• 1.9 Miles away from Metro Pictures

    Alan L. said "My beloved Walkman. Yes, my beloved Walkman...... Handed downed to me in my early years. Sony was the manufacture of the…" read more

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    City Gallery Framing

    5.0 star rating
    12 reviews
    2.2 Miles away from Metro Pictures

    We specialize in custom frames, picture frames, painting frames, wood frames, gold frames, silver frames, framing artwork, diplomas,… read more

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  • 5.0 star rating
    6/18/2012
    2 check-ins

    My parents are not big art lovers but they have a poster on their mantle that reproduces a painting of a fisherman on a beach, and the poster has a weird finish on it that imitates the surface texture of brushstrokes. They become visible when the light catches them, and their direction and length have nothing to do with the image underneath it. It is supposed to make the poster look fancier or more expensive but if you're paying attention it's just weird and fake.

    You will not find anything like this poster at Metro Pictures but nevertheless I couldn't help thinking about when I saw Cindy Sherman's exhibition here. The backgrounds in the photos are dramatic landscapes, with forests, mountains, and volcanoes, and they have been treated to have a feathered, brushy look that reminded me of my parents' poster. Cindy Sherman stands in the foreground of each image wearing fancy dresses that have elaborate textures of their own, but they are photographed normally (I mean, the quality of the photography is obviously very high but the dresses don't look like they have been altered). The way the dresses look against the backgrounds is out of control! I loved it!

    In the Cindy Sherman retrospective that was at MoMA this spring you could see how she has used digital retouching to put herself in the frame of a single photograph multiple times. But the settings are normal--expensive houses, parties, and so on. The relationship between the figures and the background makes sense in those pictures. In the new ones it doesn't make sense and that is why it's so exciting. I was really happy about this new direction in the artist's work.

    The inside of Metro Pictures is shaped like a horseshoe and visiting the gallery can feel like going to a haunted house or other amusement-park ride: go in one end, follow the path, look at the stuff, go out the other end. When a show is so-so this can make it seem even more trivial than it actually is. But Cindy Sherman's new work was so good that I didn't even think about on that particular visit. I may have felt a little dizzy--but it wasn't from walking in circles!

  • 4.0 star rating
    4/2/2010

    Now that gallery season has started I've begun my Thursday evening wine tours through Chelsea. Popping into the small galleries to stare at work from up and coming artist, gossiping with friends, meeting new ones and drinking glass after glass of free wine. I count these incredible Thursdays among my favorite things about living in Manhattan.

    Along the gallery walk Metro is usually our first stop as it's conveniently snuggled in central gallery zone...plus they usually have pretty heavy names hanging on their walls.

    Last night we checked out the André Butzer exhibition "Nicht fürchten! Dont be scared!" which were a series of bright and colorful, textured abstracts. The art was beautiful and people even more so; truly the perfect start to our cultured journey.

  • 4.0 star rating
    12/14/2008

    Metro Pictures is an anchor among the many art galleries in Chelsea. Don't expect to find up and coming talent displayed on these walls. By the time an artist is showing here they've already made it in the world of contemporary art.

    Speaking of, Cindy Sherman fans take note: an exhibition of her new work is on display at Metro Pictures until the 23rd of December 2008. The results are stunning and should not be missed.

    These highly detailed and manipulated portraits are eerily fascinating. Knowing that she is not only the photographer but also the artist, stylist and model in front of the camera makes these images that much more compelling.

  • 1.0 star rating
    5/22/2008
    First to Review
    Listed in Art for Art's Sake

    Sad, so sad. Such a great space and so little being done with it. The artwork was a series of pieces duplicated and rearranged from room to room.... and wasn't good enough to be seen 3...4....5 times. The only intriguing piece I saw was an video/sculpture installation on the upper level, but it was the only piece by that artist. A two level, huge gallery....falling short of its potential in my book. It also had about four employees that I saw, not a single one who made an effort to greet me. Their postcards/statements were also out, so even if I had wanted to read up on the artists, I wouldn't have been able to.

    The show featured artist Louise Lawler and I believe it's up until June 7th... maybe check it out on the web first : metropictures.com, hours are Tues-Sat. 10-6:00.

  • 5.0 star rating
    6/30/2009

    I really enjoyed this gallery.  The space is huge with interesting displays from quite a few artists.  We got a tour from a very helpful guide who explained the more impressive points of some of the pieces.  I loved a trio of wall-tall guns drawn by Robert Longo in immaculate charcoal (a steal if you buy the set at...$800,000 was it???).  I don't know if I loved this one, but there was an intriguing (read: creepy) installation piece with an audio and video component involving a split pill of a talking head (internet sleuthing tells me it's by Tony Oursler and called "Half (Brain)").  The staff, by the way, is also worth a look - our guide was rocking awesome middle-school chem lab goggle glasses, and working behind a desk was a male so pretty I didn't even think he should cut his stupidly long hair.  That's just a digression, though.  With or without external talent, Metro Pictures is a cool place to visit.

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