October 9th (in)composition

Grapeful for Grapes, Ali Cherri at the Swiss Institute and Robert Gober's objects of affection at Demisch Danant

what to eat: grapes

If you’ve passed by any local NYC market over the last few weeks, it’s likely you’ve noticed the sweet transition from our beloved late-summer berries to the plumper, juicier grape. September to early October is peak grape season and now is the time to grab a bundle. October brings in an abundance of red grape varieties but the green grapes are just as good.

Concords, captured in the video below, are my all-time favorite grape. They are tender, dark, and highly fragrant. As a “slip-skin” grape, they are easy to separate from their skins and therefore often used for juicing and cooking. Ironically, that’s also what makes them unpopular in supermarkets - their aesthetics don’t hold up well to transportation. I say, don’t mind those broken skins but do be mindful of their seeds. Caradonna Farms at USQ market is my go-to spot for my Concords. When I see them out in full swing, I know it’s time for Autumn.

Checkout local farms, Philips, Locust Grove and Buzzard Crest at USQ Market to discover the full diversity of grapes that grow in the East Coast. If you see a species you’re not familiar with, just ask! The farmers will be happy to give you a brief overview, along with a sweet sample. Here are some of my other favorite grapes you can try this season:

Jupiter grapes are seedless with larger purple berries. They have a honey like sweetness. Great for freezing, roasting or slicing.

Canadice grapes are a tiny, tightly-clustered, light red seedless variety. They are sweet but mild and, as the description above hints, slightly spicy.

Niagara grapes are similar to Concord grapes but they are white/light green in color. They are seedless and juicy which make for an excellent table grape.

Nearly any supermarket will have great grapes right now. Look for plump, shiny grapes with consistent saturated color throughout the batch. The stems should be green and pliable vs. brown and dry. The best way to store them is in the fridge in an open bowl or perforated bag to allow for circulation. Don’t forget to freeze at least one bunch - they transform into little sorbet bites.

Eat them plain, replacing your morning summer berries, pop them into a salad, or cook them.

I personally experimented with roasting mine. You can roast them high and fast or low and slow. Use them to amplify any cheese platter or even drape them on a slice of bread topped with ricotta, drizzling their juices, honey and flaky salt right on top.

I roasted these Jupiter grapes at 400* F for 20 min. They were coated in a light spray of avocado oil and finished with flaky salt. Next round I may try this again at 200 * F for an hour or so to see if they maintain the shape and retain more juice.

These Chardonnay grapes were also roasted at 400* F for 20 min and retained their overall shape. They were coated in avocado oil and paired with flaky salt. Loved these, but would recommend a seedless grape for roasting.

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what to see: ali cherri at the swiss institute

Ali Cherri’s newly commissioned sculptural installation at the Swiss Institute.

“Humble and quiet and soothing as mud,” Ali Cherri’s first solo show in the United States, is right in the East Village at the Swiss Institute.

A child of the Lebanese Civil War, Cherri’s work focuses on the way that violence is archived everywhere, in the body, in artifacts, in museum collections, and even in the ground itself. He questions how art, individual humans, museums, and other societal structures deal with narratives of trauma.

This show is all about mud. Mud within origin stories and myths, mud as a building material for early societies, mud as the meeting place for cellular life, and mud as the ultimate preserver of archaeological finds.

On the ground floor, Cherri combines mud and archaelogical/sculptural fragments that he acquires at auction to sculpt his own version of Mesopotamian, mythological figures within a re-telling of “Gilgamesh”. He uses mud to literally “muddy” the narrative of these often forged, smuggled, and instituted artifacts - attempting to release them from their economic and colonial attachments.

The Dreamer, 2023. Ram horns iron-cast mask (Mali), wood, xps, clay, sand, pigments, pvac glue.

On the second floor you will find the three-channel video installation “Of Men and Gods and Mud (2022)” for which Ali was awarded the Silver Lion at the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia. The video follows a group of brickmakers at the Merowe Dam, the largest hydropower plant in Africa. Cherri’s allegorical tale alludes to the “displacement, social unrest, the destruction of ecosystems, and the submersion of cultural sites and artifacts”¹ brought about by the construction of this dam (the ultimate blending between land and water) and similar projects.

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design crush of the week: helen keller’s letter

This tiny letter by Helen Keller is from Robert Gober’s personal collection on display at Demisch Danat. The exhibition features collected objects of affection from Gober’s personal collection displayed alongside various works by Gober himself.

xx,

D

1. https://www.swissinstitute.net/exhibition/ali-cherri-humble-and-quiet-and-soothing-as-mud/