BLOOMING LANDSCAPES, MUSIC and FASHION in NYC (c) By Polly Guerin

Landscape retreats, flowers, fashion and music announce that spring has arrived in New York City where every day is a treasure trove of cultural discoveries that keep us enlightened and entertained. Only in New York my friends, the Best of New York. Here’s the scoop!!!

THE ROOF GARDEN Commission: Dan Graham and Gunther Vogt brings us to the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden to discover a picturesque landscape that is at once unexpected and a sanctuary for contemplative reverie or to simply see the New York skyline. The venue is carpeted with lawn grass that seemingly connects to the green canopy of Central Park. Into this landscape is an installation comprising curves of steel and two-way mirrored glass between ivy hedgerows. Graham’s structure is part maze, part modernist skyscraper façade designed in collaboration with the Swiss landscape architect Gunther Vogt. The venue, called "Pavilions,” is both transparent and reflective, creating a changing and visually complex environment that provides a green camouflage and engages the visitor in a complex mirror-play. Though November 2, 2014 (weather permitting).
ST. GEORGE’S CHORAL SOCIETY presents Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, KV 427, a large-scale work and the world premiere Manuel Sosa’s “Tabula 1,” on Sunday, May 4 at 3 pm at the Church of the Incarnation 209 Madison Avenue at 35th Street. Matthew Lewis comments: “This concert marks my 10th year as Artistic Director of St. George’s and this work has been a passion of mine for some for some time. The work is a real technical challenge but the choral forces of St. George’s choral are ideal for this piece.” The performance on Sunday features Nacole Palmer soprano, Silvie Jensen, mezzo-soprano, Jonathan Blalock, tenor and Aaron Ingersoll, bass. "Tabula 1,"a work by Venezuelan-composer, Manuel Sosa, will be performed by SGCS’s chamber singers. Tickets $25, available via website
www.stgeorgeschoralsociety.org
CHARLES JAMES: BEYOND FASHION and the New ANNA WINTOUR COSTUME CENTER

Presents the MET'S spring retrospective, the work of the fashion genius, the Anglo-American couturier Charles James. The designer’s incredible creativity was matched only by his tempestuous personality, which is not evident in the gorgeous clothes and gowns he designed, but legend has it that James tried the patience of even his closest friends, not to mention his clients. Fashionistas will flock to the galleries which open May 8th and runs through August 10, 2014. The brilliance of his creations that defined nighttime elegance in the twentieth century has never been more illustrated than in Cecil Beaton’s famous 1948 group portrait of eight models in James’s grand, sculptural dresses, pictured here. One may wonder why James’s reputation as a visionary prevails only to realize that he was the first to use spiral draping, with and without zippers; to make coats entirely out of the grosgrain ribbons; to use dozens of fresh flowers as adornment, and to dream up the quilted jacket in white satin filled with eiderdown, in 1937. Halston was his protégé and admirer as were other designers in the trade who emulated his style. It is sad to know that his impoverished death took place in New York’s Chelsea Hotel in 1978.

OUT OF CHARACTER Decoding Chinese Calligraphy is a fascinating lesson in calligraphy styles stepped in ancient origin---SEAL, complicated character forms to CLERCIAL, bold and powerful character forms and CURSIVE drastically simplified character forms and SEMICURSIVE's fluid lines to STANDARD, the most legible script type. Selections from the collection Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang opened recently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Out of Character exhibition runs through August 17, 2014. It includes a trove of letters, poems and documents that amaze by the dexterity of the calligrapher’s art.
Ta Ta Darlings!!! Pollytalk is going to the Charles James press opening on May 4 and Polly will have more details on the exhibit in next week’s column. Fan mail welcome at pollytalk@verizon. Visit Polly’s website pollytalk and in the left hand column click on my other Blogs on fashion, visionary men and hidden treasures in New York.