The words “controversial” and “Upper East Side galleries” are not often uttered in the same breath.  The U.E.S. is, after all, the most conservative art neighborhood in New York City, and the last thing those galleries want to do is turn blue blood into red.  That would be more the province of NYC’s edgier art neighborhoods, notably Chelsea, the Lower East Side, and Williamsburg.  And yet, two well known, highly controversial artists recently opened exhibits in galleries in the Upper East Side, and these will certainly be among the highlights of our Sat. Nov. 20 Upper East Side gallery tour.

Here’s how the Upper East Side galleries get away with showing controversial artists, while still remaining straight-laced: they show these artists’ works several years AFTER their controversy has peaked.  At the time of these artworks’ debuts, they let the downtown galleries take all the risk and absorb all the outrage, while the Upper East Side simply bides its time.  And in time these works drastically increase in monetary value, which is exactly when the U.E.S. galleries swoop in to re-sell these works, or to sell brand new work by the same artists.  Clever, huh?

I’m not about to reveal the names of these two particular artists just yet, since I do need to give you incentive to attend my tour.  But I will tell you this.  One of the two artists turned the art world on its head in the 1980s and ‘90s, and today his works are prominently featured in the permanent collections of all the world’s major museums.  Years ago he participated in a group museum show that was so upsetting to the New York mayor of the time, he called for the museum’s closure.

The exhibit that an Upper East Side gallery is showing of this artist’s work is a sculptural series from the late 1980s when his controversy was just beginning.  You may find it fascinating, as I do, for being displayed in one of the gorgeously ornate mansion galleries that the U.E.S. is best known for.  There’s a thrilling disconnect between the outrageousness of the art’s subject matter and the stateliness of its current setting.

The second controversial artist on this tour is showing completely new work.  Known for large-scale portrait paintings of women that some consider less-than-tasteful, he was once famously lambasted by a writer from the Village Voice who urged a boycott of this artist’s work, which succeeded only in raising the artist’s stature and the price of his paintings.  For those of you who have never seen his art, you may revel in the old-world painting style and technique that he brings to very contemporary imagery, now showing in one of the world’s wealthiest galleries.

These are just 2 of 7 exhibits we will visit that day, 4 of them in mansion galleries and one in NYC’s only duplex apartment gallery.  I look forward to seeing you on as skewed a version of a blue-blood adventure that I can possibly muster!

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