Five Exhibitions to See in NYC This Summer

Entrance of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), located on 11 W. 53rd St. (PHOTO BY PAULA MADERO/The Observer)

By SRI STEWART

When you’re in New York City during the summer, there are a million places to go for special events and exploration. Many of them involve being outside: outdoor concerts, plays, street festivals orparades, but these activities can be tainted by New York’s scorching heat and humidity. The unpleasant smells and heat that prevail in the NYC summer air make some days better spent indoors. Here is a list of indoor art exhibitions to see in New York on those hot summer days or just when you want to get inside an air-conditioned space!

Björk—The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
March 8-June 7, 2015

You can go to the MoMA to see this exhibit on the acclaimed singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Björk. It is a compilation of over 20 years of Björk’s avant-garde projects and music, through a diverse form of presentation: sound, visuals, film, instruments, costumes and objects. Björk has had eight full-length albums. One floor of the museum also offers an interactive, location-based audio exhibit of her albums, accompanied by a biographical narrative.

Fans would be excited to see Björk’s work in a museum. “I love Björk and her body of ethereally weird, creative music and performance. This exhibit is a way to see the curated evolution of her artistic process,” Anastasia Bez, Fordham at Lincoln Center School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS), ‘16, said.

Location: 11 W 53rd St. New York, NY 10019
Admission Price: $14 for full-time students with ID; free on Friday evenings from 4-8p.m.

Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men—Museum of the Moving Image
March 14-June 14, 2015

If you’re a fan of “Mad Men,” a critically acclaimed AMC television series that’s in the last half of its final season, this is the perfect exhibit to check out. Considering that it will be over before summer begins, you will have to make time for this one soon. Go to Astoria, Queens to see portions of the Mad Men set, such as Don Draper’s office, costumes, advertising art, video clips and more.

“I would say that as a theater design major, it is really fascinating to see something from TV dissected. ‘Mad Men’ is such an iconic period show, and it is incredible to see the set and costumes in real life and to see the work put into the entire production,” Katie Ryan, FCLC ‘16, said.

Visitors also get an inside scoop on the making of the show through a viewing of personal notes and research material created by Matthew Weiner. An Evening with Matthew Weiner and a series of films that inspired “Mad Men” will also accompany the exhibition.

Location: 36-01 35th Ave. Astoria, NY 11106
Admission Price: $9 for students with ID; free on Friday evenings from 4-8p.m.

America is Hard to See—Whitney Museum of American Art
May 1-September 27, 2015

The Whitney Museum of Art is currently closed because it is under renovation. However, America is Hard to See will be the first exhibit that opens with the museum’s new building in the Meatpacking District. A collection of over 600 works from 400 artists will be displayed. The art spans from 1900 to the present, so it is a fresh variety of old and new work that aims to examine the multiple themes, ideas, beliefs, visions and passions of American artists throughout the past century.

Location: 99 Gansevoort St. New York, NY 10014
Admission Price: $18 for students with ID; a limited number of free tickets will be available on a first-come/first-served basis on Saturday, May 2.

Van Gogh: Irises and Roses—The Metropolitan Museum of Art
May 12-August 16, 2015

View the collection of Van Gogh’s paintings of spring bouquets that he admired in Provence, France. This exhibit will bring together the paintings of roses and irises that Van Gogh painted the eve before departing from the Saint-Rémy asylum.

The exhibit “promises to be a cheerful, vivid exploration of the flowers, and I’m looking forward to spending a day viewing it,” Bez said.

The paintings will be arranged in a quartet of two roses and two irises presented in diverse formats and color schemes. Also, the exhibit’s opening coincides with the time of the flowers’ blooming season.

Location: 1000 Fifth Ave at 82nd St. New York, NY 10028
Admission Price: Suggested donation of $12 from students, but price is determined by you.

Landscape Drawings—The Frick Collection
June 9-September 25, 2015

On 1 East 70th St. you can go to the Frick museum to admire the juxtaposition of nature’s beauty and the people who live and work on them. It features a rare collection of landscape drawings on paper. They depict everyday life in the country, urban scenes and imagined views of pastoral lands. The work spans across four centuries that share continuity of this nature theme.

Location: 1 E. 70 St. New York, NY 10021
Admission Price: $10 for students with ID; pay what you wish on Sundays from 11a.m.-1p.m.