Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/157485
(clockwise) The Warwick Hotel; Times Square; Central Park. (below) The MoMA; Van Gogh self-portrait at the Met; Portrait of Sidney Janis Selling a Portrait of Sidney Janis by Marisol at the MoMA. s remember stepping out of the hotel for a quick nighttime walk with friends to check out Madison Square Gardens. After declining a cabbie's offer for a ride, he said, "You sure? You'll get shot out here." Needless to say, I'm not terribly interested in taking on the Big Apple on my own. So I've asked my best friend Ivan to fly in from Toronto to join me. He worked as a lawyer in New York for a couple of years, and I know he'll make for a great urban sherpa. I arrive to rediscover that same skintingling electric vibe, that vibrating hum. Like plugging a guitar into an amplifier. The energy only spikes on my way to the Warwick Hotel as the cab driver beats the gas and brakes like Buddy Rich hitting the drum pedal. The city's symphony of delivery trucks, horns and jackhammers sets an unexpected soundtrack to the hotel's Old World, theatrical entrance. Spinning through the revolving doors, I'm soon immersed in the silent film era. Photographs of film stars grace the walls, and vintage telephones adorn antique tables. Manhattan Paddy McGee, (Central Park) iStock p18-23_MadeinMan.indd 21 i ♥ new york ■ Central Park is a true oasis. It took 20,000 workers to move three million cubic yards of soil and to plant 270,000 trees for its 1859 opening. Some 150 years later, Central Park is still a mustsee for every traveller. I spent $8 on a smoked salmon and cream cheese baguette with a pop and ate it in the park. Who knew you could experience something so heavenly for so little? ■ At the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I was mostly interested in seeing Klimt. He's my favourite. I love his rebellious spirit and the knowing, stoic glance in the women he paints. On the way to his work, I was amazed to run into Monet and Rodin. Jackson Pollock even splashed onto the scene. What truly stopped me was Van Gogh's iconic self-portrait. There he was, sitting alone on a pedestal stand, his brush strokes circling around the focal point like electrons spinning from a nucleus. Face to face with Van Gogh. My heavens, what an experience. ■ In contrast to the Art Deco styling found in Manhattan, the MoMA is a study in geometry. A spectacular multi-tiered structure, the architecture seems to turn patrons into exhibits. Walls open up to views of stairwells, where silhouettes create performance art as visitors walk up and down. It's art where you least expect it. I found well-known characters of the era, from Mondrian to Warhol, but I also discovered art's transition into the living world with design expressions in textiles, industrial design, furniture and anywhere else visual inspiration can find a home. I even came across my favourite chair of all time — Marcel Breuer's "Wassily" chair. Designed in 1926, the tubular metal construction would have you believe it was conceived only yesterday. It amazes me still that a design can be 100 years ahead of its time. ■ I recognized many Canadian touches in Manhattan. There seems to be a TD Bank on every corner. Loblaw's Joe Fresh operates its flagship store on Fifth Avenue. And there's even a Tim Horton's beside the famed Katz's Deli. We also ran into Canadian comedian and actor Scott Thompson, most recently of NBC's crime drama Hannibal. Nice fella. Like a true friendly Canuck, he took the time to chat and pose for a picture. But what really got my mukluks moving were the six-metre-high Inukshuk-like structures at Rockefeller Plaza. Weighing up to almost 14,000 kilograms each, these temporary public art pieces look like a Churchill, Manitoba, version of Stonehenge. Entitled Human Nature, the exhibit was designed by Swiss-born artist Ugo Rondinone. • —P.Mc. GOING PL ACES >> fa l l 2 0 1 3 21 13-08-14 1:24 PM