Helene Eisenstein

Some people find throwing paint-filled water balloons on giant swaths of canvas in the middle of College Walk to be cathartic.

Forget paintbrushes: Maria del Mar Granados is making her mark in the art world with comte bars, cloths, spatulas, and sponges. Columbia alumna Mar Granados was selected from droves of contemporary artists to show her work at the Armory Show on March 27-30, 2008.

The Gershwin Hotel sticks tongues of fire out at East 27th Street. Planted next to the Museum of Sex, the bright-red building has massive horn-like sculptures jutting out of its façade—and that’s just the exterior.