Summer Preview: Art Exhibitions

Summer is fast approaching, and although it's hard to imagine, waking up at 2 p.m. and zombie-ing around the house all day may grow a bit boring. Summer may be the best time to rest an academically-weary brain, but it's never a good time to neglect a creative mind. For those interning in the city or just looking for an inspiring way to pass the time, these upcoming art exhibitions are worth checking out.

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Now – May 28
Yancey Richardson Gallery
Italian photographer Olivo Barbieri's New York City pictures make the Big Apple appear doll-size. Barbieri's trick to making Manhattan look like a model sculpture meticulously built with tweezers and toothpicks is to use a technique called "tilt-shift photography" in the wrong way. He obtains his bird's-eye view from helicopter rides over the city.

Big Bambú: You Can't, You Don't, and You Won't Stop
Now – Oct. 31 (weather permitting)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The rooftop of the Met has often been a site for adventurous art-making. This summer, it is the location of a 100-foot long, 50-foot high maze of bamboo created by New Jersey twins Doug and Mike Starn. Big Bambú is not only enormous and thrilling, but it is also never fully completed, for its construction will continue during the duration of the exhibition. Visitors, required to buy timed tickets and wear comfortable shoes, are taken in group tours through the dizzying jungle gym of 5,000 intertwined bamboo poles.

Daniel Merriam: Taking Reality by Surprise
May 20 – Sept. 30
Animazing Gallery
Animazing Gallery is unlike other NYC art spots — it focuses primarily on illustration, animation and fine art. Even more, this show is a specter in its own genre. Daniel Merriam, considered one of the world's best watercolor artists, once showcased his work alongside Salvador Dali's. This exhibition comprises Merriam's imaginative fairytale-like pieces inspired by his recent residence in a French medieval castle.

Hipsters, Hustlers, and Handball Players
June 8 – Oct. 17
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Before the hipsters of today, there were the hippies of the 1960s. Leon Levinstein, a master of candid street photography, captured countless black-and-white images of New York City neighborhoods. Ranging locations from the Lower East Side to Times Square, these pieces seize the raw and expressive attitude of Levinstein's slightly oddball subjects.