Archive for the 'New York City' Category
Monday, August 30th, 2010
Accidents Will Happen :: Barry McGee Hits Houston Street
(All images and text © Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)
After a month away overseas (more on that to follow), I’ve come home to New York. Before leaving I had gotten word that Barry McGee and company would be coming to the city sometime soon to lend their treatment to the Houston Street mural wall on the Lower East Side. I thought for sure I would miss it, but returned earlier this week to learn I had made it back just in time. So, after several weeks of being absent from TheArtCollectors, I couldn’t have imagined a better way to jump back into things. I hope you’ll agree.
In an amazing twist, life imitated art in New York Sunday night when Barry McGee and crew descended on the Houston Street wall. Beginning at midnight, McGee, together with longtime collaborator Josh Lazcano (Amaze), began a massive spray-painting spree, bombarding the surface with hundreds of simple red tags. Working through the cover of night, the team created the ultimate graffiti writer’s roll call and a strangely beautiful, if not challenging piece of commissioned abstract art. By dawn, it would go much farther than even they could have imagined.
In the coming weeks, reactions to the piece are sure to be mixed, and it didn’t take long for questions to begin. Police made their first visit around 2am, clearly not knowing what to make of the Tony Goldman sanctioned property previously occupied by a Ketih Haring replica, a meticulously illustrated mural by Os Gemeos and the design heavy graphics of Shepard Fairey. No, this couldn’t be legit, this couldn’t be art. After a minor interruption a permit was produced and the police were on their way. They’d be returning though.
By 4am (with some added contributions from Chino) Twist and Amaze had completely filled in the wall with the names and crews of graffiti writers past and present. Seeing the project near completion, spectators, assistants and overseers had left the scene, leaving the artists free to “touch up” a few things. They were soon disrupted by a carload of ass-shaking club girls who briefly hijacked the sidewalk for a personal photo op. Acting as official photographer, Martha Cooper quickly stepped in keeping control over the site, and we turned our cameras on the drunken booty bunch. Barry and crew entered the frame. However amusing it was, this was clearly not how those involved had intended to end the night. Whatever – DFW – this bullshit would all be over soon and they could get back to what they were here for and waiting till dawn to complete.
4:45am and back to work. As it ascended to a few of the harder to reach spots, the buzz of the boom lift was suddenly drowned out by screeching tires. We turned our heads left just as a passing SUV smashed full force into a graffiti-adorned box truck, briefly taking flight and coming to rest on its side. The smell of oil and gasoline filled the air as it trickled out and drenched the pavement. “Call 911,” “Get that fucking cigarette away from here!” A few passersby rushed in and attempted to tear back the shattered windshield to reach the driver. Trapped on his side in an airbag filled compartment, they eventually opted to use the back end as an escape hatch. Bleeding from his forehead, but able to walk, he was pulled from the rear of the vehicle and helped into an ambulance.
By 5am the street was blocked off by police and fire department, bringing more unwelcome attention to the wall. Ordered down from their perch, the artists were subjected to another round of police scrutiny, this time focusing on their recent early morning final additions and concerns regarding the exact zone the work permit covered. Things seemed uncertain, if not dismal over the next hour.
What the hell had just happened? Walking west from the wall, a few hundred feet down the street to the accident and back up again, I started to take it all in – the totaled truck flipped on its side, the broken glass, the flashing lights and sirens all set the backdrop of 850 sq. feet of graffiti. I felt a certain sort of chaotic energy and unnerving excitement, as if one of Barry’s frenetic gallery and museum installations had spontaneously slammed full force into the middle of Houston Street. By 6am he and his mates were in there clear and off to the airport to get the hell out of New York City. Me? I walked up the block and back home where I couldn’t fall asleep for another three hours.
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Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
R.I.P. Rammellzee (1960-2010)
(Image: Kostas Seremetis)
We are sad to report the death of pioneering graffiti, hip-hop, visual and performance artist, the one and only Rammellzee. Check out Fast Company’s profile and the tribute below, sent out today by our friends at Anonymous Gallery:
New York artist and performer Rammellzee (born in 1960 in Queens, New York) is credited with being one of the inventors of graffiti art as we know it. Through writing, drawing and painting on subway cars in spray paint and felt-tip pen in the late ‘70s, he became interested in the symbolic value of letters. Rammellzee named his style “Gothic Futurism,” describing the battle between letters and their symbolic warfare against any standardizations enforced by the rules of the alphabet. When his style of writing became more mainstream in the world of graffiti, Rammellzee built his letters into flying armored vehicles, bursting forth with a style and philosophy all his own that he termed “Ikonoklast Panzerism”
He has continued to explore these ideas through a variety of media ever since, from the paintings that in 1988 Gerrit Henry described in Art In America as having “a Star-Wars-via-Jackson-Pollock look” to the legendary hip-hop single “Beat Bop” that was produced by the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and became not just one of the most collectible hip hop releases ever, but a model for generations of witty and experimental musicians.
In 1982, he appeared in the seminal hip hop documentary Wildstyle by Charlie Ahearn. Rammellzee has shown in galleries and museums throughout the world including P.S. 1 in New York and performed in his iconic self-designed masks and costumes at the 2005 Venice Biennale. His work is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, however Ramm always contended his highest achievements could be viewed from the train yards…
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Pop Will Eat Itself :: Lichtenstein’s Still Lifes at Gagosian
(All photos: Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)
Though Roy Lichtenstein is most remembered for his pioneering contributions to the early American pop movement of the 1960s, he continued to make new art up to the 1990s. From 1972 – 1986 he produced a large body of painting and sculpture that can be described as pop still-lifes. Technically, these were rendered in the same style of his popular comic-book based art, mimicking mechanical methods of production through the use of vivid primary colors, sharp lines, and his trademark simulation of the Ben-Day printing process. Thematically however, Lichtenstein’s subject matter veered away from mass culture and the recreation of commercial imagery. In place of D.C. comic panels we find the objects of traditional still life painting like fruits, vases or items arranged on tables.
Make the mistake of reading too carefully, and you might think there was some grand message here – that in the same way mass media has, the stuff of these works too has become part of our collective consumer conscience. However, like the rest of his art, Lichtenstein was quick to question any profound reading of this series, noting, ”When we think of still lifes, we think of paintings that have a certain atmosphere or ambience. My still life paintings have none of those qualities, they just have pictures of certain things that are in a still life, like lemons and grapefruits and so forth.”
For a body of work whose deeper meaning even the artist was quick to denounce, this is truly a site to behold. In the first exhibition devoted entirely to this series, Gagosian Gallery’s presentation of some fifty still lifes is one that rises to museum standards and deserves to outlive its summer gallery viewing. That being said, reflecting on his art with John Coplans in 1972, Lichtenstein remarked, “I don’t think that whatever is meant by it is important to art.”
Roy Lichtenstein – Still Lifes
Gagosian Gallery
May 8 – July 30
555 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011
212.741.1111
(All text and photos: Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)
Friday, June 18th, 2010
With Move, New Challenges for Whitney
(Image: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Architects via NY Times)
In his New York Times piece today, Nicolai Ouroussoff provides an insightful, if somewhat critical overview of the Whitney’s proposed design for its new location in New York’s meatpacking district. The article comes weeks after the museum’s board officially announced plans to break ground next year on their future downtown home, with completion targeted for 2015. With construction prices at a long-time low and its endowment hit hard by the economic downturn, the museum has given architect Renzo Piano the task of trimming costs and meeting crucial building deadlines, before prices rise back to pre-recession levels.
While acknowledging the necessity to do so, Ouroussoff skeptically questions what the final result of such cutbacks in both dollars and time will be. Noting that few institutions’ identities are as closely linked to their physical structures as the Whitney’s is to its original Marcel Breuer building, Ouroussoff challenges the museum and its architect to succeed at making sure the new location “rise at least to the same level as the original building as a place to view art,” warning “Anything less will not only be a shame for the city, but a defining emblem of failure for the Whitney.”
A rendering of the new Whitney, viewed from Washington and Ganesvoort Streets, with the High Line shown in the foreground. (Image: Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Architects via NY Times)
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Rosson Crow’s Bowery Boys in Print
Along with Kristin Baker’s exhibit last December, Rosson Crow’s Bowery Boys was easily the best thing to grace the walls of Deitch’s main space during the gallery’s final season, and certainly their best of 2010 – and no, I have not forgotten about Shep or Kehinde’s shows – actually, maybe I have. Painted fast and free, the loose dripping paint of the Bowery Boys series captured and celebrated the history, creativity and renegade debauchery of several decades of the downtown New York scene, in a show that should have been Deitch’s last.
Whether you missed it when it happened, or saw it when it did, you should go buy Crow’s latest publication from the OHWOW imprint. 56 pages, hard-cover, with an essay by former Deitch director Kathy Grayson, who we expect and are eager to see working with Crow in the future. Get it here
The Nest, 2010 (Image via Deitch Projects)
The Cock, 2010 (Image via Deitch Projects)
Thursday, June 10th, 2010
The Hole Opens for Business
After keeping the art geeks guessing, the official word on former Deitch directors Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman’s hit the masses today via the Wall Street Journal. On June 26 The Hole will open its doors at 104 Greene St. with the playfully titled, Not Quite Open for Business. With so much excitement over the shape of things to come, we’re eager to see who the pair have selected for their much-anticipated inaugural group show. So far, WSJ reports future exhibits with Mat Brinkman, Kenny Scharf and Dearraindrop, as well as several side projects including a back-room shop and a dating service for artists.
Our sincere congratulations go out to Ms. Grayson and Ms. Coleman as they take the plunge.
Thursday, April 29th, 2010
New York Weekend
Scott Campbell (detail), 2010 (Image via OHWOW)
Lots of events appealing to the younger art crowd in NY this weekend. Tonight, the often-imitated Mark Ryden premieres The Gay 90s Old Tyme Art Show at Paul Kasmin. From there, head over to the new (temporary?) OHWOW gallery space, where tattoo master and artist Scott Campbell unveils his first NY solo. If you can see past all the hipster hats, anticipate being impressed by Campbell’s newest batch of laser-cut money reliefs. The rest of the weekend belongs to the street-art mega-stars. FAILE and BÄST open their Deluxx Fluxx Arcade in a vacant downtown store front on Friday night. If the interactive exhibit lives up to its initial run in London, expect to be shoulder to shoulder with eager fans trading in dollars for custom tokens, awaiting a shot at one of the modified classic arcade and tabletop games. If you aren’t tired of the crowds by then, Shepard Fairy’s May Day opens Saturday night at Deitch Projects (the gallery’s last exhibit before its permanent closing and bidding Jeffrey Deitch farewell to MOCA), and will be followed by an afterparty with DJ sets by Fairey and others.
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010
Here We Go Again :: Fairey Preps for NYC
(All Houston Street mural images © Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)
Out with the old, in with the new. After a bit of neglect, I suppose now is as good a time as any for me to pick up on posting again. We’ll see how it goes.
Shepard Fairey and co. have descended on New York City in preparation for the artist’s much talked about upcoming show at the soon-defunct Deitch Projects. Word is Fairey is looking for anyone who can offer up walls, and with an opening reception scheduled for May 1, we expect the Obey crew to have plenty of time to make their presence know.
A temporary Obey Pop Up Shop will be open April 30th – May 16, and promises a full line of items from the clothing label as well as “many surprises not to be missed.”
Check out our images of Fairey working earlier today on the beginnings of this new Houston Street piece (which replaces Os Gemeos’ mural), as well as studio shots (via Obey) of the crew prepping materials for both the gallery exhibit and store.
Shepard Fairey – May Day
May 1 – 29
Deitch Projects
18 Wooster St.
NY, NY 10013
Obey Pop Up
April 30 – May 16
151 Orchard Street
New York, New York 10002
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
Haiti Benefit featuring McGee, Fairey, Parla, Auerbach, Faile + more
Anonymous Gallery opens an exhibition to benefit Haiti on March 7. The show is shaping up to be quite an opportunity to pick up work by some very respected artists, while supporting a worthy cause.
Participating artists: Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Crash, Lee Quinones, Dondi White, Tauba Auerbach, Swoon, Futura, Jose Parla, Todd James, Eric Haze, David Ellis, Doze Green, Faile, Bast, Greg Lamarche, Kostas Seremetis, Rostarr, Chris Mendoza, Yuri Shimojo, Kenji Hirata, Cope2, Indie 184, Erik Foss, Henry Chalfant, Dan Witz, Ricky Powell, Shelter Serra, Eric White, Jamel Shabazz, Michael Holman, Eve Sussman, Joseph Ari Aloi, Kenzo Minami, Daze, Aaron Sharp Goodstone, Taylor McKimens, with more to come.
The gallery is also participating in SCOPE NY, and will feature works by Eric Haze, Greg Lamarche, and Kostas Seremetis, along with operating a mobile pop-up-shop out of an airstream trailer, where they will be selling artist products and editions.
N’Ap Boule – A Benefit for Haiti
Opening Reception – March 7
Anonymous Gallery at Collective Hardware
169 Bowery
NY, NY 10002
Anonymous Shop at The Standard Hotel
13th and Washington Street
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
Coming Soon :: Rosson Crow at Deitch
Rosson Crow is set to unveil a show at Deitch Projects on March 4. For the series, the young painter relocated to New York City to research and submerge herself into the downtown art scene. Like the image above recalling Haring’s Pop Shop, we anticipate the other large-scale oils to drip from the canvas, conjuring up spaces past and present and the renegade debauchery and free spiritedness of this movement.
The show is Crow’s first solo with the gallery, and one of the last before it permanently closes later this year.
Rosson Crow – Bowery Boys
March 4 – 27
Deitch Projects
18 Wooster Street
NY, NY 10013