Culture by the carload

By Erickson S. Blakney, Globe Correspondent, 06/14,98

Manhattan boasts of having more than 150 museums. At least that's the semi-official count from the New York City Convention and Visitors Bureau. When you tack on the various galleries, that makes for a lot of art, culture, history, and learning.

Easy does it. Don't be frightened by the ``L'' word. There's never any harm in increasing one's cortical weight. What's more, there's such an engaging variety of museums in the city that people are certain to find one not only suitable to their particular interests but perhaps one that will challenge them to appreciate something previously overlooked. Let's look at a few.

A creative anarchy of sorts is what you're smacked with at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center just across the East River in Long Island City, Queens. Located in a 19th-century Romanesque Revival school building reconfigured to show art, P.S.1 recognizes the work of emerging and lesser-known artists while showcasing unfamiliar work by more established ones. Upon entering the gravel courtyard, visitors are greeted by a surveillence piece by Julia Scher.

Open-air galleries feature a series of esoteric writings by Lawrence Weiner pasted to the concrete walls. Gordon Matta-Clark's 1972 piece ``Dumpster'' is also featured. Having been fitted with old doors, it's a dumpster you can wander through. Part of the fun of P.S.1 is that you'll find art displayed throughout the building in defined gallery spaces as well as unlikely places like the bathrooms, on the roof, in the hallways, and in the stairwells.

Mario Merz's ``L'Horizont de Lumiere Traverse Noire Vertical du Jour'' ``the horizontal light passes through our vertical day'') is an interesting work with a sinuous glass table on which rest double conical glass vases. Filled with deep purple wine or golden honey, these vases are connected and horizontally intersected by glowing-white neon lances. A pretty funny curiosity that could easily be overlooked is a video installation by Pipilotti Rist cut into the floor. It takes the narrative form of a woman under the floor trying to get out.

Founded in 1971, P.S.1 is an exciting space that frees art from its more institutional confines. It represents the best of what an alternative space can be. Naturally some works will excite, engage, and challenge you while others just fall flat, but without a doubt, P.S.1 is well worth visiting. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, 22-25 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, telephone 718-784-2084.

Perched on one of the highest promontories in New York City with a view of Yankee Stadium, the Morris-Jumel Mansion is Manhattan's only remaining residence built before the American Revolution. It was built as a summmer villa in 1765 and served as George Washington's headquarters in 1776. Georgian in design, the house is physically beginning to show its age. Nonetheless, it's still a very handsome structure filled with some of the most beautiful 18th- and early 19th-century antiques. Some of the furnishings are on loan from the Metropolitan Museum and the Museum of the City of New York.

Morris-Jumel is situated in the leafy green Roger Morris Park, which is located in the small, attractive northern Manhattan neigborhood, the Jumel-Morris Historic District. The district includes the rows of wooden houses on Sylvan Terrace and the brick Queen Anne-style and Romanesque Revival houses on West 162nd Street. Morris-Jumel Mansion, Jumel Terrace at 160th Street, telephone 212-923-8008.

More than 150 of the Associated Press's greatest photographs, including many Pulitzer Prize winners are assembled in a powerful as well as historic record of the major events and newsmakers of the 20th century. The exhibit is ``Flash! The Associated Press Covers the World.'' It's on view at Newseum/NY, a branch of the Arlington, Va. Newseum. Newseum, which is funded by the Freedom Forum, is the only interactive museum of news.

Some of the images on view are incredibly powerful like those of the 1963 civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham during which fire hoses and police dogs were unleashed on the protesters. From this decade are photos showing Serbian refugees huddling in a temporary shelter during the ethnic war. Other shots are pretty comical, such as one of former Soviet President Andrei Gromyko being voted out of office in 1988. There's also a photo of the enormous luxury liner Normandie capsized at New York's 50th Street Pier in 1942.

These are just a snapshot of the images that are part of the show in celebration of AP's 150th anniversary. What makes this show even more compelling is that the identities and thoughts of the photographers are included with many of the pictures. By stripping away the anonymity that usually accompany AP photos in newspapers and magazines, the images become incredibly personal. Newseum, 580 Madison Avenue, telephone 212-317-7596.

Planted in the heart of the Financial District is the Museum of American Financial History. And what better home for its galleries than the Standard Oil Building, an imposing testament to the triumphs of American commerce. Founded in 1988, the museum, exhibits artifacts and articles relating to the growth of American finance from the earliest years of the country. Be sure to check out the gift shop's collection of vintage annual reports for long extinct railroad companies and old books on capital markets and investing. Guides for walking tours of the Financial District are also available. The Museum of American Financial History, 28 Broadway, New York City, telephone 212-908-4609.