my last visit) as well as The New York Bite food truck (which was also not opened). The most impressive restaurant is the Oceanview Bites on the second floor of the Ocean Wonders building. This beautiful new restaurant has an interesting but somewhat routine menu with prices usual to an aquarium but offer the most spectacular views of the ocean and of Coney Island. Do not miss just walking up to the restaurant in the circular pathway for the views alone.

The NY Aquarium is a treat in of itself and a great excuse to visit Coney Island. Don’t miss the rest of the island’s amusements and museums while you are there.

The NY Aquarium

History of the New York Aquarium:

(this information is provided by a combination of the NY Aquarium and Wiki and I give them full credit for the information)

The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, having opened in Castle Garden in Battery Park in Manhattan in 1896. Since 1957, it has been located on the Reigelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island. The aquarium is operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as part of its integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium, most notably the Bronx Zoo. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The sea lion tanks

As part of the WCS, the aquarium’s mission is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education and inspiring people to value nature.

The facility occupies 14 acres and boasts 266 species of aquatic wildlife. Its mission is to raise public awareness about issues facing the ocean and its inhabitants with special exhibitions, public events and research. The New York Seascape program, based out of the aquarium, is WCS’s local conservation program designed to restore healthy populations of marine species and protect New York waters, which are vital to the area’s economic and cultural vitality.

The penguin tank

The Penguin exhibition on the outside

On June 6, 1957, the Aquarium opened at its new location in Coney Island. The new site of the New York Aquarium is the home of the WCS New York Seascape program, the society’s research and conservation program focusing on nearby rivers, harbor and ocean from Cape May, NJ to Montauk, Long Island.

The new “Shark” exhibition tunnel

The Shark Tank

The aquarium kept an orca briefly in 1968 and a narwhal in 1969. Both reportedly died of possible pneumonia. The aquarium’s beluga whales were transferred to the Georgia Aquarium in 2007 as part of a breeding program. In September 2011, the aquarium named its new electric eel Wattson and in March 2012, it launched a sea horse breeding program.

In October 2006, the New York Aquarium announced the finalists to a competition to develop a more inviting and visually prominent exterior for the aquarium. In March 2007, the winning design by firms WRT and Cloud 9 was selected, which featured an enclosure resembling a whale over the aquarium. However, in March 2008 that concept was scrapped due to concerns over a new exhibit based on sharks was announced. The massive 784,000 US gallon exhibition, Ocean Wonders: Sharks! was originally scheduled to break ground in November 2012 and open in 2015.

A penguin ready to take a dive.

However, the New York Aquarium was significantly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, which severely flooded the facility and shut down power. A small group of WCS staff who remained onsite during the hurricane were able to save 90% of the animals in the collection. As a result, the exhibition opened June 30, 2018, becoming the first major exhibition at the New York Aquarium to open after Hurricane Sandy.

The Shark tank’s fish display

Disclaimer: this history of the NY Aquarium is taken from Wiki and I give them full credit for this information.

The Sculptures in the NY Aquarium in 2024:

These sculptures were at NY Aquarium by Washed Ashore

The sign for Leo the Jellyfish

The Leo the Jellyfish sculpture

The Angus the Longhorn Cowfish sculpture sign

The Angus the Longhorn Cowfish sculpture

The Nora the Salmon sculpture sign

The Nora the Salmon sculpture

The Maggie and Charlotte Adele Penguins

The Maggie and Charlotte Adele Penguins sculpture

The Chompers the Tiger Shark

The Chompers the Tiger Shark sculptures

The Penguin sculpture

The artworks were all made of items that were thrown in the ocean and plastics that are thrown in the ocean. Washed Ashore created these works to show what is thrown in ocean and how it affects the wildlife in the oceans.

Japan Society 333 East 47th New York, NY 10017

Japan Society

333 East 47th Street

New York, NY 10017

(212) 832-1155

https://www.japansociety.org

Open: Monday-Friday 10:00am-6:00pm/Saturday & Sunday Closed

Fee: Depends on the event; See the website

The front of the Japan Society on 333 West 47th Street.

I recently visited the Japan Society for the ‘Japan Cuts’ film festival 2019 to see four films as part of the festival. I had visited the Society years ago for a ‘Monsters’ exhibition which coincided with the dropping of the Atom Bomb. It was told to me during the tour of the exhibition that the Godzilla movies were the Japanese reaction to the dropping of the bombs and the effects of nuclear was on nature.

The inside lobby of the Japan Society

This time around it was a little more upbeat. I went to see new films by Japanese directors who are looking at contemporary culture a little more differently that film makers of the past. I was most impressed with “Dance with Me”, a light weight musical that reminded me of 1960’s musicals that came out in the United States and “Whole” about Japanese who come from mixed backgrounds and their role in society. It was nice to sit back and watch the films and participate in the Q & A’s.

My favorite scene from “Dance with Me” “Happy Valley”

It was also nice to walk around the building to see the indoor gardens and pools that are located in the lobby area of the building. The building does have a feeling of Ying and Yang. There will be more exhibitions in the Fall.

The inside of the lobby of the Japan Society

The opening film “Dance with Me”

The Q & A at Japan Cuts for “Dance with Me”:

I recently visited the Japan Society for the “Made in Tokyo” exhibition on the development of architecture in the City of Tokyo between the 1962 and the 2020 Olympic Games. The exhibition showed the development and progress of the City since the bombings in WWII and how the City has rethought the building and rebuilding of the City since.

“Made in Tokyo”

Just like in the United States old department stores and office buildings are finding new use and older buildings in fringe and outside rural areas are becoming tech hubs. It was interesting so see how they were reworking old turn of the last century buildings and homes as incubators for the ‘computer age’.

The “Made in Japan” exhibition is closing at the Japan Society on January 26th, 2020. If you like the history of architecture this is an exhibition not to be missed.

The “Made in Tokyo” exhibition at the Japan Society

I recently went to the Japan Society for the screening of the famous movie, “Ringu” which is the original version of the American film, “The Ring”. It is rarely shown, and you can’t find it on YouTube or in the local libraries, so it was a treat to see this film. It was also the first time I had been in the museum since COVID closed everything down and it was nice to visit again.

Guess what I found on YouTube the next morning: “Ringu” the comparison:

Still, it was nice to go to the museum again and just relax for the evening.

The Trailer of “Ringu”

I recently went to see the “Family Portrait: Japanese family in Flux Series” in 2024 on some of the more contemporary films of Japan from the 1980’s and 90’s that are outside the studio system. These films dealt with real issues that most studio films don’t want to touch. I saw a film about a woman with terminal cancer and all the secrets of her past came out and the problems she had to face when the end was coming. Many twists and turns. The films dealt with these issues in a mature way and the series was very successful.

The sign for this amazing series of films.

The Japan Society mission:

The Japan Society is a non-profit organization formed in 1907 to promote friendly relations between the United States and Japan. Its headquarters, the youngest landmark building in New York was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and opened in 1971 at 333 East 47th Street near the United Nations. With a focus on promoting “arts and culture, public policy, business, language and education,” the organization has regularly held events in its many facilities including a library, art gallery and theater since its opening. After suspending all activities during World War II, Japan Society expanded under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller III (Wiki).

History:

In 1907, Tamemoto Kuroki and Goro Ijuin were chosen to represent Japan at the Jamestown Exposition. They attended a welcome dinner in New York with Japanese ambassador to the United States, Shuzo Aoki, where there was talk of forming an organization to promote US-Japan relations in the city. Two days later at a luncheon held by Kuroki, Japan Society was born. The organization would be run by Aoki, then Honorary President of the Japan Society of the UK and John Huston Findley.

Japan Society spent the next forty years hosting events in honor of Japanese royalty, giving annual lectures on a wide range of topics and presenting art exhibits that drew in thousands of New Yorkers. In 1911, Lindsay Russell, another founding member of the society and later president, met with Emperor Meiji and spent his visit to Japan encouraging more societies to form there and throughout the United States.

Japan Society was soon incorporated under New York law and finally found a home near one of Russell’s work offices, though it continued to relocate throughout its history before its current headquarters was opened in 1971. At this time, Japan Society and its members began to express interest in improving teaching about Japan in the United States. The organization began sponsoring trips to the country, publishing books and sent a report to the Department of Education about the portrayal of Japan in American textbooks.

It remained active during World War I, operating as it had for the last seven years but the organization became more political when it began associating with the Anti-Alien Legislative Committee, an advocacy group that spoke out against yellow peril. Russell and Hamilton Holt, another founding member used the organization’s publication to defend all of Japan’s actions at the time. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, even one of Japan Society’s writers secretly worked for the Japanese government with the task of improving Japan’s imagine in the United States. The organization eventually realized the dangers of taking sides and by 1924 stopped publishing any political commentary.

By the 1930’s, membership had dropped significantly due to financial difficulties and the Second Sino-Japanese War. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Henry Waters Taft immediately resigned as president after serving from 1922 to 1929 and again from 1934. Russell also stepped down as one of Japan Society’s directors. All activities were suspended and would not resume until the Treaty of San Francisco was signed in 1951.

John D. Rockefeller III served as president from 1952 to 1969 and then as Chairman of the Board until his death in 1978. He accompanied John Foster Dulles on his trip to Japan that eventually led to the signing of the 1951 treaty. Rockefeller, a supporter of the Institute of Pacific Relations, who visited Japan in 1929 during one of its conferences, wanted to contribute to bettering US-Japan relations after the war and believed there needed to be non-governmental organizations like Japan Society in each country in order for such friendly relations to exist.

Under Rockefeller’s leadership, Japan Society expanded and talk began to find a permanent headquarters for it. It shared offices with another Rockefeller-led organization, Asia Society but as the two organizations continued to grow during the 1960’s, it became increasingly clear that Japan Society needed its own building. After receiving donations from Rockefeller and other members, construction began on “Japan House” in 1967. Designed by Junzo Yoshimura, whose work also includes Asia Society’s headquarter, it became the first building in New York of contemporary Japanese architecture. On September 13, 1971, it was finally opened to the public after a ceremony attended by Prince Hitachi. He echoed Russell’s first words about Japan Society, calling for “closer people-to-people” contact between countries.

Japan Society building

(This information was taken from Wiki and I give them full credit for the information. I also included information of Japan Society).

The Museum of Sex 233 Fifth Avenue (@27th Street) New York, NY 10016

The Museum of Sex

233 Fifth Avenue (@27th Street)

New York, NY 10016

(212) 689-6337

Open: Sunday-Thursday 10:30am-11:00pm/Friday & Saturday 10:30am-12:00am

Fee: General Admission $20.50/$3.00 off for Students, Seniors and Military

Homepage

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d525259-Reviews-Museum_of_Sex-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Museum of Sex at 233 Fifth Avenue.

I made my first visit to the Museum of Sex in New York City and highly recommend it. I have to admit it is different but what I like about the museum is that it doesn’t try to hide the subject and it also just doesn’t jump out at you. It is an interesting progression in art and I saw this in the exhibition “The History of Pornography”, where the films were set up in order since the Victorian times. Sometimes it had to go underground due the times but pornography has been around since the days of the media.

The exhibition shows early pictures and viascopes of sexual acts and the early films date back to the Silent era. The exhibition covers from the Silent era to present times and the advancement of sex in films once the Hayes Code was broken in the 1960’s. With the relaxed rules and the mainstream films of “Tie Me Up Tie Me Down” and “Deep Throat”, you can see the progression of this as an art form and progression of the way the films were made.

Another great exhibition that I saw was “Punk Lust: Raw Provocation 1971-1985”. This show matches nicely with the current show on the “Punk Movement” at the Museum of Arts & Design. It was interesting to see the posters, flyers, clothes and hear the music of the era. Just at the height of the ‘Sexual Revolution’ and into the fragments of the Disco era came a new sound and way to dress that started in the early 80’s before the progression of the Reagan years in Washington DC, this movement came with a new sound with Punk, New Wave and Technographic and a new way to dress provocative without being too revealing.

“Punk Lust” exhibition

As the museum was quoted saying: “The survey looking at the way Punk Culture used the language of sexuality, both visually and lyrically, to transgress and defy, whether in the service of political provocation, raw desire or just to break through the stifling gender norms and social expectations that punks refused to let define them.”

“Punk Lust” exhibition

On a more recent trip to the museum, three exhibitions were open and all very interesting, highlighting different types of eroticisms. These countered different parts of the artworld. Also, in the post-COVID era, all the interactive displays opened up and I was able to visit and experience each of these as well. These are the most fun!

The Andy Warhol exhibition:

“Looking at Andy Looking” exhibition:

(from the museum website)

This exhibition will explore themes of intimacy and voyeurism, including the depiction of homosexual desire, in Warhol’s early years of filmmaking. In films and footage from 1963-64, we witness the artist beginning to figure out what he could do and say with his newest plaything: the 16mm camera.

“Looking at Andy Looking”

(from the museum website)

Filmmaking is a mechanical art, but it can capture real people on the surface and below. Andy Warhol (1928-1987) lived much of his life “on the surface.” He embraced mechanical techniques like screen-printing, photography, and film, but Andy himself was not a machine. Behind the cool, detached persona was the highly personal—and above all queer—perspective of an inveterate experimenter.

The exhibition I saw was the “Artifact” exhibition from the Museum of Sex’s collection of items exploring how we look at sexual encounters. What is sex and how does a play a role in our lives?

“Artifact: Selection from a Secret Collection”

(from the museum website)

Gathered from the Museum of Sex’s permanent collection of more than 15,000 objects as well as from other notable collections and institutes of antiques, medical history and sexology, Artifact (xxx): Selections from Secret Collections presents an intimate exploration of how sex manifests across culture through art, science, and design. An early vibrator made in Great Britain, a lotus shoe worn by a woman in China, and a Braille issue of Playboy magazine provide insight into prevailing belief systems and societal taboos across geography and time.

Hugh’s Hefner’s smoking jacket

Jeweled Bra

(from the museum website)

Fulfilling a wide range of functions from artwork, medical devices and pop-culture mementos to guidebooks and accessories used for enhancing pleasure or pain, these objects tell the stories of the expansive yet nuanced influence of sexuality throughout history.

Candy pants from the 1970’s

Deep Throat Memorabilia

The memory of the movie a movie ‘Deep Throat’’

Intercourse Chair

Another exhibition that I enjoyed on my last trip to the Museum of Sex was the “I Licked it, It’s Mine” exhibition on exotic paintings and sculpture.

The ‘Licked it, it’s Mine’ exhibition sign

(from the museum website)

What does it mean to be “consumed” by lust, or to “possess” another? The artists Oh de Laval, Shafei Xia, and Urara Tsuchiya explore every manner of appetite, from sublimated yearning to all-consuming hunger. United by an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek approach to the erotic and a flair for fantasy, the paintings and ceramic sculptures in this exhibition move between pulpy melodrama and decorative daintiness.

Along the way, sexuality is experienced as love, but also as competition, involving our animal natures—and sometimes even the swapping of human and animal roles.

The gallery for ‘I licked it, it’s mine’ exhibition

The literature from the exhibition explaining the works

These were some of my favorite works from the exhibition:

The exotic works

The unusual works

The unique paintings and ceramics

One of my favorite pieces from the exhibition. I thought this was quite exotic.

I walked next through Carn-O-Rama and experienced the workings behind the scenes of a traveling carnival reaching the suburbs. I always thought it was just lights, rides and cotton candy. There is more to it than that.

After my visits to the three galleries, I took a took to the interactive section of the museum and experienced Funland, where I walked though Stardust Lane and all the lights and sounds of the mirrored rooms.

A Video walk through Funland is a lot of fun. It really pleases the senses.

I next took a trip to Super Funland and this was my trip through Stardust Lane. This is all lights and mirrors and it was an unusual walk through the museum that challenges the senses. Walking through Super Funland is a voyage in the wild with mirrors and music.

It get pretty interesting walking through here.

In another video walk through of Funland, I met a lot of interesting people on my walk through the museum. It really puts you into a interesting mood.

The pathway around the museum took me to other interactive exhibitions. Jump for joy was a very interesting interactive world of different sexual parts and mood lighting.

The ‘Jump for Joy’ exhibition

Then I walked through ‘Lucky Land’

Then I walked through and climbed ‘The Pink Palace’, a series of colored features that led through what looked like another sexual parts. This is called the ‘ClimbX”.

The colored building blocks of the exhibition of “ClimbX”

The colored blocks of the exhibition “ClimbX”

Another object to climb through on your way out of the exhibition.

It really is an interesting museum to visit. You really have to stop and enjoy the pleasures of each floor. You have to take the time experience all the sights and sounds. The funny part of leaving the museum is that there is an exotic food vendor on Fifth Avenue with the most unusual items he sells.

The Erotic Waffle food truck just outside the museum. Not your kids food truck. The truck sold sexual organ pastries, waffles and other exotic items. You have to stop by when you are in the neighborhood!

History of the Museum of Sex:

(This comes from the Museum of Sex History Website)

The Mission of the Museum of Sex is to preserve and present the history, evolution and culture significance of human sexuality. The museum produces exhibitions, publications and programs that bring the best of current scholarship to the wildest possible audiences and is committed to encouraging public enlightenment, discourse and engagement.

The Museum of Sex

The Beginning:

When the Museum of Sex first emerged on New York City’s Fifth Avenue on October 5th, 2002, it was without precedent in the museum world. In the development of its inaugural award winning exhibition NYCSEX: How New York Transformed Sex in America, the Museum created a board of comprised of leading scholars and historians. The Museum’s advisory board has guided curators and guest curators towards research resources, pertinent collections and exhibition relevant artists. Advisors such as Steven Heller, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, PhD, Mike Wallace PhD and June Reinisch, Director Emeritus for The Kinsey Institute for Research on Sex, Gender and Reproduction as well as institutional collaborations with New York University’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, New York Historical Society and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum have contributed to making the Museum of Sex one of the most dynamic and innovative institutions in the world.

Design has played a pivotal role in both exhibition development and execution with world-renowned design firms such as Pentagram Design Inc, Casson Mannand 2×4, helping to transform the galleries and historic building over the last six years. The museum’s building, built in the area of New York formerly known as the “Tenderloin,” a district of NYC made notorious by the 19th century for its bordellos, dance halls, theaters and saloons, serves as a New York City landmarked site.

Our Work:

Since its inception, the Museum of Sex has generated over 30 exhibitions and 6 virtual installments, each in keeping with the Museum’s mission of advocating open discourse surrounding sex and sexuality as well as striving to present to the public the best in current scholarship, unhindered by self-censorship. With each new exhibition, lecture series, event and publication, the Museum of Sex is committed to addressing a wide range of topics, while simultaneously highlighting material and artifacts from different continents, cultures, time periods and media.

Our Collection:

The Museum’s permanent collection of over 20,000 artifacts is comprised of works of art, photography, clothing and costumes, technological inventions and historical ephemera. Additionally, the museum houses both a research library as well as an extensive multimedia library, which includes 8mm, Super 8mm, 16mm, BETA, VHS and DVD’s. From fine art to historical ephemera to film, the Museum of Sex preserves an ever-growing collection of sexually related objects that would otherwise be destroyed and discarded due to their sexual content.

Our Public:

In a short time, the Museum has received attention from academic institutions, major publications, media outlets and celebrities, positioning the Museum of Sex within the realm of academia and pop culture alike. The Museum has been featured in numerous publications including The New York Times, The New Yorker, Esquire and Time and on television broadcasts ranging from CNN to IFC to NBC’s Law & Order Criminal Intent. Award-winning advertising campaigns in print and television media have sealed the Museum’s arrival as a cultural touchstone.

Accolades continue to pour in from visitors and the press in every corner of the world, inspiring the Museum of Sex to continually surpass its own high expectations. Future planned exhibitions and events-the likes of which have never been offered by any other institution-are guaranteed to captivate and resonate, securing the Museum of Sex a well-deserved, distinguished place in history (Museum of Sex History)

Grey Art Gallery New York University (NYU) 18 Cooper Square New York, NY 10003

Grey Art Gallery, New York University

18 Cooper Square

New York, NY 10003

(212) 998-6780

https://greyartgallery.nyu.edu

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d136958-Reviews-Grey_Art_Gallery_NYU-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The front of the Grey Art Gallery at NYU

I am finding more and more that the university art galleries are mounting very interesting and clever exhibitions and some as edgy as their large museum counterparts. I recently attended the ‘Art After Stonewall’ exhibition which is created as a two part exhibition with the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art to showcase the post Stonewall riots to the beginning of the AIDS crisis.

“Art After Stonewall” exhibition

The exhibition was an interesting mix of pictures, video, graphic paintings and posters and documentary work combined to show the mood of the times. Some of the most impressive works came from clips of documentaries on Andy Warhol’s ‘Factory Movies’, and the documentaries on ‘Tongues Untied’ and ‘Paris is Burning’ about the gay crisis about men of color and the racism that they faced even within the Gay Community.

The East Village Art Community from the 1980’s “Art After Stonewall”

Some of the photos of then fringe neighborhoods are funny to see as they have been gentrified beyond what anyone could have thought thirty years ago from the early 1980’s. The East Village of back then and of today are world’s apart.

The College did a good job mounting the show and telling the story that is both humorous and sad at the same time. Also, the Grey Gallery is small so you can get through the exhibition in about an hour.

The Grey Gallery exhibition “Art After Stonewall” This is a Keith Haring poster.

The most recent exhibition that I visited “Mudd Club 1978-1983: The Stephen Mass Papers” and the people who had visited the club at that time.

(from the museum website)

MUDD CLUB 1978-1983

THE STEPHEN MASS PAPERS

February 3 – March 9, 2024

Broadway Windows and Project Space

The Broadway Windows of the “The Mudd Club” exhibition in the NYU Broadway building.

In collaboration with NYU Fales Library and Special Collections, 80WSE Gallery presents an exhibition featuring materials from The Stephen Mass Papers, focusing on the legendary Mudd Club venue in New York City (1978-1983) through photographs and extensive notes. Located at the street-level Broadway Windows gallery and Project Space, the exhibition materializes the file structures of the archive and select visual documents contained within the collection.

The Broadway Windows of “The Mudd Club”.

The archival extracts provide rare insight into an important epicenter of downtown art, music, fashion, and culture at a transitional point in New York City and American life marked by rapid urban gentrification and the dawn of The Reagan Era. Within this atmosphere, post-punk musicians, independent designers, contemporary artists, and celebrities coalesced to animate the Mudd Club ‘cabaret’.

The Broadway windows of the “The Mudd Club”.

Acquired by Fales in 2019, the Stephen Mass Papers spans 16.75 Linear Feet in 24 manuscript boxes, 3 half manuscript boxes, 2 small flat boxes, 2 oversize flat boxes, 1 media box, 1 oversize folder in shared housing, and 1 sound reel in shared housing, including 33.92 Megabytes in 167 computer files, 1 sound tape reels , 1 videocassettes (u-matic), 10 audiocassettes, and 6 film reels.

The Broadway Windows of the “Mudd Club”.

“Stephen Mass is an entrepreneur who co-founded the Mudd Club located at 77 White Street in downtown New York City in 1978 along with art curator Diego Cortez and Anya Phillips. The venue became a focal point of the downtown music, art, and cultural scene in the late 20th century, showcasing the intersections of popular and avant-garde performance culture, gender and sexuality, celebrity culture, music, visual art, fashion, film, and nightlife.

The opening sign from the Grey Gallery on the NYU Campus.

The Stephen Mass Papers (inclusive dates 1940-2019, bulk dates 1978-2009) documents the founding and operation of the Mudd Club in New York City, Mass’s other entrepreneurial ventures in New York, and his nightclubs and restaurants in Berlin, as well as his personal life and family history. Consisting of both paper and electronic formats, the collection includes extensive notebooks and notes containing the planning and working notes for Mass’s various endeavors, financial and legal documents, promotional materials for events (such as posters, flyers, and newsletters), ephemera (differentiated from promotional material, as promotional material Mass collected from other clubs or organizations), press coverage, and photographic materials such as prints, negatives, and slides.”

The Grey Gallery exhibition of the “Mudd Club 1978-1983: The Stephen Mass Papers”.

—Fales Library and Special Collections

The Fales Library & Special Collections comprises 350,000 volumes of book and print items, over 11,000 linear feet of archive and manuscript materials, and about 90,000 audiovisual elements.

In 2024, the Grey Gallery moved to its new home at 18 Cooper Square and has a whole new contemporary look to it.

The history of the Grey Gallery on the NYU Campus.

Works from the permanent collection at the new “Grey Gallery” at 18 Cooper Square.

The front of the gallery for the “Americans in Paris” exhibition

I was invited to a new exhibition open to students at NYU “American’s in Paris”, an exhibition of American artists who had been living and creating their art in the City of Lights after WWII until the 1960’s.

The sign for the “American in Paris” exhibition.

The entrance to the new Grey Galleries.

The back Galleries for the “Americans in Paris” exhibition.

The works of the artist “Kimber Smith” in the “American in Paris” exhibition.

The exhibition “American’s in Paris” with artist Joan Mitchell’s work.

The exhibition “American’s in Paris” work by artist Ed Clark.

The works of artist Henry Cousin’s in the exhibition “American’s in Paris”.

The galleries of the Grey Art Galleries

Peter Saul’s “Man in Electric Chair”

“Man in Electric Chair”

The Jazz band entertaining us at the opening of the “Americans in Paris” exhibition.

As an Alumnus of NYU, I now come for the exhibitions and just enjoy myself. I came in for the newest exhibition.

The exhibition in 2024 was “Make Way for Berthe Weill”: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-Garde

The main sign from the exhibition

(from the Grey Gallery website)

Make Way for Berthe Weill: Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-Garde surveys the groundbreaking career of the first woman modern art dealer. Berthe Weill (1865–1951) championed many fledgling masters of modern art early on—such as Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Amedeo Modigliani—as well as numerous others who did not achieve wide acclaim. Yet her role in early 20th century modernism has been omitted from most historical accounts.

The exhibition will feature some 110 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculpture—many of which were shown at her gallery during the first four decades of the 20th century. Examining Weill’s contributions to the history of modernism as a gallerist, a passionate advocate of contemporary art, and a Jewish woman, it brings to light the remarkable achievements of a singular figure who overcame sexism, antisemitism, and economic struggles in her quest to promote emerging artists (From the NYU-Grey Gallery website).

The timeline of her career

The gallery that night

The art featured were artists promoted by the art dealer

The artwork by female artist Emilie Charmy

The work by artist Mark Chagall

One of my favorite pieces in the show by Mark Chagall

The Mission of the Grey Art Gallery:

The Grey Art Gallery is New York University’s fine arts museum, located on historic Washington Square Park in New York City’s Greenwich Village. As a university art museum, the Grey Art Gallery functions to collect, preserve, study, document, interpret and exhibit the evidence of human culture. While these goals are common to all museums, the Grey distinguishes itself by emphasizing art’s historical, cultural and social contexts, with experimentation and interpretation as integral parts of the programmatic planning. Thus, in addition to being a place to view the objects of material culture, the Gallery serves as a museum-laboratory in which a broader view of an object’s environment enriches our understanding of its contribution to civilization (NYU Grey Gallery History)

The History of the Grey Art Gallery at New York University:

The Grey Art Gallery is located within New York University’s Silver Center-the site of NYU’s original home, the legendary University Building (1835-1892). Winslow homer, Daniel Huntington, Samuel Colt, George Innes and Henry James all lived and worked there, as did Professor F.B.Morse, who established the first academic fine arts department in America on the site now occupied by the Grey Art Gallery.

Demolished in 1892, the original building was replaced by the Main Building (renamed the Silver Center in 2002). Here was located, from 1927 to 1942, A. E. Gallatin’s Museum of Living Art, NYU’s first art museum and the first institution in this country to exhibit work by Picasso, Leger, Miro, Mondrian, Arp and members of the American Abstract Artists group. Gallatin aspired to create a forum for intellectual exchange, a place where artists would congregate to acquaint themselves with the latest developments in contemporary art. In 1975, with a generous gift from Mrs. Abby Weed Grey, the Museum’s original space was renovated, office and a collection storage facility were added and the doors were reopened as the Grey Art Gallery (Museum history).

Exhibitions organized by the Grey Art Gallery encompass aspects of all the visual arts: painting, sculpture, drawing and printmaking, photography, architecture and decorative arts, video, film and performance. In addition to originating its own exhibitions, some of which travel throughout the United States and abroad, the Gallery hosts traveling exhibitions. Award-winning scholarly publications, distributed worldwide are published by the Grey Art Gallery. In conjunction with its exhibitions, the Grey also sponsors public programs including lectures, symposia, panel discussions and films (Museum history).

The new Gallery is at 18 Cooper Square.

(This was taken from the Museum’s website).

Enjoying a evening at the Grey Gallery

The new exhibition in the spring of 2025 was ‘Anonymous was a Woman’ , an execution on the ‘Anonymous was a Woman’s and the great programs effects on mid-Career female artists in the Unit.

The information sign in the front gallery

The entrance of the gallery the night of the exhibition

The entrance to the Grey Art Museum

This was the sign inside for the exhibition

The inside gallery at the start of the show showcasing the collection on display

The main gallery at Grey Gallery

These were the pieces from the show that I found most impressive:

One of the more unusual paintings from the exhibition ‘Monalisa’ by artist Ida Applebroog

The sign for ‘Monalisa’ by Artist Ida Applebroog

The sculpture ‘Rom’s Delhi’ by artist Judy Pfaff

The sign for ‘Rom’s Delhi’

The painting ‘Svati: Now and Then’ by Artist Chita Ganesh

The sign for ‘Svanti: Now and Then’

The sculpture ‘Untitled #1242’ by Artist Petah Coyne

The sign for the sculpture

The sculpture ‘Bones 2000’ by Artist Polly Apfelbaum

The sign for the sculpture

The painting ‘Flamethrower’ by Artist Carrie Moyer

The sign for the painting

The crowd at the end of the evening at the

‘Opening Night’

This unusual sculpture in the middle of the room

Astor Court at the end of the evening at the Grey gallery

I recently attended the ‘Irrititja Kuwaiti Tjungu‘ exhibition on Aboriginal art. It was a very interesting look at Native Art from Australia. This exhibition opened in February of 2026 and the artists were in attendance to talk about their works.

https://greyartmuseum.nyu.edu/exhibition/irrititja-kuwarri-tjungu-contemporary-aboriginal-painting-from-the-australia-desertjanuary-20-2026-april-11-2026/

(from the NYU/Grey Gallery website):

Irriṯitja Kuwarri Tjungu celebrates fifty years of Papunya Tula Artists. It features nearly 120 paintings, including some of the most iconic works of Indigenous Australian art. Rather than being arranged chronologically, the paintings are displayed according to Indigenous principles of genealogy, place, and ancestral travels. In doing so, the show reveals the deep, ongoing relationship between Aboriginal artists, the places they paint, and Tjukurrpa, which exists in a constant state of past and present together—or, in Pintupi, irrititja kuwarri tjungu.

The exhibition also recognizes the long association between Papunya Tula Artists and New York University forged by Professor Emeritus of Anthropology Fred Myers. Since 1973 Myers has served as one of the movement’s most prominent international advocates. His continued involvement with the community brought the exhibition Icons of the Desert to the Grey Art Museum in 2009. While that exhibition showcased early works from Papunya, Irrititja Kuwarri Tjungu honors and extends the legacy of the company’s founding artists.

The promotion sign for the exhibition

The art exhibition in the main gallery

Some of the works in the main gallery

(from the NYU/Grey Gallery website):

Fifty years ago, a painting movement emerged at Papunya in Australia’s Central Desert. It arose with such force and conviction that one could be forgiven for thinking it had existed forever, as though etched from the earth by the slow passage of time. In fact, formed in the aftermath of colonization, the enduring art movement is as much a product of recent historical circumstances as the ancient traditions on which it draws.

Now widely recognized in global contemporary art, painting at Papunya began in 1971 when a small group of Aboriginal men in the community started to represent once-secret ancestral designs of ceremony and ritual, using acrylic paint on scraps of cardboard, linoleum, and Masonite. Their seemingly abstract paintings revealed living ancestral connections known as Tjukurrpa (Dreaming), which fueled powerful artistic experiments with color, line, and space. The following year, in an act of unprecedented corporate sovereignty, the artists formed Papunya Tula Artists Pty Ltd., the first Aboriginal-owned arts enterprise in Australia. The company’s economic success has allowed generations of men and women artists to stay on their ancestral lands, and continues to provide vital opportunities for local community development.

These were some of my favorite pieces of art from the exhibition: