Later that afternoon
Having checked into the Sofitel (more old habits) and said "thank you" for the upgrade to a suite, we were stepping out along Sixth Avenue on our way to meet our sweet friend Jordi.
My Hero spotted her straight away, waiting for us outside MOMA as planned. I had a little more difficulty catching sight of her in the gloomy shadow of the street, but realised that she was actually just around the corner and out of my line of vision. Well, you didn't think I'd blow the cover of her real identity here, did you?!
We had identified two exhibitions we all were interested to see and made a start on The Long Run
We were all amused by Robert Gober's work with found paper, especially the last sentence above.
Philip Guston's work looked strangely familiar from the recent series about American art on the BBC, presented by Waldemar Januszczak.
I quite liked Gego's "Drawing without Paper", one of a series of wire constructions freely hanging in front of a white wall, lit in a way that maximised the effect of the shadow created.
Our favourite work turned out to be a popular choice with others as well, featuring on the show publicity material and creating a great deal of interest in the actual exhibition.
Lee Bontecou's large hanging took centre stage in the room and gently moved in the draught created by the stream of people passing through.
We loved it and in no time were imagining how great it would look in our stairwell, how we could create something along similar lines (hah!) with tissue paper and dope, how elegant those shapes were and was it a ship or what?
It didn't matter. It appealed to us all and we spent quite a while looking closely, watching it move, trying to get a good photograph (not easy) and watching the shadows beneath it.
Love it!
bBeing with like minded friends means that we all stop at the same point and take the same picture. Not of the works in the exhibition, but the architecture of the building which creates these little vantage points with spots of interest. Love the staircase up there and the bright spot of light in the room below. Later, we popped in there to see what was going on but found the light so intense that it felt really uncomfortable in contrast to the subdued lighting elsewhere. Interesting.
One floor down, then, and on to City Dreams a series of imaginary cities created by the Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez, these little worlds created from cardboard boxes and paper were intriguing.
So much detail, so much to look at and imagine, just how did he create these little worlds so carefully - and how on earth have they withstood the test of being moved around and exhibited - paper is about the least robust art material imaginable!
When we spotted that we could experience a VR tour of the Ville Fantome, we just had to give it a go. No matter there was a queue, either - we were still catching up and yakking away twenty to the dozen anyway.
After all that art, we were ready for a cocktail (or two!) so we hot footed it down to The Modern where bartender Chris created three amazing drinks especially for us (What do you like to drink, Gill? - as a result, mine was a long drink, made with gin, tequila, mescal and probably about 97 other ingredients, some of which I recognised. It was utterly delicious!)
It also contained the largest ice cube in the world!
Rather than eat in the restaurant here, we walked onto Fifth Avenue and took a cab down to an old favourite in a new location. Since we were last here, the Union Square Cafe has moved a few streets away but the great atmosphere and terrific food remains the same. After a great evening, my Hero and I were beginning to wilt a little. It was time to head on back to the Sofitel, to say goodnight and hope to see you again soon to Jordi and to climb into what felt like the comfiest bed in the world.
Guess where we are heading for breakfast? (Well, as soon as I stop writing a blog post and hurry up and get in the shower, that is....) Here's a clue
