Art

THE BRONX Council on the Arts is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its prestigious BRIO (Bronx Recognizes its Own) Award with the special new exhibition “Anthem: an all-american dystopia,” which is now on display in the Longwood Art Gallery, at Hostos Community College, through Saturday, Feb. 6. This showcase explores an America within the crux of reforming a national identity and it focuses on themes of family, health, politics, urban crisis and decay, as well as environmental issues, consumerism and globalization. All of the 20 artists with work featured in this showcase are 2008 and 2009 BRIO award winners. Hostos is located at 450 Grand Concourse and 149th Street, in the Bronx. Admission is free and open to the public. For viewing hours and other information, call 718-518-6728.

THE BRONX Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, presents “Urban Archives: That Was Then This Is Now,” the first of a new, multi-year series of exhibitions that look at contemporary culture as a living archive. This attraction draws primarily from the personal collections of a number of artists that have been working in the Bronx since the late 1970s. In their collections, the testimonies of long-time residents and occasional visitors coexist in the form of mementos, documentation, artwork and other cultural artifacts. Conceived as a means to open up the Bronx Museum Permanent Collection to the public while also offering new possibilities of interpreting it, the Urban Archives series intends to engage artists, writers, curators and other New York-area arts professionals in an ongoing dialogue about contemporary issues. The showcase is now on view through March 1, 2010. For more information, call 718-681-6000.

THE MUSEUM of Modern Art, located at 11 W. 53rd St., presents “Tim Burton,” a major new exhibition devoted entirely to the legendary film director, which is now on display through April 26, 2010. This career retrospective, which consists of a gallery installation and a series of film screenings, will explore the full scale of Burton’s work as a director, a concept artist for live-action and animated films, an illustrator, photographer and writer. Tracing Burton’s visual imagination from his childhood sketches through his mature work in film, the exhibit will feature more than 700 examples of rarely or neverbefore- seen drawings, paintings, storyboards, moving-image works, puppets, maquettes, costumes and other cinematic memorabilia. For more information, call 212-708- 9400 or go to www.moma.org.

THE AMERICAN Museum of Natural History, located at Central Park West and 79th Street, presents the major new exhibition “Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient Pathway to the Modern World,” which is now on display through Aug. 15, 2010. This unique attraction will take guests on an unparalleled journey, exploring commerce, communication and cultural exchange from the far reaches of China through the cities and empires of Central and West Asia between 600 and 1200 A.D. During this trip, visitors will watch live silkworms spinning cocoons in the section devoted to Xi’an, wander through a replica of the desert markets of Turfan, meet a life-sized camel model as well as explore the ancient skills of papermaking and metalwork in Samarkand, and track the stars using a working model of an Arab astrolabe in Baghdad. For more information, call 212-769-5100.

THE METROPOLITAN Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Ave., at 82nd Street, presents the following special attractions:

• “Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868,” a major new exhibition devoted to the more than 700-year history of samurai culture, is now on display through Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010. Drawn entirely from public and private collections in Japan, this attraction brings together a collection of the finest examples of armor, swords and sword mountings, archery equipment and firearms, equestrian equipment, banners, surcoats, related accessories of rank such as fans and batons, as well as painted scrolls and screens depicting battles and martial sports, castles and portraits of individual warriors.
• The Met continues a long-standing holiday tradition with the presentation of its annual Christmas tree and 18th-century Neapolitan Nativity scene. The 20-foot candlelit blue spruce will be on display in the Medieval Sculpture Hall through Wednesday, Jan. 6. Special treelighting ceremonies with recorded holiday music will take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 4:30, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m., as well as on Tuesdays through Thursdays and Sundays at 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 212-535-7710.

THE RIVERDALE gallery of Elisa Tucci Contemporary Art, located at 5622 Mosholu Ave., presents the new holiday season exhibition, “One World. Many Voices,” which is now on display through Sunday, Jan. 10. This special installation brings together a group of local and international artists for an in-depth look at art’s unique ability to connect people across cultures, geographic borders, language barriers and generations. Through a spectrum of paintings, mixed media and works on paper, viewers will enter a world transformed by the collective energy of light, spirit and cross-cultural synergies. The show can be seen on Fridays, from noon to 5:30 p.m., Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or by appointment. For special holiday viewing hours and other details, call 212-729-4974.

THE GUGGENHEIM Museum, located at 1071 Fifth Ave. and 89th Street, presents “Kandinsky,” a fullscale retrospective of the paintings of Russian artist Vasily Kandinsky, which is now on display through Wednesday, Jan. 13. This comprehensive exhibition includes nearly 100 of Kandinsky’s most important works, ranging from 1902 to 1942, and it focuses on the key events that influenced the visionary artist’s life and work. Marked by two world wars and the Russian revolutions, Kandinsky is considered to be one of the pioneers of abstraction and is known for his thematic motifs such as the horse and rider, mountainous landscapes, tumultuous seascapes, apocalyptic imagery and other sacred subject-matter references. For more information, call 212-423-3500.

This is part of the December 24, 2009 online edition of The Riverdale Press.

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