I'm still waiting for about 1/2 of the galleries to open new shows after the holiday break but it was nice (although cold) to get out and see a bunch of shows this weekend.  I've repopulated TTP as best I could and will fill the rest out next weekend.  I love going to galleries (obviously).  The key word is "going" - the neighborhoods are visually interesting on their own - with amazing architecture, street art (graffiti) and just plain New Yorkiness.  All of that provides an excellent pallet cleanser between shows - something anyone who clicks through the links on this website misses.  SO!  I've decided to take a picture every time I go out to share some of those moments where I stop and let me eyes and brain refresh.  The above photo is a great shadow-puppet-stencil-tag on a light pole on 11th Avenue near 22nd Street.

Today I braved the pre-blizzard wind and snow (see the animation above taken today at 4:30pm in Chelsea... 4:30!!!!) to visit a few galleries in all three neighborhoods.  PLUS I learned how to make animated GIFs (see above).

Midtown - Though I don't give Midtown or Upper East Side recommendations on this site, I do go see a handfull of shows every month.  Today was Gerhard Richter at Marian Goodman & David Hockney (part 2) at PaceWildenstein.  Though good, Richter's show didn't measure up to the reviews (see TimeOut's review here).  Hockney's show is split between Pace's Chelsea gallery and Midtown gallery.  I loved the show in Chelsea, and this work in Midtown was the best I saw all day.

Lower East Side & Chelsea - no real "must see" shows that will be added to the "top five" but a lot of interesting group shows (Andrew Edlin & Salon 94 to name just 2 of the 6 good group shows I saw today) that provided great introductions to artists I've never seen before.

Galleries will be CLOSED over the holiday weekend, and possibly over New Years weekend too. so see you in January!

In addition to Thanksgiving weekend (all galleries closed) and my apartment move (I'm almost done unpacking), I've been without my Mac - the DVD drive broke and I'm finally getting around to replacing the cracked keyboard faceplate (all for free! thanks apple care plan!).    I've been using my girlfriend’s computer and my work computer to update the site for the last week but I'm lacking a few useful tools off the computer including the last 5 years of my reference notes and my Photoshop files for this site (I had to make the image above on MS paint).  All should be back to normal in a day or two.

My time and brain have been monopolized lately with packing and apartment searching.  I haven't had the time to paint, update reviews, give tours, or see many of the recent museum shows.  I am however sticking to my intense gallery viewing schedule and updating the "top five" and "compare" charts.  There's great stuff now - so get out there!

Hopefully I'll be set and settled by Thanksgiving.