Seen & Heard: Deck the Walls

NEW YORK ACADEMY OF ART SALE ONLINE!
Every (normal) December, the New York Academy of Art hosts Deck the Walls, an art sale at its Franklin Street building where 300 small works of art from Academy artists are for sale — and there’s usually a feeding frenzy as the doors open. However there’s a twist: all the pieces are displayed anonymously – the buyer won’t know whose work it is until after the sale. (25-50 percent of the proceeds go directly to the artist.) This year the “Deck the Halls” event is online, but still just as cool. Virtual doors open at 6p on Dec. 6 and all art is priced on size, from $200 to $500.

BLUE SMOKE UPTOWN CLOSING PERMANENTLY
Danny Meyer has decided to close his Flatiron location of Blue Smoke — but will keep ours in BPC open. “We have explored every avenue to arrive at a different outcome, but due to the pandemic and months without revenue—as well as a lengthy rent negotiation that has come to a standstill—we’ve reached the disappointing conclusion that there is no alternative but to close Blue Smoke Flatiron and Jazz Standard.” I’m in for anything Meyer decides to do — even if it’s a peanut butter and jelly restaurant — and if you ask me, no one had more of an influence on the transformation of Flatiron. The restaurant opened in March 2002, right after 9/11.

THE LAST THING ANYONE NEEDS…
The curbside structure at Estancia 460 was hit by a graffiti vandal this week, in a disheartening blow to an already taxed neighborhood business. Luckily they were able to remove it without too much trouble, but that sure does rub salt in the wound…

EUNICE GOLDEN AT SAPAR CONTEMPORARY
Sapar Contemporary is hosting a show through November of the work of feminist artist Eunice Golden, who is now 93 yet exhibiting her work in a commercial gallery for the first time. Golden mostly paints the male form, and to do so meant she had a fight on her hands for the early part of her career. A champion for the visibility of women in museums and art institutions, Golden was a part of the Ad Hoc Women Artists’ Committee in 1970 and joined the Fight Censorship group with other feminist artists. But she also garnered critical praise for work that reoriented the perception of human sexuality.

 

 

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