I’m constantly telling my gallery tour participants not to touch any art we see.  Though everything in the galleries is for sale, galleries are not exactly “stores” – they’re more like museums in the sense of look but don’t touch.  Unless you’ve paid for it, of course.  Well, I’m excited to announce that on my Lower East Side gallery tour on Sat. Jan. 24, there’s one exhibit where you can touch the art all you want.  Not only that, the art will CHANGE COLORS at the slightest touch.  Plus, there’s an exhibit where we’re going to meet a young female Israeli artist and hear what she has to say about her art that we’ll see.  And those are just 2 of 7 shows we’ll visit.  It’s going to be quite the afternoon.

This interactive artist’s specialty is neon-like light sculptures.  Besides neon, he uses argon, xenon, mercury, and krypton (yes, it’s the real name of an element, not just part of the Superman myth).  As you’d expect, the colored light is contained within clear glass tubes.  But what comes as a complete surprise is that when you touch the glass, the colors will change before your eyes.  Even more fascinating is that each piece responds differently to different touches, so that everyone will experience their own personal sculpture.

How does the artist do it?  You’ll find out in the gallery.  And, by the way, the price range of the interactive sculptures is a remarkably affordable $900 – $2000 per piece.

Besides the light sculptures, other highlights on the tour will include an Indonesian artist’s large-scale surreal paintings that a NY Times critic called “canny” and “impressive,” and female Israeli artist Tal Eshed, who will speak to us when we visit her exhibit of transcendent videos that are a result of her actual near-death experience, and 4 other fascinating new shows.

The Lower East Side continues to amaze and delight.

Rafael Risemberg, Ph.D., Director
New York Gallery Tours