NY, you are loved

For my Art and Culture seminar, the topic for the semester is The Nude throughout history. Firstly, no complaints. As homework, in addition to the readings, we had to head out to Chelsea to check out the "Naked" show at Paul Kasmin and take some notes. On Wednesday I headed out and there was a Cecily Brown, whose work I'd never seen in person, was what I wanted it to be. She's obviously not a great technician but it has that something that's missing in most figurative works. There were some pieces from David LaChappelle, Picasso, Mark Ryden, some artists who have been heroes at various times in my growth.
I'm looking for inspiration to push my black and white self portrait homework, planning on heading back to the studio to work on it, then at Jenkins Johnson see 3 black and white self portraits from Ann Gale, possibly my favorite figurative painter of the moment.

The city just reveals things to you, it's quite generous.



At any time during the day, I can decide that I absolutely need to see a Giacometti or a Vermeer or a Rubens or a Kara Walker and be standing in front of it within 45 minutes. It's like the internet but with more walking.

I'm eating pizza almost every day at some point and losing weight from the biking, walking, and repeated trips up 6 flights of stairs between my studio and all my classes due to my inability to remember all my supplies. Good pizza.

While I miss a night sky lit only by the stars, I'm beginning to love the illumination of the city. The sky looks like a set at times.

I am going to begin carrying my DSLR around because my iPhone cam is doing no justice to this city. Fuck my back, I can spare a few extra pounds.