After our quick tour of the highline, where for the first time I really noticed the exhibitions on display, we headed to the Whitney. (Not before we sat down and got our artistic skills on by painting small squares with a man who had made a make shift art gallery on the highline, I'm pretty proud of mine!)


I have a small confession to make. We lied. We pretended we were 17 in order to get in for free. I feel bad not supporting such a great institution, but at the same time we are poor college students which erases my guilt just a little bit. The day we went was actually the opening day of the museum, but because it was a Friday it was relatively quiet, unlike the block long ticket queues that lined the streets the day after.




There are two things about the Whitney that make it great. One, the artwork. Even though I'm an art history student I wouldn't want to bore you with my analysis of some of the great pieces housed in the Whitney, so you can see them below.

Two, the location. The location is no accident, and actually this article sums it up quite well. The great thing about the architecture of the Whitney is that it shifts this idea of a 'view' back on to the city. Although it is located right next to the Hudson, this is not where the focus lies, and in fact the only place I found that you can see the Hudson from is inside. Instead, their multi level terraces give you a superb view of the city. With less skyrises in Chelsea than in Midtown, you don't have to massively high up in order to enjoy the views. It may have been extremely windy when we went but that didn't stop us heading outside and taking some snaps. On a nicer day I think their outside cafe/restaurant would be a lovely place to eat at (and I rarely say that about institutional eating establishments).