A Third Great Show and a Second Great Tour

For readers anxious to experience in the flesh as much of what I write about in Art on the Block before the book launches on September 17, a third exciting exhibition is about to open in New York.

From May 9 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, British-born curator Andrew Bolton's "Punk: Chaos to Couture" will explore the evolution of the Punk movement of the mid- to late-1970s and its effects – not just on music, but on fashion, art and attitude.

I recommend the exhibition less for its promise of showing the output of visual artists of the era (this is a Costume Institute affair) but more for capturing the zeitgeist, or spirit, of those turbulent times. The Punk backdrop is very much a part of the broader sociological context in my sections "The Roots of Restlessness", "East of Eden" and "The East Village Scene". Richard Hell, the Ramones, the New York Dolls, Debbie Harry of Blondie and Anya Phillips (below) are all featured in the book as they made and changed history at downtown clubs like CBGB.

For those of you who missed it, there were two, different takes on the upcoming show in the New York Times over the weekend – one from Jon Caramanica and the other from Melena Ryzik. Both help flesh out the origins of Punk and give it context beyond its British origins and garage band music roots:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/arts/design/punk-chaos-to-couture-at-the-mets-costume-institute.html?_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/arts/design/anarchy-in-the-met.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1367424319-T+td4LhVhrn/7ZbcmsnEZA

Don't forget to add the New Museum's 1993 exhibit and MoMA's Claes Oldenburg's The Store and The Street to your itineraries. Details of those two exhibitions are posted below in earlier blogs.

And from Artview –

Due to overwhelming demand, (Artview likes to keep things big enough for a group dynamic but small enough for discussion), a second date has been opened up for the 'SoHo of the 70's' tour.
Wednesday, May 15 is now fully subscribed but we will repeat the tour the following day.

If you would like to join us from 11am until 1pm on Thursday, May 16 for a return to the cradle of the New York contemporary art scene, please connect with Lacy Doyle at artviewnyc.com or register at the link below:

http://www.artviewnyc.com/events/