New York 1962-1964

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New York 1962 - 1964, on view at the Jewish Museum (NY) July 22, 2022 - January 8, 2023, is an ambitious show that succeeds on all fronts. It recreates parts of exhibits curated by the JM’s forward-thinking director Alan Solomon that were the first to feature “the new art,” art that broke away from abstract expressionism to show work inspired by the artist’s lives and experiences. It sets the scene with installations of streetscapes, department stores, poetry readings, living rooms, kitchens, and news broadcasts (including the Cuban Missile Crisis, the JFK assassination, and MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech).

Solomon was the first curator to organize a retrospective of Rauchenberg and Johns. This relationship continued when Solomon was selected to curate the US display at the 34th Venice Biennale (1964), where Rauchenberg won the Grand Prize. The gallery showing news interviews with Solomon and Italian critics and all the art sent to Venice was a real treat. The show excels at reminding visitors what a turbulent time the early 60s were in US culture, ending with an extensive presentation of work about the struggle for Civil Rights.

More information about the curator, Germano Celant (September 11, 1940 – April 29, 2020), former artistic director of fondazione prada in Milan.

Memory: San Diego Comic-Con Museum 2019 & 2021

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March 2019

In the spring of 2019, the museum had a “soft open” event and a gallery show of art created for Comic-Con posters and souvenir books from the collection of Jackie Estrada. This event coincided with San Diego Comics Fest. At this point, only one gallery in the front of the museum was open.

July 2019

During Comic-Con 2019, Batman was the first character inducted into the Museum’s Character Hall of Fame. The Batman show, curated by Michael Uslan, had an impressive array of props, a video game arcade, and a special effects room where visitors could hit a punching bag and see 1966-style sound effects appear on the walls. On the lower floor were the winners of the museum’s cos-play contest.

November 2021

After California emerged from the Covid shutdown, San Diego Comic-Con did a Special Edition of the convention over the Thanksgiving weekend. The museum had exhibits of Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek, the Art of Charles Addams, and a costume exhibit. There are a lot of long shots, as I was trying to document the recent remodel of the space as well as the exhibits.

Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing – The Exhibition 

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I greatly enjoyed this celebration of Spider-Man’s history, creators, and characters at the San Diego Comic-Con Museum. The show, a collaboration between Marvel Entertainment, Semmel Exhibitions, and the Comic-Con Museum, continues through January 1, 2023. These are photos I took during my visit during San Diego Comic-Con this year.

Fleurs de Villes Femmes

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On October 7, I happened to catch the amazing Fleurs de Villes Femmes show at the Shops at Hudson Yards in New York. Like the popular San Francisco event Bouquets to Art at the De Young Museum, Fleurs de Villes is a one-week show of floral artistry, in this case celebrating famous women.