Craveable - The Culture Craver Blog

Friday, May 17

Craving contemporary photography? Starting Friday, it’s the ICP’s triennial, featuring photographs by 28 artists from around the world.

Starting Friday, learn about the Eucharist’s centrality to medieval cultural life (religious and secular) through liturgical illuminated manuscripts at the Morgan Library and Museum in Illuminating Faith: The Eucharist in Medieval Life and Art.

Saturday, May 18

At 7 PM, see the Liars perform in the Met’s Temple of Dendur. It’s a special event, associated with the blockbuster fashion show of the season, PUNK: Chaos to Couture.

Sunday, May 19

See one of this weekend’s new movies. The best options include Star Trek into Darkness; Stories We Tell, a documentary about a family mystery; Augustine, a 19^th Century period piece about a French neurologist and his star patient; and Frances Ha about a would-be dancer.

Craving art? You're in luck. Gallerist Meredith Rosen has picked five New York City art gallery exhibitions that you won't want to miss.

Don Gummer: Recent Works at Allegra LaViola through June 1

Christie's auctioned off nearly half a billion dollars of art this week — beating all sorts of artworld records. You might not have any abstract expressionist, pop, and contemporary masterpieces on your walls, but what follows are our suggestions of things that might (just barely) ease your art envy.

Roy Lichtenstein's "Woman with Flowered Hat" went for $56,123,750 and his "Nude with Yellow Flower" went for $23,643,750. You could have your very own Lichtenstein-inspired iPhone case for less than $40.

Jean-Michel Basquiat's "Dustheads" went for $48,843,750. You could get Reebok Ex-O-Fit Plus Hi Basquiat sneakers for just over $100.

Mark Rothko's "Untitled" (Black on Maroon) went for $27,003,750. This MaxMara dress has a similar palette and feel for $795.

Philip Guston's "To Fellini" went for $25,883,750. This colorful weekend bag from Kate Spade Saturday has a similar vibe. It goes for $160 (and it has an interior cell-phone compartment!)

(This is obviously created in jest. A bag or a pair of shoes cannot substitute for an artistic masterpiece. We sincerely hope the Christie's bidders enjoy their purchases — and we hope they choose to share them with museums so that the rest of us can see more great art in person.) 

It's nearly Memorial Day Weekend. You know what that means: it’s time to head to your local cinema, buy an extra large pail of popcorn, and sit back in a super-chilled theater to take in some crash-bang-boom blockbuster summer flicks. We’ve rounded up the biggest, loudest, funniest, and starriest coming attractions of the season. And we’ve given you our take on why you should consider going to each.

Iron Man 3

May 3, 2013

Go because: You didn’t get enough of Robert Downey, Jr. (as a brash billionaire playboy, saving the world) or Gwyneth Paltrow (his girlfriend and associate) in the first two movies about the Marvel comic hero Iron Man.

The Great Gatsby

May 10, 2013

Go because: The costumes (Prada and Brooks Brothers) and the jewels (Tiffany) seem like reason enough. 

Star Trek Into Darkness

May 16, 2013

Go because: You’re a Trekkie. You wouldn’t miss the 12^th installment of your favorite sci-fi franchise.

Hangover Part III              

May 23, 2013

Go because: You didn’t get your fill of guys doing stupid, embarrassing, possibly life threatening things in Parts I and II.

Perhaps it's fitting that the movie about F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 look at roaring 20s is inspiring a shopping bonanza. This is a guide to Gatsby shopping opportunities: 

Tiffany's Jazz Age Glamour Collection. Whether you're in the market for diamonds and pearls or not, be sure to watch the video about the jewels of Great Gatsby, which includes interviews with Tiffany designers and actors from the film. From left: Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond Ring ($385,000), The Great Gatsby Collection Savoy Headpiece ($200,000), and Daisy Locket ($800). 

By JULIA LEVY

Let's start with a quick pop quiz:

Q. What do the Brooks Brothers, Joey Gallo, Leonard Bernstein, Boss Tweed, "Sugar King" Henry Havemeyer, and FAO Schwarz have in common?

A. They are all buried in the same place — Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn — which turned 175 years old this year.

A new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, A Beautiful Way to Go, opens on May 15 to celebrate the history and influence of the historic "rural cemetery," and the regular New Yorkers and dignitaries buried there since 1838.

If attending a museum exhibition about a cemetery sounds a bit morbid, consider this: in the 1850s, Green-Wood Cemetery attracted 500,000 visitors a year, at a time when the population of New York City was only a million. That made it the second most popular tourist destination in America after Niagara Falls. In the 1800s, a cemetery wasn't just a burial ground. It was a destination, and it reflected a new American view about the natural world and human nature. The natural, picturesque landscapes also served as inspiration for both Central Park and the early American suburbs.

In the mid-1800s, stereographs became popular: people would look through stereoscopes (special viewfinders) at two images on "stereo cards" in order to create the illusion of three dimensions.

Visitors to Green-Wood Cemetery would remember their visits by looking at stereographs of famous mosoleums and nature scenes.

We  turned a couple of the popular Green-Wood Cemetery stereographs from the era into animated gifs; we figure that the gif is today's stereograph.

On the left is the Charlotte Canda memorial, created in 1865 to remember a girl who died in a carriage accident on her 17th birthday. On the right is the 1870 monument to tobacconist John Anderson. He was questioned in, but never charged with, one of New York's most notorious unsolved murders — the death of Mary Rogers, known as "the Beautiful Cigar Girl." Her death inspired Edgar Allan Poe's "The Mystery of Marie Roget." Images are courtesy of the Green-Wood Historic Fund.

These images are among the artifacts that will be on display at A Beautiful Way To Go: New York's Green-Wood Cemetery, the upcoming exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, commemorating the cemetery's 175th birthday. The exhibit runs from May 15 through August 30.

New York City is overflowing with amazing art. Gallerist Meredith Rosen recommends five great gallery exhibitions to help you get started. 

Bruce Conner at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea through June 22

Friday, May 10

Finally! It’s time for the highly anticipated new Baz Luhrmann film, The Great Gatsby. We all know the story: Nick Carraway comes to New York City in the roaring 20s to chase the American Dream. He meets party boy Jay Gatsby, and narrates a story of love, longing, and the times. See the movie for the design and the (fabulous) accessories.

There’s finally a musical about a showdown at the 1987 Crystal Light National Aerobics Competition. It’s called Spandex: The Musical. Feel the burn through May 26 at 777 Theatre.

Craving art? It’s your lucky weekend. Art fairs abound in New York City this weekend, bringing art from around New York and around the world for you to see and collect.

Go to Randall’s Island to see art from nearly 200 exhibitors at Frieze New York. You can expect a hidden prohibition-era-inspired speakeasy, a color-coded garden, an imaginary art cemetery, and a sculpture garden featuring everything from a circle dance to a balloon dog. (Hours: May 7 – 12: 11 AM – 7 PM; May 13: 11 AM – 6 PM. Admission: general $42, students $26.)

Go to NADA to see art on the East River to see the non-profit art fair’s display of new work by rising talents from around the world. (Hours: May 10: 2 PM – 8 PM, May 11: 10 AM – 8 PM, May 12: 10 AM – 5 PM. Admission: free.)

Head to Pulse in Chelsea for contemporary art and projects by emerging artists. (Hours: May 9: 12 – 8 PM; May 10-11: 11 AM – 8 PM; May 12: 11 AM – 7 PM. Admission: general $20, students/seniors $15.)

Go to Cutlog — which has been in Paris and is making its debut in New York City this year — in the East Village for outdoor screenings and live performances. (Hours: May 9: 5 PM - 9 PM; May 10 – 12: 10 AM – 8 PM; May 13: 10 AM – 6 PM; Admission: adults $15, students/seniors $10)

Go to PooL Art Fair 2013 at the Flatiron Hotel to see work by unrepresented artists. (Hours: May 10 – 12: 3 – 10 PM. Admission: $10)

Go to seven @ Seven in Williamsburg for contemporary installations, paintings, and sculptures. (Hours: May 10: 6 – 9 PM; May 11-12: 12 – 6 PM, and continuing through June 9)

Saturday, May 11

It’s spring. That means it’s time for some Spontaneous Shakespeare! The players’ first show of the year is Comedy of Errors, which starts on Saturday at Summit Rock near the Natural History Museum. It’s a free outdoor performance that begins at noon. It’s showing at 3 PM on Sunday.