Story and Photos by Irene Sperber

Glass vases at One Sixty Glass

It is wonderful to be in Manhattan indulging in a myriad of world renown galleries and museums---no stunning revelation here, I  realize---absorbing the best of the best and the latest of the latest in terms of the art world.

As amazingly fabulous as these venues are, there is a whole world of young minds to tap into the future of expression. However, the quest for the new and the unsung is moving at such a frantic pace that Starbucks plants their flag almost the moment the first artists alight, therefore rendering the area only fit for the dreaded hipsters.  The true creatives move on.

Display at Future Perfect

I went to hip and groovy Williamsburg, Brooklyn  to see what I could see.  Hardly a slick area, I later learned that Williamsburg is soooooooo over---read: it’s almost safe for you and me.  Some small condos are in the construction phase and there are now a few restaurants that have the kind of food that I enjoy more than a giant plate of, um, pigs knuckles or yak butter in my tea, for example.   I find the melding of the new neighborhoods and the old exciting, but unfortunately the progress now is so rapid (rabid?) that my moment of comfort is just that: a moment.

Graffiti commentary in Brooklyn

Williamsburg’s smattering (still few and far between) of shops and galleries is quite interesting. My cousin, with her menacing-looking bull terrier in tow just in case, and I had lots fun oohing and aahing over some truly innovative pieces in The Future Perfect, a furniture and design store. (115 N. 6th St, Williamsburg, 718-599-6278.)  Not bargain basement stuff, but very clever:  a neon guitar shaped chandelier, an aquarium toilet tankas well as John Wigmore’s “A Radiant  Space” (johnwigmore.com) neon piece in the basement art gallery that was on view while I was there.

Glassworks at One Sixty Glass

I don’t even know how to give a sound bite to Galapagos art space; new music, installation---you name it.  Check out their website:  www.galapagosartspace.com.  Galapagos has been asked to share a space in DUMBO soon, so they must be intriguing someone. 

For a more sedate experience, watch the artists blowing glass at One Sixty Glass, (160 Berry St , Brooklyn, 718-486-9615,  info@onesixtyglass.com). They also have glass blowing workshops if you are in New York and looking for a roasty-toasty summertime activity.  Who knows, you might find the true you.

Another weird and wondrous Williamsburg scenario is the empty, ancient swimming pool in McCarren Park, where the young bands play in the deep end of the pool (great acoustics) and the audience is in the shallow end.  No comment necessary.

Art takes to the street

If you never venture far from the Guggenheim, the Met , the Whitney and Carnegie Hall in your Madison Avenue acquired gear, and consider Chelsea and the Meatpacking District a walk on the wild side,  you might disregard the above info.  But if you are intrepid, give it a go.  And now I need to try Jersey City; apparently people like me haven’t shown up there yet, so the art experience is still pure and raw.  At least it was last week.

By the way:  if you are an---oops, I almost said “aging hippie”---ahem, older patron of the arts (how’s that?) do go to the Whitney for The Summer Of Love exhibition.  Leave plenty of time so you can listen to every note of the 1960s songs on the audio tour.  Of course, the Strobe Light room may not be the out-a-sight experience you remember, but this is a moment in time during the Vietnam War that may resonate at this point in our history. (Through September 16, 945 Madison Ave.)