The Lower East side galleries are winding up a spectacular season.  This neighborhood continues to boast the highest growth in number and quality of galleries, and is dominated by young, first-time gallery owners who bring with them fresh, young artists who will be the world’s future great artists.   Here are some highlights of my final Lower East Side gallery tour of the season  on Sat. June 22 at 1:00 PM: (1) a female artist’s erotic needlepoint embroideries of a teenager’s sexual awakening, (2) a Latina artist’s immersive multi-screen video installation of street happenings in Bolivia, and (3) a 33 year-old artist’s large scale, brilliantly colorful paintings of “exploding” homes, addressing basic human needs.  These are just 3 of 7 shows.

And Chelsea continues to be the world’s most extraordinary gallery neighborhood, housing a steady 300 galleries, among them the world’s powerhouse galleries.  One thrilling highlight of my Sat. June 29 Chelsea “Best Exhibits” tour will be a photography exhibit so controversial, some of the subjects of the photos have sued the artist, and a judge is considering shutting the exhibit down.  Cameras from CNN, the Today Show, Inside Edition and all the local news channels descended on this normally placid gallery to cover the story, further inflaming passions.  What’s the big controversy?  You’ll just have to take the tour and see for yourself.  Also on this tour: part 2 of the Jeff Koons sculpture exhibit, in a gallery completely different from the one where we visited Koons’ show on last month’s Chelsea “Best Exhibits” tour.  That previous tour visit generated very heated discussion from participants, as will Koons’ art on my next tour, which will feature artwork that looks completely different from the show in the gallery we previously visited.

Just two scheduled tours left, and then a hiatus of almost 3 months.  Take advantage now, while you have the chance!

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours

It’s only the second year that Frieze, a London import, has set up shop in New York.  But it already seems to have supplanted what was previously the city’s number one art fair: the Armory Show.  Frieze is larger than the Armory Show, more lavish, more expensive for both galleries to show and for the general public to attend.  And the press has been paying a lot of attention.

To tell the truth, I’m not a fan of art fairs, even Frieze.  They’re nothing more than glorified markets, with galleries having to make do with crowded stalls to show their wares.  There’s much more of a focus on money transactions, and less on the more meaningful aspects of art.  I find fairs to be dizzying, claustrophobic, and mind-numbing.  And lots of gallery owners I speak with tell me they can’t stand art fairs, either.  But it has become an economic necessity for their survival.

Luckily for me, I don’t have to deal with art fairs if I don’t want to, and I can just sit back and reap the benefits, namely all the attention that gets paid to the rest of the New York art scene when a world-renowned art fair is in town.  Frieze has already left the city, but its concurrent Chelsea gallery exhibits, typically lasting 4 – 6 weeks, are still on display, and will be for a while longer.  My tour on Saturday will visit the 7 most staggeringly inventive Chelsea exhibits by many  the world’s greatest living artists.  This is THE ONE you’ll remember for some time to come!

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours

I’m sure “masculinity” means different things to different people, and it will be interesting to see how various male artists – gay and straight – view this construct.  In a couple of cases the artists directly address maleness, such as a gay artist’s portraits of hyper-masculine, heavily-tattooed gang members that he meets briefly on the streets of less savory neighborhoods in Los Angeles.  He takes their photographs then and there, not daring to invite them to his studio, probably for fear of his safety.  The portraits are menacing, yet communicate a certain vulnerability.

Also, we’ll see a 9-minute video art piece by a straight Israeli artist who followed a Spanish bullfighter getting dressed before a bullfight (by other men), then the bullfight itself, and then the undressing afterwards.  To me the most fascinating part is the extreme femininity of the bullfighter’s outfit – flowery, lacy, frilly, and vibrantly colored – as well as the tenderness expressed by the men who dress and undress him.

Some exhibits deal in a more subtle way with masculinity, such as a gay artist’s 20-year retrospective of drawings and experimental prints, several of which portray men in the artist’s life.  Of particular interest are the works that he created pre-Stonewall, which we’ll compare with ones from later years.  You’ll see him exploring his sexual identity through the development of his art.

The one time I led a “Masculinity and Art” LGBT tour was over a year ago, and the group had a great time.  It will be probably another year before I announce this theme again, so take advantage of it while you can.  The tour happens rain or shine, as the art is all indoors.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours

A prime example of such an exhibit on this tour is an artist who spent months visiting 80 artist studios and chatting up the artists, and then STEALING one piece of artwork from each studio, without once getting caught.  Now his Lower East Side gallery is brazenly SELLING all this art!  No, the artist isn’t a common thief (though some of you may disagree) – rather, I think he’s a brilliant conceptualist in raising awareness of the fact that artists steal ideas from each other all the time, and there are almost never any consequences.  As a relatively non-material person, I’m of the opinion that ideas are more valuable than objects.  And if that’s true, is it REALLY any worse to steal art objects as it is to steal ideas from artists?  That’s what the entire art world is discussing, as they react to this extraordinary show in the L.E.S.  You have to see it for yourself before it closes in a couple of weeks.

Another show we’ll visit on the April 20 tour that pushes the boundaries is a Peruvian artist’s sculptures made by a cutting-edge computer PRINTER, using directions from software. They’re not small sculptures, either.  We tend to think of computer art as manifesting in video and photography, but using computers to build sculptures has further expanded the range of technology in art, and there’s no telling what limits, if any, there will be.   These will be just 2 of 7 cutting-edge shows on this tour.

The Lower East Side has, on average, the youngest gallery owners in the city, who in turn bring in the youngest, freshest artists.  Many of these are start-up galleries that are drawn to the relatively low rents in the Lower East Side, and can therefore afford to install the kinds of experimental exhibits to which I was referring, and still stay in business.  Indeed, the ones with the reputations for the best experimental art will be put on the art world map the soonest.

The single most exciting aspect of my job is introducing participants to truly original artwork that is on the cutting edge.  I hope you join me on April 20, and on subsequent trips to the Lower East Side, to see what awaits.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours

Other Greenwich Village galleries have been around even before Chelsea was a major scene, including a gallery associated with a humongous Greenwich Village artists’ residence, that allow all their visual artist residents to show on a rotating basis. This non-profit space is the ultimate local West Village scene. One of the artists in that gallery, currently on view, has agreed to speak to our group when we visit his show of paintings. Other highlights on this tour: new paintings by a female artist who recently had an entire floor at the New Museum, and a British artist’s inventive fabric art sculptures.

For my participants who have gone on tour after ever-changing tour of the world’s greatest galleries in Chelsea, and the world’s future great galleries on the Lower East Side, my Greenwich Village tour will be a chance to take a deep breath and re-charge. To slow down and savor high quality contemporary art in a setting that is less cut-throat and competitive. I welcome you to join me.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D, Director
New York Gallery Tours

Another highlight on the March 16 LGBT gallery tour will be a lesbian African artist’s photographs of other African lesbians, images all too rare in this closeted, homophobic region.  Also: a young male bisexual artist’s poignant depictions of a community of runaway youth.  And 4 other exhibits besides those three.

Lots of reasons to see you Saturday, where you’ll also get a chance to socialize with other queer folk who would be drawn to “taboo-breaking” art and much more.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours

There are a total of 12 buildings that house Midtown‘s 45 galleries.  The tour begins on 57th St. and Madison Ave. and ends practically a stone’s throw away on 57th St. between 5th & 6th Ave.  I suppose if you were to include the vertical distance that we travel, it may add up to the length of our typical Chelsea tour.  But you won’t be walking that full distance—rather, you’ll be “transported.”  And in more ways than one.

We usually begin our tour in the Fuller Building, a 40-story art deco masterpiece that was erected in 1929.  The lower half of the building was designed specifically for art galleries, and 17 gallery spaces currently call this building home.  On any given week, only 1 of these 17 galleries show exhibits worthy enough for our tour, and so that’s how many I take my group to.  The standouts in this building are a number of galleries that specialize in contemporary photography.

A block away, near the corner of 57th St. and 5th Ave., are three buildings that house several elegant Midtown galleries.  Some of them have other branches in Chelsea or the Lower East Side, while others are one-of-a-kind.  You could spend all day exploring the galleries just near this corner.

And of course there’s much more in the skyscrapers art district to talk about, but it’s better seen live.  I hope to see you on my next “vertical” tour!

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
New York GalleryTours

Chelsea is exactly the kind of cutting-edge environment where experimental art thrives, as the 300 galleries in this neighborhood have to compete with all the others for attention, and ultimately for sales.  But the galleries we’ll sample on this tour are also risking sales at the same time.  Is Aroma art even art?  I say yes, categorically.  But will buyers agree?  And will the art world intelligentsia?  What happens when the aroma in the artworks runs out – do the buyers need to keep replenishing the chemicals?  At extra cost?

I used to say that sound art was the rarest type of art shown in galleries.  And it so happens we’ll see an EXTRAORDINARY example of sound art on this tour, in which microphones are placed inside a body of water to capture the sounds of objects thrown inside.  The resulting sounds are absolutely other-worldly.  But sound art is no longer the “rarest” – it’s now aroma art, also on this tour.  At least for now it’s the rarest.

I remember not so long ago when computer art was the newest art form, and before that video art.  Even photography, which was invented in the mid-1800s, didn’t achieve “fine art” status until the 1970s and ’80s, when museums finally began to show photography exhibits, and to create photography departments.

What’s next on the contemporary art frontier?  Get a taste on my tour this Saturday.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours

There are two reasons for my growing admiration of this downtown area.  One is that the Lower East Side has been establishing itself as the mecca for young, first-time gallery owners, who in turn are bringing fresh, extraordinary artists to the world’s attention.  Many of the new L.E.S. gallery owners have backgrounds as former gallery directors in blue chip galleries all over the city, so they know what they’re doing.  And, because rents in the Lower East Side are lower than in the city’s other gallery neighborhoods, they’re able to take thrilling risks.

The other reason for my strong feelings is the charm and vitality of the neighborhood itself.  The L.E.S. is the most residential, most multi-ethnic of all the city’s art neighborhoods, so its streets are full of an energetic bustle of mom-and-pop storefronts that reflect the area’s many eras: Jewish, Latino, Asian, and more.  As it gentrifies to some degree, it’s also just about the trendiest neighborhood in the city, with exciting new-themed bars, restaurants, boutiques, and niche yuppie stores.  It’s hard to say whether the 125 Lower East Side galleries (and growing) are a cause or a result of the rapid changes to this neighborhood.  I’d surmise it’s a bit of both.

Chelsea, with its 300 galleries, still remains my most “extraordinary” tour.  But the Lower East Side is now my “favorite” tour.  I now lead TWO “must-see” gallery tours a month.  Take advantage!

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D.
Founder and Director
New York GalleryTours

What’s great about my LGBT tours is that they provide a world-class cultural experience while giving opportunities to socialize with culturally adventurous lesbians and gay men – and a handful of very accepting straight people – for friendship and even possible dating.  Unlike other cultural events like theater and movies, where you need to be quiet almost the entire time, on my tours you’ll get plenty of chances for interaction, especially all the times we’ll be walking between exhibits.  And you’ll have something to talk about – the interesting and sometimes outrageous exhibits.

Highlights of this tour will include: (1) a British lesbian artist’s homoerotic sculptures of nude women cavorting, that a NY Times critic called “lascivious” and “ribald,” (2) a young German lesbian artist’s surreal paintings of relationships, and (3) large-scale paintings of gay male figures and couples made by an artist in his 30s just before he died of AIDS.  These are just 3 of 7 exciting shows we’ll visit that day, completely different from all previous lesbian & gay gallery tours.

If you use discount code “lgbt98″ at least 2 days in advance of the tour, you’ll pay just $15 with NO service fees, or pay $20 cash at the door.  As always, the tour takes place rain, snow or shine, as the art is all indoors.

I look forward to meeting the women from the meetup group, plus all the men and women who show up on their own.  A festive day awaits!

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours