It is spring in New York and the museum and art worlds are busy with events, fundraisers and auctions. My wife Yanhua and I were fortunate to take part in The Rubin Museum’s annual spring series Brainwave. Emotion is the theme this year and we had an interesting afternoon with Bob Mankoff of the New Yorker and neuroscientist Scott Weems exploring laughter. What makes people laugh and how does the brain process it?
We also were able to attend several events around Asia Week New York at the Rubin and at Christie’s. The opening of the auction at Christie’s included a number of beautiful pieces. My favorite was the head of an unnamed bodhisattva from Indonesia (below),
while my wife Yanhua preferred a statue of Guanyin, the Mahayana Buddhist bodhisattva. I guess we were both looking for guides on our path to enlightenment.
I was sad to miss the Armory Show but one of my favorite events, the AIPAD show, is coming up in a few weeks. It is the pre-eminent photography show in New York and brings together some of the best galleries in the world. I am looking forward to seeing the new works from husband and wife duo Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison who are presented by the Catherine Edelman Gallery in Chicago.
On the volunteer front, I’ve been hard at work on a new civic venture to create family wage jobs for an underserved population in New York City. More to come on this in future blog posts.