Art & Wine

I used to live with a nudist. I’ve tried (and with the aid of enough wine, have almost succeeded) to forget all the things I saw that I never, ever, wanted to see, but artist Janet Bruesselbach’s show “I Hate Art” reawakened all those unwanted memories. To me, art and wine are two of the greatest pleasures in life- wine almost always makes me happy, but some art pushes all the wrong buttons.

Bruesselbach’s paintings are full of naked bodies, and are on display at A Gathering of Tribes, the gallery at 285 E. 3rd St. On the day I visited, the only other person in the gallery was Steve Cannon, who lives in the gallery, which is also his apartment.

Cannon, a retired CUNY professor, lost his eyesight in 1989 to glaucoma. He sat on the couch smoking a cigarette and kept asking me questions about the art.

He wanted to know about Bruesselbach’s use of color. It reminded me of  that heartbreaking moment when the iTunes visualizer is playing to your favorite song and the beautiful colors are swirling around like magic then out of nowhere the colors turn into a foul combination of red, brown, orange, and green, as if someone just puked on the screen.

Maybe I’m still recovering from the trauma of the nudist (and now former) roommate, but the naked bodies in various formations just freaked me out.

I left the gallery feeling little off-kilter. I needed something calming, and I couldn’t figure out what that might be till I walked by ABC Wine Company (100 Ave C).

Buying wine is a challenge in the spring- the need to warm up with a hefty bottle of red wine is gone (thank god), but it’s not quite time for a light and crisp white, and certainly not rosé, which is somehow better when you’re sweating a little.

Full bodied whites are just the thing. They aren’t limited to the typical option of an oaky California Chardonnay that tastes like licking the barrel. Chardonnays aged in stainless steel barrels are a lot more approachable than their oak-aged counterparts. Whites from northern Italy, Germany and Austria tend to be delicious- fruit forward, and balanced with a strong minerality.

My art induced funny feelings were cured by a bottle of the Berger Gruner Vetliner from ABC.

If naked people art’s got you feeling funky buy a bottle, have a glass, sit by the window and enjoy before the days of full-on al fresco are upon us and the best part of an art gallery becomes the air conditioning.