2010 Retrospective, gallery trip to Chelsea, New York City

In April, 2010, I took the bus into New York City, to see art. NYC has the most extensive collection of contemporary art galleries in the world. I like contemporary art. On my rare art trips to New York City, I used to go to the galleries in the SoHo neighborhood, Manhattan, which was good. But, many galleries have moved to the west Chelsea neighborhood in Manhattan. On the brochure I picked up (published by Art in America, International Review – http://www.artinamericamagazine.com – there are over 200 galleries listed. Here’s a good gallery link – http://chelseagallerymap.com/.

I generally regard New York City as Gotham City, but I seem to have developed some peace with the place. It helps that New York City is much safer than it used to be, and I finally figured out how to use the subway, which is also much safer than it used to be. It seems silly to try to find a cab unless you have to, and I find riding buses to be confusing. Subways are easier. I rode the subway in London – how hard can it be in New York City? Not hard, since I read up how to do it ahead of time. I learned the weird little quirk of the New York City subways – north is “uptown”, south is “downtown”, and pay attention to the entrance you take down to the subway. If you go into a subway entrance for “uptown”, you can’t generally cross over to “downtown” and vice versa. With those two things in mind, I was all set.

West Chelsea is fine, lovely in parts, and appropriately warehouse looking in other parts, which is great for gallery space. It’s an upscale area now. I had a fantastic wonderful time. I found a pocket park. I had lunch. I walked by the Hudson River at the Chelsea Piers. I went to about 20 galleries. There are so many more galleries to go to, next time.

Here are some photos.

“The Commuters”, George Segal, Port Authority Bus Terminal, New York City. Photograph, April 2010.

Street Scene, 8th Avenue, Chelsea, New York City. Unlike most of my photographs there are some people in this picture. April 2010.

Rooftop garden, Chelsea, New York City. April 2010.

Lovely tall buildings, think it’s 8th Avenue, Chelsea, New York City. April 2010.

Coffee Shop, Chelsea, New York City. I like the sign. April 2010.

Building behind screen (construction), Chelsea, New York City. I like the interplay of the screen and the light. April 2010.

Chelsea Park, New York City. A very pretty pocket park. April 2010.

Jack Shaiman Gallery, W 20th Street, Chelsea, New York City. Most of the galleries are on the streets, not the avenues. April 2010.

ZietherSmith Gallery, W 20th Street, Chelsea, New York City. Most of the galleries look like nothing from the outside. It’s helpful to have a good map. April 2010.