FLAG Art Foundation's June 2012 Show: Tara Donovan, Lynda Benglis, Kiki Smith & Other Great Artists Featured + Fly-Over Food You May Have Missed

Tara Donovan's "FOG" is made from clear drinking straws stacked together. When seeing the work, it is hard to know whether you are looking at a solid, a liquid or a cloud - your eyes simply cannot focus on it, when viewed straight on.

ART

The FLAG Art Foundation
shows works from a different perspective!

 A Lynda Benglis work.

The FLAG Art Foundation's "Watch Your Step" show is a group exhibition of floor and wall works which include art by: Tara Donovan, Polly Apfelbaum, Lynda Benglis, Patricia Cronin, Steven & William Ladd, Richard Long, Michael Phelan, Kiki Smith, Julianne Swartz, Richard Serra, and Corban Walker among others.

Tara Donovan's "FOG" viewed from the side. 

Clear drinking straws, stacked together, create the wall art FOG, by Tara Donovan.

“Watch Your Step” examines the relationship between the artwork, the surfaces of the room (floor or walls) and the viewer. The question asked is, "How does this different point of view, change the art viewing experience? A work of art on the floor shifts one’s perspective from eye-level to ground level. Many works emanate directly from the floor, so "watch-your-step" is a very appropriate warning, while other works use the space between ground and wall, and still other work are attached to the wall surface. These all increased the viewer's perception of each horizontal plane with-in the architecture of the gallery. 

The FLAG Art Foundation defines itself as an exhibition space for contemporary art, made up of three to five professionally-curated shows per year. Each exhibition consists of works by established and emerging international artists.  The gallery is located on the 9th and 10th floors of the Chelsea Arts Tower, located in the heart of New York’s contemporary art district on 25th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues.

Carved Marble, wall & floor work.

Carved Marble, wall & floor work.

FLAG's objective is to encourage the appreciation of contemporary art among a diverse audience and provide a unique educational environment in which visitors can view, contemplate, and engage in active dialogue with artworks. Curators select and borrow from a variety of sources to include a wide range of work for each exhibition. FLAG is also a resource designed to facilitate loans of contemporary artworks from private collectors to museums around the world.

Kiki Smith's "Woman"

The FLAG Art Foundation Gallery
545 WEST 25TH STREET, 9TH FLOOR

NEW YORK, NY 10001

For more information:
email: info@flagartfoundation.org

phone: (212)-206-0220
(photos taken with permission by Jack A. Atkinson © Copyright 2012)

FOOD

Grinnell, Iowa's Frontier Restaurant: 
Jacket Potato with Vegetable Stir-Fry

The dish is exactly what the name says, a baked potato smothered with a veggie stir-fry! Mmmmmm it was vegan heaven! 

I dined on this beautiful and fortifying stir-fry combo, while on a road trip across the US, this past week when I stopped at the Frontier Restaurant in Grinnell, Iowa.

The small town of Grinnell is also the home to one of America's best liberal arts colleges, Grinnell College. (Grinnell, the school, is often ranked in the top 10 of private colleges in the US and recently was tied in the rankings with Smith College.) There is no doubt about it, this place is literally in the-middle-of-nowhere! There is no trace of a large cultural center anywhere close-by, only corn fields for miles in every direction. One of the t-shirts promoting the school, features the slogan "Where in the hell is Grinnell?"

Designed and built by Louis Sullivan, c 1914,
this bank building now serves as Grinnell's Chamber of Commerce
and is located in the historic downtown of Grinnell, IA.

The small town of Grinnell has been progressive and note worthy for some time, with a downtown bank designed by famed Chicago Architect, Louis Sullivan.
(More details about this jewel-like building, in a later issue.)

Recipe:

Jacket Potato Smothered
with Veggie Stir-Fry

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons vegetable broth

2 tablespoons Mirin sweet rice seasoning

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon teriyaki sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/4 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 pound broccoli cut down to about 1/2 inch flowerettes

1/2 pound carrots, cut into a 1/2 inch dice

1/4 pound shiitake mushrooms, cut into a 1/2 inch dice

1/2 pound Napa cabbage, cut into a 1/2 inch dice (about 4 cups)

2 large garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

2 scallions, sliced into a 1/2 inch pieces

4 russet potatoes with skin on

PREPARATION

Potatoes:

Clean 4 russet potatoes, the poke the skin several times on all sides with a fork to vent the  steam, wrap individually in a paper towel. Microwave for 8 minutes on high, check for doneness by pressing the skin for softness, if needed cook 2 more minutes or until perfectly baked. Leave in the paper towel until ready to serve, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before serving.

Stir-Fry:

In a small bowl stir together vegetable broth, mirin and teriyaki sauces with the soy sauce until smooth. Set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat until hot. Add vegetable and sesame oil and heat until it just begins to smoke. Stir-fry carrots for 3 minutes, add broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry 2 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender. Add broth mixture to vegetables. Stir-fry vegetables an additional 2 minutes, tossing to mix well. Add scallions and stir to combine. 

Potatoes should be cut both length-wise and across, then flared open.

Serve the stir-fry immediately after cooking, liberally over the baked potatoes.

Serves 4

(Source for recipe was heavily adjusted from several sources including: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vegetable-Stir-Fry-104171#ixzz1z1lexTOs )

Until later,

Jack

ARTSnFOOD, is an online publication about the pleasures that the Arts & Food bring to our lives. All rights reserved. Concept & Original Text © Copyright 2012 Jack A. Atkinson under all International intellectual property and copyright laws. Images © individual artists, fabricators, respective owners or assignees.