In New York art is everywhere. In the streets, inside museums, in the basements converted in improvised galleries for extraordinary vernissages.
This art enchantment began in the mid-twentieth century, with the opening of iconic museums like MoMa or Guggenheim, and from the 60s onwards New York has become the cradle of modern and contemporary art, from Andy Warhol’s Factory up to Banksy street art. It’s like a widespread cult of beauty that wants to pay homage to the pulsing heart of the city in all of its shades. Art is everywhere.
You just can’t go to the Big Apple and miss the most important museums: beyond the Classics that must top your “to do list”, two locations are inescapable: the New Museum and the Museum of the Moving Image.
New Museum (235 Bowery) will certainly delight all the contemporary art lovers and the architecture enthusiasts: the building alone looks like a pile of messy boxes stacked one on top of the other in precarious equilibrium.
Museum of the Moving Image (6-01 35th Ave, Queens) is located on the east side of the Hudson River, in Astoria, and it’s completely dedicated to video, cinema and animation. It’s interactive, interesting and totally captivating.
In New York there’s also a perfect museum for those who aren’t too much into art. The Mmuseumm, placed in Tribeca (4 Cortlandt Alley), is only 3 square meters wide (yeah, it’s not a typo) and can only be accessed by 3 person at a time. It’s built into an industrial lift, and you will always find weird art installations and eccentric pieces.
And if you want to discover the city art without leaving your sofa, you can do it with the extraordinary and accurate illustrations by the Italian artist Emiliano Ponzi, who has been one of the main New York storytellers for many major international newspapers. He has taken its soul and has translated it into brilliant pictures.
