Art is in the eye of the beholder, whereas swollen retinas are in the eye of the bee holder. Get soul-stung by provocative and powerful art with today's Groupon, which gets you a one-year membership to the New Museum, located at 235 Bowery. Your membership will be immediately activated once you provide shipping information and your email address at checkout. Choose one of the following Groupons:

• For $30, you get an individual Standard membership (a $60 value).
• For $50, you get a Standard membership for two (a $100 value).
• For $250, you get a one-year Deluxe membership (a $400 value).

Standard Members can attend the October 27 Member Cocktail Party & Deluxe Members can attend the upcoming Opening Receptions for "Free" and "The Last Newspaper."

With a Standard membership, you get unlimited admission to the museum and invites to members-only exhibition previews. You'll also receive discounts on New Museum screenings, performances, and panels and at more than 100 local businesses, as well as 10% off at the New Museum Store, 20% off New Museum publications, and more. The Deluxe package gets you all the benefits of the Standard membership, plus invitations to exhibition opening receptions, special gallery tours and studio visits with curators and artists, and free admission to more than 20 contemporary art museums across the country. Click here to see a complete list of New Museum membership benefits.

Founded in 1977, the New Museum showcases intellect-tickling contemporary art from adventurous artists. The New Museum's building itself is an artistic wonder; 2010 Pritzker Architecture Prize winners Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa designed it to be a disorienting stack of white boxes shifted off-axis, like Pat Boone's haircut.

Reviews

The New Museum has been widely featured in the New York Times. Although Yelpers are mixed about the controversial aspects of the collection, Google Mappers give it a four-star average, and Citysearchers give it an average of 3.5:

• Great spot to check out the emerging contemporary arts scene on the Lower East Side. Artist Ugo Rondinone's, "Hell, Yes!" sign out front sets the tone for a great museum experience: a museum with a sense of humor, what a novel idea! Exhibitions of contemporary art are always adventurous! – kwhitmore, Citysearch
• The museum boasts an amazing vantage point from which to observe the ever-evolving downtown arts scene---LITERALLY---as you look out on stunning views from the 7th Floor “Skyroom” and take in the hottest trends in contemporary art! – Eric, Google Maps