Art Viewing, by Degrees

What better way to see the gallery season off than by melting away in 100 degree heat. There are alternative ways to spend your time in New York, or waiting for cool fall or spring days, but this was not to be this past Wednesday; my Italian Ice, not ice.

The best move I made was to begin at the Met where the budget allows for the finest of cool air. I’ve been avoiding the, Matisse: The Fabric of Dreams exhibit (Charles was there earlier this month) for fear of crowds, but the heat seems to have kept them at bay. It's worth the trip also because of two fabulous paintings on loan from the Hermitage Museum, that you may never get another chance to see, Still Life with Blue Table Cloth and Dishes and Fruit on a Red Black Rug. The Russians have some of the best Matisse, more, more! Also here is Woman in Blue, from the Philly Museum, and Purple Robe and Anemones, from the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Dream (think Milton Avery), from a private collection; I want a Matisse.

Throughout the exhibit are dozens of ink drawings. What a hand this guy had: I bet he could do the crossword puzzle in ink. A treat for me was a grouping of small paper cutouts, which are exquisite (I'm used to the larger works at the National Gallery of Art), and many fabric samples and robes that his models used. The fire department had to be called in to hose down the overheated cash register in the gift shop: summer in the city.

In search of the finest cool gallery air, I headed to Chelsea. Coming up on his first year in Chelsea, Walter Randel has very good air, a comfy bench in the center of the gallery, and one of his better shows, Peter Golfinpoulos's recent paintings of brightly colored abstract floral-esque (my word) compositions.

James Cohan has decent air and is featuring Bill Owens, America, 60s and 70s vintage photos. Lehman-Maupin, with OK air: I saw this show during my last visit, amd I like Angela Dufresne’s painting, with the very long title.

Stephen Haller has good air, and you can spend some time on the Jonas Gruen Artist Gaze series to see how many artist/actors you can recognize in the photos. Mitchell-Inness and Nash will open in Chelsea this coming fall, and they’ll have really good air for sure.

Hudson-Franklin has little air, but a nice show featuring a mesmerizing spinning video by Jeremy Boyle and two small series paintings by Elizabeth Saveri, Making Iced Tea and Watering My Garden.

Fair Air at George Billis and a pretty fair group figure show: of note are the paintings of Maureen Mullarkey, a reviewer at Art Critical.

Now you can't compete with Pace for air: you could keep meat fresh in there, or a Damian Hirst from stinking, maybe. They've also got a nicely lit Tara Donovan Scotch tape drawing on the floor, a Tim Hawkinson, and to make up for all the dissing I've read of his rooftop exhibit at the Met, two beautiful Sol Lewitt wall drawings. Take your time; chill.

Advertising/art near Penn Station and the end of a heat wave: cool.