Traveling: A Walk Along Vancouver`s Waterfront

 (Drivebycuriosity) - My wife an I are traveling again. Now we are visiting Vancouver. On the first day of our stay we took a walk along the city´s waterfront, from Canada Place to Coal Harbour and further. 

 

The center of the metropolis is a semi island, similar to Manhattan. There are lovely sights. Beyond the water - extensions of the Pacific Ocean - we could see mountain peaks still sprinkled with snow.

 

 

 

Canada Place, on the east shore, is the landing place for big cruise ships like the Queen Elizabeth above. We also could watch water planes starting and landing.

 

 

 

The waterfront is framed by stylish skyscrapers

 

and accompanied by beautiful parks

 

 

To be continued

Entertainment: Kraftwerk 3D @ The Orpheum Vancouver

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Kraftwerk belongs to the icons of modern culture. "Autobahn" and other pieces by the German band shaped contemporary music, not just pop.

My wife and I used our stay in Vancouver to attend their concert in "The Orpheum" in the center of Vancouver. The concert attracted a very mixed crowd, young & not so young, who came to enjoy the bands five-decade legacy.

 

 

Everyone got 3D glasses before the show. On the stage we saw the four musicians, each one standing before a keyboard pedestal, behind them was a huge screen, where continuously films illustrated the songs. The glasses turned the videos in a 3D spectacle. We could see graphic displays dancing to pop rhythms, models posing, numbers tumbling through the hall, psychedelic dreamscapes glowing - and sometimes Ufos and other spacecrafts seemed to fly directly into our faces.

The show was a perfect synthesis of sound & vision and a lot fun. Kraftwerk 3D will stay in may mind for a while. 

 

Contemporary Art: Atlas Paradise @ Shin Gallery New York

(Drivebycuriosity) - Manhattan`s Lower East Side declined into a cluster of fast food places & bars, but there are still some ambitious art galleries.  

 

 

Shin Gallery on Grand & Orchard belongs to them. Recently I saw there an exhibition with paintings by the Swedish artist Andreas Emenius ( shin-gallery). The show is called "Atlas Paradise".

 

 

 

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I show here some of the displayed paintings, a very subjective selection as usual.

 

 

The basement had also images by an artist I don`t know

To be continued
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Books: Even The Dead By Benjamin Black

 (Drivebycuriosity) - A car had crashed into a tree and burst into flames, there is a young man in it, dead. This is the begin of the novel "Even the death" by Benjamin Black (amazon). The book  - set in Dublin in the 1950s - is part 7 of a series around Quirke, a pathologist who works in a morgue . 

Quirke is a twisted and very curious man who develops interest in cases which are not really his business. When he believes that something is not right he starts a personal investigation, whatever it may cost him. Like in former Quirke novels his daughter Phoebe plays an important role and Quirke discovers disturbing connections (this is a spoiler free blog). 

As in the Quirke books before I liked Black`s elaborate style and his descriptions of persons & situations, which create a dark atmosphere. The base case gives just the frame for a complex plot about political power, dysfunctional families and human weakness. The novel is influenced by the situation in Ireland in the 1950s. But the plot is also a bit romantic and psycho-analytical. There are a lot references on dysfunctional families and there is some erotics & carnal lust (not necessary identical)

Benjamin Black is the pen name of the Irish writer John Banville. I love his historical novels "Kepler" and "Wolf on a String" (here my reviews Kepler & wolf ) but Black/Banville writes also fascinating complex crime novels like the Quirke series. I recommend to begin  with "Christine Falls", the start of the Quirke series ( driveby).

 

Contemporary Art: Haunted Realism @ Gagosian London

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Gagosian belongs to the global art gallery empires. Their exhibitions compete even with famous museums like New York´s Moma. During my recent visit in London I was happy to see their show "Haunted Realism" (runs through August 22, 2022 gagosian ).

 

 

The group exhibition features the works of more than thirty artists. I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual. 

On top of this post you can see Glenn Brown`s "You Take My Place In This Showdown" (after: ´The Great Mastubator`, 1929 by Salvador Dali)" (1993, oil on canvas) as it hanged there. I find the image irritating so I rotated it anti clockwise above this paragraph, but not the detail shot.

 

Above another detail from this painting. First image as the painting hang there and then rotated.

Above Dali`s original ( wikipedia). I like the original but also Brown`s modern & powerful interpretation of it.

 

 

 

Above follows "I Tried to Tell You, But the Words Got in the Way" (2021, Acrylic on muslin) by Jim Shaw. Strong and mysterious.

 

 

Above Mark Tansey´s "View from Mt. Hermeneut" (1991, oil on canvas). I am always happy when I see one of his surrealist works.

 

  

Above Eva Juskiviewicuz´s “Untitled” (after Jan Adam Kruseman)" (2020, oil on canvas); another interpretation of a classic, followed by the original ( rijksmuseum).

Above another image by Jim Shaw: “The Birth of Melpomene”, (2022, acrylic and oil on muslin with mixed media) & Dan Colen`s "HELP" (2019-2020, oil on canvas).

 

 

 

Above you can see Neil Jenney´s "Modern Africa #3" (2016-2020, oil on canvas, in artist`s painted wood frame") followed by Albert Oehlen`s "Untitled" (2019, charcoal on canvas) & Jenny Saville`s "Trace" (1993,1994, oil on canvas).

 

Last but not least: Tony Oursler´s "59 (FAIRY, CAROL)" (2020, cloth, resin, electronics, steel, acrylic, computer monitor, and miniature flowers).

To be continued 

New York City: A Visit @ The "Little Island" On Hudson River

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York City has plenty of attractions. The "Little Island" belongs to the newest. I am writing about an artificial island park in the Hudson River west of Manhattan in New York City, close to the trendy & touristy Meatpacking district (wikipedia ). 

 

   

 

The public park - opened in May 2021 - is designed by Heatherwick Studio and largely funded by 2 billionaires: Barry Diller and Diane von Fürstenberg (eat this Bernie Sanders). Admission is free (Thurdays through Sundays a free online registration is needed  littleisland.org)

 

 

 

This week my wife and I went there. The place is lovely, a wonderful combination of river, plants and artful construction elements. The place fits well to the neighborhood which boasts with architectural highlights designed by Frank Gehry and other ambitious architects

 

 

 

There are 2 artificial little hills and a performance stage, combined by walkways framed with trees, bushes & flowers.

 

 

Visitors also have impressive views on the Manhattan skyline and on Jersey City across the mighty Hudson. The "Little Island" is a fine place to relax, enjoy a piece of nature and to take snapshots.

 

 

Enjoy!