Chelsea Galleries

So to encourage you to do the Chelsea art gallery stroll, uptowngirl, I can also tell you that stopping afterward at Bottino (246 Tenth Avenue, between 24th and 25th) is considered de rigeur, and you will be lunching/dining alongside the important figures in the art world.

Fridays are when most of these galleries schedule their openings, so you are more likely to be among the movers and shakers if you go on a Friday when several places are holding openings for new shows. Some of us just care about the art, so a quiet weekday afternoon is much more ideal for that.

I'm not into art, but a friend of mine is an artist, and she has been begging me to go with her to some galleries. I think I will mention the above galleries and see which one she wants to go to first.

Thanks for your suggestions Uraniumfish, I am definitely going to do the Chelsea gallery stroll one day soon.

Hey, now that I can go for. I love free foods. If there is a gallery that offers free food, I don't mind going. At least I can get some benefit from being there, even if it means waiting for my friend to view the paintings and whatever is there to view.

No gallery openings I've ever been to in Chelsea have ever fed me. The occasional free wine, etc. But as you can surely imagine, the upper end of the art gallery spectrum is made up of extremely uptight people. Occasionally they'll do something splashy, like in one gallery a while back they reproduced the entire contents of a Japanese convenience store, down to the bubble gum. There's a lot going on under the surface at these places, so if you're a collector you can be pretty sure you'll end up in the back room sipping the house's best champagne and smoking cigars with the beautiful people. That said, it can nevertheless be pretty great to stroll from gallery to gallery during the "openings" times on Fridays even if you're not a collector, because there's a lot to see, both in therms of art and in terms of people.

Here's a nice blog about high art in NYC, from a woman who isn't afraid to ask, "What is this sh-t?" and is knowledgeable enough to then answer that question.

ArtFagCity.com

I do agree that art can be a beautiful thing to see, especially if you are into it. I remember seeing an art piece once and liked it. I can't remember the name of it, but thought it was really great. My most favorite art piece was "The Last Supper" followed by "Mona Lisa."

Anyone have any favorites.