I recently visited the MoMa PS 1 in Long Island City for a private members night and was really blown away by the exhibitions that I saw there. It is all contemporary art but really edgy, probably more innovative than some of the things in the main branch of the museum. Even the clientele was different. I was one of the oldest people there and I am in my early 50’s. There must have been three people older than me.
The museum is built into an old elementary school and with the rooms there some have been merged together for bigger exhibitions and others were smaller and showcased a newer artist or an individual work. The works from current artists are very unusual and I guess you have to like very contemporary art.
Some of the pottery from artist Simone Fattal “Works and Days”
I saw the work from artist Simone Fattal who is from Lebanon. I have to admit her works are eclectic. Her pottery looks like a third grader did it. I was not very impressed even though everyone oohhed and aahhed. It was very unusual.
I also saw the work of artist Gina Beavers whose works have someone always looking at you. Her eye portraits were different but they reminded me of some of Salvatore Dali works of the 50’s. Her works look at you from every direction with a look of judgement.
Artist Gina Beavers works “The Life I Deserve”
One exhibition which was loosely based on the movie “The Shining” by artist Julie Becker. The whole exhibition is made of works that looked like someone just left the room. There were creepy office set ups and hallways. The work was almost surreal itself by trying to confuse you and throw you off balance with her art.
Artist Jule Becker “I must Create a Masterpiece to pay the Rent”
I was able to quickly tour the whole museum which is not as big as its counterpart in Manhattan. It just has a different feel and direction to it.
What was nice about the evening was there was music outside for people to enjoy and there were hammocks that were art of a display at the entrance of the museum. It is a smaller museum that showcases the newer artists and gives them a voice. I have to say one thing is that the museum does fit into the neighborhood as Long Island City is going through a huge building boom and renovation/gentrification of the surrounding area. There is a lot of street art in the area and a lot of residents who look ‘bohemian’ to say the least. It was enlightening night of music and art.
History of MoMA PS 1:
MoMA PS 1 is one of the oldest and largest non-profit contemporary art institutions in the United States. An exhibition space rather than a collecting institution, MoMA PS 1 devotes its energy and resources to displaying the most experimental art in the world. A catalyst and an advocate for new ideas, discourses and trends in contemporary art, MoMA PS 1 actively pursues emerging artists, new genres and adventurous new work by recognized artists in an effort to support innovation in contemporary art. MoMA PS 1 achieves this mission by presenting its diverse program to a broad audience in a unique and welcoming environment in which visitors can discover and explore the work of contemporary artists. Exhibitions at MoMa PS 1 include artist’s retrospectives, site-specific installations, historically surveys, arts from across the United States and the world and a full schedule of music and performance programming.
MoMA PS 1 was founded by Alanna Heiss as the Institute for Art and Urban Resources Inc., an organization devoted to organizing exhibitions in underutilized and abandoned spaces across New York City. In 1976, it opened the first major exhibition in its permanent location in Long Island City, Queens with the seminal Rooms exhibition. An invitation for artists to transform the building’s unique spaces. Rooms established the MoMA PS 1 tradition of transforming the building’s spaces into site-specific art that continues today with long term installation by James Turrell, William Kentridge, Pipilotti Rist, Lawrence Weiner and others.
For the next twenty years, the building was used as studio, performance and exhibition spaces in support of artists from around the world. After a building-wide renovation, PS 1 Contemporary Art Center (now MoMA PS 1) reopened in 1997, confirming its position as the leading contemporary art center in New York. True to the building’s history and form, the renovation preserved much of the original architecture as well as most of its unique classroom-sized galleries.
In 2000, P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art to extend the reach of both institutions and combine MoMA PS 1’s contemporary mission with MoMa’s strength as one of the greatest collecting museums of modern art.
A true artistic laboratory, MoMa PS 1 aspires to maintain its diverse and innovative activities to continue to bring contemporary art to international audiences.
(This information was taken from the MoMA PS 1 website and I give them full credit for the information. Please see the web link above for more information).
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)
I recently visited the Leslie-Lohman Museum to see the second half of the “Art After Stonewall” exhibition that I saw at the Grey Gallery at New York University. The art is from just before the Gay Rights Movement just before the Stonewall Uprising and into the depths of the AIDS crisis of the early to mid-80’s.
It was interesting to see the perspective of people ‘coming out’ after the suppression of the 50’s and early 60’s and the wanting to conform to societies standards. People gravitated to the cities to find themselves and found an embracing community that was not always accepted by the status quo of the City. It was that suppression building up on conformity to be a certain type person that lead to riots, that being tired of being harassed all the time.
‘Art After Stonewall’ (picture of Devine)
There was a lot of lesbian art and the changes women felt at the time. Some was the changes in attitude and some of it was militant to the way the outside community treated these women. It was interesting to see the changes in less than a decade of how people saw themselves and the changes that people were capable of making.
‘Art After Stonewall’
The show closed on July 21st, 2019 but there are more shows in the future. The best part of the museum is that they have a suggested donation so if you do not have a lot of money it is a nice way to spend the afternoon and then explore SoHo and Chinatown.
History of the Leslie-Lohman Museum:
We can trace the origins of the Leslie-Lohman Museum back to the civil rights movement of the late 1960’s. In the moment of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair and the Stonewall Inn Uprising, gay art collectors Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman presented their first exhibition in their SoHo loft in the summer of 1969. This weekend show featured downtown gay artists and was a complete success in attracting over 300 visitors-it because a seminal moment in the history of the Leslie-Lohman Museum and LGBTQ arts and culture.
In the midst of the 70’s gay liberation movement, our founders continued to collect and display the work of gay artists in various storefronts in SoHo while advocating for the preservation of the neighborhood, its unique architecture and the nascent community of artists living and working in its spacious lofts. Finally, settling in a basement gallery at 127-B Prince Street, this space became host to many art exhibitions and various cultural programs.
During the AIDS pandemic of the 80’s, Charles and Fritz created a refuge for ailing artists and their work. Along with providing care and lodging for them, they rescued the work of dying artists from families who, out of shame ignorance, wanted to destroy it. This led to the creation of the Leslie-Lohman Art Foundation in 1987 and to its ever-expanding collection of art. Through perseverance against the federal government, averse to approving a “gay art” organization, the foundation was finally granted tax-exempt in 1990.
Today, thanks to the hard work of generations of activities and artists, our community has gained greater visibility. However, the fight for our rights is not over. The foundation has transitioned into a museum that aims to preserve LGBTQ cultural identity and build community, reclaim scholarship from a queer artists and cultural workers. As we continue to stand at the intersection of art and social justice, we act as a cultural hub for LGBTQ individuals and their communities.
I recently visited the American Folk Art Museum in New York City for the “Made in New York City” exhibition and it is a very interesting and engaging museum. The artwork for the museum was a combination of painting, sculpture, pottery and metal work created at different periods of the City’s history. It really showed the extent of manufacturing in New York City and the craftsmanship that was once here.
The paintings of Colonial New York
Some of the interesting things you will see are the paintings by artists in both Colonial New York and from the Hudson River School of prominent New Yorkers through its first 200 years of history. You will see how the styles of art have changed over the years.
Also there is a lot of metal work in the ways of signs and rods for the front of doors and for the roofs. The woodwork carvings that once graced the front doors of merchants all over the City is now a lost art. Here you could see the works of German and Russian carvers and the craftsmanship that was put into every piece. It was interesting too to see the racial themes and stereotypes that were used in the art.
Wood Carvings and Metal work in the “Made in New York City” exhibition
Another program that the museum does well is they have afternoon Jazz Wednesdays and Free Concerts on Friday nights. There are family programs, walking tours, curator talks and lectures as part of the museum programming so there is something for everyone.
The American Folk Art Mission:
Since 1961, the American Folk Art Museum has been shaping the understanding of art by the self-taught through its exhibitions, publications and educational programs. As a center of scholarship and by showcasing the creativity of individuals whose singular talents have been refined through experience rather than formal artistic training, the museum considers the historical, social and artistic context of American culture. Its collection includes more than seven thousand artworks dating from the eighteenth century to the present, from compelling portraits and dazzling quilts to powerful works by living self-taught artists in a variety of mediums (Museum bio).
Self-Taught art, past and present, tells empowering stories of everyday life. The field of American folk art was first defined at the turn of the twentieth century by collectors, professional artists, critics, dealers and curators whose search for an authentic American Art seemed to be finally answered in works that presented a nuanced of national identity, faith, progress, ingenuity, community and individuality. Under the umbrella of “folk art” expanded to also include artists working in the present. For the last twenty years, the term self-taught has more regularly come to address these artists, whose inspiration emerges from unsuspected paths and unconventional places, giving voice to individuals who may be situated outside the social mainstream. Those individuals have been active participants in the shaping of American visual culture, influencing generations of artists and establishing lively artistic traditions (Museum History).
American Folk Art Museum History:
The museum of Early American Folk Arts as it was known initially held its first exhibition in a rented space on 49 West 53rd Street in 1961. The museum’s collection was launched in 1962 with the gift of a gate in the form of an American flag, celebrating the nation’s centennial. The gift reflected the museum’s early focus on eighteenth and nineteenth century vernacular arts from the northeast America.
In 1966, after receiving a permanent charter, the museum expanded its name and mission. As the Museum of American Folk Arts, it looked beyond the traditional definitions of American folk art. Its exhibitions and collection began to reflect “every aspect of the folk arts in America-north, south, east and west.” Founding curator Herbert W. Hemphill Jr. “expanded the notion of folk art beyond traditional, utilitarian and communal expressions.” Under his direction, the museum began to champion idiosyncratic and individualistic artwork from the fields of traditional and contemporary folk art. In doing so, the museum ushered in a new era in the field of twentieth-century folk art (Museum History).
The 1990’s brought new focus to the diversity and multiculturalism of American Folk Art. Offering a more inclusive vision. the museum began to present African American and Latino artworks in their exhibitions and permanent collections. Director Gerard C. Wertikin announced American folk art’s common heritage as “promoting an appreciation of diversity in a way that does not foster ethnic chauvinism or racial division.” (Museum History).
The museum further established its broadened outlook with the 1998 formation of the Contemporary Center, a division of the museum devoted to the work of 20th and 21st century self-taught artists as well as non-American artworks in the tradition of European art brut. In 2001, the museum opened the Henry Darger Center to house 24 self-taught artist’s works as well as a collection of his books, tracings, drawing and source materials (Museum History).
The new home of the American Folk Art Museum
In 2001, the museum chose its current name, American Folk Art Museum. Recognizing that American Fold Art could be fully understood in an international context, the word American functions as an indication of the museum’s location, emphasis and principal patronage rather than as a limitation on the kind of art it collects, interprets or presents. The museum’s current programming reflects this shift in focus. Past exhibits have included folk arts of Latin America, England, Norway, among other countries and continents (Museum history).
Don’t miss this amazing little museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Visiting a Museum: The Unique, Unusual, Obscure and Historical 