Pamela Kogen (my sister, a brilliant artist herself [if I must say so myself]) and I took a drive to Beacon, New York, a river town along the Hudson. Our destination: Dia Beacon. Formerly a Nabisco box-printing facility, it is now a museum dedicated to contemporary large-scale installations, paintings, and sculptures from the 1960s to the present day. My favorite installations were: "Torqued Ellipses" by Richard Serra Watching the light from the windows dance on these massive abstract sculptures was mesmerizing. These bold monuments measure 14 feet high and are made of weathered steel. "Standing Walls," by Larry Bell Stunning (as my mother used to say). It was set on a pink rug (which I learned viewers can NOT walk on to get a closer view). The sheer blue-tinted glass panels are strategically arranged to create a minimalist elegance that feels as if they are floating. The two elements — the rug and the glass panels — give a striking geometric e...
Andy Hammerstein wrote the delightful and dishy book, "The Hammersteins: A Musical Theatre Family." In my interview with him in Bedford Magazine , "Getting to Know You: Oscar Andy Hammerstein III" , he discussed the dawn of Broadway theater and the brilliance, wit, and whimsy of a prolific family who truly impacted American entertainment. So being prolific is in his genes! Along with being a writer, this mega-/multi-talent is also a painter whose new work is beautifully articulated with vibrating strips of color that are layered, offset, and repeated at varying intervals. The process creates abstract, moving landscape-like fields whose relationships of color are more important than individual color. Hammerstein has strategic discipline in everything he does, be it as a writer or a painter. This current work, at Chroma Fine Art Gallery, illustrates Andy's true mastery of color, interaction, and design. <> <> <> "Underlying Geometry...