MadParkNews.com, covering New York City's Madison Square Park & Flatiron

The Madison Square Conservancy has just announced the line-up for their annual free outdoor concert series that runs Wednesday evenings from June 19th to August 7th on the oval lawn. Kicking it off is Susan Vega on June 19th (7-8:30pm). Vega is probably best known for her 80′s songs Tom’s Diner and Luca, but has continued on as a singer/songwriter/storyteller to this day.

Here is the full summer schedule:

• Wednesday, June 19th (7-8:30pm): Susan Vega (Singer/Songwriter)
• Wednesday, June 26th (7-8:30pm): Anat Cohen Quartet (Jazz from clarinet and saxophone player Anat Cohen)
• Wednesday, July 3rd (6-8:30pm): The Grascals (bluegrass band from Nashville), Joy Kills Sorrow (Boston-based string band)
• Wednesday, July 10th (7-8:30pm): Rene Marie’s “Experiment in Truth” (Blues, Soul, Jazz vocalist)
• Wednesday, July 17th (7-8:30pm): Ben Sollee (Acoustic rock, jazz from the cellist and singer/songwriter)
• Wednesday, July 24th (6-8:30pm): Dafnis Prieto Sextet (Latin Jazz) & Yosvany Terry Quintet (Cuban Jazz)
• Wednesday, July 31st (6-8:30pm): Erin McKeown (folk-rock singer/songwriter), Lake Street Dive (Jazz pop)
• Wednesday, August 7th (7-8:30pm): Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk (Funk, Blues)

 

Here is a video of Susan Vega performing Tom’s Diner:

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="225"] Photo via http://www.millesimenyc.com[/caption]

Salon Millesime, adjacent to Millesime restaurant (92 Madison Avenue at 29th Street), has kicked off a free weekly music series from Wednesdays to Sundays. The series features live jazz, DJs and alternative-soul performances, and they serve Salon Snacks during the performances (Basque Style Popped Corn, Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail and Crab Cake Sliders).

Sounds like a great spot for a classy yet fun date.

Here is the lineup for the week:

• Wednesday night: Courtney Graf 7pm – 10pm
• Thursday & Friday night: The Lauren Henderson Trio 7pm – 11pm
• Saturday night: DJ Erika Hamilton 9pm – 1am
• Sunday night: Forroteria 8pm – Midnight

Check www.millesimenyc.com/music.php for more info.

The new Madison Square Park art installation Red, Yellow and Blue looks to be pretty much in place. You will find 3 installations in the park using 1.4 million feet of painted rope- rope that was found along the Eastern oceans and waterways. The commissioned work, Red, Yellow and Blue (referencing Barnett Newman’s Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue), will be in the Park through the Summer, and then go on tour to deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Boston.

From the artist: “For Madison Square Park I wanted to create a work that would impress in scale but still engage rather than intimidate. In context to my other installations, the rope used for Big Boss (2010) at MASS MoCA will comprise only 10% of the rope used for the project at Madison Square Park, allowing me to work at an unprecedented scale. The tradition of knitting carries the sharing of stories and the installation draws on that idea. The re-purposed rope brings with it the stories of different locations and by knotting it, a space is created for the words and thoughts of viewers in New York City to complete the work, creating a silent dialogue that waves along.”

The red and yellow installations create interesting visual spaces on the southwest and northeast corners of the park with their whimsical peaks and valley design that leaves sight lines through to the beautiful gardens and lawn of the park, as well as the historic buildings. Unfortunately there have been a lot of rumblings heard from locals about the the huge blue wall of the third installation, which has been called everything from ‘unimaginative’ or worse (‘construction tarp’). Regardless of your opinion of this blue installation, it is unfortunate that it will block so much of the beautiful green park in that area throughout the summer.

The sculpture is part of the Madison Square Conservancy’s groundbreaking Madison Square Art public art program. Each season you will find thought-provoking sculptures, structures, video and audio art throughout the park by the most prominent artists in the world including Antony Gormley, Jim Campbell, Richard Deacon, Tadashi Kawamata, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, William Wegman, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Jaume Plensa, and Sol LeWitt.

You may have seen a series of illustrations of local buildings pop up here and there (I just saw one on a Town Residential handout) from James Gulliver Hancock, who is attempting to draw all the buildings in New York. No doubt this would be an overwhelming effort, but whether he completes the task or not, he has done many from the neighborhood. You can search his website for your building, or check out his new book on the subject.

Here is the Grand Madison (225 5th Avenue on the north side of Madison Square Park)

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="540"] (Image Courtesy of James Gulliver Hancock)[/caption]

 

And of course you will recognize these ones:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="557"] (Image courtesy of James Gulliver Hancock)[/caption]

He also does a ton of design work and other pieces. I loved this one so much I bought it (limited edition of 15):

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="567"] (Image courtesy of James Gulliver Hancock; $35, limited edition of 15)[/caption]

The Bird sculpture in the Flatiron just west of Madison Square Park is being removed today. The installation is called Bird, made of actual And fabricated nails, and is by New York City artist Will Ryman.

As part of the NYC Department of Transportation Urban Art Program (in conjunction with the Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership) there is a new sculpture up just west of Madison Square ark in the pedestrian plaza between 23rd and 24th Street and Broadway and 5th Avenue. The installation is called Bird, made of actual And fabricated nails, and is by New York City artist Will Ryman. The 12-foot high structure is “loosely inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven” according to the Paul Kasmin Gallery and will be up from now until April 21st, 2013. Ryman also did the Roses on Park Avenue in 2011.