What’s going on in New York’s world of art? What are the hottest art gallery shows in town? Who are the artists everyone’s talking about? Merrily Kerr, your personal art critic and guide, answers these questions and more on her private walking tours of New York’s galleries and museums

Betty Woodman's sculptures/ceramics/paintings bring beauty back to the art world. (You will need the free Flash Player 8 or later).

The Whitney Biennial has finally hit town and is as unconventional as expected. Dance marathons, therapy sessions, free meals and many, many more interactive and performance-based art projects make this one of the liveliest biennials yet. So don’t plan any quick jogs through this exhibition, and definitely do plan one visit or several to the show everyone will be talking about this season.

For more information on performances and on-going installations at the annexed Park Avenue Armory at 67th Street (from March 6th - 23rd), as well as the exhibition in main museum (March 6th - June 1st), visit the Whitney Biennial’s website.

 

Greeted with almost universally positive response, the New Museum of Contemporary Art’s reopening in its chic new Lower East Side home was one of the most important contemporary art events of the ‘07/’08 season. Its first show, Unmonumental, perfectly encapsulates the low-key mood of the moment, in which artists are more interested in presenting ideas than selling them. The extremely low production values of some work may have raised a few eyebrows, but as a bellwether of the most contemporary art, this show was right on the money.

For more information on Unmonumental (closes at the end of March), and on upcoming shows, visit the New Museum of Contemporary Art’s website.

For once, New York contemporary art lovers are getting a break. In past years, the coincidence within a week or so of the Whitney Biennial, the Art Dealers Association of America’s annual fair and the more cutting-edge contemporary art fair, The Armory Show, along with a bevy of satellite fairs and events ran art lovers ragged. This year, events are spread from February to late March, with the culmination being the Armory Show, billing itself as “the world’s leading art fair devoted exclusively to contemporary art.” From March 27th – 30th 150 international galleries will converge on Pier 94 at 55th Street and the West Side Highway. After lines stretched for blocks last year to get in, admission prices have risen to a steep $30 pp. But at least you won’t be too exhausted and distracted this year to take anything in!

For more on the show, visit the Armory Show’s website.

 

Every month, New York City art galleries exhibit a new selection of work by emerging and established artists. Planning a visit to the gallery districts is the best way to sample cutting edge contemporary art. What could be better than to be accompanied by your own personal art critic, writer Merrily Kerr? Whether you are a newcomer to the scene or a veteran art lover, my gallery and museum tours are a way to easily and enjoyably sample from the best art that New York City has to offer.