Did you know you can still make a day trip out of seeing art in the city? NYC’s cutting edge art scene is at your fingertips if you know where to look and how to book. Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood boasts hundreds of galleries clustered among a few blocks ranging in size from hundreds of square feet to small-scale museums. Artists are continuing to have shows and they’ll appreciate your eyeballs.
These sites will give you a good overview of what shows are up and where, so you can assemble a hit list. Next, you need to visit the websites of those galleries to check if an appointment is required, and if so, choose a time, in 30-minute slots. This past Saturday we visited a half-dozen between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Bigger galleries with marquee names tend to fill up faster while shows by up-and-comers might be less busy.
Either way the appointment system makes for a safe indoor visit with plenty of open space around you. Our recommendations: Morandi and Albers at David Zwirner Gallery, Irving Penn at Pace Gallery, Angela Dufresne at Yossi Milo Gallery, Shirin Neshat at Gladstone Gallery and Esteban Cabeza de Baca at Garth Greenan Gallery. For a bite, the back garden at Pepe Giallo gets straight As – ambience, affordability and authentic Italian cuisine.
— Nitin Mukul
