The Pace Gallery

Pace is one of the big boy galleries in chelsea.
I went to see the Irving Penn «Beyond Beauty» retrospective photography exhibit, which as is often the case, was set up and curated like a top art museum, complete with signage including an introductory bio and each room «themed» with some verbiage and history relating each smaller collection of photographs. So I was actually able to learn something new about the artist and his evolving history of work.
Another common perk, is that the art is showcased minimally, the walls arn’t crowded, unlike say the Met modern wing, so you can enjoy each art piece in its singularity.
Shows change so visit the gallery website for current showings. And unlike a museum, everything is for sale.

How can one not give a full 5 star rating after seeing the fabulous Picasso exhibit in Chelsea featuring his last wife Jacqueline. And free admission to a place where you can be so intimate with this masters late works.

From shows including artists such as Zhang Huan, Chuck Close to the current one with David Hockney; Pace displays fantastic art in a large space in Chelsea.
And if you‘re not prepared to drop 6 – 7 figures on a work of art, you can at least admire it for some time and maybe buy one of their many books to add to your library.
They have been around for more than 50 years and are very much worth a stop during any proper gallery crawl.

Great place for getting up close and personal with amazing artists. classic gallery space enormous white walls, industrial floor. fairly meditative on a weekday.

I went to the Raqib Shaw show.
Um.
This is… some of THE tackiest shit I have ever seen in Chelsea.
Where to begin?
How about the butts. There is a fake cherry-​blossom crawling with nude guys, well not exactly nude – their packages are tastefully (not) covered by these little brown thongs that frame their butts. And they all have animal faces, with maws open in squawks or yowlings.
The weird thing about this is that it is obviously going to sell for a lot of money and it took a lot of work by a whole studio of people, and some fabricators, and yet it’s not even that good. It’s not polished and doesn’t wow me with craftsmanship. It reminds me of a diorama of cavemen I saw at a museum of natural history in Azerbaijan (not lying), with a bunch of blotchy pink half-​naked guys chasing after some mammals. At Pace, as in Azerbaijan, the figures’ skin is a crayola-​peach hue, their butts have a grim dull glow. Is this supposed to be sexy?
In another room a mural covers a whole wall. Same garbage as in the other room but now it’s flat and bedazzled – another sex-​battle of bird head men. Again, this totemic animal imagery is probably supposed to come off as referential to myth and a cosmos of ancient archetypes. And yet, it just ends up being gross. The city walls that make the backdrop for the inaction sparkle with rhinestone and a palette straight out of a Thomas Kinkade store, or maybe a Hot Topic. Either way it belongs in a mall. Boo

Stopped into all three Pace galleries after a morning in Chelsea Market. I must admit — my dear hubs wanted to come here in search of looking for cool art, and we definitely found it.
We saw Raqib Shaw’s Paradise Lost and it is seriously an intricate and amazing piece of art… From the vibrant colors to the detailed gemstones, to the graphics itself which tell a gruesome story that looks beautiful from afar… Thank you Pace, for providing little people like me with access to talented artists.
Visiting the galleries is definitely worthwhile if you have the time.
And to add to the fun… Jay-​Z filmed «Picasso Baby» here — doesn’t that intrigue you even a little?

Ok guys, here is the deal: Not only does this place have some of the most amazing arts, Jay-​Z choose this venue to film his new «Picasso Baby» MV… what is YOUR reason to not visit?
PACE owns several gallery spaces all around Manhattan, mostly carrying contemporary art pieces. Within the Chelsea neighborhood, they have 3 spaces all along 25^th street. 508, 510 and 534. All worth checking out
I visited their 510 location for their Zhang Xiaoping exhibit. Beauuuuutifully curated. The collection is vast and expansive. I have never seen so many great Zhang’s sculpture in one space. Big, small, colored… you name it, all signed by artist.
They also have a nearby upstairs PACE PRINTS gallery on 26^th Street (521 26^th street). I have visited this gallery last year for their Shepard Fairy prints exhibit. What a sight! It definitely tops ALL Fairy exhibit I’ve seen thus far (and I am from LA but minus the fact I have never had the privilege to visit Studio Number ONE)
You don’t have to be contender buyer to stop by here, the staff are so friendly here you won’t feel intimidated or judged for «just visiting». The amount and quality of art pieces here are up to par with institutions like MOMA and the Whitney, except you can TAKE PHOTO here! (and no entrance fee) …I only dream of the day I will finally be «shopping» for my living room piece here.

I came here for Yoshimoto Nara’s art and loved it. One thing to note — there are multiple doors to get into Pace all along the same street. I wasn’t sure which one I was supposed to go in, so I went to all of them, and the art in all of them was awesome. Great setup and space.

Keith Haring exhibit= SUPER COOL

Great, classic gallery space; enormous white walls, industrial floor. Fairly meditative on a weekday.
The current Matta show (Nov. 2011) features large canvases from his final years. This is a museum-​quality show with a few amazing pieces. Nothing too overtly Surrealist here, but great layered, shape-​driven abstracts in a variety of palettes.

The Pace 50^th anniversary exhibition was a must see! It is not every day that you get to see this much great work in one place (actually, two locations on 25^th street). Serra, Sonnier, Hawkinson, Celmins, etc. Runs through Oct. 23 but a book is available if you miss it.

Great place for getting up close and personal with amazing artists– we went to see David Hockney here. The exhibit is Hockney’s recent work — all paintings form 2006 – 2009; while the paintings are uneven in their brilliantness (at least in my opinion), it’s amazing to get to see them in such a beautiful, peaceful setting. Better yet, you can get into the Pace for free. It’s like going to a museum, but without paying for entry.

the gallery has been representing chuck close for over 30 years, although i only learned that today when i popped into to check out the artist’s giant canvases and tapestries. i can’t speak for the value or their service. all i know is that i could stand an eyelash’s distance from one of my hero’s work without a stuffy security guard waiting to take me down.

Rick and I were walking around Chelsea looking at abandoned and historic infrastructure, when we stumbled across 22^nd Street. What a great street! I’m not an aficionado of the New York gallery scene — not that I don’t like it; I just don’t know it – but this was my introduction to Chelsea’s galleries. And it’s a great introduction.
When I went, yesterday, Fiona Rae’s show «You Are the Young and the Hopeless,» was on exhibition, and it’s worth checking out. Her paintings involve several different brush styles and combine Japanese calligraphy-​style abstractions overlaid with pop culture icons and cartoonery. Each painting has a handful of different layers to consider and analyze.
The space itself is also notable, as a good gallery should be. An enormous white box with an abbreviated divider wall — separated even from the ceiling, if I recall correctly — the gallery is spacious and well lit.
I plan to return every month or two to see what is hanging. Very cool.