Art on the Bowery with a side of grit...

The mere use of the words “The Bowery” conjures up an area of Manhattan historically known for being seedy and gritty; a street lined with flophouses and dirty, dark gin mills serving derelicts and drunks. To this day the buildings are old and grimy and in much need of repair or, possibly a better solution, imploded. Presumably the gutters get the attention of occasional street cleaners but you would never know it.

Well, anyway, there’s a new kid on the block called The New Museum of Contemporary Art. Actually, the old Museum of Contemporary Art has been around for decades, mostly in various locations in Soho, but the new, and presumably final incarnation has been set down, willy nilly, on the Bowery at Prince Street. Seven stories high it looks like silvery children’s blocks stacked precariously on top of each other. I was pretty impressed when I approached from Prince Street but I was lucky my first view was in the light of a sunny afternoon. It’s like seeing one of those aluminum Christmas trees for the first time…that is, you are totally overcome by its glitz, never mind that it’s basically nothing one should connect with a holiday. The building’s shimmer is created by a mesh-like covering that is most impressive from a distance but on closer inspection (the ever pragmatic me) will be one hell of a problem to keep clean, especially in that area of floating dirt, soot and, well, grit (which I think is a combination of the two). By the way, this area is known as "The Lower East Side" as opposed to "The East Village;" just in case your NYC geographical acumen is faulty.

The museum opened last week and the first exhibition consists of a collection of international sculpture, but I didn’t fork over the bucks to see it. My first visit consisted of the lobby, the gift shop and the café which was enough for me to get a sense of the space(s) and I am impressed enough to form a resolve to get back there soon to see what’s upstairs. Not the exhibit particularly but to see what’s going on architecturally within the building itself.

When I left the museum the sky was banked with clouds which had the effect of turning the building into a hue of opaque slate…chain mail gone bad in the blink of an eye. It made me wonder if this museum is the harbinger of change in the Bowery or if maybe the grit of the Bowery will be triumphant in the battle for primacy. Again, I questioned what those highly touted architects (Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa) had in mind with that innovative mesh. Also, shamefully, I admitted to myself that I wondered when the first Starbucks would make an appearance in the neighborhood. Or even, oh my goodness, a Pottery Barn. It sure couldn’t hurt. The Bowery is not a neighborhood I want to stroll around in the light of day, much less in the gloom of evening.

The gift shop is the usual stuff; t-shirts, totes, towels and textiles with contemporary prices to match the museum’s name. Presumably, in time, its stock will expand and you can buy a coffee cup that won’t require taking out a bank loan. I bought a t-shirt with this design on the front. I think it’s kind of cool in a sick sort of way. It’s certainly contemporary.