The Met needs no introduction. It also certainly cannot be captured in one post. However, it’s a summer tradition in our family to check out the Costume Institute fashion exhibit and the rooftop art installations with friends. This year, we had the added bonus of the most exhilarating art show, "The Let Go" at the Park Avenue Armory after. *Get tickets for this show now because it ends on July 1st! Here's a rundown of our day of art, fashion, music, and dancing.
A few weeks ago we viewed the Costume Institute's fashion exhibit, Heavenly Bodies, at the Met Cloisters before seeing the display at the Met on Fifth Avenue. The exhibit at the Cloisters was stunning. Be sure to check out photos here. The Met exhibit was beautiful, but not as extensive or dramatic as the Cloisters. The Rodarte dresses in the Robert Lehman wing were our favorites this year. The jewels from the Vatican in the Anna Wintour Costume Center were also dazzling.
We love the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor roof garden at the Met for the breath taking panoramic views of Central Park and the skyline. The bar on the roof serves signature cocktails, beer, wine and snacks. We have been enjoying the roof every summer (including pre Curious G) for over a decade and it never gets old. This year, We Come in Peace by the artist Huma Bhabha makes a strong statement with the 12-foot tall 5-headed figure cast in bronze set against a 18-foot prostrate "Benaam" figure covered in what appears to be a black plastic tarp.
On our walk to the Armory, we stopped at Calexico for some Baja fish tacos, elote, and beers (watermelon basil lemonade for Curious G). Another favorite spot in the neighborhood, which is great for groups, is Pizza Beach. These two spots will be making their way to our Yum and Yummer restaurant guide very soon.
We spent the afternoon dancing non-stop and chasing the 100 ft mylar streamers in the "Chase" installation in Nick Cave's fantastical creation he named "The Let Go" at the Park Avenue Armory. DJ Sabine Blaizin kept us moving while spinning uplifting house music infused with Afrobeats, Michael Jackson and some Latin flavor. When Curious G entered the Armory's Wade Thompson Drill Hall (the venue for The Let Go), she immediately started jumping up and down with joy and dancing; and she didn't stop until we left the Hall two hours later. Between the mesmerizing streamers, the enormous Twister boards, the costumed dancers, and the fellow art revelers a full-on dance party was in session. Shortly after we arrived, a Soul Train line formed and we grabbed the chance to sashay our way down the line. Twice. Throughout the Hall Curious G followed along with dancers; and at some points the professional dancers let some of the kids lead the choreography a la Toddlerography with James Corden. Cave's signature soundsuits made an appearance towards the end of our visit, dancing their way through the crowd; and it was like watching a live grown-up avant-garde version of Yo Gaba Gaba! After experiencing "The Let Go" I read a quote from Cave in the New York Times that said, "I would go into the club and I would just work it out on the dance floor. I wouldn't talk to anyone and I would dance for about three hours. That was a safe place for me. It was this place of refuge." We are thankful that he created such a fun and cathartic experience via his art at the Armory because, in light of everything going on in the world and in everybody's daily personal lives, it is a such a beautiful thing to "just work it out on the dance floor".
