The entire last season I ended up leading just two Upper East Side gallery tours.  I would love to have led more of them, but I always wait until the art is good enough there to make a tour worthwhile.  Well, wait no longer, because my Sat. Oct. 5 Upper East Side gallery tour is going to be absolutely MAGICAL!  (Not a word I typically associate with cautious, conservative Upper East Side art.)

One reason is a delightfully whimsical exhibit by an Italian female artist, having her U.S. debut, of colored feather sculptures that are enormous and wild.  It’s the kind of show that will bring a smile to anyone and everyone’s face as they enter the space, which, by the way, is a brand new gallery having it’s own debut.

Nearby is a once-in-a-lifetime show in which an artist created a machine that spits out REAL American money every minute for you to keep.  This is no joke!  And once a day a crisp new $100 bill comes out of the machine, which like all the other money is up for grabs.   Think about what the artist is saying about our relationship with money, especially as we all gather around the exit slot and wonder who is going to be bold enough to step up and grab it.

Some of the exhibits are housed in converted mansions, starting with our meeting place on Park Avenue, where we’ll see a Chilean artist’s breath-taking, room-filling installation that comments on Chile’s totalitarian history.  Not only that, this mansion is allowing us to use one of their restrooms before the tour begins, and getting the chance to use a bathroom in an Upper East Side mansion may be reason enough to join this tour.

Another mansion – in fact, it’s the one where Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt had their wedding reception – is showing a 26 year-old artist’s shattered glass “paintings” that sold out in minutes during the opening.  See for yourself  what the fuss was all about.

The last time I led an Upper East Side gallery tour was 5 months ago, and the time before that was 7 months prior.  There’s no telling when the next one will be, so take advantage of this one!

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