Katalong

New York is a city that is ripe for performance art. This elusive discipline, that still, after all these years, raises a few eyebrows, particularly by those who refuse to understand it, has had a fantastic run in New York. There have been moments of great cultural activity, where performance becomes central to the quotidian life of the artist-as-citizen here. There have likewise been moments when things seem to come to a standstill and the culture of the city seems to give over to financial nervousness, and it’s hard to see anything new on the streets.

The current core group of artists who find themselves connected through the support of Franklin Furnace seem to be pushing the watermark higher once again, by the weight of the volume of their work, as well as by the depth of complexity of the work itself. One of the artists who seems to be always pushing, and always working on new projects, is Nicolas Dumit Estevez . Some of his work is perfectly suited for more anonymous observation, such as when it’s displayed in places like El Museo del Barrio , or by discrete viewings of his Orange Cowboy film on youtube, but it’s real strength becomes more apparent when the live element is present.

That’s all to say, it becomes alive when the performer’s body is there. It may seem like an obvious point, but in performance art, that makes all the difference. It’s certainly interesting enough to make plans to stay in a New York cheap hotel to catch the work when he’s performing in town, and locals who are even tangentially connected to the art world here may have participated in his democratic performance events without even realizing it. Whether observing him walk backwards through the city, the performance of alter egos like Super Merengue, or offering samples of plantains cooked as representations of a Dominican exotic other, there are plenty of opportunities to catch, or to fall into, the next wave of performance art in the Americas.

One of the obvious things that is associated with the Cincinnati Art Museum is great art in the permanent collection and amazing touring exhibits. One of the aspects many of the tourists appreciated about it once they are there is the fact that general admission to the museum is free. This is actually a standard aspect for many families when they consider various vacation options in today’s economy. And while there is a always a nice benefit to low cost and even free quality cultural attractions, sometimes this can make the difference between getting to travel somewhere or not.

Of course there are also those individuals who have a priority hierarchy when planning their vacation budget. Some people prefer to spend the bulk of their travel budget on the finest four star luxury accommodations they can find while others try and access the most economical hotel rooms so they can save the majority of their money for the local attractions, activities and cultural events.

Fortunately for all interested parties, the Cincinnati Art Museum offers a great cultural experience to all of the above-mentioned populations. The museum is located in Eden Park , which is also a great place to find a nice outdoor activity area and amazing scenic views. In addition to the ongoing and limited time exhibits there are various programs and art related events and activities offered by the museum that suited for children and adults. The permanent collection of the museum includes over 60,000 pieces from time periods that span 6,000 years. This is an amazing collection size and one of the things the museum is most proud of. Two of the current exhibits are Prints of Martin Puryear and Color Woodcuts by Edna Boies Hopkins. The Prints exhibit runs through the middle of June of this year and the color Woodcuts will run through the second of May.