Gale Brewer

Melissa Mark-Viverito

Apple is drawing the Council’s 51 members in prom attire in a series called NYC High for the blog ANIMAL New York. So far, ANIMAL New York posted Council members in districts one through eight.

Each drawing is accompanied by a small score card that lists the neighborhoods they represent and several facts about their time on the Council.

“Politics is kind of like high school, with factions and gossip and people always trying to hold on to or increase their popularity,” Apple told ANIMAL.

Apple contributed to a similar project in which artists drew Chicago’s 50 aldermen.

Here is Apple’s drawings of West Side Council members Gale Brewer and Melissa Mark-Viverito, who represents  the Upper West Side north of 96th Street.

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The most striking image of the John Lindsay exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York is a blown-up New York Times Magazine cover from 1973. The cover is a photo of Lindsay’s face that shows how events during his seven years as mayor of New York City ravaged his youthful looks: a white line connects welfare to his grayed temples; the 1969 Queens snowstorm put a crease around his mouth; the long, hot summer of 1966 deepened the frown lines on his forehead.

This picture, shown in the exhibit, was taken in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, the day after John Lindsay won his mayoral race. Lindsay was an ardent civil rights supporter in Congress.

America’s Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of New York is, ostensibly, a look at a mayor who was chosen to lead the city out of urban decay, only to see it split apart. But the exhibit, accompanied by a book edited by New York Times reporter Sam Roberts and an hour-long PBS documentary, paints a portrait of a changing city that rarely gets explored in this much detail.

The late 1970s is arguably the most romanticized time of modern New York City—especially 1977, the year of the Koch v. Cuomo mayor’s race, punk rock, disco, Son of Sam, the blackout, arson, the riots and the fiscal mess. Still, the Lindsay era, spanning 1966-1973, has some responsibility for the Koch era—for better or for worse.

“He comes in the midst of a wave in the process of transforming New York,” Sarah Henry, the exhibit’s curator, said of Lindsay. “There was a sense that a change was going to come.”

Lindsay’s two terms in office coincide neatly with what we think of as “The Sixties,” the 10 years from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s that recalls student protests, Berkley and hippies.

But in New York City, Lindsay, a liberal Upper East Side Republican who served in Congress before City Hall, had to address the problems that old Democratic politics didn’t solve. The exhibit shows how his policies seemed to inflame and alienate segments of the city, especially white middle-class New Yorkers. Campaign paraphernalia, tabloid headlines, television reports and photographs illustrate the fever pitch over civil rights policies, labor relations and Lindsay’s social programs that earned him the derisive title “limousine liberal.”

Henry also acknowledges how the Lindsay administration physically changed New York City with zoning rules to create European-influenced street cafes and pedestrian-friendly blocks. Maps, scale models and pictures of Lindsay studying development plans show his thumbprint on the city, including the Theater District and South Street Seaport.

Before the exhibit opened, historians were skeptical, anticipating a whitewash of Lindsay’s career, which sputtered to an end after lackluster campaigns for president and U.S. Senate.

But Henry doesn’t quite let Lindsay get the last word. His claim that New York was still a “fun city” or his supporters’ insistence that he kept the city’s racial tensions “cool” never overshadow her portrayal of New York in the middle of a tumultuous transformation.

“We wanted to use the lens of his mayoralty as a window,” Henry said, “into society, culture and politics.”

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Through Oct. 3, Museum of the City of New York, 1220 Fifth Ave. near 103rd Street, 212-534-1672; $6 to $10.

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Hand crafted cards from Beau Ideal Editions—just one of the many items available at MARTE on 3rd.

In the coming weeks, MARTE will be hosted by select Manhattan public schools that will also receive funds raised by sales. MARTE on 3rd will help P.S. 63 get much-needed air-conditioning units. Other schools will get funding for arts programs and after-school activities. At each participating school, the Parents Association will team up with Community Flea, a division of this paper’s parent company, Manhattan Media, to run the markets from summer through the holiday season, enabling the schools to use part of their space for students to sell their own goods.
So shop till you drop—there’s no buyer’s remorse, since MARTE is a fundraiser for the host school!

June 5 & 6, P.S. 63 William McKinley School, 121 E. 3rd St. (betw. 1st Ave. & Ave. A), www.themarte.com; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Free.

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Gathering to make crafts may seem more suited to the Midwest than to our steel and concrete city. But tell that to the dozens of henna-haired hipsters, Starbucks moms, silver tops and Michelle Obama look-alikes (and a few men) who showed up April 17 at the New York Public Library’s main branch to chat and knit, and cut and paste. According to Rare Books librarian Jessica Pigza, co-host of “Handmade Crafternoons,” these do-it-yourself salons “bring people into the library, build community and provide a space for creativity.”

Pigza, who blogs at The Handmade Librarian (handmadelibrarian.com), calls herself a dabbler, a “dilettante,” but she’s pretty accomplished. She wears dresses, tops and even a cape that she sewed from vintage patterns. By day, she’s in the rare books division, devoted to reader services and fielding remote reference questions by email. But one Saturday a month, she and Maura Madden, author of Crafternoon: A Guide to Getting Artsy and Craftsy with Your Friends All Year Long, co-host a crafting commune.

Photo by Shira Kronzon

By coordinating events and sharing her curiosity about crafts and books online, Pigza is one of many librarians keeping the New York Public Library relevant in a time of flux.

“Jessica has been particularly effective in using blogging to more directly connect with the craft and design enthusiasts among our patrons,” wrote Ben Vershbow, the library’s digital producer, by email.

Her library blog channel Hand-Made (www.nypl.org/blog_series/hand-made; not to be confused with her personal blog) encourages artists and other creative types to tap into the wealth of research material and ephemera at the main branch. Treasures include vintage valentine collections, textile samples, maps, menus and photos.

“It’s an interesting time at the library,” said Pigza, who lives with her husband and their dog in Washington Heights. “There is a lot of open thinking about what we can do.”

Each Handmade Crafternoon is two hours long and moderated by a local craft book author. Esther K. Smith, who wrote Magic Books and Paper Toys, taught attendees to make pop-up paper garland books last year. Kata Golda, author of Hand-Stitched Felt, demonstrated the art of stitched felt mice. At the April 17 session, Madden introduced books from the library’s collection, followed by a show-and-tell session among attendees.

I made a birthday card for my sister, snipping the letters of her name from the bridal magazine pages. My 14-year-old contentedly pressed and pulled cotton into a swirling tornado, which, sadly, got squashed in our bag during the two-mile walk home. The atmosphere was chummy and relaxing (halfway through I was filled with a sense of technology-free well-being). Some of the individual projects were inspiring, especially a knit baby blanket in rich red, orange and gold connected squares.

The last event before a summer hiatus is scheduled for Saturday, May 15. Moderator Natalie Chanin, founder and head designer of Alabama Chanin, will share some of her Southern sewing and sustainable fashion techniques.

Pigza and Madden plan to run the series for at least another season and hope to take the model to branch libraries in the future. It is easy to imagine how craft gatherings sprouting from the main branch to libraries all over the city (and beyond) might connect us to more than just crafts and books.
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May 15, New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwartzman Building, 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, 917-275-6975; 2 to 4 p.m., Free.

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If Hallmark has the commercial cornered on Mother’s Day, a new art exhibition, Inspired: An Exhibition in Celebration of Mothers, hopes to revitalize the holiday’s heart and soul.

Dana DiPrima, the show’s guiding force, says the concept evolved from her own tradition of sending annual Mother’s Day notes to friends and family. The cards, which have always elicited a warm response, prompted an unexpected comment last year from her artist-friend Jan Testori-Markman, who pointed out that the design was created by a male artist. Testori-Markman asked DiPrima if she might consider using her original artwork for future Mother’s Day cards. Not only was DiPrima deeply touched that her friend embraced her tradition, but she felt that Markman’s expressive artwork could take her project to the next level. Over the next months, the duo collaborated on the design and layout of a new card, bringing another artist-friend, Mary Reilly, onboard.

As the project expanded, DiPrima wondered about the possibility of having an art exhibition celebrating mothers.

Jan Testori-Markman, Untitled. 2009, graphite on paper, 23.5” x 18”.

“I was out walking in the park one day when I just said, ‘I know this great space, and I know these mom artists whom I love and who are so terrific. And I bet we could get a couple more artists and we could turn this card into a physical celebration of mothers,’” DiPrima recalled.

Soon two other artists—Alexandra Avlonitis and Jodi Bassi Markoff—joined the project and space was secured at The Culture Center, on Columbus Avenue, during Mother’s Day weekend.

The exhibition, which will show about 20 works from each artist, is a meditation on the many faces of motherhood. Avlonitis will present her painting “From What I Remember,” along with other expressionistic landscapes; Testori-Markman will feature her multi-media “Global Landscapes and Cultural Patterns;” Bassi Markoff, who integrates photographs, painting and words on
canvas, will include her “Lost in Hanoi;” and graphite-artist Mary Reilly will present her “Be My Love” and selected landscapes.

Admittedly, Mother’s Day is impossible to pin down in so many words. But DiPrima hopes that visitors will find an atmosphere conducive to reflection on this
holiday. And if you haven’t yet bought a gift for mom, consider the artwork on display, all of which is for sale.
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The Culture Center, 410 Columbus Ave. (betw. 79th and 80th streets), 212-769-1600; Saturday, May 8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, May 9, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Free.

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Feiwel, an Upper West Side textile artist, recently began creating framed “fabric collages” and free-standing boxes with biographic significance. She said it all started when her sister, who worked at Scholastic at the time, asked her to make a 40th birthday box for J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series.

“A box is a great item for remembrance,” she said, explaining that it’s not only a piece of art, but something that’s useful as well.

Textile artist Patricia Feiwel created a 40th birthday box for author J.K.Rowling.

Feiwel, who earned a BFA at Carnegie Mellon University, has been designing textiles for more than 25 years, creating custom lines for high-end retailers like Barney’s and Bendels. For those interested in her newest endeavor, she suggests keeping an eye out for interesting items that might work in a three-dimensional collage format.

“You need to look at the world and think of things out of context that you can use in your boxes,” she said. “The best boxes are the ones that put different and unusual things together.”

To learn more about this three-dimensional approach to collage, check out Feiwel’s upcoming class at the JCC, “Box Art: Collage Your Treasures.” The class aims to help participants combine textures and colors to tell a story with personal items through the form of a cigar box.

Feiwel said she picked the JCC as a venue because she wanted to share her art with her neighborhood.

“I love this neighborhood,” she said. “I really believe that this neighborhood has a particular spirit, and it’s the kind of spirit that would enjoy this kind of art.”

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April 25, Jewish Community Center, 334 Amsterdam Ave. (at 76th St.), 646-505-5708; 1 to 5 p.m., $120 (also May 27).

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That fall, he combined lessons from his travels with a budding interest in photography to co-found the Nuru Project, a non-profit that holds one-night photography exhibitions and auctions to benefit various organizations in developing countries. The project has previously held fundraisers benefiting the United Nations World Food Program and the non-profit Acumen Fund.

The Nuru Project’s latest event is “Stand with Haiti,” a Feb. 4 photo auction and fundraiser to benefit the organization Partners in Health, which has longstanding operations in Haiti.

The ruins of the presidential palace five days after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12. lvaro Ybarra Zavala/Reportage by Getty Images

“Partners in Health has been at work in Haiti for over 20 years,” said Bloch, 27. “Obviously, they’re doing great work now after the earthquake, but more importantly, they’ll be there long after.”

The auction will feature images of Haiti from photographers who shoot for the New York Times, National Geographic and other prominent publications.

“It’s always a tricky balance,” Bloch said. “On the one hand, you want to raise awareness and have powerful images, but on the other hand, you want to showcase the people and beauty of a particular place.”

For more information, visit nuruproject.org.

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Feb. 4, Gallery 25CPW, 25 Central Park West (at 63rd St.), nuruproject.org; 7 p.m., $20 to $100 suggested donation.

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Several of the doll photographs can now be seen in Octopus Time, a show of Bellmer’s work at Ubu Gallery. They are uncommonly disturbing. Legs merge into arms, joints bend into impossible positions, torsos swell with ambiguous protuberances. Human forms often merge with inanimate objects; “The Machine Gunnerress,” a photograph from 1937, shows fleshy plaster affixed to metal limbs, like an interwar Terminator.

Bellmer’s art from this period strikes an unnerving balance between the political and the personal. In one sense, the photographs were courageous political statements. The Nazi government, which preferred propagandistic images of fit Aryan bodies, deemed Bellmer’s art “degenerate,” and in 1938 he was forced to flee Germany for Paris. He spent World War II in a Nazi prison camp, drawing portraits of his roommate, the surrealist Max Ernst.

On the other hand, Bellmer’s doll photographs express deeply personal, and very disturbing desires. Seen in isolation, they appear misogynistic. Bellmer’s art doesn’t just objectify women; it turns them into assemblages of body parts, without souls or psychology. The sculptures are often headless and bound—to chairs, trees and staircases. Severe lighting effects add to the sense of cruelty.

“La Poupée,” 1935, by Hans Bellmer Hand-colored vintage gelatin silver print affixed to original mount and stretcher.

Octopus Time forces us to reconsider the photographs by placing them within a broad overview of Bellmer’s career. Ubu has hosted two successful Bellmer shows in the past, but this is the first to include pieces from the collection of Herbert Lust, who owns many of the artist’s drawings, paintings and photographs from the 1950s and 1960s. The results are illuminating. Although Bellmer was always drawn to nudity and sex, the later works reveal a more well-rounded erotic imagination.
Granted, Bellmer’s drawings aren’t initially endearing. Large-scale compositions like “In Memory” and “Embryo Education” feature semen, pedophilia and incest. At first, you may wish to see them banished to the darkest corners of the Internet. But Bellmer’s beautiful draftsmanship will win over most viewers. It’s a strange treat to see classical technique put to such perverse use.

At other times, Bellmer’s figures dissolve into charming abstractions. In “The Couple,” an oil painting from 1954, a web of delicate white lines traces two reclining figures. The forms suggest constellations: anatomy sublimated into astronomy.
Perhaps most surprising are the pornographic photographs Bellmer took in the late 1940s and early 1950s. These works, which come from Lust’s collection, are extremely graphic for their time, depicting unusual sex acts and menstruation.
Bellmer crops the photos with characteristic violence, emphasizing forms rather than faces. Yet the models here are prostitutes, not dolls. They’re real women, engaged in consensual activities. The mood is no longer menacing, but joyful. Everyone seems to be having fun.

These later photographs make it easier to appreciate Bellmer’s career as a whole. Throughout his life, he remained a free spirit. Even after both Nazism and surrealism were put to rest, his art continued to fight for liberation.
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Hans Bellmer: Octopus Time
Ubu Gallery, 416 E. 59th St.
Through April 11
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
www.ubugallery.com

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